THEY WERE IN the steeply raked little auditorium and in their seats at precisely eight-thirty. Members of the press, festooned with ID badges, were filing into the rows, and a gang of photographers sat on the floor between the first row of seats and the podium, keeping low enough not to be seen on TV.

“This is exciting,” Stone said.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Ann asked. “It’s terrifying!”

“I’ll bet you’re one of those people who reads the last couple of pages in a mystery novel before you start the book.”

“How did you know that?” she demanded.

“It’s clear you have no tolerance for suspense.”

“But you’re enjoying it?”

“I’m enjoying not knowing,” Stone said. “You should try it sometime, it’s fun.”

“This is not a mystery novel,” she said. “This is the future of the country and the planet.”

“Oh, come on. Dick Collins will make a fine president if Kate decides not to run.”

“Don’t say those last words,” Ann said. “Hearing them is like having my throat cut.”

“Look on the bright side—if she doesn’t run, you can come to Paris with me. We’ll have a wonderful time—then when we come back, you can accept a job at Woodman and Weld, and we’ll have a nice life.”

“A nice life is the worst possible thing that could happen to me right now,” she said. “I want a crazy, unpredictable, demanding, untamable life for the next eight years.”

“I watched a documentary the other day about White House chiefs of staffs. I didn’t want to tell you this, but do you know what the average tenure of the last forty chiefs of staff was?”

“I don’t know, a couple or three years?”

“Less than a year and a half,” Stone said.

“You’re kidding me.”

“I kid you not. They burn out fast—the stress is too much.”

“I want the stress!” Ann said. “I want it all. I want it for eight years!”

“Not going to happen,” Stone said. “What makes you think you could take it any better than any of the last forty in that job?”

“I’m smarter and tougher than they are,” Ann said.

“I believe you, but when you burn the candle at both ends, the light doesn’t last long.”

Suddenly the lights in the room went off, and there was a sudden hush. Then the stage lights came up and Kate Lee strode to the podium.

She looked wonderful, Stone thought. She was wearing a beautiful silk dress that flowed when she walked and, yes, she was glowing.