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scholarship toRadcliffe and didn’t want to risk wasting a year. She was only thirty-one when she was widowed. She was so in love with her husbandthat twenty-five years later she still hasn’t remarried.”
     
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“She hasn’t remarried, but she hasn’t lived in a cloister either.”“I wouldn’t know about that, but judging from the information I’vegathered, the vast majority of her days and nights are strictly work.”“That’s true.”“Anyhow, in my letter I wrote that I’d like to do a program thatwould give viewers the feeling of knowing her on a personal level. Ioutlined what I had in mind and got back about the frostiest rejectionI’ve ever read. Then a couple of weeks ago Luther Pelham phoned.He was coming to Boston specifically to take me to lunch and wantedto talk about my coming to work for him. Over lunch he told me theSenator had showed him my letter; he’d already been mulling overthe idea of a series called Women in Government. He knew and likedmy work and felt I was right for the job. He also said that he wantedto make me a regular part of his seven-o’clock news program.“You can imagine how I felt. Pelham is probably the most importantcommentator in the business; the network is as big as Turner ’s; themoney’s terrific. I’m to kick off the series with a documentary onSenator Jennings and he wants it as fast as possible. But I still don’tknow why the Senator changed her mind.”“I can tell you why. The Vice President may be on the verge ofresigning. He’s much sicker than people realize.”Pat laid down her fork and stared at him. “Sam, do you mean . . .?”“I mean the President has less than two years left in his secondterm. How better to make every woman in the country happy than byappointing the first woman Vice President?”“But that means . . . if Senator Jennings is Vice President, theyalmost couldn’t deny her the nomination for President next time.”“Hold on, Pat. You’re going too fast. All I’ve said is that if theVice President resigns, there’s a damn good chance he’ll be replacedby either Abigail Jennings or Claire Lawrence. Claire is practicallythe Erma Bombeck of the Senate—very popular, very witty, a first-rate legislator. She’d do an excellent job. But Abigail’s been therelonger. The President and Claire are both from the Midwest, andpolitically that isn’t good. He’d rather appoint Abigail, but he can’tignore the fact that Abigail really isn’t well known nationally. Andshe’s made some powerful enemies in Congress.”
     
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“Then you believe Luther Pelham wants the documentary to letpeople see Abigail in a warmer, more personal way?”“From what you’ve just told me, that’s my guess. I think he wantsto generate popular support for her. They were pretty cozy for a longtime, and I’m sure he’d like to have his dear friend in the VicePresident’s chair.”They ate silently as Pat mulled the implications of what Sam hadtold her. Of course it explained the sudden job offer, the need for haste.“Hey, remember me?” Sam finally said. “You haven’t asked mewhat I’ve been doing these past two years.”“I’ve been following your career,” she told him. “I toasted youwhen you were reelected—not that I was surprised. I wrote and toreup a dozen notes to you when Janice died. I’m supposed to have away with words, but nothing sounded right. . . . It must have beenvery bad for you.”“It was. When it was obvious Janice didn’t have much time, I cutmy schedule to the bone and spent every possible minute with her. Ithink it helped.”“I’m sure it did.” She had to ask: “Sam, why did you wait so longto call me? In fact, would you ever have called me if I hadn’t come toWashington?”The background sounds of the other diners’ voices and the faintclinking of glasses, the tempting aromas of the food, the paneledwalls and frosted-glass partitions of the attractive room faded as shewaited for his