He was listening, watching her.
“I would never do anything in the world to hurt you, but this just…just happened.”
More silence.
“Please understand.”
“Yeah.” A wintry smile crossed his face. “I guess I have no choice, have I? What’s done is done. It was just kind of a shock to read about it in the newspapers and see it on television. I thought we were closer man that.”
“You’re right,” Lara said again. “I should have told you.”
His hand reached out and caressed her chin. “I was crazy about you, Lara. I guess I still am. You were my miracolo. I could have given you anything in the world you wanted except what he could give you—a wedding ring. I love you enough to want you to be happy.”
Lara felt a wave of relief sweep through her. “Thank you, Paul.”
“When am I going to meet your husband?”
“We’re giving a party next week for our friends. Will you come?”
“I’ll be there. You tell him that he had better treat you right, or he’ll have to answer to me.”
Lara smiled. “I’ll tell him.”
When Lara returned to her office, Howard Keller was waiting for her. “How did the luncheon go?” he asked nervously.
“Fine. You were wrong about Paul. He behaved beauti fully.”
“Good. I’m glad I was wrong. Tomorrow morning I’ve set up some meetings for you with…”
“Cancel them,” Lara said. “I’m staying home with my husband tomorrow. We’re honeymooning for the next few days.”
“I’m glad you’re so happy,” Howard said.
“Howard, I’m so happy it scares me. I’m afraid that I’ll wake up and find this is all a dream. I never knew anyone could be this happy.”
He smiled. “All right, I’ll handle the meetings.”
“Thank you.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Philip and I are giving a party next week. We expect you there.”
The party took place the following Saturday at the pent house. There was a lavish buffet and more than a hundred guests. Lara had invited the men and women she worked with: bankers, builders, architects, construction chiefs, city officials, the city planners, and the heads of unions. Philip had invited his musician friends and music patrons and bene factors. The combination proved to be disastrous.
It wasn’t that the two groups did not try to mix. The problem was that most of them had nothing in common. The builders were interested in construction and architecture, and the musicians were interested in music and composers.
Lara introduced a city planner to a group of musicians. The commissioner stood there, trying to follow the discussion.
“Do you know what Rossini felt about Wagner’s music? One day he sat his ass on the piano keys and said, ‘That’s what Wagner sounds like to me.’ ”
“Wagner deserved it. When a fire broke out at the Ring Theater in Vienna during a performance of Tales of Hoff mann, four hundred people burned to death. When Wagner heard about it, he said, ‘That’s what they get for listening to an Offenbach operetta.’ ”
The commissioner hastily moved on.
Lara introduced some of Philip’s friends to a group of real estate men.
“The problem,” one of the men said, “is that you need thirty-five percent of the tenants signed up before you can go co-op.”
“If you want my opinion, that’s a pretty stupid rule.”
“I agree. I’m switching to hotels. Do you know the hotels in Manhattan now are averaging two hundred dollars a room per night? Next year…”
The musicians moved on.
Conversations seemed to be going on in two different lan guages.
“The trouble with the Viennese is that they love dead composers.…”
“There’s a new hotel going up on two parcels, between Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth streets. Chase Manhattan is financing it… ”
“He might not be the greatest conductor in the world, but his stick technique is genau.…”
“…I remember a lot of the mavens said that the 1929 stock market crash wasn’t a bad thing. It would teach people to put their money in real estate.…”
“…and Horowitz wouldn’t play for years because he thought his fingers were made of glass…”
“…I’ve seen the plans. There’s going to be a classic base rising from three floors from Eighth Avenue, and inside an elliptical arcade with lobbies on three sides.…”