“What else would you like in a wife?” Letter to Reader Title Page CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT EPILOGUE Copyright

“What else would you like in a wife?”

“Let’s see.” Byrne stood looking down at her. “A woman who could run on her own efficiency. A woman I could absolutely trust. A woman I’d be lost without. A woman with the sweetest smile. The softest mouth. Tender, loving, concerned. A woman who wants children. Our children.”

“You want a lot.” There was the faintest tremble in her voice.

He shrugged his wide shoulders. “Marriage has to be the biggest decision in life.”

“Oh, Byrne, look. A falling star!” Toni put out her hand, caught his sleeve, heart leaping.

“All the brighter in the falling. You’d better make a wish.”

Let him love me. The thought came spontaneously from deep within her.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to

Everyone has special occasions in their life—times of celebration and excitement. Maybe it’s a romantic event, an engagement or a wedding—or perhaps a wonderful family occasion, such as the birth of a baby. Or even a personal milestone—a thirtieth or fortieth birthday!

These are all important times in our lives and in The Big Event! you can see how different couples react to these events. Whatever the occasion, romance and drama are guaranteed!

We’ll be featuring one book each month from May to August 1998, bringing you terrific stories from some of your favorite authors. And, to make this miniseries extraspecial, The Big Event! will also appear in the Harlequin Presents® series.

This month celebrate not one, but two weddings in Margaret Way’s Beresford’s Bride, and look out next month for Jessica Hart’s Birthday Bride.

Happy Reading!

P.S. Follow the series into our Presents line in September with Kathryn Ross’s Bride for a Year.

Beresford’s Bride
Margaret Way

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

AT SEVENTEEN she was as pretty as a Persian kitten. At twenty-two she was dazzling, the sort of shining ashblonde men couldn’t take their eyes off.

Zoe all over again.

Then again, she wasn’t, he mused, as the image of the mother was superimposed on his mind. She was several inches taller, her body very willowy and slender where Zoe’s petite frame was almost lush. But the same familiar sex appeal was there. The same chemistry that left men dazzled. She was walking away from the elevator with two good-looking guys about his own age flanking her, obviously paying court. They were doing the talking, she was doing the laughing, one arm raised to fan her long waterfall of hair.

He lost seconds.

The one thing he hadn’t counted on was his own reaction. It shocked him as much as some blinding encounter. His stomach muscles clenched and the blood in his veins began a slow burn. How too damned extraordinary! He gave himself a moment to regain his habitual detachment. This was young Toni, remember? Antoinette Streeton. He had known her all her life even if she had been too young to catch his attention.

Toni was the only daughter of the late Eric Streeton and the notorious Zoe Streeton Von Dantzig LeClair. The Streetons had owned and worked Nowra Station since the turn of the century. Nowra was their nearest neighbour some hundred miles to the northeast, and Eric Streeton had been a lifelong friend of his father and uncles. In fact, Eric Streeton had been best man at his parents’ wedding. The entire family had taken it very hard when Eric Streeton had lost the battle with septicemia a few years before. A deep gash ignored until it was too late. That was Eric. At that time he and his son, Kerry, had been on their own. Zoe had walked out on him when the children were adolescents, returning to sweep Antoinette off to Paris after her final year at boarding school. It was supposed to have been a treat, six months at most. Antoinette stayed with her mother for the best part of five years. Neither had come home for Eric Streeton’s funeral. They’d been too busy cruising the Greek islands with one of Zoe’s admirers, later to become her second husband, Von Dantzig. These days Zoe was on to numero tre. That was the Frenchman. He really didn’t want to think about it, feeling the same quiet rage now as he had then, the same sadness at the way Eric had been treated. The vast Outback, sparsely populated but closely linked, had felt the same way. Now Zoe’s daughter was walking toward him, the light catching some sparkling thread in her short evening dress. It was a very simple garment, figure—skimming, but a showcase for her lovely body and limbs. Her years in Paris showed. She looked enormously chic, finished in a way other beautiful young women of his acquaintance were not. The two guys were waving goodbye like old friends, one whipping out a small black notebook and scribbling something on a page. A telephone number, address? God, shades of Zoe! It touched a raw nerve.

She was moving into the main foyer, drawing all eyes. She must have felt his observation because her head turned quickly as though she was following a beam. He stood up, abandoning the evening paper, trying to dispel the odd mood that had settled over him.

He was even more formidable than she remembered, tall, lean, darkly, aggressively handsome. A man’s man but with a powerful sexuality that made him dangerous to women, like the ironic sparkle in his beautiful rain-coloured eyes. She’d have known him anywhere. Anywhere in the world. For a moment on seeing him she felt a heart-stopping sensation akin to narrowly missing being run over. She found it hard to breathe. It was so strange to face Byrne Beresford again, with his bright aura of excitement, glamour, power. This was the man who ruled a cattle empire with an iron hand. The man she had fantasised about as a profoundly impressionable and romantic teenager. Not that he had ever looked at her except as Kerry’s kid sister. Not solid and focused like Kerry. Potentially another Zoe, a woman as insubstantial as she was lovely, a woman with a habit of wrecking lives. This was Byrne Beresford, the man she had known all her life and would never know.

He was moving purposefully towards her with all the natural grace of some powerful big cat. Six foot three of taut energy that crackled loose like electricity, elegant in the city clothes he wore like a patrician, but something about him, the vigour, the vitality, the deep tan and the far-seeing eyes proclaimed four walls couldn’t contain him. He was what he was, a member of the landed establishment, a cattle baron of influence and power. A man impossible for anyone to ignore, much less a member of the opposite sex.

“Byrne!” She took a deep breath and put out her hand. He not only took it but bent his dark head to brush his mouth against her cheek. A smooth slide that had a profound effect on her. She not only felt it on her face but right through her body.

“Antoinette, welcome home. How are you? You haven’t changed at all.” Which was absurd. She had blossomed like some wondrous rose. She had a perfect creamy skin with a light fragrance that seemed to engulf him. Damn. It rattled him, being so effortlessly charmed.

“How wonderful to see you! It’s been years!”

“Five next March,” he responded, regarding her. “You’re all grown up.” But definitely off-limits, even if she was far more than he was prepared for.

“Paris has been good to me. How is everyone? You must tell me.”

“Everyone’s fine,” he told her. “Why don’t we go in? Have a drink before dinner.” He took her arm with his refined, assured manner, his fingers momentarily pressing into her bare skin.

She felt scorched, a hot lick of excitement against her ribs. It might have been the first time a man had touched her. Slow down, she thought, shocked by the speed and intensity of her reactions. This man was unique.

A waiter led them to a table in a room lined with mirrored panels. Huge crystal chandeliers on dimmers threw a flattering illumination over their heads.

“What will it be?” He looked at her expectantly, his extraordinary light-filled gaze all the more disturbing for the fact he cared nothing for his own magnetism. It was part of him, like the aura that hung over him, the power and prestige, the great wealth his family had accumulated through successive generations.

“A glass of champagne would be lovely.” She turned her blond head, catching their reflections repeated many times over in the cross fire of mirrors. They looked like a study in black and gold.

“Champagne. Why not? We do have something to celebrate.” As he spoke to the waiter, Toni found herself studying his profile. His was a bold face in every particular, a face of very definite planes and angles. Not gentle. Strongly sculptured. He had the Beresford cleft chin, not shallow like Joel’s, his younger and much more approachable brother, but deeply indented. She thought he would find it a hassle to shave.

