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had moved into a combination of hot-gospelling and hysteria-
selling. Mr Templeton, urged on by Lillian in some incredible
lunacy, was leading the charge. Diana was flashing around,
gleefully taking notes on who bought what. Buyers were positively
preening over the madness of their purchases.
Jocelyn's eyes were as big as golf balls at the sums of money being
raised. Richard kept shaking his head in dazed disbelief. Ray was
chortling to himself as if this was the most entertaining night of his
life. At least Noah was containing himself, Toni thought in some
relief. It was a comfort to know that the father of her child was a
sane, sensible man.
And that was a fact of which she was now quite sure. After tonight
was over, she would tell him and then they would get married, just
as he wanted to. She was certain in her mind now that Noah would
make a very different husband from Murray Sheldon.
Perhaps it was her pregnancy that was causing her to feel quite faint
in this overheated manic atmosphere. The blood-red haze in the
ballroom was beginning to be nauseating. The auction was drawing
to an end. There were only three items left to go, but suddenly Toni
felt she had to get out of here and breathe in some cooler fresh air.
She touched Noah's arm.
'Just going to the powder room,' she excused.
He nodded and she quickly left the table. She did not go to the
powder room. She simply sat down on a chair in the foyer outside
the ballroom and recollected herself with a few deep breaths.
Perhaps it had been the cigar-smoke that had made her feel queasy.
She was very glad that Noah didn't smoke cigars.
Once she felt a bit better, Toni wandered along the balcony which
ran around the grand entrance foyer. The windows looked out over
Circular Quay. She could even spot Noah's penthouse apartment at
the top of one of the tall buildings that crowded around the quay.
The lights.of the city and the harbour seemed to soothe some of her
inner turbulence.
The total of the proceeds of the auction had run into millions, even
before she'd left. It was an astronomical success. Every deaf child in
Australia who needed a bionic ear operation would now be able to
get it.
She hoped that using Mr Templeton as a stimulus to increase the
bidding would never become common knowledge. Not that it really
mattered. After all, if those tycoons didn't have such colossal egos
they could have let Mr Templeton win. They could have proved
they had money left in the bank some other way. They didn't
actually have to make such a terribly ostentatious display of their
wealth.
On the other hand, while she had meant to bleed them, she hadn't
meant them to spill this much blood. However, the fault was not all
hers. Why was it that, when she planned things with the best
intentions in the world, they sometimes took on a life of their own
and got out of control?
She heard a step behind her. Without turning she knew it would be
Noah. 'Are you all right, Toni?'
It was him.
She swung around and smiled away his concern. 'It got a bit close in
there,' she explained. 'Is the auction over?'
'Just about. I gave the last item a miss and came looking for you.' He
grinned. 'I bought the picnic.'
'The picnic?' Toni felt faint again.
'The gourmet picnic lunch complete with butler, waiters and
chamber orchestra,' he elaborated as if she didn't know. 'I knew
you would love it. It's so romantic,' he said softly, and then a wry
little smile curled his lips. 'There was some lunatic who kept bidding
against me. In the end it cost me two hundred and twenty-five
thousand dollars, but the publicity will be good for us and the
company.'
He drew her into his arms, his eyes sparkling with some secret
anticipation. 'You and I are going to have a right royal time of it, my
darling. I wanted to give you something special. Very special.
Because you are very, very special to me. And I wanted to show you
that in a very concrete way.'
'Oh, Noah!' It was just as well he was supporting her in his embrace,
because Toni was further weakened by a turbulent rush of emotion.
There was a wave of guilt that he too had been caught up in the
madness she had promoted, but overwhelming even that was a wave
of intense feeling that she couldn't define at all. Except it was all
connected to the kind of wonderful man he was. 'You give me too
much,' she choked out, her throat almost blocked by a huge lump of
something. 'You shouldn't have done that.'
'Toni! Toni!' The excited hail was from Lillian Devereux as she
came sailing along the balcony, her face rosier than it had ever been
in her teens, her brown eyes lit with magnificent dollar signs. 'We've
made millions! Three million, nine hundred and eighty-seven
thousand, six hundred and twenty-five dollars! Just think of that, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]