‘But I said—’
‘I know what you said, I was there, I heard the conversation. You were speculating about how the Chinese Communist government might view the matter.’
‘Exactly.’
‘The newspaper is very proud of its exclusive and is promoting this week’s issue on social media. Unfortunately James Moore’s people have picked it up.’
‘Oh, hell.’
‘He’s tweeted: “So Pauline thinks Chinese murder of two Americans is a bargain. I don’t.”’
‘What a fuckwit.’
‘My press release begins: “Small town newspapers sometimes make mistakes, but a presidential candidate should know better.”’
‘Good start.’
‘Do you want to hear the rest?’
‘I can’t bear it. Send it out.’
Pauline watched the news while she drank her first cup of coffee. They were still showing the footage of Joan Lafayette’s arrival at Kennedy, but James Moore’s bargain story was the second lead, taking the shine off Pauline’s triumph.
Her mind kept returning to the previous evening. She shuddered when she remembered thinking that no one would know if she took Gus to her bed. It would be impossible to keep such an affair secret in the White House. For Gus would have had to leave her in the middle of the night and make his way through the corridors and walkways to his car then drive out of the gate, and he would surely have been seen by half a dozen security guards and Secret Service agents, not to mention cleaners and maintenance people, and every one of them would have wondered who he had been with and what he had been doing there so late at night.
Even his departure at 9 p.m. had probably raised a few eyebrows among people who knew that Gerry and Pippa were out of town.
She put that out of her mind and focussed on keeping America safe.
She spent the morning in meetings with her Chief of Staff, the Treasury Secretary, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the House Majority Leader. She made a speech to small business owners at a fund-raising lunch, and as usual she left before the meal.
Her lunch was a sandwich with Chester Jackson. He told her that the government of Vietnam had announced that all oil exploration vessels would in future be escorted by ships of the Vietnamese People’s Navy equipped with Russian-made anti-ship missiles and instructed to return fire.
Chess also reported that North Korea’s Supreme Leader was claiming that peace had been restored after the American-fomented trouble in army bases. However, Chess said, the truth was that the rebels still controlled half the army and all the nukes. He thought the apparent peace was a temporary illusion.
In the afternoon, Pauline did a photocall with a visiting group of school pupils from Chicago and had a discussion with the Attorney General about organized crime.
At the end of the afternoon she ran over the day’s events with Gus and Sandip. Social media had been taken up with James Moore’s accusation. All the Internet trolls said Pauline thought two dead Americans was a bargain.
A new opinion poll showed that Pauline and Moore were now equal in popularity. It made Pauline want to give up.
Lizzie told her that Gerry and Pippa were back, and she went to the Residence to welcome them home. She found them in the Center Hall, unpacking with the help of Cyrus.
Pippa had a lot to tell her mother. The photos of President Kennedy and Jackie in Dallas had made her cry. One of the Harvard boys had asked Lindy Faber to go out with him in the Christmas vacation. Wendy Bonita had thrown up twice on the bus. Mrs Newbegin had been a pain.
‘How about old Judders?’ Pauline asked.
‘Not as bad as expected,’ said Pippa. ‘She and Daddy were great, actually.’
Pauline glanced at Gerry. He seemed happy. Making her voice casual, she said: ‘Did you enjoy yourself, too?’
‘Yeah.’ Gerry handed a bag of laundry to Cyrus. ‘The kids were well behaved, somewhat to my surprise.’
‘And Ms Judd?’
‘I got on with her fine.’
He was lying, Pauline could tell. His voice, his stance, and the look on his face all gave it away by being just a touch unnatural. He had slept with Amelia Judd, in a budget hotel in Boston, with his daughter in the same building. Although Pauline had been wondering about the possibility, she was shocked by the sudden intuitive knowledge that her suspicions had been right. She shivered. Gerry gave her a look of curiosity. ‘I felt a cold draft,’ she said. ‘Maybe someone left a window open.’
He said: ‘I didn’t notice it.’