“So, have I changed?” He turned swiftly, catching her out.

“Sorry. Was I staring?”

“Just a little.”

She shook her head as though to free herself from currents it would be all too easy to plunge into. “I was thinking how familiar your face is to me, yet so unfamiliar. If you can follow my meaning.” She broke off.

“Well, we were never contemporaries. You’re more of an age with Joel.”

“How is he?” she asked.

“Actually, he’s thrilled you’re coming home.”

“Why make it sound like you thought I wouldn’t?”

“You haven’t bothered before.” It came out more harshly than he intended, but she was having the damnedest effect on him. An unwanted rush of desire, under the desire hostility, and deeper yet, a need to put an end to it.

Opposite him, acutely aware of it, Toni’s eyes glittered with tears. Her voice fell, as though she was talking to herself. “We’ll never be forgiven, will we?”

Those eyes, he thought. Lotus lilies. Blue into violet. “It’s done, Toni,” he said. “All over with.”

There was a pause. “I don’t think so, Byrne.” She wanted to speak candidly, bridge the gulfs, but there were aspects of Zoe’s life she needed to keep private. “You can’t know the difficulties. Zoe was using her maiden name. It complicated things terribly. We were at sea. When we finally got the message, it was too late.” She stopped abruptly, anxious not to implicate her mother further. Zoe had an immense capacity for poor judgment. She had kept the news from Toni for days as she battled her own demons.

“Well, it’s the nearest you’ve got to explaining,” he said in a terse voice.

Her look of pain was almost physical. “We’re still raw with the memory.” The whiplash of grief.

The gray eyes assessed, calculated, found her wanting. “Forgive me, Toni, but that’s a little hard to believe. Zoe didn’t have the slightest difficulty walking out on your father.”

“Am I expected to make expiation?” Her nerves tightened powerfully.

“Certainly not to me.” His voice was clipped. She was getting too close to him. Under his skin.

“I don’t want to have to bear your constant disapproval, Byrne. We are going to be in-laws.”

“I wasn’t aware I was showing any. You’re very lovely, Antoinette.” He gave her a glance that left her shaken. “Paris has put a fine polish on you.”

“I wasn’t talking about my looks,” she countered a little sadly.

“Good Lord, doesn’t everybody?”

Sometimes her looks were a downright disadvantage. Deliberately she changed the subject, picking something safe. “Cate must be very excited.” .

“She is,” he agreed, watching the different expressions chase across her face. “The wedding is having a big impact on all of us. The first wedding on Castle Hill since my grandfather’s time. My parents. were married in Sydney, as you know.”

“And Dad was best man. I suppose it was inevitable both families would be united at some time. Cate and Kerry have always been great friends. They radiate such warmth and ease when they’re together. I suppose it was only natural they would fall in love. They’re the lucky ones.”

“Surely you’ve fallen in love yourself?” he asked.

“I thought so. Once or twice. It didn’t work out.”

“Take your time,” he advised. “Marriage is a huge risk.”

“Could that be another dig?”

“Not at all,” he returned. “Clearly you have a chip on your shoulder. How is Zoe?”

She frowned defensively. “She’s staying with friends at the moment.”

“Morocco, isn’t it?” Byrne said.

She nodded. “A villa a few miles from the centre of Marrakech. It’s very beautiful, a French colonial style farmhouse surrounded by date palms, cedars and lots of silver gray olive trees. Pink bougainvillea smothering the walls.”

“You’re really making it sound terribly attractive. You’ve been there, I take it?”

“Some time ago,” she acknowledged in a low voice. “Patrick is hoping to marry my mother.”

“No! ” He feigned shock. “Surely that’s a little difficult even for Zoe. What does her husband think about it?”

“Shut up, Byrne,” she said through clenched teeth. Lord, had she said it? She had.

“No, really.” His smile was cool. “There are a few rules.”

“Mamma hates rules. Besides, Claude is resigned to losing her. He’s many years her senior.”

“So that makes a difference, does it?” His brilliant eyes were diamond hard.

“It does to Zoe. If a thing doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.”

“Of course, one must be happy at any cost. assume Patrick’s rich?”

The gibe nipped sharply. “Of course, he is. We both know Zoe must have money.”

“She appears to have looked after you rather well.” His eyes recorded her perfect grooming, the lovely, expensive pink and yellow silk dress.

“I haven’t lived off my mother or her husbands,” she told him quietly. A point of honour.

“I’m sorry. I understood you followed them all around Europe. You’ve acquired an accent, by the way. It’s utterly charming.”

“Would it surprise you if I told you I spoke French like a native?”

“Not at all. So what have you been doing for yourself in Paris?”

His eyes held a cool taunt.

Obviously he wouldn’t see her as a dedicated schoolmarm tutoring English, which was what she had been doing quite successfully. That and part-time photographic modelling, mostly featuring her long blond hair.

“I’ll tell you some time if you’re really interested,” she said.

“What’s wrong with now?”

“I think you have some preconceived notions about me.”

“Actually, Toni, you hadn’t established yourself at all.” Which wasn’t true. She was affecting him strongly. “After all, your mother spirited you away when you were only seventeen. Kerry missed you terribly. Did you realise that? Especially after your father died.”

She heard the little catch in her voice. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

“No,” he agreed, his striking face grim. “Your father grew careless with life. He was profoundly affected by the divorce.”

“I loved him, Byrne.” She lowered her head, her voice sad.

“He certainly loved you.” Adored her, more like it.

“I was devastated when I heard.” In fact, she had collapsed, full of hysterical accusations against her mother.

“You couldn’t find your way back?” He didn’t feel in the least sympathetic, although she made an irresistibly poignant picture.

She gave herself a second to get herself together. “I had serious concerns about Zoe.” She couldn’t elaborate. “And there was the question of money.” At that time she had been pretty well without resources.

“Zoe wouldn’t give you any?” One black eyebrow shot up.

“Her nest egg had been more than halved. She was terribly worried. She’d made a disastrous investment. A person she thought highly of abused her trust. Zoe’s so impulsive. She acts before she thinks.”

“Hell, yes,” he agreed discordantly, thinking of how hard Eric Streeton had worked for his money. “Let it go, Toni. It’s all in the past now.”

“Unfortunately the past is never truly past. It follows us around. I was very surprised when Cate wanted me for a bridesmaid.”

He knew there had been a big power struggle, the family dividing into two camps, pro and anti Antoinette. “You got on very well as girls,” he said evasively. “You are her fiancé’s only sister.”

“I’m sure that was the only reason I made the bridal party.”

“I have to say one or two of us were concerned you mightn’t show up on the day.” He saw a quick flash of hurt in her eyes and instantly regretted his cutting remark. Lord, was he trying to punish her? Maybe he was.

The waiter returned, bearing a silver tray. He deposited a bottle of Dom Pérignon on the table and proceeded to uncork it, murmuring a fervent thank-you as he pocketed his tip.

“Welcome home,” Byrne said, lifting his glass to salute her. “I must apologise, Toni. I’m being too hard on you .”

“I may pay you back one of these days,” she retorted, sounding a different person suddenly. “Anyway, you’re a hard man.”

The gray eyes frosted over. “Is that my reputation, really?”

“Whether you like it or not.” She sipped her champagne.

