A musical quartet had started to play and, as several couples got up to dance, Jed started to make his way around the edge of the room to where Abbey was now sitting with Ellie and some of the staff.

Inevitably, he had to stop a couple of times on the way, not least with the Irish ambassador who had heard about their visit to Ireland.

"Well, you and Mrs Bartlet certainly hit the headlines in this morning's Irish press, sir," Dermot Cassidy said with a laugh.

"We did?"

"The local reporters at Shannon got quite a scoop – and now they're all speculating about where you were staying and what you did while you were there."

Jed laughed too. "I think we covered our tracks fairly well!"

"With your photograph all over the papers this morning, I wouldn't bank on that. Someone who saw you somewhere is going to realise that the man who looked vaguely familiar was actually the President–"

Jed nodded ruefully. "Yeah, that's true. Maybe we won't be able to slip under the radar so much next time we go over there."

"You're going to visit again?"

"Of course. We both love Ireland."

"Then just let me know when you want to visit. I have a fairly secluded place in Connemara, near to Clifden – which you are very welcome to use if you want privacy."

"Well, thank you very much, Dermot – I really appreciate that – and I'll definitely take you up on that one. But now, if you'll excuse me–"

As Jed moved further round the room, he had to smile as he saw Lord John approaching Abbey, saw her looking up at him with a smile, and then standing to take John's proffered hand. It amused him a little that John had virtually asked his permission to dance with Abbey.

"Hey, Ellie," he said, when he finally reached the table where the staff were sitting. "You enjoying this evening?"

"It's okay," Ellie said with a small shrug.

"Yeah, that just about sums it up. So will you dance with your old Dad?"

Ellie smiled up at him. "You'll never be old, Dad! And I guess you do need someone to dance with now that Lord John has abducted Mom!"

She stood up with him, and he led her on to the dance floor.

"You look good in that dress," Jed said as he put his arm round her. "What colour do you call it?"

"Dark apricot," Ellie smiled. "Mom was quite surprised – she expected me to go for some pale pastel."

"Well, you always loved pastel pink when you were little."

Ellie laughed. "That was because Barbie looked good in pink, and I always wanted to be Barbie."

"Barbie? Wasn't that the pig that thought it was human?"

"Dad, that was Babe and he thought he was a sheepdog!"

"Yeah, that's right. So what was Barbie?"

"A doll – with lots of different clothes."

"Okay, I remember now. Yeah, I think that doll had even more dresses than your Mom had."

"You like Mom's dress tonight?"

Jed glanced across to where Abbey was dancing with Lord John. "I love it," he said.

"And her hair?"

"I love that too." Then he looked at her. "Why? What has she told you about her hair?"

"Nothing really – except that she said she wanted the wet-look tonight."

Jed started laughing inwardly, his shoulders beginning to shake as he struggled to control his amusement. Eventually he guided Ellie across the dance floor so that they were dancing next to Lord John and Abbey.

"I think I'm about to challenge you to pistols at dawn, John," he said with a smile.

Lord John raised his eyebrows. "This – from a man who has admitted he does not know one end of a pistol from the other – is supposed to worry me?"

"I'm a fast learner!" Jed said with a laugh.

"In that case, my esteemed friend, I shall hand over the adorable Abigail in exchange for the enchanting Eleanor."

Jed looked at Ellie. "You okay with the exchange, sweetheart?"

Ellie gave him her quick smile. "It's fine with me, I've never danced with a Lord before!"

Jed inclined his head as he handed Ellie to Lord John, then moved to put his arm round Abbey.

"I've missed you," he said as they started to dance.

She smiled up at him. "Yeah," she said. "Me too." She moved closer to him, knowing just what he meant. "It felt strange today – I kept glancing round, expecting you to be there."

He nodded. "It's a long time since we had so many days together, just the two of us."

"We'll have lots more," she said.

"Dermot Cassidy just offered us the use of his place in Connemara – maybe we can take him up on that one day. Oh, and he also said we hit the headlines in the Irish press this morning – photos of us at Shannon."

"Who's Dermot Cassidy?"

"Irish ambassador – over there," Jed nodded his head towards the ambassador. Then he looked at her. "Abbey, if that old guy in the pub at Ballykane sees the photos of us in the paper and remembers what he told us–?"

"It's not a problem, Jed – you didn't tell him that Annie was your mother."

"No, but I told the people at the Post Office – and Ballykane's a small town."

"So?"

"So – headlines in Irish Press? – 'Former President discovers his Illegitimate Roots in Ireland' – the reporter who works that one out will get a world-wide syndication on that story!"

Abbey studied him carefully. "Are you ashamed of it, Jed?"

Jed looked at her, taken aback for a moment and then his face cleared. "No – no, I'm absolutely not. Quite the opposite in fact – I'm proud that Eddy was my father. He was a man that I know I would have been able to look up to."

Abbey nodded slowly, understanding exactly what he meant, and then smiled. "Then that's the important thing, isn't it? And to hell with whatever appears in the press?"

"Yes, you're absolutely right. God, I could kiss you right now!"

"Keep dancing, gumdrop."

His voice dropped a tone. "Your wet-look hair is turning me on, you know that? – not to mention your magnificent breasts – and even though I can't see that sexy split in your skirt just at this moment, I know it's there, and that's turning me on too. And I know we should be talking about global warming or European monetary policy in case anyone overhears us, but that's not what's turning me on at all right now."

Abbey knew it was the right moment. She smiled at him. "I like turning you on like this. I love it when you're trying to pretend that you're not getting hot."

