“Why are you so certain of that?”

“Because I already know much of what Ed knows. And I wouldn’t want what I know to become public knowledge. But there is something else to consider, as well.”

“And what is that?”

“There is a move afoot for a new, third party to make a run in the next presidential election.”

“I’ve heard something about that,” Stone said. “In fact, I made the acquaintance of their putative candidate a few days ago.”

Lance looked surprised, something Stone had never before seen happen.

“Good God, Lance, do you mean to tell me that I have learned something you don’t already know?”

“Certainly not. I’ve known about the new party and its candidate for weeks,” Lance said reprovingly. “What I didn’t know was that you knew. How, pray tell, did that come to be?”

“I was invited for a Penobscot Bay cruise on the brand-new yacht of Christian St. Clair,” Stone said. “And, incidentally, I believe there is mention of it on Facebook.”

“You were in the company of Whit Saltonstall and the Times editor and the Vanity Fair publisher?”

“They, all of them, abandoned ship when further guests boarded, to wit, Harold Ozick, Clint Holder, and, fresh from a wee-hours infomercial, one Nelson Knott. We shared dinner and breakfast before I, too, scrambled ashore.”

At that point, Senator Whitney Saltonstall entered the dining room, in the company of Dino Bacchetti. Lance and Stone raised their glasses, and Saltonstall gave them a little wave. Pointedly, perhaps, he did not come over to say hello.

“Where was I?” Lance said.

“You were being surprised that I knew something.”

“Oh, yes. It takes only a cursory tour of our current political situation to know what could happen. We have a strong President and a sadly weakened opposition, and what looks like plain sailing ahead. But consider this: What if, shortly before the Democratic Convention, the matter of the secret pardons became known? And who knows, there may be other things in that manuscript.”

“I see your point,” Stone said. “We would have to rely on Congress to keep us on a fairly even keel.”

“I also happen to know that these people are going to make a determined effort to go for majorities in both houses. They have already recruited several dozen candidates.”

“They couldn’t ever get majorities in both houses on such short notice.”

“They wouldn’t need majorities,” Lance pointed out. “They could very easily pick up a lot of Republican and even some Democratic votes on crucial issues.”

Stone thought about this. “Lance,” he said, “the only reason I can think of for why I was invited aboard St. Clair’s yacht is that he or some of his guests know that I have the strong case.”