The VASE with the MANY COLOURED MARBLES

Emma Kline was born Emily Kleintjies into the Coloured Community of District six in Cape Town South Africa, in the late 1930’s. As she grew into a teenager, she found the restrictions of being a second class citizen in a country she loved, not acceptable. She decided to jump the race barrier, and as a teenager she took jobs in Cape Town in businesses where only English was spoken, and not the Afrikaans her family spoke at home so that she would lose the Coloured Afrikaans dialect. She was fortunate enough to be born with straight hair, not the kinky hair of her brothers and sisters, and with a light skin was often mistaken at being part of the white racial group. At the age of sixteen, she dyed her hair blonde, and travelled to Johannesburg by train, determined to be part of the White racial group. On the train, a 24 hour trip, she met a lady who gave her an introduction to her daughter, a department manageress at a department store chain in Johannesburg. She applied for and was accepted as a junior buyer of ladies lingerie. A year later, her determination and a chance meeting with the CEO of the group, gave her a promotion to senior buyer. In her visits to the various branches, she travelled to the town of Potchefstroom, where she met and befriended a young girl who introduced her to her father, Charles Stuart, a Scotsman who fought for England in the Anglo Boer war, and settled in Potchefstroom marrying Christa, an Afrikaans girl. He, soon realizing that Emma was a coloured girl, helped her in her efforts to become accepted in the white community, supplying her with a birth certificate classifying her as ‘European’. He was part of an anti apartheid organization within the country, and felt that her determination was something his organization could use. She met and had a child with Eric O’Neil, one of the managers of the organization she worked for, but before they could marry, he joined the army and was killed in action at Tobruk. Charles Stuart supplied her with papers showing that she and Eric were married. Marla, Emma’s daughter was born in a maternity home, and classified as a ‘European’ on her birth certificate. Book 2. MARLA Marla grew up and went to school in the European community of Potchefstroom. Emma insisted that she attend Afrikaans speaking schools because she believed that not all Afrikaaners were racist. With Marla’s dark skin, burning even darker in the hot summer sun, she was forced to prove more than once that she was a white, and not a Coloured or Indian whenever she went to the movies. With a friend, Josh, whose father was mayor of Potchefstroom, she soon established herself as one of the town’s beauties. After she graduated from school, she went to the University of the Witwatersrand where she became very active in anti-apartheid demonstrations, not knowing that her mother was one of those organizing the demonstrations. In her final year, she was arrested and detained overnight. On her release, she told Emma that she would like to tour Europe with friends for about six months. Emma was just too happy to have her leave the country. While hiking through the Lake District, Marla sprained her ankle and met Bertie. They fell in love, and he joined her on the ship back to South Africa. Unbeknownst to her, Bertie’s father was one of the wealthiest men in Britain, and part of the Royal family. Bertie (Albert) in his own right was a wealthy man. He was happy that Marla had fallen in love with him, not knowing of his father’s title, and the family’s wealth. He was determined to marry her before she found out, and in the two week trip on board ship, he persuaded her to have the Captain marry them. On arriving in CapeTown, while Emma met them at the harbour, her brother, a worker on the docks, approached her. She pretended not to know him, but when he told her that their mother was dying, she decided to tell Marla the truth about her race. She wanted her mother to see a grandchild she had never known before she died. Marla and Bertie then told Emma about their marriage. To Bertie, the fact that Emma and Marla were in effect part of the coloured community of South Africa, and therefore second class citizens, meant nothing. Marla and Bertie returned to live in London, and two years later Emma, after Charles Stuart gave her a ‘forged’ passport, joined them. She met a met and married a member of the British Parliament, and became very active in England organising various sanctions against South Africa.