Free Lovers and Liars by Sally Beauman Page A

Impressions?’
    f awthorne? Very little. The obvious things. He’s exceptiong d4ooking.,He’s as charming as most people say. I’ve heard be both kind and generous. He works a room ruthlessly, p
    en a lot of politicians do.’
    ‘4T-ine Fine.’ Jenkins shifted in his seat. ‘Background, then. Is e anything you want to add to what Pascal’s just saidT
    e paused once more, and glanced across at Pascal. His own on Hawthorne had puzzled her. Accurate it might be, had skirted the most important facts. Could Pascal’s new work made him obsessed with trivia - with society weddings, and
    er gowns? She could not believe that. Possibly he had been g Jenkins’s pomposity. She could not tell. The fact remained Pascal, whose journalistic instincts had once been so sharp, .ignored the most important and most curious aspect of John
    orne’s meteoric career. Now, why should he do that? stick to politics, I think,’ she said. ‘We ought to start with zle, a mystery, if you like. OK, so John Hawthorne is now
    US ambassador here. Fine. But let’s remember that in his
    59
58
    terms, that’s a demotion. Five years ago, John Hawthorne was one of the best known senators in the country and he seemed poised for greater power still. Back in 1989, 1990, all the forecasters agreed: Hawthorne was all set to be the next Democratic candidate for the Presidency.’
    ‘Precisely.’ Jenkins smiled broadly. ‘And given his clout, his wealth and his charisma, he might even have made it to the White one
    House. If, that is, he could be persuaded to run. And noanticipated any difficulties about that. Fascinating, isn’t itT Jenkins waited in silence, savouring the implications while he
    performed an elaborate ritual of cigar lighting.
    ‘Fine,’ he said finally. ‘John Hawthorne might have been the
    1992 Democratic candidate for the Presidency. He might even have made it to the Oval Office. But he didn’t. Gini, go on.’
    ‘John Hawthorne’s part of a machine,’ Gini began. ‘A family machine. There are parallels with the Kennedys obviously, though in Hawthorne’s case, no Irish connections. His descent is Catholic Scots. He was the third generation to make it to the Senate. He was groomed by his father for political office from his earliest childhood. Law school, a serving officer in Vietnam, congressman, senator - it was a smooth, perfect, unimpeded ascent. He’s rich, smart, charismatic, driven. Master of the sound bite. Perfect on TV. Almost unnatural good looks. A tough campaign record .
    In a word, perfect modern presidential material. Hawthorne as the Democratic candidate in 1992 - that was the prediction . She paused. ‘Only something went wrong. Hawthorne never announced his candidacy. He resigned from the Senate early in
    1991. He disappeared off the political map for an entire year to much rejoicing in Arkansas. Clinton had a clean run.’
    ‘ReasonsT Jenkins said.
    ‘It was never explained. That’s what’s so curious. Why resign from the Senate? He had powerful backers in the Democratic party - why disappoint them? Count the column inches on that. And the answer? No-one knows. There was no scandal, no hint of skeletons in the closet, no smoking bimbos, no bribes, no unfortunate connections with organized crime. Nothing. just, one day he was there - the next he was gone—2
    ‘There were reasons given,’ Pascal interrupted. ‘He put out a statement. One of the children, the younger son, had been seriously ffl.’
60
    ‘Oh, sure. And Hawthorne wanted to spend more time with fds family as a result. Don’t tell me you swallowed that.’ ‘Possibly not.’
    ‘If you did, Pascal, you’re in a minority of one.’
    ‘Children, children, please. Do I detect a note of hostility hereT Jenkins, who loved to detect such tensions, his guiding principle being divide and rule, made a calming gesture. ‘Let’s stick to the p, i t,’ he said. ‘Fast forward - we haven’t got all day. Hawthorne resigns from the Senate, as