“Listen to me, Toni.” He loosened the button of his beautifully cut jacket and eased back. “I’ve got a lot of people depending on me. A cattle chain to look after. These are tough times. Testing times. Toughness is a quality to be desired. You’d do well to remember it.”

“Oh, I will! Be sure of it. And Joel isn’t offering a challenge?”

For a moment he looked like he was going to ignore the silky taunt. “I’m not going to put my own brother down, but I think you’ll find Joel wouldn’t want to take on my responsibilities.”

“Just as well, under the circumstances. Personally I don’t go along with the old law of primogeniture. Both of you still unmarried?”

He took his time replying, a little nettled, more amused. “Not even engaged. Joel has plenty of time. I’ll get around to it when I’m ready.”

“You might even have someone already in mind?” She kept those lotus eyes trained on him.

“Not at all.”

“You don’t need women?” She knew she sounded challenging. But then she’d already been labelled.

“Oh, but I do, Toni. I don’t always sleep alone.”

No. Indeed not, Toni thought, endeavouring to ignore the shiver that ran down her spine. “Do we name names?”

“No,” he said bluntly.

So that was that.

“Drink up and we’ll go in to dinner,” he murmured. “I’ve had meetings most of the day. I feel like a Porsche with the engine still running. It will be nice to relax.”

Relax they didn’t. The tensions tightened a notch, even though an attraction between them was tacitly admitted.

The main dining room was opulent, softly lit, with beautiful paintings and tapestries on the wall, the tables glowing with candles and posies of flowers.

“It’s lovely here,” Toni murmured appreciatively, watching the light glance off his dark copper skin.

He glanced around, used to grand surroundings from infancy. “The main dining room has recently been refurbished, I understand. If it’s all right with you I’d like to get away fairly early in the morning, Toni.”

“Have no fear. I won’t put you out.”

He looked at her keenly, almost laughed. “Well, I’d like to be at the. airport by eight-thirty, at the latest. I suppose it’s reasonable to conclude you’ve brought a fair bit of luggage?”

She grimaced at the implication. “I’m not Mommy Dearest, Byrne. I’m here for the month, then I’ll go back to Paris.”

There was a sudden flare in his eyes, like diamonds exposed to bright light. “It sounds like you have someone waiting for you.”

“There is someone.” She took a deep breath, pretending to go starry eyed.

“There always is.” He stared at her for a minute before picking up his menu.

“His name is Akbar,” she confided. “We have crazy times together.”

His handsome mouth tightened. “I’m not sure I’m ready to hear about your little jaunts around Morocco. In many respects I lead a conservative life.”

She opened her eyes wide. “Don’t be ashamed of it, Byrne. You’re a gorgeous man, really,”

Her power to discomfort him was impressive. “Why, thank you, Antoinette. Just so long as you remember I don’t party with youngsters.”

“Which I might say without fear of contradiction lets me out. I’m twenty-two.”

“A considerable age.” His voice was half mocking, half gentle.

“I’m not going to let you patronise me, Byrne.”

“Good for you. I’m enjoying your efforts.” He looked at her.

“Oh? I thought you were trying to make me suffer.”

That put a brake on him.

“Forgive me, Toni, that wasn’t my intention.”

“Of course, I forgive you,” she lied, anxious to defuse the simmering tension. “As long as you remember something.”

“Please don’t stop yourself from telling me.” He poured them both another glass of champagne.

“I’m not stupid.”

He looked at her, light leaping from his silver-gray eyes. “That makes you doubly dangerous.”

Toni waited until they were airborne before she allowed herself to speak. “I’ve got to say I love the new plane.” She tapped one beautifully manicured nail against the arm of her chair. “What happened to the Beech Baron?”

“I sold it to Winaroo Downs. It was just what they wanted.”

“And this is the Super King Air?”

“Yes. Turbo prop. Averages about two hundred and eighty knots. A jet would have been fairly useless to me, what with trying to find suitable landing strips. This can get in just about anywhere the Baron could, which is what I need. I find I’m doing more flying around the country, checking on other properties, attending meetings, whatever.”

“It must have been hellishly expensive,” Toni said. Millions. Probably five or six.

“It’s not a luxury, Toni, not a rich man’s toy. It’s a necessity. A way of life. It comfortably seats ten passengers, as well as your seat beside me. A lot of the time I have a full complement on board. Especially when I’m carrying fellow cattlemen. They like to cadge a lift on the most comfortable plane.”

“Don’t I know.” She glanced at the earth. “I never grow tired of flying,” she said. “It’s a miracle.”

“You know Kerry had to part with the Cessna?” He shot her a keen look.

“Of course.” She bit her lip. “No matter how hardworking Dad and Kerry were, there were so many reversals.”

“And Zoe wanted a big slice of the pie.” The old bitterness slipped out.

“I don’t know anything about that, Byrne.”

“You had to know. Why lie?”

“Dad didn’t discuss the settlement with either of us. I was thirteen when Zoe left, remember? Kerry had only just finished school. Dad tried to protect us.”

“Then I’m sorry. He wasn’t happy about you going off to join your mother, either.”

“He agonised, then, loving me, gave in.”

“Did she never marry the man she went off with?” Byrne asked after a long pause, “or wasn’t he sufficiently well-heeled?”

She looked out the window. Brilliant blue sky and a streaming wedding veil of clouds. “Something like that.”

“How long were you with your mother before Von Dantzig disappeared?”

“It was all very distressing, Byrne.”

“I bet it was.” He felt a sudden wave of protectiveness. “In fact it must have been a nightmare for a beautiful young girl.”

“I had nothing to fear. I cried a little when Zoe and Rolf split up. Zoe had already met Claude. He decided to convert her to a grand lady. She liked that.”

“Dear, dear.” He clicked his tongue. “How did you keep up with these dreadful affairs?”

“I’m infinitely older than my mother,” she said simply.

“Is that why you stayed? To protect her?” His eyes were shrewd.

“And all the time you thought I was raging back and forth. Into guys. Into parties. Into drugs.” She shot a mocking glance at the hard, handsome profile, which he caught.

“I saw your pals at the hotel.”

“What pals?” She blinked in confusion.

“The two who were anxious to get your address.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Oh, them! You get pleasure seeing me as an air head, don’t you?”

“I know perfectly well you’re not.” She had wit, intelligence, her own apparent strengths.

“Actually I was giving them some tourist destinations on the Barrier Reef. They’re Americans, heading that way.”

“They didn’t invite you?” Hell, he was going out of his way to taunt her.

“All right, they tried. It’s no big secret men are convinced blondes know how to enjoy life.”

“It sounds just about right to me.” He smiled, and it was like the proverbial ray of sunshine spreading radiance across his dark, daunting face.

“Didn’t you have a wild girlfriend at one time?” she countered, trying to fight the punch his smile delivered.

“I doubt it, Toni. Wild women aren’t my style.”

“Yet I seem to remember her. Hettie? Lettie? Tall, good-looking brunette, not shy about spouting off.”

“I think you mean Charlotte Reardon.” The silver-gray eyes sharpened.

“Yes, Lottie. Everyone said she was very fast.”

“What the hell are you up to, Toni?” He raised a brow.

“I just wanted to see if I could take the mickey out of you,” she joked.

“You’d better wait until you know me a little better.”

“I’ve known you all my life.” Not in this way, she thought. Not with all the flash and challenge.

