Maria said: “When’s the baby due?”

“A month or so—early April.”

“How is Verena feeling?”

“Terrible. Lethargic and impatient at the same time. And tired, always tired.”

“It will soon be over.”

George brought her back to the question. “Will you be godmother?”

She evaded it again. “Why have you asked me?”

He thought for a moment. “Because I trust you, I guess. I probably trust you more than anyone outside my family. If Verena and I died in a plane crash, and our parents were too old or dead, I feel confident that you would make sure my children were cared for, somehow.”

Maria was evidently moved. “It’s kind of wonderful to be told that.”

George thought, but did not say, that it was now unlikely Maria would have children of her own—she would be forty-four this year, he calculated—and that meant she had a lot of spare maternal affection to give to the children of her friends.

She was already like family. His friendship with her had lasted almost twenty years. She still went to see Jacky several times a year. Greg liked Maria, too, as did Lev and Marga. It was hard not to like her.

George did not give voice to any of these considerations, but instead said: “It would mean a lot to Verena and me if you would do it.”

“Is it really what Verena wants?”

George smiled. “Yes. She knows that you and I had a relationship, but she’s not the jealous type. Matter of fact, she admires you for what you’ve achieved in your career.”

Maria looked at the men in the fresco, with their eighteenth-century coats and boots, and said: “Well, I guess I’ll be like General Cornwallis, and surrender.”

“Thank you!” said George. “I’m very happy. I’d order champagne, but I know you wouldn’t drink it in the middle of a working day.”

“Maybe when the baby is born.”

The waitress picked up their plates and they asked for coffee. “How are things in the State Department?” George asked. Maria was now a big shot there. Her title was deputy assistant secretary, a post more influential than it sounded.

“We’re trying to figure out what’s happening in Poland,” she said. “It’s not easy. We think there’s a lot of criticism of the government from inside the United Workers’ Party, which is the Communist Party. Workers are poor, the elite are too privileged, and the ‘propaganda of success’ just calls attention to the reality of failure. National income actually fell last year.”

“You know I’m on the House intelligence committee.”

“Of course.”

“Are you getting good information from the agencies?”

“It’s good, as far as we know, but there’s not enough of it.”

“Would you like me to ask about that in the committee?”

“Yes, please.”

“It may be that we need additional intelligence personnel in Warsaw.”

“I think we do. Poland could be important.”

George nodded. “That’s what Greg said when the Vatican elected a Polish Pope. And he’s usually right.”