To Be the Best (Emma Harte)

by Barbara Taylor Bradford

  ‘What a lovely story, and the bow is beautiful, but as I just said, I’m not sure I should accept it, Daisy. Ought it not to go to Paula in view of its history?’

  ‘No, no, she and I want you to have it!’ Daisy insisted, reaching out, squeezing Madelana’s hand affectionately. ‘I’ve spoken to Paula, and she thinks it’s a most fitting gift for you. As I do. And I know that if my mother was alive she would want you to have it, too.’

  Madelana realized there was no point in protesting further, that it would be even ungracious to do so, and she murmured her thanks again, permitted her mother-in-law to pin the emerald bow to her maternity smock. Then, pushing herself up, she went to the mirror over the fireplace, looked at herself. The bow was an extraordinary piece, and she was greatly moved because Daisy had given her something which had once belonged to Emma Harte.

  Madelana went back to the sofa, and after a moment Daisy leaned back against the cushions. ‘Speaking of my daughter, do you think she’s made a mistake buying the Larson chain in the States?’

  ‘Of course not!’ Madelana cried, sitting up straighter on the sofa, returning Daisy’s penetrating gaze. ‘She’s a brilliant businesswoman and I’ve never known her to make a wrong move yet.’

  ‘I just wish she’d told me why she wanted me to sell the Sitex stock when she suggested I do so last year. Or at least given me the chance to let her have the additional money she needed for the takeover of Larson’s.’ Daisy sighed heavily. ‘Paula can be awfully stubborn and she’s determined to do everything her own way. She’s so like my mother. Oh dear, I don’t know…business does baffle me most of the time.’

  Daisy rose, moved to the fireplace, stood with one hand resting on the mantel. ‘And I don’t understand Shane, if the truth be known. I can’t imagine why he didn’t tell me or Philip about her plans long ago. And why on earth didn’t he advise her? After what he said last night, I think he should have, don’t you?’

  ‘I’m not sure anyone can advise Paula. She’s so confident and self-assured. And so brilliant in business she doesn’t need advice from anyone. Besides, Shane would never interfere. He would remain aloof…that would be the wisest course for anyone to take, as I’m sure he realizes by now.’

  Daisy frowned. ‘I was surprised by some of the things I heard over dinner last night, weren’t you?’

  ‘Not really,’ Madelana answered truthfully. ‘Don’t forget, I was Paula’s assistant at the New York store, and she has been after an American chain for a long time. In any event, as I said before, I trust her judgement implicitly. And so should you. I know Philip does, and from what Shane said at dinner, he does too.’ Madelana gave Daisy a look she hoped was reassuring. ‘There’s one more thing I’d like to add. Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that Paula might want to own something of her own?’

  ‘But she does, Maddy dear,’ Daisy exclaimed in a startled tone. ‘The Harte chain, not to mention –’

  ‘But that was founded by Emma,’ Madelana was quick to point out. ‘In fact, everything Paula runs she inherited from her grandmother. Perhaps emotionally she has the need to …to…well, to create and build something of her very own and with her own money.’

  ‘Is that what she indicated to you when you worked together in New York?’

  ‘No, it’s just a feeling I have, knowing her as well as I do.’

  Daisy looked further surprised and fell silent, ruminating on her daughter-in-law’s words. Eventually, she said, ‘Perhaps you’re right, Maddy dear. I hadn’t looked at it quite like that. Nevertheless, apart from anything else, I do think she has taken on an enormous amount of responsibility in addition to everything else she has to do.’

  Maddy said in a loving voice, ‘Try not to worry about Paula and her expansion programme in the States. She’ll be fine, it’ll be fine. Philip believes she’s a chip off the old block, and you said only a few minutes ago that she’s like your mother. Being another Emma Harte can’t be all that bad, can it?’ Maddy finished on a teasing note, raising a brow.

  Daisy had the good grace to laugh. ‘No, it can’t,’ she said.