“Not up close,” he told her, eyes narrowing. “Tell me why you really came home.”

As a question it was almost aggressive. “To be with Kerry, of course. To be one of Cate’s bridesmaids. I consider it an honour.”

“What will Zoe do without you?”

“Zoe has made her decision, Byrne. She’s going to marry Patrick. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

“But you’ve got a problem with it?” He glanced at her, trying to pierce her guard.

“Maybe. Zoe loves weddings. All the excitement and glamour. That wonderful feeling of magic in the air. She doesn’t give a lot of thought to after.”

“Then you can count it a miracle she stayed so long with your father.”

“I promise you she did love him,” Toni said out of her deep knowledge of her mother. “And there were the two of us.”

“A daughter thirteen. A son seventeen. Problematic ages, one would have thought.”

“Zoe wasn’t qualified to give advice.”

He glanced at her with a sympathy he couldn’t suppress. “Does she ever show regret?”

Toni rubbed a finger between her arched brows. “One can’t judge Zoe by normal standards. She doesn’t look on broken marriages as failures. More as a way of breaking out of a bad situation. I should warn you, she could bring Patrick when she arrives.”

“So long as she doesn’t bring Akbar.” Amusement showed in his light-struck eyes.

“All right, I was joking about Akbar.”

“Some joke.”

“You believed me?”

He shrugged. “It must have something to do with the fact you’re Zoe’s daughter.”

“A real flake.” That was the general impression before they came to know her.

“The sort of woman to drive men wild.”

It was difficult suddenly to breathe. “I missed out on that talent.”

“I’ve seen nothing to indicate- that so far,” he drawled. “In fact I’m wondering how we’re going to prevent you from upstaging Cate.”

Toni flushed with hurt. “That’s what I call a bit of out-and-out malice.”

“Not at all.” His silver eyes sparkled. “Some weddings I’ve been to the bridesmaid has upstaged the bride.”

“That shouldn’t happen.”

“But it is a problem. I suppose you know Cate has three little flower girls lined up, as well as her four bridesmaids?”

Toni smiled. “She always did say she wanted a large wedding. I know Sally and Tara, of course—” she referred to the Beresford cousins “—but I don’t think I’ve met Andrea.”

“Andrea Benton.”

“Doesn’t ring a bell.” She looked at him inquiringly.

“You’ve been out of the country awhile. Andrea’s father has been making the news for the past couple of years. Corporate takeovers, that kind of thing.”

“It doesn’t sound as if you like him.”

“I can promise you I like Andrea.” He let his gaze skim over her. Thinking, She doesn’t miss a thing.

“Should I read something significant into that?”

“You’re welcome to, if you like.” He smiled. “I don’t know that it means anything.”

“Just a friend of the family?” She shifted position so she could look at him. He was the most marvelous-looking man she had ever seen. Supremely self-assured, and it showed.

“Don’t press too hard, Toni,” he warned without sounding riled.

“Why, are you scared of matrimony?”

“That’s right, ma’am,” he drawled.

“Shame on you, Byrne. And you don’t like to get yourself into critical situations?”

“You’d better believe it.” He took his eyes off the control panel to stare at her. “There are no scandals in the Beresford family.”

“None whatsoever?” She couldn’t resist it. “Didn’t your granduncle have a mistress called Dolly?”

He laughed all of a sudden, and the laughter stayed in his eyes. “Lord, yes, I’d forgotten all about Dolly.”

“It’s what’s called selective memory. But I suppose if we stuck Dolly into the cupboard you’d have been a very worthy family. Maybe a bit starchy.” What the heck was she doing, being so irreverent?

“Okay, Antoinette, you’ve had your little bit of fun.”

“Only because you’re being pretty mean to me.”

He gave her a glance that spangled. “I’m sorry.”

She felt a kind of heat spread in her. “Okay, apology accepted. Anyway, I can’t talk. I have no immediate plans to get married, either. I’m a bit like you. I’m runnin’ scared.”

She hoped she might have tweaked his ego, but he laughed. “I guess I asked for that. Was it so bad moving in your mother’s circle?” he asked with surprising sympathy.

“Awkward.”

“If you needed money to come home, you only had to ask.”

“Do you honestly think I’d have approached you, Byrne?”

“You had Kerry.”

She paused, reflecting. “I don’t think Kerry and I will ever get back to what we were.”

“That’s nonsense!” He gave her a disapproving look. “He loves you.”

“He did when we were growing up. But somehow when I wanted to join Zoe he came to believe the Zoe side of me would triumph. It is scary the way I look like her. I even talk like her sometimes.” She smiled wryly. “Kerry never did identify with Zoe. He’s a Streeton through and through. In some ways, too, Kerry left Zoe out in the cold. He was very critical of her and her be-haviour from an early age. I think he felt shamed when Zoe flirted with every man in sight. He didn’t understand. Flirting is natural to her. She can’t stop it. After Zoe divorced Dad, Kerry. turned against her completely. I’m not defending Zoe for what she did, but I can see some things from her point of view.”

“Of course,” he conceded. “I would expect you to be loyal to your mother.”

She nodded, dappled sunshine playing over her hair and face. “There is a strong bond between us. The silver cord that can’t be severed. There’s nothing nasty about Zoe. She might astonish us all with the things she does, but she just has to do them. She’s like a woman caught in a fantasy world.”

“And you’re talking about going back?” He sounded amazed. “There’s nothing more you can do for her, surely? Obviously she gave you no guidance. Do you need her for all the little extras? I realise neither you nor Kerry got much out of your father’s estate except the property.”

“I can look after myself, Byrne.” She pressed her soft lips together.

“Doing what? You never did tell me.”

“I was always in demand tutoring English. I gained my degree.”

He looked at her in quick surprise. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“You can’t know everything, Byrne,” she said, not holding back on the sarcasm. “I’ve worked very hard.”

“Well, good for you.” His glance was full of approval. “I know you and Kerry did very well at school.”

“But you thought I was only enjoying myself?”

“Something like that,” he admitted dryly. Hell, they all had.

“Zoe didn’t want me to continue my studies. She thought, as a woman, I had no need of higher education, but I made my choice. I wasn’t going to bother Zoe with any demands for money.”

His eyes moved sharply to her face. “For the life of me I can’t figure out why. You were entitled. She got away with enough.” In fact, Zoe Streeton had taken her husband to the cleaners.

“I told you. Zoe made a few bad investments.” She didn’t say how bad they really were.

His handsome features tightened, but he remained silent.

“She hasn’t a head for business,” Toni said defensively. “Kerry didn’t write. And when I rang he sounded very remote.”

“That’s crazy,” he disagreed flatly. “All he wanted was for you to come home.”

“If he did, he never said so.” Toni had gotten the strong impression her brother preferred to cope alone. And then he had Cate.

Byrne’s scrutiny was intense, cutting through layers of her skin. “I’m not understanding this at all, Toni. Kerry was seriously concerned about you. He was under the impression you and your mother were leading a very giddy life.”

Toni shifted in her seat. Kerry hadn’t been wrong. It was an empty life Zoe had chosen for herself. A life involving self-indulgence, promiscuity, guile, suffering. A dreadful life, Toni thought, but she had tried very hard to protect Zoe and her interests while Zoe went around wondering aloud what was wrong with her daughter. It would have been funny, only the situations Zoe got herself into often landed her in trouble.

