DC By the Book

Excerpt: At some point in those three weeks, we had gotten out of bed for some reason or other, and we were taking a walk near the Pension Building. It's a huge, block-squared structure with a frieze of Civil War soldiers, thousands of soldiers moving cannons and guns and wagons and horses slowly around the perimeter of the building. We went up the stairs to the entrance, and the guard let us into the inner courtyard. It was barely lit. The guard went down the hall and turned on the lights, and suddenly I could see the huge open space in the center of the building, pillars three stories high, leaded glass at the top. For many years, the inaugural balls were held in the Pension Building. We could hear the guard's radio, with an old Sinatra song coming from it. Mark held out his hands. -- "I can't dance," I said. "I've never been able to." -- "I believe in you, Rachel," he said. We started to dance.

Excerpt: "Anyway, it doesn't matter," said Betty, "because I found out who Thelma Rice is having an affair with." "Who?" I said. "You're not going to like it," said Betty. "Who is it?" I said. "Arthur," said Betty. "Arthur Siegel?" I said. "Yes," said Betty. "They were having drinks in the Washington Hilton yesterday afternoon. Nobody has drinks in the Washington HIlton unless something secret's going on."