The summons left his desk before noon.
Charlton had worded it with care — formal, succinct, and vague enough to appear urgent. A "matter of foreign correspondence" requiring the Minister's immediate attention; nothing unusual, nothing suspicious. Only Christopher Cross would recognize the seal and know to respond at once.
He told himself it was necessary — a precaution for the evening's gathering, a chance to prevent his friend from making an ill-timed political blunder. That was the reasoning he gave to his aide, and later, to Larissa when she remarked on his distracted mood.
In truth, he could no longer recall when the justification began to sound false.