“All I can say is, I was there for my mother. What was I supposed to do, abandon her? I can’t renounce my responsibilities as her daughter. As I see it, it’s two-way traffic. She’s Kerry’s mother, as well, I might point out.”

His handsome features were thoughtful. “I should warn you he doesn’t want her at the wedding.”

“She’s coming anyway. It’s important to her.”

“Is she still as beautiful as ever?” he asked, getting a clear picture of Zoe with the prettiest little girl he had ever seen in her arms.

“Sometimes I think her beauty is indestructible.” Toni’s smile was soft. “She’s forty-seven but she looks thirty-five. She has wonderful skin.”

“Which you’ve inherited.” His eyes brushed her, triggering that telltale warmth.

“That part I like.”

They were quiet for a while, each seemingly lost in thought. He was such a competent, experienced pilot it was like riding a luxury limousine in the sky. Eventually he spoke. “I’ll be putting down on Nowra, as arranged. You’ll want time with Kerry to settle in. But we’re hoping you’ll both come to us for the weekend. My mother thought she’d throw a little party to welcome you back. We’ll be having a few houseguests, as well.”

“How very kind of her.” Toni was a little wary. “But I really don’t need a party, Byrne.”

“You’re dam well going to get it,” he drawled. “You’ll need to try on your gown. See if it’s just right.”

“I’m sure it will be lovely.”

He gave her a glance that, had she been standing, would have made her legs buckle. “In your case, an understatement. The gowns are in one of the upstairs rooms swathed in muslin, outrageously expensive.”

“Bridesmaids usually pay for their own gowns.”

“Who would put such a cost on you? No, it’s going to be Cate’s perfect day, and I’m delighted to make sure it will happen. I’m also delighted she’s marrying Kerry. Apart from the fact he loves her so much, our families have always been close. He’s a fine young man. Rock solid.”

“You’re making him sound the least bit dull,” Toni protested.

“He is a trifle earnest at the moment. Nothing Cate won’t put straight. Kerry’s had it hard. He felt his mother betrayed you all. He’s missing his father. Both as a parent and Nowra’s boss. Kerry’s young to take on so much responsibility.”

“No younger than you were when your father was killed,” she pointed out.

He frowned as if at some remembrance. “My father put me into training at a very early age. I knew what was ahead of me. I knew my obligations. I was mature enough.”

“And tough. Unless Kerry has changed a good deal he was never tough. He’s more sensitive than anyone knows, except Cate.”

“Well, Cate’s taking him on now.” He smiled at her, a smile that left her shaken. “They’ll be together for the rest of their lives. Kerry is now family.”

“And he can turn to you when he wants help?” she said quietly.

“I very much hope so. He comes to me now, as it happens.”

“I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful brother-in-law.” Toni couldn’t keep the irony from her tone.

“That help applies to you, too.”

“I’m not asking for it, Byrne,” she said with edgy defiance.

“No, you’re not, but it’s there all the same.”

CHAPTER TWO

THE farther west they flew the more emotional she became. She was home. Really home. She loved Paris with all its wonderful buildings, its bridges, the trees, the restaurants, galleries, museums, the fashion houses, the effortlessly chic women, the charming men, the whole atmosphere that made Paris the most beautiful and evocative city on earth, but this was something else again. Unique.

This was Australia, the great island continent of eight million square kilometres with vast areas of precious wilderness changed little in thousands of years. Here in a land separated for so long from the rest of a war-torn world, peace, freedom and a wonderful sense of the wide-open spaces were inherent in the landscape, in the people. They had passed over sheep country. Now they were heading into the southwest, the fabled home of the cattle kings, descendants of the pioneering fathers, hugely brave and enterprising men who had left their safe, settled homes in the British Isles to make their own fortunes and found their own dynasties.

Like the Beresfords.

It wasn’t until after the first World War, in which he had served, that her own great-grandfather took up his huge section. The Beresfords had arrived some sixty years before, every last one of them, despite family tragedies, with the Midas touch. It was the Beresfords who had diversified early, shoring up wealth against the hard times on the land. Where others had gone under despite the fact Australia was the biggest beef exporter in the world, the Beresfords had managed to ride out the storms. Toni knew their portfolio of interests was large. They also did a lucrative trade in polo ponies as the sport gained huge popularity.

Byrne’s voice brought her out of her reverie. “How’s it going?” he asked, aware of the intensity of her feelings.

She turned her head toward him, her eyes a deep hyacinth. “I love it all so much, the wilderness.”

“It’s where you were born. It’s where you come from. Didn’t you ever find even Paris just that bit claustrophobic?”

“On occasions, yes,” she admitted. “The noise used to get to me. But the thing I really missed was the smell of the bush, that characteristic scent from all the oils in the leaves and the stems of the eucalypts. I even burned a pile of eucalypt leaves once so I could inhale the fragrance of home.”

He glanced at her. “Hard to believe then you’re going back to Europe.”

“Zoe is expecting me. She relies on me for lots of things.” She looked at her linked hands.

“What is she, a child?”

The answer to that was yes. “What is there for me here?” she countered. “I may have a half share in Nowra, but I can’t live there. Cate will be mistress of Nowra.”

“Which puts you in an unfair position,” he commented. “The station wouldn’t be returning all that much at this time. You’ve never approached Kerry for your share?”

“Good-Lord, no. Nowra is Kerry’s life. He loves it with a passion. How could I possibly ask him to sell out our heritage?”

“He couldn’t do it now,” Byrne warned. “But it could be done.”

“Despite your earlier offer, I can’t accept any help from you, Byrne,” she said swiftly.

“You could have softened that a little.”

“You don’t pull any punches.”

“Perhaps not. But what I meant was, and this could be discussed with Kerry, he could take out a loan.”

“And you’d be guarantor?”

“It’s an idea.”

“Certainly. It’s also quite possible you want me out of Nowra altogether.”

He swung his handsome head. “Hang on, now,” he said crisply. “I was thinking of you.”

She thought about it a moment, reasoned it could be true. “Then I apologise. But the issue has to be faced. Nowra will be Kerry’s and Cate’s home. They’ll have an heir who will want to continue the family tradition. The fact I own half of Nowra complicates matters.”

“It does a little,” he conceded.

“So it’s just as I thought.”

“Have it your own way, Toni. You will. I can see it in your eyes.”

There was a brisk crosswind blowing when they touched down at Nowra. Despite that, they made a textbook landing. Kerry was waiting for them outside the silver hangar, waving at them, looking so utterly dear, Toni burst into tears.

“So you’ve missed him more than you think?” Byrne murmured, touched by her lovely tear-tracked face.

“Of course I have.” Her voice was shaky as she fought to level it. “This is my brother. My dearest friend.”

He saw it in her eyes.

As soon as her feet touched the ground Kerry was there, throwing out his arms, swinging her off her feet and hugging her tight. “Toni, Toni, it’s so good to see you.” He held her away from him. “You’ve grown even more beautiful.”

“So have you,” she said, and laughed shakily. “You’re so much like Dad. It’s wonderful to be home. To see you at long last. I’ve missed you terribly.”

“Then that makes two of us, poppet.” He used his childhood name for her, holding her around the waist while he turned to Byrne. “Thanks so much, Byrne, for bringing Toni home. I’m very grateful.”

Byrne shrugged it off. “It’s been a pleasure. I enjoyed it.”

