“That may be going a little further than I’m prepared to,” Theisman said after a moment. “I don’t doubt that he’s a lot less scrupulous than the image he likes to project, Denis. But compared to Saint-Just?” He shook his head. “I don’t think he’s even in the same league for sheer sociopathy.”

“Not for lack of ambition, though!” LePic snorted.

“Unscrupulous, yes,” Pritchart put in, opening her eyes and letting her chair come back outright. “But I think Tom has a point, Denis. Arnold is undoubtedly willing to do a great many things to further his ambitions, but I don’t see him being willing to do something like detonating a nuclear device in the middle of Nouveau Paris.”

“I only hope you’re both right and I’m wrong,” LePic told her. His phrasing didn’t make her particularly happy, given who Walter Trajan and Kevin Usher both reported to, but she became even less happy when he continued. “In the meantime, though, did you two notice Sanderson?”

“Yes, I did,” Theisman said, and grimaced. “I think we’re in the process of suffering another defection.”

“And unless I’m very much mistaken, he’s gaining more ground in Congress, too,” Pritchart observed. It was her turn to grimace. “So far, pushing High Ridge and Descroix in the treaty negotiations is still working more in our favor than against us where congressional support is concerned, but dear Arnold is proving more resilient than I’d like. The way he sees it, I stole his thunder by taking ‘a firm hand’ in the peace talks. So he’s busy trying to return the compliment by viewing with even more alarm where the Manties are concerned. And do you know what the real hell of it is?”

She looked at both of her allies, who only shook their heads.

“The real hell of it,” she told them softly, “is that he’s so damned convincing that I’m not sure I don’t agree with him sometimes.”

· · • · ·

“Thank you for the dinner invitation, Mr. Secretary. As always, the meal was delicious.”

“And also as always, Mr. Ambassador, the company was excellent,” Arnold Giancola said graciously.

Yinsheng Reinshagen, Graf von Kaiserfest, Andermani Ambassador to the Republic of Haven, smiled at his host. This wasn’t the first private dinner he’d enjoyed with the Havenite Secretary of State, and he didn’t expect it to be the last. Officially, it was a working dinner between two diplomats to discuss closer trade relations between the reborn Republic and the Empire. Kaiserfest rather admired that justification. Giancola’s prior treasury experience made it even more believable… and also explained why he should feel no need to include representatives of the Commerce or Treasury Departments. It was an admirable cover to keep any potentially irritating witnesses away, and to make certain that it was maintained, Kaiserfest had actually agreed to quite a few trade concessions.

Giancola knew precisely what the Andermani was thinking, because he’d taken some pains to insure that Kaiserfest would think just that. But what the Ambassador didn’t know was that the cover story they’d agreed upon was also the reason Eloise Pritchart thought Giancola was meeting with him.