  Chapter 34

  Later, after her mother-in-law had left to return to her house in Rose Bay, Madelana put on a thick, white wool cape and went outside. She walked slowly through the gardens as she did twice a day, enjoying the exercise and the air.

  Although the wind had dropped, it had turned cold; dusk was falling, and in that lovely half light, neither day nor night but hovering somewhere in between, everything appeared to be softer, gentler.

  The pristine sky of earlier had lost its sharp, icy blue-and-white tints, was slowly darkening, and its rim at the edge of the horizon was streaked with flaring ribbons of amber and rose as the sun sank into the sea. And in those hushed and silent gardens, where not a single thing stirred, the only sound was the lapping of the waves against the rocks of the jutting headland on which the mansion was built.

  When she reached the end of the wide path, Madelana stood for a moment gazing out across the endless stretch of inky water. It looked cold, forbidding, bottomless, and she shivered despite the warmth of her cape. Turning swiftly on her heels, she hurried back up to the house. She could see that lamps were being turned on in some of the rooms, and narrow corridors of light were streaming out from the windows, illuminating her way.

  How warm and welcoming her home looked in contrast to the daunting sea behind her. She increased her pace, wanting suddenly to be inside. Within minutes she was closing the French doors of the library, walking through the room and out into the foyer, still shivering slightly.

  As she hung her cape in the hall cupboard she heard the chatter of voices coming from the kitchen area of the house. It was the two maids, Alice and Peggy, and Mrs Ordens, the housekeeper, twittering away together like a flock of chirpy sparrows. The three women took care of them exceptionally well, eased the burden of running two homes in Sydney – the house out here at Point Piper and the penthouse atop the McGill Tower. She took a step towards the door, then decided to change her clothes in readiness for the evening before going in to speak to them.

  A little sigh of happiness trickled through Madelana as she climbed the staircase leading to the upper floors. She had been experiencing a lovely sense of contentment in the last few days. It was Philip’s love and the baby she was carrying that filled her with such abundant joyousness. Soon they would be three instead of two. She could hardly wait…longed to hold her child in her arms.

  The rosy glow of the fire greeted her when she pushed open the door of their bedroom and went in. This was one of the two rooms in the house she had redecorated after her marriage; she had used a mixture of soft greens and a striking white chintz splashed with pink peonies, scarlet roses, yellow lilies and dark green leaves. The play of greens in the overall scheme and the airy chintz, lavishly used, served to endorse the spaciousness of the bedroom. There was a sweeping bay window overlooking the gardens and the sea, a curving, cushioned window seat underneath, and a huge four-poster bed.

  A small antique writing desk was positioned in a corner near the fireplace, and Maddy went and sat down, picked up the letter she had been writing to Sister Bronagh in Rome when Daisy had arrived for tea earlier than expected.

  She read it quickly, added a last sentence and her love, then signed it. After sealing it in an envelope and addressing it, she propped it up with the others going to Sister Mairéad in New York, Patsy Smith in Boston and Paula in London. Maddy was a diligent correspondent, regularly penned entertaining epistles with her latest news to her four favourites. After lunch today she had decided to get the letters written before she went into hospital to have the baby; she was positive their child would be born this week.

  Leaning back in the chair, Maddy began to ruminate on the past year. How extraordinary it had been. Wondrous. That truly was the only word to describe it. But it’s not even a year, she suddenly thought, I didn’t meet Philip until September, and it’s only August. What a lot has happened in that shor
t span of time. She rested her hands on her lap, linked her fingers under her large stomach, thinking again of the baby, making endless plans for the future.

  Eventually she lifted her eyes, let them rest on the little sampler she had owned since childhood. It had been shipped out to Australia with her other possessions and it hung on the wall above her desk.

  ‘If your day is hemmed with prayer it is less likely to unravel,’ her mother had stitched so meticulously in bright blue wool all those years ago.

  Oh Mom, she thought, everything did turn out beautifully for me, just as you said it would when I was little. I am your Golden Girl after all. I have been blessed.

