And audibly gasped.

The acorn-ended campaign hat was old and battered almost to shapelessness, its gray felt balding in spots, its black leather chin strap scuffed and gnarled. But its gold-and-black intertwined-braid hat cord and the silk ribbon around its crown were almost perfectly intact--as were the crossed gold cavalry sabers pinned to the side of its upturned brim.

He looked up at her. "Don' let me make a fool a' myself by sayin' what I think it is an' bein' wrong."

"You wouldn't be," she said. "It belonged to my great-grandfather. He was one of Teddy Roosevelt's First Volunteer Cavalry."

"Mon Dieu." He ran his fingers over the outside of the hat with open awe. "The Rough Riders."

She nodded. " 'Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither suffer much nor enjoy much--"

"--'cause they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat,' " Thibodeau finished. "I don' know what to say about this, Megan. I truly don't."

She smiled.

"Taylor Breen went from holding a racket on the tennis court to a rifle on Kettle Hill in the space of six months. Joined the unit at TD's personal request, took a leave of absence of his professorship at Yale to go to war against Spain." She paused a moment, quietly watching him. "Rollie ... I've got my own request goes along with the hat. I won't pressure you to agree to it. But I'd like your decision now."

He met her eyes with his own.

"This have to do with me fillin' Max Blackburn's old job?"

She gave him another nod.

"When we discussed the issue a few weeks back, you told me that you needed to think about it, that you weren't sure you wanted to tackle the responsibility--"

"Or that Pete Nimec wanted me to," he said. "My dope was that he had someone else in mind, an' the two of you were buttin' heads about it."

"He did, and we were, but things have changed. Part of it's what happened here the other night. How well you handled it."

"Nimec feel the same way?"

"He and I had a talk before I left for Brazil," she said. "And have reached a tentative agreement."

"Sounds to me like there's a catch hid somewhere in this proposition."

Megan laughed a little.

"I am a woman."

"As I did say, I'd noticed." He looked at her. "The catch ... you gonna mention what it is?"

"Yes," she said. "After you tell me whether you'll accept the promotion."

Thibodeau looked at her a moment, looked down at the campaign hat. Then he lifted it off his lap and placed it carefully on his head.

"Fit okay?" he asked.

"Perfect."

"Will you marry me?"

"No."

He shrugged.

"Might as well accept your offer just the same, if only 'cause it'll get me off the night shift."