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“What will you drink, Halt?”
“Scotch on the rocks.”
“Scotch on the rocks for the Director and an orange juice for me. I’m watching my weight.”
Doesn’t she know orange juice is the last thing to drink if you’re dieting?
“How are the votes stacking up, Madam?”
“Well, the numbers are forty-eight for and forty-seven against at the moment, but it’s got to go through on the tenth or I’ll have to forget the whole thing until the next session. That’s my biggest worry at the moment, what with my European tour and the New Hampshire primary less than a year off. I would have to drop the bill until I was re-elected and I can’t afford it to be the main election issue. I want it out of the way and seen to be working before then.”
“Then let’s hope it passes on the tenth, because it would certainly make my job easier, Madam President.”
“Marian’s too. Another drink, Halt?”
“No, thank you, Madam.”
“Shall we go in to dinner?”
The President led her five guests into the dining-room. The wallpaper in the room depicted scenes from the American Revolution. It was furnished in the Federal style of the early nineteenth century.
I never get bored with the beauty of the White House.
The Director gazed at the plaster-composition mantel designed by Robert Welford of Philadelphia in 1815. It bore the famous report of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry after the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812: “We have met the enemy, and they are ours.”
“Five thousand people passed through this building today,” H. Stuart Knight was saying. “Nobody really grasps the security problems. This building may be the home of the President, but it still belongs to the people and that makes one continuous democratic headache.”
If he knew everything …
The President sat at the head of the table, the Attorney General at the other end, Bayh and Thornton on one side, the Director and Knight on the other. The first course was avocado with prawns.
I always get sick when I eat prawns.
“It’s good to see my law officers together,” said the President. “I want to take this opportunity to discuss the Gun Control bill, which I remain determined will pass on 10 March. That’s why I invited Birch and Marvin here tonight, because their support will influence the fate of this bill.”
10 March again. Perhaps Cassius has to keep to a deadline. Seem to remember Thornton being firmly against this bill, and he’s on Andrews’ list of seven.
“The rural states are going to be a problem, Madam President,” Marian Edelman was saying. “They won’t be willing to hand over their guns all that readily.”
“A long amnesty period, say about six months, might be the answer,” the Director offered. “So the law remains unaffected for a statutory period. It’s what always happens after a war. And the public relations boys can keep announcing that hundreds of weapons have been handed in to local police stations.”
“Good thinking, Halt,” said the President.
“It’s going to be a hell of an operation,” said the Attorney General, “with seven million members of the National Rifle Association and probably fifty million firearms in America.”
No one disagreed with that conclusion.
The second course arrived.
Dover sole. Obviously the President is serious about her diet.
“Coffee or brandy, sir?”
“Don’t let’s bother,” said Elizabeth, touching Mark’s hand gently. “Let’s have it at home.”
“Nice idea.”
He smiled into her eyes and tried to guess what was going on in her mind …
“No, thank you. Just the check.”
The waiter scurried away obediently.
They always scurry away obediently when you ask for the check. She hasn’t let go of my hand.
“A delicious meal, Mark. Thank you very much.”
“Yes, we must come here again sometime.”
The check arrived. Mark glanced at it in rueful bemusement.
$87.20, plus tax. If you can understand how a restaurant gets to its final figure you deserve to be Secretary of the Treasury. Hand over the American Express Card. The little piece of blue paper comes back to sign. Make it up to $100.00 and forget it until the envelope marked American Express arrives in the mail.
“Good night, Mr. Andrews.” Much bowing and scraping. “I hope we will see you and Mademoiselle again soon.”
“Yes, indeed.”
You’ll need a very good memory to recognize me next time I come. Open car door for Elizabeth. Will I do this when we’re married? Christ, I’m thinking about marriage.
“I think I must have eaten too much. I’m rather sleepy.”
Now what does that mean? You could take that about twenty different ways.
“Oh, really, I feel ready for anything.”
A bit clumsy, maybe. Look for parking space again. Good. There’s one right in front of the house and no Volkswagen to stop me grabbing it. Open car door for Elizabeth. She fumbles with front door keys. Into kitchen. Kettle on.
“What a nice kitchen.”
Silly remark.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Equally silly.
Into living room.
Good, there are the roses.
“Hello, Samantha. Come and meet Mark.”
Christ Almighty, she has a roommate.
Samantha rubbed up against Mark’s leg and purred.
Relief. Samantha is Siamese, not American.
“Where shall I sit?”
“Anywhere.”
She’s no help at all.
“Black or with cream, darling?”
“Darling.” The odds must be better than 50-50.
“Black, please, with one sugar.”
“Amuse yourself till the water boils. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
“More coffee, Halt?”
“No thank you, Madam, I have to be getting home, if you’ll excuse me.”
“I’ll walk you to the door. There are one or two things I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Yes, of course, Madam President.”
The Marines at the West Entrance came to attention. A man in a dinner jacket hovered in the shadows behind the pillars.
“I’ll need your backing a hundred percen
t for this Gun Control bill, Halt. The committee is bound to be pushing for your views. And although the numbers are just with us on the floor of the House, I don’t want any last-minute hiccups; I’m running out of time.”
“I’ll be with you, Madam. I’ve wanted it ever since the death of John F. Kennedy.”
“Have you any particular worries about it, Halt?”
“No, Madam. You deal with the politics and sign the bill, and I’ll see that the law is enforced.”
“Any advice, perhaps?”
“No, I don’t think so …”
Beware the ides of March.
“ … although it’s always puzzled me, Madam President, why in the end you left the bill this late. If something goes wrong on 10 March and if you were to lose next year’s election, we would all be back at square one.”
“I know, Halt, but I had to decide between my Medicare bill, which was a controversial enough way to start an administration, and pushing a Gun Control bill through at the same time; I might have ended up losing both. To tell you the truth, it had been my intention to start the bill in committee a year earlier, but no one could have anticipated Nigeria attacking South Africa without warning, and America finally having to decide where she stood on that continent.”
“You sure stuck your neck out on that one, Madam President, and I confess at the time I thought you were wrong.”
“I know, Halt. I had a few sleepless nights myself. But, getting back to the Gun Control bill: don’t ever forget that Dexter and Thornton have run the most successful two-man filibuster in the history of the Senate. By 10 March, this damn bill will have been going the rounds for nearly two years despite the tacit support of Senator Byrd as Majority Leader. But I’m not too worried. I still believe we’ll pull it off. I can’t foresee anything that can stop it now, can you, Halt?”
The Director hesitated. “No, Madam.”
The first lie I have ever told the Chief. Would an investigating commission believe my reasons if the President is assassinated in three days’ time?
“Good night, Halt, and thank you.”
“Good night, Madam President, and thank you for an excellent dinner.”
