Читать книгу An Affair of State онлайн

35 страница из 86

They took an elevator to the fifth floor, passed through a double door over which was the Great Seal, through an anteroom with empty chairs lining its walls, through a secretarial office, and then through two more sets of double doors, and into a room deeply carpeted and utterly soundless, as if it were detached from the building, and from the city. Four men were seated at an oval conference table, with the Secretary at the end. The Secretary's head was down, exposing a bald spot in the gray, and he did not raise his eyes as they entered. He was reading a file of cables. He looked older than his pictures.

Dannenberg waited, standing, until the Secretary closed the file. Jeff was close at his side, trying not to stand to attention. "This is Mr. Baker," Dannenberg said, "who is to take the examination today."

The Secretary rose and put out his hand. "This will be a new experience for both of us," he said, "unless Dannenberg here has put in a ringer who knows all the answers."

"Oh, no sir!" said Dannenberg. "Mr. Baker's name just came up in the usual order." Dannenberg hadn't noticed that the Secretary was smiling. It was hard to tell when the Secretary smiled. Everything about the Secretary was contained--his strength, the quiet splendor of his bearing, his humor--as if he were conscious of his age and the necessity of conserving his emotions.