On the far side of the balcony a number of pretty young girls were grouped together, all dressed in the same sort of formal gowns, all obviously from the same private school. One stood out in particular—not just because of her fresh and startling beauty, which was considerable, but because of the two formidable men in dark suits who stood directly behind her. Anyone would have realized they were bodyguards, although not everyone would have recognized the girl herself. That was because her father, the governor of Illinois, had made a point of protecting his one and only child from public view.

During the entire ceremony, she never took her eyes off Damien.

When Damien's name was finally called, he stepped forward briskly, almost in a march. He stopped a foot away from the presenter and clicked his heels together smartly, coming to especially sharp attention.

On the balcony, Ann grabbed Buher's arm with a nervousness that was new to her. He patted her hand and smiled reassuringly.

After Damien had received his own sword, the presenter reached for a second one. 'Receive this,' he said, handing the second sword to Damien, 'for your cousin Mark, absent now, but still deserving of this award.'

The crowd burst into spontaneous applause. Ann wiped the ears from her eyes. The governor's daughter across the way applauded more vigorously than anyone else around her.

Damien bowed graciously, then marched back to take his place in the line.

The Thorn chauffeur, Murray, appeared behind Ann on the balcony and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and leaned over to Buher. 'I have to go, Paul. Richard just called from the jet. He's due in any minute now. I want to go meet him at the airport.'

Buher nodded. 'Will you be coming back for the cotillion later?' he asked.

Ann shrugged. 'We'll try,' she said, and left to follow Murray.

Buher watched her leave, then gazed down on the assembly below and caught Neff's eye. Both nodded once, then looked away.

Ann sat in the back of the limousine, anxiously waiting for Richard to deplane. Outside, a wind-whipped Murray was also waiting.

The jet taxied over near the limousine and came to a halt. As soon as the engines were turned off and a set of stairs wheeled against the side, the door flew open and Richard came hurrying down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

He ran over to Murray, without even bothering to wave a hello to Ann. 'Where's Damien?' he asked very tensely.

'At the Academy, sir,' said Murray, confused by Richard's manner.

'We're going to take a cab to the museum. I want you to go get Damien at once and bring him there.' Richard opened up the back door and reached for Ann. 'Come on,' he said, 'you're coming with me.'