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“How the fuck do I know?” The President started to get upset. “Will she give me her blessing with Susanna? I doubt it very seriously.”

“I just meant that sometimes these things are done quietly and sometimes they are public and messy.”

“John, for God’s sake. I’m the president of the United States. How quiet do you think this will be?”

And of course he was right. No matter how this played out it, if it actually happened it would be a national scandal for months. But in a strange way Van Dyke thought it might not be as damaging as it appeared. “Sir, would you marry Susanna Colbert?”

“Would I marry her? Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. If you were to leave your wife because you were in love with the brilliant secretary of the Treasury, well, it might make you seem like you care about the country, in a way. At least she’s in the government. And the fact that she’s older, well, if I may say so, it makes it sound like the love is real. That you didn’t just go after some young assistant. Does that make any sense?”

The President hadn’t thought about marrying Susanna Colbert. It was the farthest thing from his mind at this moment, but he couldn’t blame his chief of staff for trying to think ahead.

“Listen, John, I don’t know anything now. Let’s not discuss it anymore tonight. I’m going upstairs to my separate bedroom and I’m going to read. Maybe everything will work out.”

As Van Dyke was walking to his car, he started to think about his own future. He had worked for Matthew Bernstein for twenty years. What would he do without him? Not that a president couldn’t be reelected if he were divorced. Just because it hadn’t happened didn’t mean it couldn’t. But it would be such a hurdle. Perception was everything in politics, and even if you were the leader of a country with more debt than it could ever pay back, even if you were the leader that had gone partners with China within your own borders, even if you were the leader at a time when the youth had never hated their elders more, it still could seem all right if your wife loved you. If that went away, people might think something really was wrong.

* * *

No one gave serious thought to Nate Cass’s proposal. No one except Nate, that is, who was running out of patience. A grand jury was going to be called to hear his brother’s tax evasion case, and Cass knew that if this went on much longer, it couldn’t be stopped.

Susanna Colbert had put it on the back burner. That was the advantage of being the secretary of the Treasury: There was so much on her plate that she could let things slide; something more important would always replace it. So when she looked at her wrist and saw who was on the screen, she got an uncomfortable feeling. “Hello, Nate.”

“Susanna, there is a grand jury scheduled in two weeks.”

“I didn’t know that, Nate.” And she wasn’t lying; she didn’t.

“If he goes before a grand jury, then stopping this will become messy and possibly unobtainable. Something has to be done now. Do you understand me?”

“I do. Let me see what I can do.”

“That’s exactly what I said to you. Except I delivered. I expect the same courtesy.”

“I will get on it immediately.” And she disconnected. She didn’t have to be told that time was of the essence. The very fact that a man as careful as Nate Cass had had this discussion over a device, and not in person, showed how urgent this was. Susanna reached John Van Dyke.

“I just got a call from Nate Cass.”

“I don’t have time, Susanna. I have bigger fish to fry.”

“John, he’s upset. Did you talk to the President?”

“No. And I won’t. He has other issues that are more important.”

“But this could rear its head. Cass would be someone to contend with in a reelection. He wields a lot of power.”

“Great. Maybe he can convince the President’s wife not to leave him.”

“What? What did you say?”

“I have to go now, Susanna. I’m sorry.”

This was the first Susanna had heard this, at least the first time someone other than the President had mentioned that the Bernsteins were in serious trouble. She was