Toni turned a radiant face to him, catching a long windblown skein of hair. “You’ll stay and have a cup of coffee, won’t you, Byrne?”

“I’d like to,” he said lightly, surprising himself by gently brushing the skein from her damp cheeks, “but I have a client flying in this afternoon. He wants to pick out a couple of polo ponies.”

“Well, he’s dealing with the best,” Kerry affirmed. “Everything set for the weekend?” He glanced from one to the other.

“Sure.” Byrne was relaxed. “I’ve spoken to Toni. There should be about twenty people in all, excluding family, which means you two. Nothing Toni can’t handle. She’s amazingly poised and chic.”

“She looks like one of those super models. The blonde,” Kerry said with a grin, his eyes moving over his sister’s slender figure. She was wearing a summery pink shirt and hipster pink jeans with a very fancy belt, and she looked terrific. “And she’s gone and got herself an accent. I don’t know how that’s going to go down with the locals.”

“A few weeks home and it’ll flatten out,” Toni promised. “I’ll call your mother to thank her, Byrne.”

He nodded, inclined his dark head. “She’ll be pleased.”

Toni wasn’t remotely fooled by that. Sonia Beresford had never approved of Zoe. Indeed, she had on several occasions yielded to the temptation to say so. Toni was uncomfortably aware most people believed she had followed in her mother’s footsteps. A case of blurred identity. Unfair, but a fact. She had her whole life in front of her. She intended to make a success of it, not leave a lot of damaged people in her wake.

. They had afternoon tea on the wide, cool veranda that looked out on the infinite rolling plains. Station horses grazed in a home paddock, a brilliant sun flashed off distant windmills, and a wedge-tail eagle soared buoyantly over the house, its great wings outstretched. It was almost like she had never been away. Nowra homestead wasn’t a grand colonial mansion like the Beresfords’ Castle Hill, but it was a very agreeable house indeed, with an English formality in the layout of the rooms. Two-storeyed, it was built of local stone bleached a lovely soft cream from the sun. The shutters on the top storey, the French doors on the veranda, the wooden bracketing valances and the railings were painted a pristine white. It was charming, the long three-mile drive lined with wonderful towering gums. The interior, however, was desperately in need of refurbishing. For all her skills at twisting their father around her little finger, Zoe had never been able to do much to change the decoration, essentially unchanged from their great-grandfather’s day. The heaviness, the dimness and the massive pieces of Victorian furniture remained. Toni would have dearly loved to do the refurbishing herself. She had come to realise she had a fine hand with decorating, but that was out of the question. Although she had an equal share in Nowra Station, it would be Cate’s home, and Cate would be a great deal more successful in effecting alterations than Zoe had been. Moreover, Cate came with a huge dowry, a definite asset if one wanted to transform what by today’s standards was a very large house.

What exactly is mine? Toni wondered, mulling over her conversation with Byrne. The station was only breaking even. There was little ready cash. Unlike Cate, she wasn’t an heiress, though her share of Nowra if she sold out would make her secure.

“You look so serious, poppet. What are you thinking about?” Kerry folded his hands behind his head.

Toni smiled, her face soft with affection. “I’m thinking it feels like I’ve never been away.”

He glanced across the garden, stripped back to low maintenance. “Why did you never come home, Toni?” he asked, old suffering in his eyes. “I’ve asked myself that question every day. I missed you so much. It was terrible without Dad. He needn’t have died. Septicemia. God! I told him about that gash, but he didn’t seem to think it was serious. Byrne got him into hospital. Flew him there himself, but Dad’s resistance was low—” He broke off, distressed. A tall, handsome young man, an all-over golden brown—hair, eyes, skin.

“Don’t, Kerry,” she begged. “I know how it was.”

“You can’t, Toni. You weren’t here.”

“For which I’ll always mourn. I was a victim of circumstance. So was Zoe. We never wanted the terrible mix-ups to happen.”

“Then why did she drop the name Streeton, for God’s sake?” he asked.

Toni closed her eyes, trying to contain an unwarranted sense of guilt. “It was all meant to be, Kerry.” She sighed fatalistically. “Zoe had started a new life. She’s into playacting. You know that. When the police finally worked out exactly who she was and where, it was all too late. She was shocked out of her mind. Overcome by remorse. She couldn’t even get her courage up to tell me for days. The funeral was over. She reasoned there was nothing we could do.”

“God!” Kerry rose abruptly and went to the balustrade, staring into infinity. “Isn’t that typical Zoe. She never could make the right decision.”

“She tries hard to, Kerry, but she never learned how.”

“You should have come home.”

“I’m so sorry,” Toni answered quietly.

“There’s more to this, isn’t there?” He turned to confront her. “You’re always protecting Zoe. You did when you were only a little girl and someone said something about her. She doesn’t deserve all this devotion, Toni.”

“Yes, she does.” Toni felt her eyes sting with tears. “She’s my mother. She’s a child. She’ll never be finished with growing up. For a time she went off the deep end. She was distraught. It was almost as though she had killed Dad herself.”

“Well, didn’t she?” Kerry nearly choked with tears.

“She didn’t understand that, Kerry, when she walked out on him.”

“Us.”

“I know it’s hard. Zoe didn’t love any of us in the way we wanted. It’s a fact of life, and it has to be accepted. On the other hand, she can’t bear to be on her own. She told me she’d kill herself if I went off and left her.”

Kerry stared at her, looking incredulous. “Zoe wouldn’t kill herself for anything. Unless she lost her looks or her money. Our money. She bled Dad dry. Fancy getting paid for adultery.”

Toni went pale at his deep core of anger.

“Did you believe she was serious?” Kerry asked.

“It wasn’t any suicide trial, Kerry. She landed herself in the hospital. A couple more pills would have swung it.”

For moments he didn’t answer. Then with a haunted look, Kerry crossed to his sister, went down on his haunches, held her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Defending Zoe is a habit,” she said simply. “It was a side of Zoe I didn’t want you to know about. She’s like a snappy little sports car without a brake. I was the brake.”

“That I believe.” Kerry’s voice was thin and strained. “It would have upset me, too. I hope I don’t have a child like that. It must be in our genes.”

“I pray Zoe is a one-off,” Toni answered soberly. “I know I attract a lot of flack because of her. From your prospective brother-in-law, for one.”

“Byrne?” Kerry’s eyebrows shot up. “I wouldn’t think Byrne would want to hurt you or give you a bad time. He’s not like that.”

“He doesn’t think much of Zoe,” she said wryly.

“No one thinks much of Zoe, poppet, and that’s a sad fact. I was so worried she’d try to change you. Turn you into some frivolous doll. I remember how she always wanted to dress you like one, and you hated it. When you didn’t come back, we all thought she’d won you over. You were only a kid when you left.”

“I grew up quick.” Toni looked back on the years with a kind of disbelief.

“Is she really coming home for the wedding or was that a lot of hot air?” Kerry asked.

“In as much as anyone can count on Zoe, the answer’s yes.”

“You haven’t fallen in love yet?”

“One mildly passionate affair.”

“So what happened?”

“He got too possessive. I don’t like that. Besides, I’m not ready to settle down for a long, long time. When I marry I want it to be forever. Like you and Cate. I’m so thrilled for you, Kerry. It must be wonderful to meet that one special person who makes up your other half.”

