of Michigan picked this morning to call me, so I’ve been running errands.”
“It’s good for you. It keeps you humble to remember that you may be Majority Leader to us, but you’re just an errand boy to them.”
“Thanks,” Bob Munson said. “I knew there must be some good purpose in it. What have you been doing?”
“Getting ready for the party. It seems to me I’ve been over everything fifty times, though I’m sure it was only twice.”
“How many are you expecting this time,” Senator Munson asked, “five hundred?”
“About three,” Dolly said.
“Vagaries will be taxed to the limit,” the Senator observed. “I hope every single one will be directly involved in the nomination.”
“Not every one, but a good many. But do you know, the funniest thing? Louise Leffingwell called a little while ago and said they couldn’t make it.”
“God damn him anyway,” Bob Munson said flatly. “What was the excuse?”
“Bob has a touch of virus, she said.”
“He’s just playing hard to get,” Bob Munson said. “But maybe it’s just as well, after all. His being there might serve to inhibit the conversation, and as it is we can say what we think. Except that a lot of us won’t, of course.”
“Isn’t this going to be important diplomatically?” Dolly asked. “I mean, won’t the allies be interested? Won’t they try to influence it, even?”
“I expect they will,” Bob Munson said. “I’ve got to talk to some of them tonight.”
“They’ll be here,” Dolly said, “including K.K.”
“Hal Fry saw him this morning at the UN,” Senator Munson reported. “He called to tell me K.K. is also playing hard to get.”
“Well, darling, Tashikov will be here and maybe he’ll say what he thinks.”
“Yeah,” Bob Munson said dryly. “I’m sure of it.”
“Bob,” Dolly said seriously, “are you entirely happy about this?”
“It’s my job to be happy about it,” Senator Munson said. “How else can I feel?”
“I knew it. If Claude and Raoul are against him and K.K. quibbles and Tashikov smiles, I’m going to be scared.”
“So am I,” Bob Munson said, “assuming Tashikov would be so indiscreet as to smile, which I doubt. Anyway, we’ll just have to see.”
“Well, you let me know what I can do to help,” Dolly said; then her tone changed. “How’s your sense of the ridiculous?”
Bob Munson grinned. “I won’t know till midnight, I suspect, and then if I’ve mislaid it somewhere I’ll have to come through the back door in blackface, I suppose, to avoid comment.”
“Why don’t you make an honest woman of me and then you can forget comment?” Dolly asked.
“Oh, comment’s all part of the game in my business,” Senator Munson said.
“Now, darling,” Dolly told him, “don’t be like that. Just don’t be like that. It isn’t fair.”
“I’m trying to be fair,” Bob Munson said. “I said I’d wear blackface.”
“Damn you anyway, darling,” Dolly said lightly. “I’ll see you tonight, and I don’t care about your sense of the ridiculous after all. I’m sorry I asked.”
“ I’m not,” Bob Munson said. “I would have been devastated if you hadn’t.”
“Oh, damn, damn, damn, damn ,” Dolly said. “I refuse to talk to you any longer.”
“I’ll see you tonight,” Bob Munson said with a chuckle. “Somewhere among the three hundred.”
“Well, don’t try the back door,” she told him. “It will be locked, blackface or no blackface.”
“I love you too,” Senator Munson said. “Don’t slip on a French pastry.”
“Go to hell,” one of Washington’s most prominent hostesses advised him. “Just go on and go.”
And that, the Senator thought with amusement, was why life in Washington had become considerably more interesting recently. A couple of months ago when he had stayed overnight for the first time at Vagaries he had made some teasing comment about it all being rather ridiculous anyway, fifty-seven and
“It’s good for you. It keeps you humble to remember that you may be Majority Leader to us, but you’re just an errand boy to them.”
“Thanks,” Bob Munson said. “I knew there must be some good purpose in it. What have you been doing?”
“Getting ready for the party. It seems to me I’ve been over everything fifty times, though I’m sure it was only twice.”
“How many are you expecting this time,” Senator Munson asked, “five hundred?”
“About three,” Dolly said.
“Vagaries will be taxed to the limit,” the Senator observed. “I hope every single one will be directly involved in the nomination.”
“Not every one, but a good many. But do you know, the funniest thing? Louise Leffingwell called a little while ago and said they couldn’t make it.”
“God damn him anyway,” Bob Munson said flatly. “What was the excuse?”
“Bob has a touch of virus, she said.”
“He’s just playing hard to get,” Bob Munson said. “But maybe it’s just as well, after all. His being there might serve to inhibit the conversation, and as it is we can say what we think. Except that a lot of us won’t, of course.”
“Isn’t this going to be important diplomatically?” Dolly asked. “I mean, won’t the allies be interested? Won’t they try to influence it, even?”
“I expect they will,” Bob Munson said. “I’ve got to talk to some of them tonight.”
“They’ll be here,” Dolly said, “including K.K.”
“Hal Fry saw him this morning at the UN,” Senator Munson reported. “He called to tell me K.K. is also playing hard to get.”
“Well, darling, Tashikov will be here and maybe he’ll say what he thinks.”
“Yeah,” Bob Munson said dryly. “I’m sure of it.”
“Bob,” Dolly said seriously, “are you entirely happy about this?”
“It’s my job to be happy about it,” Senator Munson said. “How else can I feel?”
“I knew it. If Claude and Raoul are against him and K.K. quibbles and Tashikov smiles, I’m going to be scared.”
“So am I,” Bob Munson said, “assuming Tashikov would be so indiscreet as to smile, which I doubt. Anyway, we’ll just have to see.”
“Well, you let me know what I can do to help,” Dolly said; then her tone changed. “How’s your sense of the ridiculous?”
Bob Munson grinned. “I won’t know till midnight, I suspect, and then if I’ve mislaid it somewhere I’ll have to come through the back door in blackface, I suppose, to avoid comment.”
“Why don’t you make an honest woman of me and then you can forget comment?” Dolly asked.
“Oh, comment’s all part of the game in my business,” Senator Munson said.
“Now, darling,” Dolly told him, “don’t be like that. Just don’t be like that. It isn’t fair.”
“I’m trying to be fair,” Bob Munson said. “I said I’d wear blackface.”
“Damn you anyway, darling,” Dolly said lightly. “I’ll see you tonight, and I don’t care about your sense of the ridiculous after all. I’m sorry I asked.”
“ I’m not,” Bob Munson said. “I would have been devastated if you hadn’t.”
“Oh, damn, damn, damn, damn ,” Dolly said. “I refuse to talk to you any longer.”
“I’ll see you tonight,” Bob Munson said with a chuckle. “Somewhere among the three hundred.”
“Well, don’t try the back door,” she told him. “It will be locked, blackface or no blackface.”
“I love you too,” Senator Munson said. “Don’t slip on a French pastry.”
“Go to hell,” one of Washington’s most prominent hostesses advised him. “Just go on and go.”
And that, the Senator thought with amusement, was why life in Washington had become considerably more interesting recently. A couple of months ago when he had stayed overnight for the first time at Vagaries he had made some teasing comment about it all being rather ridiculous anyway, fifty-seven and
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