Page 232 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

Nelly lowered her voice. "Jackie knows about you."

This was the first time anyone in the office had acknowledged that Maria had a relationship with the president; but in her distress Maria hardly noticed that milestone. "She can't possibly know! I was always careful."

"Don't ask me how, I have no idea."

"I don't believe you."

Nelly might have been offended, but she just shook her head sadly. "From what little I understand of such things, I believe the wife always knows."

Maria wanted to deny it indignantly, but then she thought of the secretaries Jenny and Jerry, and the socialites Mary Meyer and Judith Campbell, and others. Maria was sure they all had sexual relations with President Kennedy. She had no proof, but when she saw them with him she just sort of knew. And Jackie had feminine intuition too.

Which meant Maria could not go to the funeral. She saw that now. The widow could not be forced to face her husband's mistress at such a time. Maria understood that with total, miserable certainty.

So she stayed at home on Monday to watch it on TV.

The body had been lying in state in the rotunda at the Capitol. At half past ten the flag-draped coffin was carried out of the building and placed on a caisson, a type of gun carriage, drawn by six white horses. The procession then headed toward the White House.

Two men stood out in the funeral cortege, being inches taller than the rest: French president Charles de Gaulle, and the new American president, Lyndon Johnson.

Maria was all cried out. She had been sobbing for almost three days. Now when she looked at the television she just saw a pageant, a show organized for the benefit of the world. For her this was not about drums and flags and uniforms. She had lost a man; a warm, smiling, sexy man; a man with a bad back and faint wrinkles in the corners of his hazel eyes and a set of rubber ducks on the edge of his bathtub. She would never look at him again. Life without him stretched long and empty ahead of her.

When the cameras zoomed in on Jackie, her beautiful face visible despite the veil, Maria thought that she, too, looked numb. "I wronged you," Maria said to the face on the screen. "God forgive me."

She was startled by a ring at the door. It was George Jakes. He said: "You shouldn't be alone for this."

She felt a surge of helpless gratitude. When she really needed a friend, George was there. "Come in," she said. "I'm sorry I look like a slattern." She was wearing a nightdress and an old bathrobe.

"You look fine to me." George had seen her worse than shabby.

He had brought a bag of Danish pastries. Maria put them on a plate. She had not had breakfast but, all the same, she did not eat a pastry. She did not feel hungry.

A million people lined the route, according to the television commentary. The coffin was taken from the White House to St. Matthew's Cathedral, where there was a mass.

At twelve noon there was a five-minute silence, and traffic stopped all over America. The cameras showed crowds standing silent on city streets. It was strange to be in Washington and hear no cars outside. Maria and George stood in front of the TV set in her little apartment. They bowed their heads. George took her hand and held it. She felt a wave of affection for him.

When the five-minute silence ended, Maria made coffee. Her appetite returned, and they ate the pastries. No cameras were allowed in the church, so for a while there was nothing to watch. George talked to distract her, and she appreciated it. He said: "Will you stay in the press office?"

She had hardly thought about it, but she knew the answer. "No. I'm going to leave the White House."

"Good idea."

"Apart from everything else, I don't see a future for myself in the press office. They never promote women, and I'm not going to spend my life as a researcher. I'm in government because I want to get things done."

"There's an opening in the Justice Department that might suit you." George spoke as if the thought had just occurred to him, but Maria suspected he had planned to say this. "Dealing with corporations that disobey government regulations. They call it compliance. Could be interesting."

"Do you think I'd have a chance?"

"With a degree from Chicago Law and two years' experience in the White House? Absolutely."

"They don't hire many Negroes, though."

"You know something? I think Lyndon may change that."

"Really? He's a Southerner!"

"Don't prejudge him. To be honest, our people have treated him badly. Bobby hates him, don't ask me why. Maybe because he calls his dick Jumbo."

Maria giggled for the first time in three days. "You're kidding."

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