"Save me the bull's head; I've gone after them at birthday parties since I was a tyke. And also, let me know if Drew needs me to do a physical exam on anyone in the next couple of hours. This would be the perfect time for me to have to leave. Back home I used to bribe the hospital operator to page me when I couldn't find another way of getting out of a cocktail party, or worse, a formal dinner. Perfectly imperfect bow tie or not, I'm sure it's only a matter of time at this soiree before I go Emily Postal and commit some huge social gaffe."

"Don't use your fingers except for the bread, don't slurp your soup directly from the bowl, and avoid throwing up on the person next to you. That's all you need to know."

"Slurp my bread, finger my soup, throw up on the guest of honor. Got it."

"Oh, and most important of all, don't think for a moment that anyone here is more interested in hearing what you have to say than in hearing what they have to say. In this town a good listener is like a one-eyed man in the land of the blind."

"Mouth shut, ears open. I can do that."

"Good. Speaking of socialites, there's one more person I'd like you to meet before we all go trooping on in there. You ever heard of Lily Sexton?"

Gabe shook his head.

"Should I have?"

"When we get reelected, one of the president's first moves will be the creation of a new cabinet post—the Secretary of Science and Technology. Dr. Lily Sexton will be it."

"An M.D.?"

"Ph.D. Molecular physics or some such. She was a professor of Carol's at Princeton."

Although he had been at Carol and Drew Stoddard's wedding and had spent a fair amount of time with her over the years, Gabe really knew very little about the First Lady. He knew she was bright—exceedingly so, in fact—but nothing she had ever said suggested that she might have studied molecular physics in college.

"Secretary of Science and Technology," he mused out loud. "I wonder where that will rank on the presidential succession list."

"Bite your tongue."

"You're right. See? I told you it was only a matter of time before I said something stupid."

"You're doing fine. Just remember about the one-eyed man. There's Lily over there. She's not too hard to spot, given that every woman in this room is wearing a designer evening gown and she's wearing a tux."