Jed looked at her. "There's an echo there somewhere."

Abbey met his eyes. "Lonergan's in Ballykane?"

"Ah-ha!" Jed said and laughed. "So this is payback time, is it?"

"Now whatever makes you think that?" Abbey said with mock innocence.

"And this is where I say 'You know damn well that I'm getting hot'? Christ, Abbey, I was hot even before we left the hotel room. Now I'm getting positively uncomfortable!" Abbey started to shake with laughter and he grinned back at her. "Stop it," he said, "or you'll have me cracking up laughing too – and then everyone will know that we're making love just with our eyes."

"And to hell with Ron Ehrlich?" Abbey asked mischievously.

"Oh, you can dance with him if you want to, sweetheart. Ron Ehrlich was forty years ago – and forty years, as you said, has got to be worth a hell of a lot more than nine months."

"Six!" she said firmly.

Jed started laughing again. "I love you, Abbey!" He tightened his grip, and they continued to dance, their eyes never once leaving each other.

When the music ended, reluctantly they moved apart and started to walk hand-in-hand back to the table. "So what's with Liz and Steve Palmer?" Jed asked, glancing across to where Liz was walking from the dance floor with the Congressman. "She's been with him all evening."

"She's known him for a few years," Abbey said. "They were on some committee together, I've forgotten which one now. Ellie said they greeted each other like long-lost friends when they met on the plane."

"So she's not just getting hints on how to run for Congress then?"

Abbey smiled. "Maybe not yet. But she did say she might run for the Statehouse once Gus gets to High School."

"She could run for State now while he's still at Junior High – it's only a part-time job, and then by the time he goes to college, she'll be well and truly ready for Congress."

"Give her time, Jed. She needs some breathing space first while she takes re-stock."

Jed nodded. "Yeah, you're right." He glanced at his watch. "Any chance we can leave this thing yet?"

"You planning on having an early night then?" Abbey asked, casually but with amusement glinting from her eyes.

"Well, you know, it's been a long day – with all those meetings and speeches – and I'm not as young as I was a week ago – and anyway, don't they describe former Presidents as venerable? Which, I might add, does not mean ancient, but rather 'commanding respect because of great age'."

"I can think of a few other words to describe a certain former President – insatiable being one of them!"

"You're referring to Truman, of course?"

They were both laughing as they reached the table where Ellie, and also Zoey and her attaché friend, were sitting.

"What's the joke?" Zoey asked.

Abbey sat down. "You just don't want to know!"

"Er, this is Carl Hancock," Zoey said, "He's a legal attaché here in Brussels."

The young man had already stood up. "Well, I'm actually an assistant in the office of the legal attaché, sir."

"Your first posting?" Jed asked, shaking Carl's hand.

"Yes, sir."

"Enjoying it?"

"Yes – it's very interesting, sir."

"Okay, sit down," Jed said. "This might be a formal event, but we don't have to be formal at this table!"

But he noticed that the young man did not sit until after he'd sat down. "You see," he said in an aside to Abbey, "some people still have some respect for a venerable former President!" And then he laughed when Abbey made a face at him.

Liz and her Congressman friend came across to join them, and for a while Jed kept them all entertained with some funny stories of his visits to other American embassies across the globe which had them all giggling and laughing.

When the music started again, Abbey nudged him. "Maybe you ought to ask the hostess to dance?" She nodded to where Margery Lyndell was sitting on her own, as Ryan was standing several yards away in deep discussion with a group of Embassy officials.

Jed nodded. "Yeah, okay – excuse me," he said to them all and went across to the ambassador's wife.

Abbey looked at her daughters with a small shrug. "I guess even a former President still has to be on duty on occasions like this." Then she glanced round, aware that someone was standing behind her.

"You promised me a dance, Abbey," said Ron.

Abbey glanced quickly towards Jed – and saw that he had seen. He gave her an almost imperceptible wink and she knew that he was okay with it. She looked back up at Ron. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?" she said with a smile.

She stood up and let Ron take her to the dance floor. As they started to dance, she looked up at him. "Well, this is a blast from the past, isn't it? How long is it since we danced together, Ron?"

"I guess it was at that party where you first met Jed Bartlet – and you looked at him like you'd never looked at me – and I knew then that I didn't stand a chance!"

Abbey smiled, remembering the night in Indiana when Ron had introduced her to some of his student friends and the tingle that had run down her spine when she'd first looked into Jed's intense blue eyes and felt that instant connection with him. "Forty years ago, Ron – where have all those years gone?"

Ron grinned. "If they'd told us when we were students that forty years later we'd be dancing at the American Embassy in Brussels, and that you'd have been the First Lady and I'd be Chair of the Fed, would we have believed them?"

Abbey laughed. "No way!"

"He was the right man for you, Abbey – and Kay was the right woman for me – so I guess we both made the right decision when we agreed to split. But I'm glad we stayed friends."

She nodded. "Yeah, me too. And Kay's still in Boston? And your kids?"

They continued talking about their families until the music ended, and then Ron looked down at her. "You still look at him in just the same way as you did at that party, Abbey."

She smiled. "Yeah, I guess I do."

He returned her to her seat just as Jed came back too. "So you haven't sweet-talked my wife into eloping with you, Ron?" he said with a smile.

Ron laughed. "She's all yours, Jed!"

"Yeah," Jed slipped his arm round Abbey's shoulders. "Yeah, and I'm all hers too."

TBC