  Maddy turned her eyes to the photographs framed in silver standing on her desk…her parents, Kerry Anne, Young Joe and Lonnie. You’ve been gone from me for a long time now, but I carry each one of you in my heart and I always will, she whispered to herself.

  As she continued to gaze at her family she realized her memories were much sweeter, far less painful than they had ever been. This was surely because she was a fulfilled and happy woman who no longer felt lonely or alone. At last her keen sense of loss was muted if not totally eradicated.

  Maddy left the bedroom half an hour later, freshly made-up and immaculately groomed, dressed in a well-cut navy blue silk tunic over loose, pyjama-style pants of the same dark silk. Emma’s emerald bow was pinned to one shoulder. With it she wore a strand of perfectly matched pearls, large pearl earrings, and her wedding and engagement rings. On her arm was a navy-blue shawl of heavy jacquard silk, thickly fringed, and she carried a navy silk evening purse into which she had just popped her letters. She would mail them later at the Sydney-O’Neill Hotel.

  Before going downstairs she paused at a door a little further along the corridor, turned the handle and went inside. Switching on the nearest lamp, she beamed with pleasure as she looked around the former guest room, now transformed into the nursery. Philip and she had decorated it together. It was done in a cheerful combination of yellow and white, with shocking pink as a lively accent colour. They had decided on this particular scheme since it was neither feminine nor masculine, and therefore suitable for a girl or a boy.

  Lovingly she smoothed one hand along the edge of the crib, went over to the window wall to straighten a slightly crooked nursery rhyme print, moving around the large and pleasant room slowly, checking everything for the umpteenth time. Then she turned off the lamp, closed the door behind her as she went out, smiling beatifically, satisfied that everything was perfect, in total readiness for their child.

  Maddy ran into Mrs Ordens in the entrance hall.

  ‘Oh there you are, Mrs Amory,’ the housekeeper said, giving her a warm smile. ‘I was just coming up to tell you Ken has arrived with the car to take you into Sydney.’

  ‘Thanks, Mrs Ordens,’ Maddy said, smiling back. ‘But there’s plenty of time, let’s go into the kitchen for a minute. I’d like to go over a few things with you before I leave.’

  Shane decided that he had never seen Madelana looking more beautiful than she did tonight. She was obviously more head-over-heels in love with Philip than ever, and he with her; their happiness was reflected in everything they did and said. Not unnaturally it showed in their glowing rapturous faces.

  The first thing he had noticed when he had arrived in Sydney several days ago was the way her face had filled out since he had last seen her in Yorkshire in January. It was no longer quite so bony, and the extra bit of weight suited her. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, her large grey eyes filled with sparkling lights, and there was a special radiance about her which he found utterly breathtaking. She seemed lit from within. No wonder some of the other people in the restaurant kept glancing in their direction. But then Philip was a handsome son-of-a-gun, very distinguished looking, and his face was well-known in Australia. That might also explain the numerous surreptitious looks. These two made a striking couple, had an aura of glamour about them.

  It had been a merry evening from the outset.

  The three of them had laughed a lot over dinner in the Orchid Room of the hotel. In fact, from the moment she had arrived at Shane’s suite, where Philip was having an aperitif with him, hilarity had been in the air. Philip had fussed over Madelana, pressed her into a comfortable chair, poured cool Evian water for her, and generally behaved like a man besotted, which he was. And she had been warm and loving, somewhat placid in her general demeanour, the beatific smile intact. Shane was happy for them, knowing full well what a good marriage meant. They were as lucky as he and Paula.

  Philip was saying, ‘Anyway, Shane, we’re not going to Dunoon this weekend. The baby is so overdue now, Doctor Hardcastle wants us to stay in Sydney. He’s positive the birth is imminent, and so is Maddy, for that matter, and he thinks it’s best we stay put.’

  ‘He’s absolutely right, too,’ Shane said. ‘And from a strictly selfish point of view, I’m glad you’ll be in the city. Perhaps I’ll come out to Point Piper on Sunday, spend the day with you both, if you’ll have me, and if the little scallywag still hasn’t budged, of course.’ Madelana burst out laughing.

