“ ‘It is not a minor matter.’

“ ‘But that’s exactly what she is. Have you read the penal code lately? Do you know what you are risking?’

“ ‘I love her, Mother.’

“ ‘Yes, yes. And I love chocolate. But I have learned to do without to maintain my figure. As you must learn to do without to maintain your future.’ Lap, lap. ‘Now, think of the right way to break it to her. Young hearts are often so fragile, and we wouldn’t want to see such a precious flower unduly bruised.’

“It was the first real test of my life, Kyle, my first chance to stake out my own path. No one should be surprised that I failed. Along with the ambition that had been instilled in me from birth, there was a tendency toward acquiescence, too, which allows ambition to find the simplest way to rise. It does no good to fight the man when being the man is your deepest aspiration. So I broke it off, ignored the wailing of my heart as I delivered the news over the phone, and found some solace in the long-legged, straight-haired girls in the groves behind my classmates’ pools.

“I was already at Yale when I heard the news. A lawyer named Liam Byrne had contacted my family before going to the police. Colleen had accused me of rape.

“It wasn’t true, of course. But Colleen had discovered she was pregnant after I’d broken it off. She didn’t know what to do. She was alone and scared, and abortion was out of the question. When she told her parents, they were so hurt and angry, both, that the word ‘rape’ just slipped out. It was perfectly understandable; it was a direct result of my cowardice. But once it was out, her parents seized upon the accusation, and it snowballed. And soon the charge had taken on a life of its own, and she was unable to take it back. I called her from Yale, and the conversation didn’t go well. We were both hurt and angry and scared, and I said some things I should never have said. It was going to get ugly, I could feel it. But your father gave everybody a way out.

“He went to my family before going to the police. Once the police had it, it would be part of the public record forever. But your father promised to make it disappear, for a price. There would be money exchanged, of course. But also custody of the child was to be considered. In light of the accusation, and the phone call, I had to agree to counseling and to never try to contact Colleen or the child, ever. Under the circumstances it was a price my parents were only too happy to pay. One of my mother’s relatives handled negotiations on our side, to make sure it all stayed quiet, and the agreement was signed and the money transferred.

“ ‘Let that be a lesson to you, Francis,’ my mother told me. ‘Always be careful with whom you associate. And never underestimate the brutal dishonesty a woman is capable of, despite her gleaming surface. I know, dear, believe me, I know.’

“And it was a lesson I took to heart. Seeing my future suddenly imperiled and then revived, I began to cultivate it avidly, as if it were a rare orchid that needed constant care. I excelled at Yale, was inducted into Skull and Bones, married into an old-line Boston family, went home to Philadelphia and claimed my place in the family business. It was only a matter of time before I would take the next step. And so, in 1994, with the Republicans poised to gain control of Congress, and with the financial backing of both my wife’s family and my own, I declared my candidacy for the United States Congress.

“I won the nomination in a hotly contested battle, determined by an onslaught of hard-hitting television ads, and looked to be a lock in the general election, when I was approached by a figure from my distant past.”

“My father,” said Kyle.

“It felt like a ghost had come back to haunt me,” said the senator. “The ghost of my own desertion of Colleen. He told me that he couldn’t, in good conscience, allow a rapist to waltz into Congress without the public becoming aware of what had happened. He told me it was a matter of national interest. Despite the nondisclosure clause in the agreement, despite the injury it would cause to his client, Colleen, who had started life anew in Ohio with her son and a husband, despite its being a violation of his code of professional responsibility, he said as a patriot he had no choice. He was going to give the file to the press if I didn’t pull out of the race.”

“So what did you do?”

“I panicked,” said the senator. “It wasn’t just my future I was trying to protect, it was Colleen’s, too. And my son’s, the son whom I had never met but still thought about frequently. My father had drunk himself to death by then, so I went to my mother. She told me to offer him money. I told her that Liam Byrne wasn’t interested in money, and she gave me one of her smiles, like I was nothing more than an innocent fool. I didn’t think it would matter, but I gave it a shot. I was ashamed to broach the subject, just as you were today, but I did it. And to my surprise, that’s when the negotiation started.” “Negotiation?”

“Yes. We bought off your father. We bought the file.” “How much did you pay him?”

“A lot. Enough for him not to have to worry about money for a long time. Half a million dollars.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No. The transfer took place in a deserted lot by the river. A suitcase full of cash. And he took it, and that was the end of it. But it felt wrong, it felt rotten. I was disgusted with the whole thing, and I was thinking of quitting the race. But then your father died. And later I learned about Colleen. It was too much. My mother told me to forget it all, that it was over. ‘Think of your future, dear,’ she told me. ‘All that remains is your future.’ And so I stepped into it.”

“Half a million dollars?” said Kyle.

“Yes. But it always rankled, not the money, but the denial. And I was disappointed in your father, too. Maybe because I secretly hoped he would release it, and then my future would go down the tubes and I’d be free in a way I never had been before. Things would have changed, that’s for sure. I would have had to deal with Colleen and my son. Who knows what would have happened? But I always regretted that I never found out. And I won’t do it again. Colleen’s gone, my son is a now a doctor in Cleveland; he can take the truth. Do what you want with that file, Kyle, and do it with my blessing.”

“But if you didn’t want the file, then why did you come?”

“I came because of something Malcolm said. By the way, have you been in touch with him today?”

“No.”

“He seems to have disappeared. Strange. Anyway, he told me you knew what really happened to Colleen.”

“And you don’t?”

“No. But I’d like to know.”

“She died.”

“I know that. She drowned accidentally in a lake.”

“No, she was murdered.”

His eyes widened. “By whom?”