"You're becoming paranoid," said Jimmy as he picked up the check, "which is exactly what this Elliot guy will be hoping for."

Nat handed in his resignation the following morning,relieved at how calmly Su Ling had taken the whole debacle. But it was all very well her telling him to get a proper job when there was only one job he felt qualified to do.

When he returned to his office to remove his personal possessions it was as if there were a quarantine notice attached to his desk. Former colleagues walked quickly past, and those occupying desks nearby remained on their phones, their faces turned away.

He took a laden cab back to the apartment, and filled the tiny elevator three times before he had finally deposited everything in his study.

Nat sat alone at his desk. The phone hadn't rung once since he'd arrived home. The apartment felt strangely empty without Su Ling and Luke; he'd got used to them both being there to greet him whenever he came home. Thank God the boy was too young to know what they were going through.

At midday, he went to the kitchen, opened a can of corned beef hash and tipped it into a frying pan, added some butter, cracked two eggs on top and waited until they looked done.

After lunch, he typed out a list of financial institutions that had been in contact with him during the past year, and then settled down to call them one by one. He started with a bank that had phoned him only a few days before.

"Ohationat, yes sorry, we managed to fill the position last Friday."

"Good afternoon, Nat, that sounds like an interesting proposition, give me a couple of days to think about it, and I'll come back to you."

"It was good of you to call, Mr. Cartwright, but..."

When Nat had reached the end of the list, he put the phone down. He'd just been devalued, and there was obviously a sell order out on him. He checked his current account. It was still showing a healthy balance, but for how much longer? He glanced up at the oil painting above his desk, Reclining Nude by Camoin. He wondered just how long it would be before he had to return one of his mistresses to the gallerypimp.

The phone rang. Had one of them thought about it and called him back? He picked it up and heard a familiar voice.

"I must apologize, Mr.

Russell," Nat said. "I should have called you earlier."

Once Logan had left the firm, Fletcher felt isolated and hardly a day went by when Elliot didn't try to undermine him, so when Bill Alexander asked to see him on Monday morning, Fletcher sensed it wasn't going to be a friendly encounter.

Over supper with Annie on Sunday evening, he told his wife everything that had taken place during the past few days, trying hard not to exaggerate.

Annie listened in silence.

"If you don't tell Mr. Alexander the truth about his nephew, both of you will live to regret it."

"It's not that easy," said Fletcher.

"The truth is always that easy," said Annie.

"Logan has been treated disgracefully, and if it hadn't been for you, he might never have been offered another job. Your only mistake was not telling Alexander the moment the meeting was over; that's given Elliot the confidence to go on undermining you."

"And if he sacks me as well?"

"Then it isn't a firm you should have joined in the first place, Fletcher Davenport, and you would certainly not be the man I chose to marry."

When Fletcher arrived outside Mr.

Alexander's door a few minutes before nine, Mrs. Townsend ushered him straight through to the senior partner's office.

"Have a seat," said Bill Alexander, pointing to the chair on the other side of the desk. No "nice to see you, Fletcher," just have a seat. No "how's Annie and Lucy," just have a seat. Those three words resolved Fletcher in the belief that Annie was right, and he must not be fearful of standing up for what he believed in.

"Fletcher, when you first joined Alexander Dupont and Bell nearly two years ago, I had highhopes for you, and indeed during your first year you more than lived up to my expectations. We all recall with some considerable pleasure the Higgs and Dunlop incident. But of late, you have not shown the same resolution." Fletcher looked puzzled. He had seen Matt Cunliffe's most recent report on him, and the word exemplary had stuck in his mind. "I think we have the right to assume a standard of loyalty second to none in the legal profession," continued Alexander. Fletcher remained silent, not yet sure of the crime he was about to be charged with. "It has been brought to my attention that you were also in the bar with Fitzgerald on the night he was having a drink with his friend."

"Information supplied by your nephew, no doubt," said Fletcher, "whose role in this whole affair has been far from impartial."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Quite simply that Mr. Elliot's version of events is based totally on self-interest, as I feel sure a man of your perspicacity has already worked out."

"Perspicacity?" said Alexander. "Was it perspicacious of you to be seen in the company of Fitzgerald's friend?"

He emphasized the word again.

"I did not meet Logan's friend, as I feel sure Mr. Elliot told you, unless he only wanted you to know half the story. I left for Ridgewood..."

"But Ralph told me that you later returned."

"Yes I did, and like any good spy, your nephew must also have reported that I only went back to pick up my scarf, which had fallen out of the sleeve of my overcoat."

"No, he did not report that," said Alexander.

"Which is what I mean by only telling you half the story," said Fletcher.

"So you didn't speak to Logan or his friend?"

"No, I didn't," said Fletcher, "but that was only because I was in a hurry, and didn't have time."I "So you would have spoken to him?"

"Yes, I would."

"Even if you'd known that Logan was a homosexual?"

"I neither knew nor cared."

"You didn't care?"

"No, I did not consider Logan's private life was any of my business."

"But it might have been the firm's business, which brings me to more important matters. Are you aware that Logan Fitzgerald has since joined the firm that employs your brother-in-law?"

