The meal proceeded a pace – the woman still was able to eat soup without the sound of her spoon ever hitting the bowl – before Mr. Braxton proceeded with his impressions.
“The first step was delicious; the next is going on and it is intoxicating to think of how well you have answered their childish demands for recognition,” he said. “That whole property was burned off and now is winterizing. It will cost more money than they will be able to get together in order to realize whatever vision they have for it to be anything other than what it is, and so they will return to you with their hands out. No matter whether they return humbly or belligerently, they will return. Brilliant, Selene, absolutely brilliant.”
“I'm sure I hadn't thought that far into it.”
“Instinct does not have to think; it knows and does,” he said, “which is why I have always wanted you. You of course have a gorgeous intellect as well, but you don't need it. You have the Madison edge: the deep understanding of what it takes to rule in a hodge-podge nation like this. The mixed masses can be managed, so long as they see our face as the one that saves or damns. It was once easier to damn, before 1865, but we do well enough with most of our police and control of the courts. But we have done well in keeping them in need so we always can create reasons to save them.”
“I'm sure I have not thought that far into it – at 84, it is getting to be more than enough for me to manage this aged body and mind.”
“Which is why you need me,” he said.
“The face that saves,” she said.
“Not like that – don't be like that, Selene,” he said, “although I respect that after 68 years, you still are well able grapple with me intellectually. I missed our sparring contests over philosophy every day for all these years. You remained perfectly feminine, sweet, submissive, and just poked holes in everything I thought I knew – at 16! I have missed you so much, Selene. I don't expect that you feel the same, but like I said, I had to throw the dice, one last time.
“You have gotten very good at saving yourself and others – you are an equal to me in that respect, and you always were. In you I have always seen an ideal partner, one who has the guiding instinct that complements the honed mind. Intellect often weakens with age, but instinct does not.”
“So, you want me to be your Maximalist queen,” she said, "to share the reign of this institution of salvation through dependency that you have built for all others but ourselves."
“Now, you understand. Say we have only five years left – make it just two. Even one, if we work harder than I think either of us would like, but, time is of the essence. You and I can set this whole county right, and everyone return to their proper place in peace and satisfaction. You see what I am already doing to make sure it does not go wrong.”
“All this?”
“Not this, directly, except that yes, I am courting you again to set my own personal world right,” he said, “but I still need to share with you all that I have done without you in mind, because having you here has only been the vision of a week.”