‘Can you see Fiona Whelan anywhere?’ Ginnie asked.
‘I expect she’ll arrive with Adrian and the Eden Park contingent. She is the project manager after all.’
But she didn’t, Adrian arrived alone.
One of the newspapers compared his entrance to a god descending from the heavens, an analogy that struck Adrian as eminently suitable. He arrived in one of the glass elevators to the accompaniment of ‘I Did It My Way’. When the elevator reached the platform, he stepped out, his huge frame clad entirely in white, and immediately moved to the front of the stage to take the applause. The orchestra played, the applause persisted and Adrian went from person to person on the platform, kisses for the women and double-fisted hand shakes for the men; then he leaned towards the vast crowd and threw kisses to them and knelt at the edge of the platform to shake the outstretched hands. On and on he went, kissing and shaking and soaking up his audience and only when the music was winding down and the dignitaries were reclaiming their seats did Adrian go to Lydia: the last kiss, the last welcome was for her.
He returned to centre stage where he stood perfectly still facing the cameras, a serious expression on his face. This was Adrian Dadswell clearly moved. Finally he spoke.
This day, he said, was the culmination of his dreams. ‘People said it couldn’t be done, but I refused to listen. I knew that Aussie determination and knowhow and the Aussie sense of teamwork would bring Eden Park to life. And it has!’
Applause, drum roll, Adrian beaming, playing for the applause, drawing it out.
‘So many people to thank – ’ he continued.
‘There’s not a sign of Fiona anywhere,’ Ginnie said. ‘I can’t imagine she’s fallen from grace.’
Adrian was rolling through a list of names, of people who had ‘contributed of themselves to make Eden Park the paradise it was today’.
‘And these people,’ Adrian was saying, ‘these people put their blood, they put their sweat, they put their tears into Eden Park; they rejoiced with me when the foundations were sunk and the buildings started to take shape, they grieved when there were delays. Some of these people were with me all the way.’
‘Look at Lydia,’ Ginnie nudged Vivienne.
Lydia looked as happy as a bride. She knew to whom Adrian was referring.
‘I feel so sorry for her,’ Ginnie said. ‘It takes so little to make her happy.’
‘She made her choices.’
Ginnie sighed, she knew.
Adrian was now calling Sir Kenneth McKerlie to the microphone. ‘And here,’ he was saying, ‘we have another pioneer, another true believer in this great country of ours.’
Sir Kenneth took the microphone and addressing all the dignitaries and all the wonderful people of Australia he documented the history of Eden Park.
‘And none of this would have been possible,’ he said, ‘without the great man beside me.’
Applause.
‘Determination and faith are the marks of Adrian Dadswell, faith in his dream, faith in his abilities and faith in his country. All this from a boy of working-class background – ’
Ginnie looked at Vivienne; working-class? the Dads wells?
‘ – who dreamed and struggled and built an empire from nothing – ’
What about the Bainbridge money? the Bainbridge connections?
‘ – but not alone, because Adrian Dadswell knows about teamwork. His team combined talent and ingenuity with commitment and love. We all know there are people here – I don’t need to name them – who have been with Adrian all the way, who shared his dream, believed in him, and travelled with him down the road to success.’
Lydia bowed her head. She had never looked for public recognition, Adrian’s love had always been enough, but now as she listened to Sir Kenneth’s praise and felt the gaze of the crowd she was very proud.
‘Without men like Adrian Dadswell, this country would be nothing.’ Sir Kenneth turned to Adrian and took his hands in his own. ‘We thank you, Adrian, with all our hearts we thank you.’
Applause and more applause and the two men stood holding hands and gleaming with joy.
‘And now,’ Sir Kenneth said as the applause died down and the drums began to roll, ‘it is my very great pleasure to declare Eden Park officially open.’
The orchestra burst into ‘Advance Australia Fair’, hundreds of balloons were released from the high balconies, and streamers too, and beyond the dome a flock of white doves rose into the sky. There was cheering and shouting and champagne spraying everywhere, but no one cared. And after the balloons came deep purple carnations, frilly flowers tossed from the heavens, and then mixed with the purple blooms some white ones, then all white and a shower of white flowers drifting to the crowd below. And from the dome, emerging from the hail of white and drifting towards the platform was a glass casket filled with tulle, a radiant young bride in its midst. The audience stood hushed and watching as the casket drew closer and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March started to play. Closer and closer it came, and when the elevator touched ground, Adrian reached in and drew Fiona Whelan to his side. Adrian was triumphant and Fiona so happy on this the happiest day of her life. They walked to the front of the platform and turned to face the minister who was waiting on the rostrum.
Ginnie and Vivienne looked down. They saw Kate laughing and Elizabeth incredulous; they saw Lydia sagging in the front row, and they saw Adrian, the prince in his kingdom taking possession of the future.
Gracious Living Page 25
