Con was saved from answering by Peter, who chose that moment to reemerge from the house, his timing forever impeccable. He leaned in close to whisper in Gaddis’s ear. Gaddis’s face hardened. The hollow boom of the surf against the seawalls rumbled in the distance.
“They’re all here now?” Gaddis asked.
“Yes, sir. In the foyer. Should I send them away?”
Gaddis frowned. “No, that would only make matters worse. Aldous doesn’t like to leave the house any more than I do. He’ll take it badly if he made a great show of it for nothing. Bring them out.”
“Yes, sir,” Peter said and went to get them.
“Problem?” Con asked.
“My other fire has arrived,” Gaddis said.
“I should go,” Con said, moving to rise. “We can finish talking later.”
“No, you should stay. This concerns you too now.”
Peter let three men out onto the veranda. Even from a distance, Con could see their barely checked anger. They had no patience for standing on ceremony and brushed past Peter. From the look Peter gave Gaddis, he would have gladly thrown all three into the Chesapeake Bay if given the order. Gaddis waved him off even as the men crowded around him. If it had been her, Con would have felt the need to stand up and get some space, but Gaddis sipped his wine and regarded them clinically.
“Gentlemen,” he said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Is it true?” demanded the first man, a tall Sikh whose forehead was harrowed by frown lines.
“Is it?” echoed the second, a plump white man with a patrician nose and country-club jowls.
The third man, also white, said nothing. He was the shortest of the three, but Con found his quiet gravity intimidating. He stood with his hands thrust into his pockets, sports coat swept back stylishly.
“Is what true?” Gaddis said.
“Don’t play dumb,” said the second man. “James called us. He says you informed him this afternoon that Palingenesis removed you from the board and now you intend to go forward with the appeal. Is it true?”
“Why don’t we all sit down?” Gaddis suggested amicably.
“Just answer the question, Vernon. Do you intend to move forward?”
“I do,” Gaddis said.
His guests exploded angrily, the pretense of civility eroding rapidly. Only the third man remained silent, although his eyes turned icy behind his benevolent expression. Gaddis sat stoically while they accused him of betrayal.
“We had a deal,” the second man said.
“I’m well aware.”
“We agreed that if your case made it to the Supreme Court, you would drop the matter first. That was the deal.”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Gaddis said.
“You’re sorry?” the first man said, slapping the back of his hand against his palm. “That’s not good enough. Not nearly good enough. There’s too much at stake for all of us.”
“Yes,” Gaddis said. “We all have something at stake. We’re all in this together. That’s a lovely sentiment, but I am the one expected to sacrifice everything.”
“It’s your lovely sentiment,” the second man said, face so red that Con thought he was going to have a heart attack. “Yours. You’ve been preaching it since the beginning.”
The third man, who until now hadn’t spoken, cleared his throat. His colleagues grew silent and looked to him.
“No one is overlooking the impossible price you are paying, my friend,” he said with a politician’s voice, deep and compassionate.
“They’re my children, Aldous,” Gaddis said. “You’re asking me to give up on my children. Surrender my claim to them. To admit publicly that I wouldn’t fight for them to the bitter end. How do you think they will feel knowing their father placed political expedience ahead of them? Could you do it?”
“Vernon, we understand,” Aldous replied. “Believe me. We’ve all suffered. You know that. But you aren’t thinking clearly. If this case goes before the court, you will lose. Five to four. Maybe six to three.”
“We don’t know that for certain,” Gaddis said.
“Five to four. Best-case scenario. Garcia will vote with the majority, and you will lose. That’s what all of our opposition research tells us. It’s a done deal. And then we all lose everything. The Supreme Court will have dealt a death blow to the legal standing of clones in this country. Everything we’ve worked toward these past five years will be lost. I’m sorry, but this just isn’t our moment.”