"Yes, I am," said Fletcher, "I told Mr. Gates that Logan would be looking for a job and they'd be lucky to get a man of his caliber."

"I wonder if that was wise," said Bill Alexander.

"When it comes to dealing with a friend, I have a tendency to put decency and fairness ahead of my own self-interest."

"And ahead of the firm's?"

"Yes, if it's morally right. That's what Professor Abrahams taught me."

"Don't bandy words with me, Mr. Davenport."

"Why not? You've been bandying them with me, Mr.

Alexander."

The senior partner turned scarlet. "You must realize that I could have you thrown out of this firm."

"Two of us leaving in the same week may take some explaining, Mr. Alexander."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, I think it's you who is threatening me."

"It may not be that easy to get rid of you, Mr.

Davenport, but I can make damn sure you never become a partner while I'm a member of this firm.

Now get out."

As he rose to leave, Fletcher recalled Annie's words.

Then it's not the jinn you should have joined in the first place.

He returned to his office to find the phone ringing.

Was Alexander calling him back? He picked it up ready to offer his resignation. It wasJimmy.

"Sorry to bother you at work, Fletcher, but Dad's had a heart attack. He's been taken to St. Patrick's. Can you and Annie get over to Hartford as quickly as possible?"

"I'VE got myself a proper job," said Nat as Su Ling walked through the door.

"You're going to be a New York cab driver?"

"No," replied Nat. "I don't have the qualifications for that job."

"That's never seemed to hinder anyone in the past."

"But not living in New York might."

"We're leaving New York? Please tell me that we're going somewhere civilized where skyscrapers will be replaced with trees and exhaust fumes by fresh air."

"We're going home."

"Hartford? Then it can only be Russell's."

"You're right, Mr. Russell has offered me a job as vice-president of the bank, working alongside Tom."

"Serious banking? Not just speculating in the currency market?"

"I'll oversee his currency department, but I can promise you that it concentrates mainly on foreign exchange, not speculation. What Mr.

Russell most needs is for Tom and me to work on a complete reorganization of the bank. During the past few years Russell's has been falling behind its competitors and..." Su Ling placed her bag on the hall table and walked over to the phone. "Who are you calling?" asked Nat.

"My mother, of course, we must start looking for a house, and then we'll have to consider a school for Luke, and once she's got to work on that, I'll need to be in touch with some former colleagues about a job, and then ..."

"Hold on, little flower," said Nat, taking his wife in his arms. "Am I to assume from this that you approve of the idea?"

"Approve? I can't wait to get out of New York. The idea of Luke starting his education in a school where the kids use machetes to sharpen theirpencils horrifies me. I also can't wait.."

The phone rang and Su Ling picked it up. She cupped her hand over the mouthpiece. "It's someone named Jason, from Chase Manhattan. Shall I tell him you're no longer available?"

Nat smiled and took the phone.

"Hi, Jason, what can I do for you?"

"I've been thinking about your call, Nat, and we may just have an opening for you at Chase."

"That's kind of you, Jason, but I've already accepted another offer."

"Not one of our rivals, I hope?"

"Not yet, but give me a little time," said Nat, smiling.

When Fletcher reported to Matt Cunliffe that his father-in-law had been taken to the hospital, he was surprised to find that he was not all that sympathetic.

"Domestic crises arise fairly often,"

remarked Cunliffe curtly. "We all have families to worry about. Are you sure this can't wait until the weekend?"

"Yes, I'm sure," said Fletcher, "I owe more to this man than anyone other than my parents."

Fletcher had only left Bill Alexander's room for a few moments, and already there was a less than subtle change in the atmosphere. He assumed that, by the time he returned, that change would have spread like a contagious disease to the rest of the staff.

He phoned Annie from Penn Station. She sounded calm, but relieved to know he was on his way home. When Fletcher stepped onto the train, he suddenly realized that he hadn't brought any work with him for the first time since he joined the firm. He used the journey to consider his next move following his meeting with Bill Alexander, but he'd come to no definite conclusions by the time the train pulled into Ridgewood.

Fletcher took a cab from the station, and was not surprised to find the family car parked outside the front door, two suitcases already in the trunk, and Annie walking down the drive with Lucy in herarms. How different from his mother, he thought, yet how similar. He laughed for the first time that day.

On the journey up to Hartford, Annie reported all the details she'd picked up from her mother. Harry had suffered a heart attack a few minutes after arriving at the Capitol that morning, and was immediately rushed to the hospital. Martha was by his side, and Jimmy, Joanna and the children were already on their way down from Vassar.

"What are the doctors saying?"

"That it's too early for anything conclusive, but Dad has been warned that if he doesn't slow down, it could well happen again and next time it might prove fatal."

"Slow down? Harry doesn't know what the words mean. He's one of life's speeding tickets."

"He may have been," said Annie, "but Mom and I are going to tell him this afternoon that he has to withdraw his name as a senate candidate at the next election."

Bill Russell stared across his desk at Nat and Tom. "It's what I've always wanted," he said. "I'll be sixty in a couple of years' time, and I feel I've earned the right not to be opening up the bank at ten every morning, and locking the front door before I go home at night. The thought of you two working together-to quote the Good Book-fills my heart with joy."