Now Howden nodded slowly. 'That's been my impression too.'

The Prime Minister surveyed the long, gracious library. With its overstuffed sofas and chairs, big Chippendale table, and the book-lined walls, it seemed a gentle backwater of coolness and quiet. It was here in this room, he thought, that Lincoln had once rested and talked; that in later years the Trumans spent their leisure during the White House remodelling; here, in the library, that King Saud of Arabia slept guarded by his own soldiers, scimitar-armed; here that de Gaulle had prepared to huff, Adenauer to charm, and Khrushchev to bluster… and so many others. He wondered if he himself would be remembered in that long procession. And if so, with what verdict.

'Small things add up,' Lexington mused. 'The kind of reception you were given yesterday, for instance. I've never known the President to come out to the airport for Canadians. We're usually met by smaller fry and treated like country cousins – even Prime Ministers. Once, when John Diefenbaker was down for a White House dinner, they put him in line with a bunch of Presbyterian ministers.'

Howden chuckled reminiscently. 'Yes, I remember. He hated it and I can't say I blame him. Wasn't that the time Eisenhower made a speech and kept talking about the "Republic" of Canada?'

Lexington nodded, smiling.

James Howden dropped into an upholstered wing chair. 'They certainly did us brown last night,' he remarked. 'You'd think if they are making a switch, being considerate and so on, they'd be a bit more subtle.'

Arthur Lexington's eyes twinkled in the round, ruddy face above the inevitable neatly knotted bow de. At times, Howden thought, the External Affairs Minister resembled a benevolent schoolmaster accustomed to dealing firmly but patiently with small, obstreperous boys. Perhaps it was that which made him seem young, and always would, even though the years were advancing upon him like all the rest of them.

'Subtlety and the State Department keep separate houses,' Lexington said. 'I've always considered, you know, that American diplomacy comes two ways – either contemplating rape or ready to receive it. There's seldom any in between.'

The Prime Minister laughed. 'How about now?' He invariably enjoyed the moments which the two of them had ^lone. They had long been staunch friends who trusted each other firmly. One reason, possibly, was that there was no sense of competition between them. While others in the Cabinet openly or covertly aspired to the Prime Ministership, Arthur Lexington, as Howden knew full well, had no ambitions in that direction.

Lexington, in fact, would probably still have been an ambassador, happy in his spare time with the twin hobbies of stamp collecting and ornithology, had not Howden persuaded him years earlier to resign from the diplomatic corps and enter the party and later the Cabinet. Loyalty and a strong sense of duty had kept him there since, but he made no secret of looking forward with pleasure to the day when he would return from public to private life.

Lexington had paced the long garnet-coloured rug before answering the Prime Minister's question. Now he stopped and said, 'Like you, I don't care to get violated.'

'But there'll be plenty who'll say we have been.'

'Some will say that whichever line we take. There'll be sincere people among them too – not just the rabble-rousers.'

'Yes, I've thought of that,' Howden said. 'The Act of Union will cost us some of our own party, I'm afraid. But I'm still convinced there's no other choice.'

The External Affairs Minister sank into a facing chair. He hooked a footstool close and stretched out, resting both feet.

'I wish I were as sure as you. Prime Minister.' As Howden eyed him sharply Lexington shook his head. 'Oh, don't misunderstand me; I'm with you the whole way. But the speed of it all disturbs me. The trouble is, we're living in a time of compressed history, yet so few realize it. Changes which used to take fifty years take five or less, and we can't help it because communications have made it that way. The one thing I hope is that we can keep a sense of national unity, but it won't be easy.'

'It was never easy,' Howden said. He glanced at his watch. They would have to leave Blair House in thirty minutes, to allow for a session with the White House press corps before the official talks began. But he supposed there was time to discuss with Lexington a subject which had been on his own mind for some time. This seemed a good moment to bring it up.

'On the subject of identity,' he announced thoughtfully, 'there's something the Queen mentioned not long ago – the last time I was in London.'

'Yes?'

'The lady has suggested – in fact I may say urged – that we reinstate titles. She made what I thought was an interesting point/

James Howden half-closed his eyes, recalling the scene as it had been, four and a half months earlier: a mellow September afternoon in London; himself at Buckingham Palace for a courtesy call. He had been received with appropriate respect and escorted promptly to the royal presence…

'… Do please have some more tea,' the Queen had said, and he had passed the fragile gold-rimmed cup and saucer, unable to resist the thought – though knowing it naive – that the British monarch was pouring tea in her palace for the orphan boy from Medicine Hat.

'And bread and butter. Prime Minister!' He took some. There was brown and white, cut paper-thin. He declined the jam – three kinds in a gold server. As it was, you needed a juggler's skill to balance everything at English teatime.

They were alone in the drawing room of the Private Apartments – a large airy place, overlooking the palace gardens, formal by North American standards but less overpowering with gilt and crystal than most of the other state rooms. The Queen was dressed simply in a silk cornflower-blue dress, her neat ankles crossed casually above matching kid leather pumps. No women, Howden thought with admiration, have quite so much poise as upper-class Englishwomen not consciously trying.

The Queen spread strawberry jam thickly for herself, then observed in her precise, high-pitched voice, 'My husband and I have frequently considered that for Canada's own sake there should be more to distinguish it.'

James Howden had been tempted to reply that there was a good deal to distinguish Canada, compared with current British achievements, but decided that perhaps he had misinterpreted the meaning. A moment later showed he had.

The Queen added: 'To distinguish it in the sense of difference, that is, from the United States.'

'The trouble is, ma'am,' Howden responded carefully, 'it's hard to maintain a separate appearance when two countries live so close and similarly. From time to time we try to emphasize our separateness, though not always succeeding.'

'Scotland has succeeded quite well in keeping its identity,' the Queen remarked. She stirred her tea, her expression guileless. 'Perhaps you should take a lesson or two from them.'

'Well…' Howden smiled. It was true, he thought. Scotland, which had lost its independence two and a half centuries earlier, still possessed more nationhood and character than Canada ever had or would.

The Queen continued thoughtfully: 'One reason, perhaps, is that Scotland has never yielded its traditions. Canada, if you will forgive me for saying so, has seemed in rather a hurry to shed them. I remember my father saying much the same thing.' The Queen smiled disarmingly, her manner robbing the words of any offence. 'Will you have tea?'

'Thank you, no.' Howden surrendered his cup and saucer to a uniformed manservant who had come in quietly with more hot water for the teapot. He had a sense of relief at having balanced everything without mishap.

'I do hope you haven't minded my saying that. Prime Minister.' The Queen replenished her own cup as the servant disappeared.