"But Elliot never stops talking about his trip to the White House with his old friend George, as if it was a dinner for two."

"And how do you feel the rest of the Republican delegation feel about that?"

"That's far too subtle for the average voter,"

suggested Tom.

"Never underestimate them," said Nat.

Nat couldn't recall much about the day of the Chelsea primary, except that he never stopped moving. When it was announced just after midnight that Elliot had won by 6,109 votes to 5,302 for Cartwright, Nat's only question was, "Can we afford to go on now that Elliot has gained a twenty-seven to ten lead among the delegates?"

"The patient is still breathing," Tom replied,"but only just, so it's on to Hartford, and if Elliot wins that one as well, we won't be able to stop his bandwagon rolling all over us. Just be thankful you have a day job to go back to," he added with a smile.

Mrs. Hunter, who had only picked up two electoral college votes, conceded defeat and said she was withdrawing from the race and would be announcing in the near future which candidate she would be supporting.

Nat enjoyed returning to his hometown, where the people in the streets treated him as a friend. Tom knew how much effort had to be put into Hartford, not only because it was their last chance, but as the state capital it carried the most electoral votes, nineteen in all, with the prehistoric rule of winner takes all, so if Nat topped the poll, he would go into the lead, 29:27. If he lost, he could unpack his bags and stay at home.

During the campaign, the candidates were invited to attend several functions together, but whenever they did, they rarely acknowledged each other's presence, and certainly never stopped for a chat.

With three days to go to the primary, a poll in the Hartford Courant put Nat two points ahead of his rival, and they reported that Mrs. Barbara Hunter was throwing her support behind Cartwright. This was exactly the boost Nat's campaign needed. The following morning, he noticed that far more workers were with him on the street, and many more passersby came up to shake him by the hand.

He was in Robinson's Mall when the message came through from Murray Goldblatz, "I need to see you urgently." Murray was not a man to use the word urgent unless that was exactly what he meant.

Nat left his team to go on canvassing, assuring them that he would return shortly. They didn't see him again that day.

When Nat arrived at the bank, the receptionist told him that the chairman was in the boardroom with Mr. and Mrs. Russell. Nat walked in and took his usual place opposite Murray, but theexpressions on the faces of his three colleagues didn't harbor glad tidings. Murray came quickly to the point. "I understand that you have a town meeting tonight which both you and Elliot will be addressing?"

"Yes," said Nat, "it's the last major event before the vote tomorrow."

"I have a spy in the Elliot camp," said Murray, "and she tells me that they have a question planned for tonight that will derail your campaign, but she can't find out what it is, and daren't be too inquisitive, in case they become suspicious. Do you have any idea what it might be?"

"No, I don't," said Nat.

"Perhaps he's found out about Julia," said Tom quietly.

"Julia?" said Murray, sounding puzzled.

"No, not my wife," said Tom. "The first Mrs. Kirkbridge."

"I had no idea there was a first Mrs.

Kirkbridge," said Murray.

"No reason you should," said Tom. "But I've always dreaded the thought that the truth might come out."

Murray listened attentively as Tom recalled how he'd met the woman who passed herself off as Julia Kirkbridge, and how she had signed the bank's check and then removed all the money from her account.

"Where is that check now?" asked Murray.

"Somewhere in the bowels of City Hall, would be my guess."

"Then we must assume that Elliot's got his hands on it, but were you technically breaking the law?"

"No, but we didn't keep to our written agreement with the council," said Tom.

"And the Cedar Wood project went on to be a huge success, making everyone involved a handsome return," added Nat.

"So," said Murray, "we are left with a choice. You either make a clean breast of it and prepare a statement this afternoon, or wait until thebomb drops tonight and hope you have an answer to every question that's thrown at you."

"What do you recommend?" said Nat.

"I would do nothing. First, my informant could be wrong, and second, the Cedar Wood project may not be the curve ball, in which case you will have opened that can of worms unnecessarily."

"But what else could it be?" said Nat.

"Rebecca?" said Tom.

"What do you mean?" asked Nat.

"That you made her pregnant and forced her to have an abortion."

"That's hardly a crime," said Murray.

"Unless she tries to claim you raped her."

Nat laughed. "Elliot's never going to raise that particular 39i subject, because he might well have been the father himself, and abortion is not part of his holier-than-thou image."

"Have you considered going on the attack yourself?"

asked Murray.

"What do you have in mind?" asked Nat.

"Didn't Elliot have to resign from Alexander Dupont and Bell on the same day as the senior partner because half a million went missing from a client account?"

