Addis wondered if Kelly already had run a poll matching Mumfries against Wesley Pratt. The onetime country-and-western crooner had suspended his campaign and called for a fortnight of prayer.

“But the convention is going to be full of Hanover delegates. Who’s going to be controlling them?”

Mumfries was pumping the golf ball with his left hand.

“I don’t know, sir.”

“The Reelect? State chairs? Should we start working on the delegations now, one-by-one, the old-fashioned way?”

“That would be one strategy.”

“Or wait until the convention next week? Out of respect to Bob.”

“You could do that.”

“But there’s a risk. Someone else might get into it before then.”

Mumfries mentioned no names. He placed his hands together, with the golf ball between them. He was waiting, looking for information from Addis.

“I think you’ve laid it out pretty well, sir,” Addis said.

“Nick, I’m going to have to make an announcement soon. All those son-of-a-bitch gnats won’t stop buzzing until I do. And I’d like to announce that the senior staff will stay on. You know, I’ll have to do a little shuffling. Get something else for Brew. Fiddle with the Cabinet. Maybe find an official slot for Margaret. An ambassadorship, maybe one of those U.N. outfits that does all that children’s stuff. That’s if she wants it. Maybe she just wants to go home with Jack.”

Mumfries paused; he was asking for advice, without asking. Offering a job, and hoping for something in return.

“That sounds very generous, sir. And I think it will be well received by most of the staff. I’ll stay until the election, but I’m leaving after that.”

“Already made up your mind?”

“Have other things I want to do” Addis lied.

“In politics?” Mumfries asked.

“Hopefully not,” Addis replied, knowing that was the truth.

“You’re still young. My daddy once told me a man should have three careers … . But you’re aboard until the election?”

He was—and that surprised Addis. Why am I staying on? he wondered. Because it was the default position? He could think of only one reason not to leave: to see what was going to happen. After years of access, he was not yet ready to be an outside observer. How god-damned clinical, he thought.

It also was hard to look into the face of a President and not say what the President wanted to hear. Addis was still bemused by this fact. But it explained much of what had gone wrong in the Oval Office throughout history.

“These days,” Addis said, “I feel like I’m drifting. But if I can be of service in the months ahead, I’ll try. I hope you understand.”

“I do.”

Because that means there’s one less person on Margaret’s side?