“That’s the way it’s always been with us,” Kerry said, a deep contentment in his voice. “I’ve always loved Cate. Even when we were kids. She feels the same way about me. We’ve always been sure of our feelings.”

“Lucky you.” Toni felt a lump in her throat. “And it’s going to be a great big wedding.”

“The wedding of the year.” He smiled. “It’s not every day a Beresford marries.”

“And a Streeton. Don’t let’s forget that,” she said briskly.

“You’re going to make a gorgeous bridesmaid.” Kerry spoke with pride. “In fact, you’re going to put Andrea Benton’s nose out of joint.”

“Why’s that?” Toni felt uneasy.

“Don’t you know?”

“Nope.”

“She’s got her sights set on. Byrne.” Kerry put his cup down and leaned forward confidentially.

“Really? She’s a brave woman, indeed, to set her sights so high.”

“Mad about him,” Kerry told her, nodding owlishly.

“I thought every woman around was mad about him.”

“True, but then Byrne has very exacting standards.”

“Of course. I’m not that stupid I forgot.”

“Had quite a crush on him one time, didn’t you?” Kerry teased.

“You speak one word about it and I’ll kill you,” Toni threatened, spoiling it with a sweet, easy smile.

“My lips are sealed,” Kerry said in a cheery voice. “I wish you’d stay, Toni.”

Toni hesitated, shook her head. “Impossible, kiddo. Two’s company, three’s a crowd.”

“I need you,” he said quietly. “I love Catherine, but I need my sister, too. My own blood.”

“Understandable.” She felt warmed. “We don’t really have anyone, do we? The Beresfords have a whole army of relatives.”

“Which reminds me. Joel’s quite mad to see you again.”

“Good Lord, why?” Toni was disconcerted.

“You can’t be serious?” Kerry stared at her, trying not to laugh. Toni never did have any vanity about her looks. Neither did their mother, for that matter.

“Indeed I am. Joel was only a kid when I left. We always got on, but there was no great rapport, like you and Cate.”

“The thing is, you’re all grown up now. So’s he.”

“This has nothing to do with matchmaking, has it?” she challenged him, astonished.

Kerry thought. “Something has to keep you home,” he said finally.

Toni looked at her brother directly, holding his eyes. “I’m not ready for marriage, Kerry. Much less to a Beresford.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I wouldn’t care to have to dance to Byrne’s tune,” she said, with a slight flush. “He has a lot of power and influence over his entire family.”

“So? He’s the best guy in the world, Toni. I know he can be pretty formidable at times. Believe me, he has to be, but you couldn’t ask for a better friend and supporter.

Toni shook her head ruefully. “You haven’t had to ask him for money, have you? I know times have been tough.”

Kerry sighed. “Mostly he gives advice. I have Jock, Drew and the boys to help me. They’re good cattlemen, and they’ve been with us forever, but they don’t have Byrne’s experience or business expertise.”

“So he did loan you money?”

“He’s helped out, yes.”

“To the tune of what?”

“A hundred thousand or so,” Kerry said, as casually as he could. “A drop in the ocean, really. He’ll get it back. Unlike us, the Beresfords don’t rely solely on the beef chain. They’re into everything. Byrne’s positively brilliant when it comes to making money. He’s way ahead of the field.”

“I daresay, and it’s not at all unusual. They seem to pass the talent along, but it puts us under an obligation to him, doesn’t it?”

“Toni, you heard him yourself. We’re family.”

“You’re family. I’m not. I’ve been given the role of outsider. I suppose, as you’re getting married, we should talk about our affairs,” she said simply.

“You don’t want me to pay you out, do you, Toni?” Kerry looked worried. “I understand the funny position you’re in, but right now it’s out of the question.”

“No, that’s not it at all.” Toni shook her head. “But I’m thinking the Beresfords have a way of taking over. Byrne has already touched on the subject.”

“In what way?” The look of anxiety remained in Kerry’s eyes.

“Maybe you’d prefer to discuss it with him yourself. He suggested it, as a matter of fact.”

“No. You tell me.”

Toni studied her brother’s face. “He was thinking it might be possible for you to get a loan.”

Kerry reacted swiftly. “Not the kind of money you’re entitled to. Not unless I had—”

“A guarantor?”

“Aha!” Kerry looked at his strong hands.

“Byrne would want his sister to be sole mistress of Nowra. You do see that?”

Kerry shifted in his chair. “Cate’s never said anything.”

“I imagine she has plans to refurbish the house,” Toni said reasonably.

“I’m not marrying her for her money.” Kerry brushed back his thick curly hair.

“Good Lord, you don’t have to tell me that. I’m only saying that Cate is a very confident person. She’s coming from a very secure place. She’ll want to run her own home.”

“I do know she wants to make certain changes,” Kerry admitted.

“That’s okay by me. It could only be for the better. I know you like familiar things around you, Kerry—you’re a lot like Dad—but the house will be lovely lightened up. I never did go along with all the Victoriana. Neither did Zoe.”

“She couldn’t change Dad there,” Kerry said almost with satisfaction.

“I hope you’re not thinking of putting a brake on Cate,” Toni warned.

“She wouldn’t let me.” He looked at her and grinned. “I make no bones about it. Cate’s the boss.”

Which was probably true, Toni thought. Cate was a strong, positive individual who liked to take charge.-It was part of her attraction for Kerry. As he turned away from his mother, he reached out for a strong female figure. One who valued hard work, loyalty, love- Cate was a mother figure in a disguised form. Even as a girl she had been a very capable person, springing instantly to Kerry’s defense on any occasion even if he was only mildly under attack. There were four years between her and her brother. She and Cate had never been close, but there had never been the slightest friction between them. Cate had asked her to be her chief bridesmaid, but Toni had the feeling Sonia Beresford wouldn’t have wanted to go along with that idea. Probably not Byrne, either. He had all but told her her defection to Zoe had reduced her standing in everyone’s eyes.

Byrne picked them up in the Castle Hill helicopter at nine-thirty sharp Saturday morning. Kerry was all smiles at the prospect of spending the weekend with his beloved, but Toni, despite her varied and sometimes downright distressing experiences over the past years, felt a flutter of nerves. Arriving at Castle Hill wasn’t exactly like flying into the lion’s den, but she couldn’t help feeling she’d be under the microscope. A polo match, a final between amateur teams from all over the Outback, was due to start at three.

“Two matches even,” Kerry told her, a proud member of Byrne’s team, which comprised the two Beresford brothers, Kerry and Sandy Donaldson, a big-shot player from Emu Downs, a sheep and cattle property in Central Queensland.

“It’ll be a great game, Toni,” Kerry promised. “Plenty of drama with Byrne on the field.”

“Just so long as you don’t come a cropper.” Byrne gave him a lazy smile. “You have to walk down the aisle in a month’s time.”

“I know how to hold my own.” Kerry grinned. “You’re the player. Hell, you won our first match at a canter.”

“The supreme man’s man!” Toni widened her eyes in mock admiration.