"No, I will not stoop to his level," said Nat. "In any case, Elliot's involvement was never proved."

"Oh yes, it was," said Murray. Tom and Nat stared across at the chairman. "A friend of mine was the client in question, and phoned to warn me the moment he heard that Elliot was representing us in the takeover."

Nat sighed. "That may well be the case, but the answer is still no."

"Good," said Murray, "then we'll beat him on your terms, which means that well have to spend the rest of the afternoon preparing answers to whatever you imagine might bethe questions."

At six o'clock, Nat left the bank feeling wrung out. He phoned Su Ling and told her what had happened. "Do you want me to come along tonight?"

she asked.

"No, little flower, but can you keep Luke well occupied? If it's going to be unpleasant, I'd rather he wasn't around. You know how sensitive he can be, and he always takes it all so personally."

"I'll take him to a movie-there's a French film playing at the Arcadia that he and Kathy have been pressing me to see all week."

Nat tried not to appear nervous when he arrived at Goodwin House that night. He walked into the hotel's main dining room to find it was packed with several hundred local businessmen chatting to each other. But who were they supporting, he wondered? He suspected many of them still hadn't made up their minds, as the polls kept reminding them that 10 percent were still undecided. The headwaiter directed him to the top table, where he found Elliot chatting to the local party chairman. Manny Friedman swung around to welcome Nat.

Elliot leaned across and made a public show of shaking hands. Nat sat down quickly and began to make notes on the back of a menu.

When the chairman called for order he introduced "the two heavyweights both well qualified to be our next governor," and then invited Elliot to make his opening remarks. Nat had never heard him speak so poorly. The chairman then asked Nat to reply and when he resumed his place, he would have been the first to admit he hadn't done much better.

The first round, he thought, had ended in a no-points draw.

When the chairman called for questions, Nat wondered when the missile would be launched and from which direction.

His eyes swept the hall as he waited for the first question.

"How do the candidates feel about the education bill that is currently being debated in the Senate?"

came from someone sitting at the top table. Nat concentrated on the provisions in the bill that hefelt should be amended, while Elliot kept reminding them that he had completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Connecticut.

The second questioner wanted to know about the new state income tax, and whether both candidates would guarantee not to raise it. Yes and yes.

The third questioner was interested in the policy on crime, andwitha particular reference to young offenders.

Elliot said they should all be locked up and taught a lesson. Nat was less sure that prison was the answer to every problem, and that they should perhaps consider some of the innovations which Utah had recently introduced into their penal system.

When Nat resumed his seat, the chairman rose and looked around the room for another question. As soon as the man stood up without actually looking at him, Nat knew this had to be the plant. He glanced at Elliot, who was scribbling notes, pretending to be oblivious of his presence. "Yes, sir," said the chairman, pointing at him.

"Mr. Chairman, may I ask if either of the candidates has ever broken the law?"

Elliot was on his feet immediately. "Several times," he said. "I've had three parking tickets in the past week, which is why I'll be easing parking restrictions in town centers the moment I'm elected." Word perfect, thought Nat; even the timing had been rehearsed. A splattering of applause broke out.

Nat rose slowly and turned to face Elliot.

"I shall not be changing the law to accommodate Mr.

Elliot, because I believe there should be fewer vehicles in our city centers, not more. It may not be popular, but someone has to stand up and warn people that their future will be bleak if we build bigger and bigger cars that consume more and more gas and then spit out more and more toxic fumes. We owe our children a better heritage than that, and I have no interest in being elected on glib remarks that will be quickly forgotten once I'm in power." He sat down to loudapplause and hoped that the chairman would move on to another questioner, but the man remained standing.

"But, Mr. Cartwright, you didn't answer my question as to whether you'd ever broken the law."

"Not that I'm aware of," replied Nat.

"But isn't it true that you once cleared a check for three million six hundred thousand dollars from Russell's Bank, when you knew that the funds had already been misappropriated and that the signature on the check was fraudulent?"

Several of the audience began chattering at once, and Nat had to wait for some time before he could reply.

"Yes, Russell's was swindled out of that money by a very clever fraudster, but as that exact sum was owed to the local council, I felt that the bank had no choice but to honor the debt and pay the council the amount in full."

"Did you inform the police at the time that the money had been stolen? After all, it belonged to the customers of Russell's Bank and not to you," continued the questioner.

"No, because we had every reason to believe that the cash had been transferred abroad, so we knew that there would be no possibility of retrieving it." Nat realized as soon as he had finished speaking that his answer would not placate the questioner or several others in the audience.

