Eddie asked Rosa how she liked Hawaii. ‘To tell you the truth, I’m a little disappointed,’ she said. ‘Honolulu is just like any small American town. I expected it to be more Asian.’

‘I agree,’ said Eddie. ‘It’s all diners and motor courts and jazz bands.’

He asked Gus if there was going to be a war. Everyone asked Gus that question. ‘We’ve tried our darnedest to reach a modus vivendi with Japan,’ Gus said. Woody wondered if Eddie knew what a modus vivendi was. ‘Secretary of State Hull had a whole series of talks with Ambassador Nomura that lasted all summer long. But we can’t seem to agree.’

‘What’s the problem?’ said Eddie.

‘American business needs a free trade zone in the Far East. Japan says okay, fine, we love free trade, let’s have it, not just in our backyard, but all over the world. The United States can’t deliver that, even if we wanted it. So Japan says that as long as other countries have their own economic zone, they need one too.’

‘I still don’t see why they had to invade China.’

Rosa, who always tried to see the other side, said: ‘The Japanese want troops in China and Indochina and the Dutch East Indies to protect their interests, just as we Americans have troops in the Philippines, and the British have theirs in India, and the French in Algeria, and so on.’

‘When you put it that way, the Japs don’t seem so unreasonable!’

Joanne said firmly: ‘They’re not unreasonable, but they’re wrong. Conquering an empire is the nineteenth-century solution. The world is changing. We’re moving away from empires and closed economic zones. To give them what they want would be a backward step.’

Their food arrived. ‘Before I forget,’ Gus said, ‘we’re having breakfast tomorrow morning aboard the Arizona. Eight o’clock sharp.’

Chuck said: ‘I’m not invited, but I’ve been detailed to get you there. I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty and drive you to the Navy Yard, then take you across the harbour in a launch.’

‘Fine.’

Woody tucked in to fried rice. ‘This is great,’ he said. ‘We should have Chinese food at our wedding.’

Gus laughed. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Why not? It’s cheap, and it tastes good.’

‘A wedding is more than a meal, it’s an occasion. Speaking of which, Joanne, I must call your mother.’

Joanne frowned. ‘About the wedding?’

‘About the guest list.’

Joanne put down her chopsticks. ‘Is there a problem?’ Woody saw her nostrils flare, and knew there was going to be trouble.

‘Not really a problem,’ said Gus. ‘I have a rather large number of friends and allies in Washington who would be offended if they were not invited to the wedding of my son. I’m going to suggest that your mother and I share the cost.’

Papa was being thoughtful, Woody guessed. Because Dave had sold his business for a bargain price before he died, Joanne’s mother might not have a lot of money to spare for a swanky wedding. But Joanne disliked the idea of the two parents making wedding arrangements over her head.