Once they were airborne, Toni saw the infinite blue sky without a single speck of cloud stretched from horizon to horizon. She felt her heart racing as she looked. Castle Hill was the flagship of the Beresford chain. It had been built up and enlarged with steely determination from generation to generation, its history a larger-than-life saga that really needed recording. It was full of high drama, of danger and tragedy, of drought and flood and one terrible fire in the early 1920s when an entire wing of the homestead had been destroyed and a Beresford son had lost his life. The station took its name from a monolithic sandstone hill that towered behind the homestead and that resembled an ancient ruined castle. There were many of these extraordinary castle-like formations scattered throughout the Outback, but Castle Hill, or Korrunda Koorun, as the aborigines called it, was one of the most spectacular. Over the years Toni had seen it in all its manifestations. Glowing fiercely against the cobalt sky, larkspur at dawn and at dusk, impossible to describe at sunset when it flashed gold and rose, ominous when the great electrical storms blew and it glinted silver, lurid green and black. The aborigines looked on Korrunda Koorun as a sacred site, spirit-haunted, not fantasy but closely associated with many a scary tale family and staff kept locked away in their hearts. Usually Castle Hill was benign, a truly wonderful natural feature to be admired, but all of them had felt its occasional menace.

Today it looked spectacular, standing like a great fortress with the homestead at its feet. Byrne landed them on the front lawn of the grand colonial set so incongruously in a million wild acres, but for all the grandness of the mansion, it was the unique setting that filled the visitor with the greatest shock of excitement.

“That’s not your hand trembling, is it?” Byrne asked as he helped her descend onto the ground.

“Don’t tease.” Nervous, she forced herself to speak lightly.

“What are you afraid of?” His vibrant voice was surprisingly gentle.

“You might eat me for dinner.”

“I’d be more interested in kissing you.”

That brought her head up. She stared at him, finding lights flickering in his brilliant eyes. “Don’t endanger yourself doing it,” she warned.

“I can take care of myself, Antoinette.” He brought his gaze deliberately to her soft, luscious mouth.

“Ah, the optimism of the confirmed bachelor.” Toni was grateful the breeze was cooling her cheeks.

“Really. I can get married any time I like.”

“Lord knows, you’re entitled,” she managed to say, smooth as honey. “I almost feel sorry I’m not available.”

“I’m not a baby snatcher, either.”

“Byrne Beresford, I’m way over the legal age.” Her violet eyes glowed.

He brought up his hand and mussed her shining hair a little. “To me you’re a minor.”

“Could it be you feel threatened?” Suddenly she was enjoying herself, caught between the need for control and going off like a rocket.

“Distracted, maybe.” Byrne’s silver eyes sparkled like coins in the sunlight.

“Well, I figure that’s good enough.”

He threw a glance over her shoulder, and Toni turned. Two women were coming down the steps, the older with some regality as befitted the mistress of Castle Hill, the younger, tall, slim, dark-haired, at an excited rush.

“Front up, young Streeton,” Byrne drawled.

Cate went into her fiancé’s, waiting arms, turning to beam radiantly at his sister. “Toni, how lovely to see you. You’ve grown every bit as beautiful as Byrne said. Welcome home.”

Toni moved spontaneously so they could exchange a kiss. “I’m thrilled to be home, Cate. Thank you so much for wanting me as your bridesmaid. I’m honoured.”

“How could I not have you?” Cate exclaimed. “We’ll be sisters in a month’s time. I’ve always wanted a sister.”

“Antoinette, my dear.” Sonia Beresford had reached them, a handsome, forceful woman of well above aver age height with dark gray eyes, a thick sweep of near black hair and a manner that suggested she never, but never lost her cool.

“Mrs. Beresford.”

Toni was hugged lightly. “Welcome home, my dear. I hope you’re not going to go off and leave us again?”

“My plans are a little unsettled at the moment, Mrs. Beresford,” Toni said, keeping her mouth curved in a smile. “I’m so thrilled and excited about the wedding.”

“We all are, my dear. Our two families united.” Sonia Beresford looked with pride at her son, then turned her patrician head to Kerry. “And how are you, my dear?”

“Fine, Sonia.” A white smile lit Kerry’s attractive face. “It’s wonderful having Toni back. We talked into the small hours and we still haven’t talked ourselves out.”

“So much to catch up on, dear.”

“Take the bags to the veranda, would you, Pike?” Byrne spoke to an approaching houseman. Giving orders was a Beresford way of life, Toni thought.

“Well, don’t let’s stand here in the hot sun. Come into the house,” Sonia said in her smooth contralto.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” Byrne said, sketching a brief salute.

“You’ll be back in time for lunch, won’t you, darling?” his mother asked a little anxiously.

“Sure. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he answered, and gave Toni a final sizzling glance.

“Notice any changes?” Sonia asked as they walked to the house.

“It looks perfect, as always,” Toni said. “That magnificent white creeper is new.” She looked toward the lofty exterior of the two-storeyed building, a central core flanked by two large wings set to form a semicircle. The stone pillars of the ground floor formed a magnificent colonnade that was festooned with a luxuriant creeper bearing masses of pure white trumpet flowers.

“I got very tired of the bougainvillea,” Sonia explained. “It made a wonderful display but it was hard to control. The moon flower has been in for about three years. It’s just perfect for the wedding. It flowers right through spring and summer.”

Inside the house Toni could see at a glance it had been refurbished on the grand scale for the coming wedding. Her partial view of the drawing room revealed the walls had been hung with a beautiful new paper in glowing yellow that went splendidly with the gold frames of the mirrors and paintings and the gold cornices that set off the white-plastered ceiling and the gold and white bookcases. It looked lovely and light and airy, yellow taffeta curtains at the long line of French doors.

Sonia caught her looking. “Plenty of time to go over the house, dear. It needed a little decorating, and now was the perfect time to do it. Let me show you to your room. You’ll want to settle in.”

They walked up the spectacular central staircase, possibly the most striking feature of the house, to the landing that divided to lead to the upper floor and the richly adorned gallery flooded with light from the glass dome above. The suite of bedrooms was off the gallery, and Sonia gestured toward the west wing. Like the entrance hall and the drawing room, the gallery had been repainted, its elaborate plasterwork continuing the yellow, white and gold theme. It looked remarkably beautiful and graceful, and it would have cost the earth.

Sonia waved a vaguely apologetic hand.

“Even Byrne had to question all the money that was being spent. But it’s not every day one’s only daughter gets married. And from home. I’m so thrilled about that. You’re down this way, my dear. You’ll have a lovely view of the walled garden.”

Sonia paused outside an open doorway and stood back for Toni to precede her. The room was lovely, decorated in French pieces, including the antique bed, the colour scheme pink and white. She had never in her life stayed at the homestead, although her parents had on many occasions for balls, parties and the like.

“Like it?” Sonia smiled at Toni’s transparent expression.

“It’s a beautiful room, Mrs. Beresford. Enchanting.”

“And it’s yours for the wedding.” Sonia walked to an arrangement of pink roses on the small writing desk and tweaked at a stray flower. “Really, I had a marvellous time doing everything up. I can only hope when Byrne makes his mother happy and chooses a bride she shares my tastes.”

“I love everything I’ve seen.” Toni smiled, walking to the open French doors and looking over the walled section of the garden. “You’re a wonderful gardener, as well.”

“These days, dear, I only do the planning,” Sonia said. “I don’t like to talk about it, but I’ve developed arthritis in my hands. Just like my dear mother. I’m not having the lawns mown until the day before the wedding. I want them to stay green. We use bore water, of course, and we were very fortunate with the winter rains. A miracle, really, after so many daunting years. The long-range forecast is for heavy rain over tropical Queensland about Christmas, so we’ll eventually get the floodwaters.”

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