"If you were to become governor, Mr. Cartwright, would you treat the taxpayers' money in the same cavalier fashion?"

Elliot was immediately on his feet. "Mr.

Chairman, that was a disgraceful suggestion and nothing more than innuendo and slur; why don't we move on?" He sat down to loud applause while Nat remained standing. He had to admire the sheer nerve of Elliot setting up the question and then being seen to come to his opponent's defense. He waited for complete silence.

"The incident you refer to occurred over ten years ago. It was a mistake on my part that I regret, although it is ironic that it turned out to bea massive financial success for all those involved, because the three point six million the bank invested in the Cedar Wood project has been a boon to the people of Hartford, not to mention the city's economy."

The questioner still wouldn't sit down. "Despite Mr.

Elliot's magnanimous comments, may I ask him if he would have reported such a misappropriation of funds to the police?"

Elliot rose slowly. "I would prefer not to comment without knowing all the details of this particular case, but I am happy to take Mr. Cartwright's word when he says that he did not commit any offense, and bitterly regrets not reporting the matter to the appropriate authorities at the time." He paused for some time. "However, if I am elected governor, you can be assured of open government. If I make a mistake, I will admit it at the time and not ten years later." The questioner sat down, his job completed.

The chairman found it difficult to bring the meeting back to order. There were several more questions, but they were not listened to in silence, as those seated in the body of the hall continued to discuss Nat's revelation.

When the chairman finally brought the meeting to a close, Elliot left the room quickly while Nat remained in his place. He was touched by how many people came up and shook him by the hand, many agreeing that the Cedar Wood project had proved beneficial for the city.

"Well, at least they didn't lynch you," Tom said as they left the room.

"No, they didn't, but there will only be one subject on the voters' minds tomorrow. Am I a suitable person to occupy the governor's mansion?"

the cedar wood scandal was the headline in the Hartford Courant the following morning. A photograph of the check and Julia's real signature had been placed side by side. It didn't read well, but luckily for Nat half the voters had gone to the polls long beforethe paper hit the streets. Nat had earlier prepared a short withdrawal statement should he lose, which congratulated his opponent, but fell short of endorsing him for governor. Nat was in his office when the result was announced from Republican headquarters.

Tom took the call and rushed in without knocking.

"You won, you won, 11,792 to 11,673-x's only by a hundred and nineteen votes, but it still puts you in the lead in the electoral college, 29-27."

The next day, the leader in the Hartford Courant did point out that no one had lost any money by investing in the Cedar Wood project, and perhaps the voters had made their intentions clear.

Nat still had to face three more caucuses and two more primaries before the candidate was finally selected.

He was therefore relieved to find that Cedar Wood quickly became yesterday's news. Elliot won the next caucus 19-18, and Nat the primary four days later, 9,702-6,379, which put him even further ahead as they approached the final primary.

In the electoral college, Nat now led 116-91 and the polls were showing him seven points ahead in the town of his birth.

On the streets of Cromwell, Nat was joined by his parents, Susan and Michael, who concentrated on the older voters, while Luke and Kathy tried to persuade the young to turn out. As each day passed, Nat became more and more confident that he was going to win. The Courant began to suggest that the real battle lay ahead for Nat when he would have to face Fletcher Davenport, the popular senator for Hartford. However, Tom still insisted that they take the television debate with Elliot seriously.

"We don't need to trip up at the final hurdle," he said. "Clear that, and you'll be the candidate. But I still want you to spend Sunday going over the questions again and again, as well as preparing for anything and everything that might come up during thedebate. You can be sure that Fletcher Davenport will be sitting at home watching you on TV and analyzing everything you say. If you stumble, he will have issued a press statement within minutes."

Nat now regretted that some weeks before he'd agreed to appear on a local television program and debate with Elliot the night before the final primary. He and Elliot had settled on David Anscott to conduct the proceedings.

Anscott was an interviewer who was more interested in coming over as popular than incisive. Tom didn't object to him as he felt the occasion would act as a dry run for the inevitably more serious debate with Fletcher Davenport scheduled for some time in the future.

Reports were coming back to Tom each day that volunteers were deserting Ralph Elliot in droves and some were even switching over and joining their team, so by the time he and Nat arrived at the television studio they both felt quietly confident. Su Ling accompanied her husband, but Luke said he wanted to stay at home and watch the debate on television so he could brief his father on how he came over to the larger audience.

"On the sofa with Kathy, no doubt," suggested Nat.

"No, Kathy went back home this afternoon for her sister's birthday," said Su Ling, "and Luke could have joined her, but to be fair he's taking his role as your youth advisor very seriously."