  Philip grinned, then explained, ‘That’s what we had in mind, although we hoped you’d come for the whole weekend. You could drive out with me on Friday evening. It’ll give you a chance to relax, get away from the hotel and its problems.’

  ‘That’s a splendid idea, I’ll do that. It’ll be nice being with you, taking it easy, doing nothing much except read and listen to music. I don’t seem to have had a minute’s peace since I arrived.’

  Maddy exclaimed, ‘Oh I am glad you’re going to stay with us, Shane. And Mrs Ordens is a wonderful cook. She’ll make all your favourite dishes if you tell me what you’d like.’

  Shane laughed, shook his head. ‘No fancy meals, darling girl. Paula’s put me on a strict diet. She seems to think I gained weight in the south of France this summer. Mind you, Beanstalk’s always been so bone thin I suppose anyone looks fat next to her.’ He eyed Madelana, his expression merry and teasing. ‘You’re pretty skinny yourself – when you’re not pregnant.’

  ‘Yes,’ she agreed, ‘I think Paula and I both burn off pounds when we’re working. It’s all that nervous energy being expended, I guess.’

  ‘Talking of work, are you still planning to run Harte’s-Australia after the baby’s born?’ Shane asked curiously.

  ‘Oh yes, I think so,’ Maddy told him. ‘I plan to have a month or two off with the baby, since I can do paperwork and phoning from the house or the penthouse until I start keeping regular business hours again…nine to five and all that.’

  ‘Actually, I’m having a suite decorated for Maddy, next to my office in the McGill Tower,’ Philip said. ‘That way, she’s only one flight down from the nursery we’ve designed in the flat upstairs.’

  ‘Paula has often hauled one of ours into the office with her…and so has Emily,’ Shane laughed. ‘It’s a trait of the Harte women, I do believe. You might as well join the club, Maddy!’

  She gave him a huge smile, which turned into a languorous yawn. She tried to stifle it without much success, brought her hand to her mouth, yawned again several times.

  Philip did not fail to miss this. ‘I’d better get my lady home to bed,’ he announced, instantly rising, helping Maddy to her feet. ‘I hope you don’t mind having an early evening, Shane, but I do think we should be making tracks.’

  ‘Of course I don’t mind.’ Shane also pushed back his chair, stood. ‘I’ll come down with you, and anyway it won’t do me any harm to get to bed at a reasonable hour for once.’

  Shane escorted them through the Orchid Room, down in the elevator, across the dark-green marble lobby to the front doors. ‘There’s Ken with the car,’ he said as they stepped out into the street. He kissed Maddy goodnight, embraced his brother-in-law, and slammed the back door firmly shut when they were inside, waved them off.

  As the Rolls-Royce pulled away from the kerb, Philip put his arm around Madelana, drew her close to him
on the back seat. ‘Are you feeling all right, sweetheart?’

  ‘Yes, I’m fine, Philip. Very tired, that’s all.’ She rested her head against his body. ‘It just suddenly hit me…the feeling of total and absolute exhaustion, I mean.’

  ‘Do you think the baby’s coming? Do you have any labour pains?’

  ‘Not a one.’ She smiled against his chest, slipped her arm inside his jacket and around his back, wanting to be even closer to him. ‘I’ll let you know, and in no uncertain terms, the minute I get the slightest twinge,’ she promised.

  He stroked her chestnut hair, brought his face down, kissed the top of her head. ‘Oh God, I love you so much, Maddy. I don’t believe I can ever tell you exactly how much you mean to me.’

  ‘Mmmmm, that’s lovely,’ she said, smiling again, then stifling another series of long yawns. ‘I love you, too…I’ll be glad when we get home…I can’t wait to put my head on the pillow.’ Her eyelids felt so heavy she could hardly keep them open. They drooped and finally closed, and she dozed intermittently all the way to the Point Piper house.