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door?”
    â€œYes. The one you’ve repeatedly voted against. The most beautiful library in the world. A tribute to the human endeavor against darkness, savagery, and ignorance.”
    â€œA spectacular gold-plated waste of taxpayer funds.”
    She tried not to smile. He wasn’t the only person to criticize the extravagance of the new library, but he was the most vocal member of Congress to complain about it.
    â€œLike any other member of Congress, you may file a research request with my supervisor, and he will let you know when to expect an answer. Mr. Spofford is in the front office, although I’ll warn you that he is a distinguished old gentleman and probably won’t appreciate it if you snap your fingers to summon him.”
    â€œYou mean like this?” The congressman raised his arm, flicked his wrist, and snap, snap , snap .
    â€œYes, like that.”
    â€œI gathered from your response yesterday that you took it amiss. I shall do my best never to . . .” He held his fingers out— snap, snap . “Never to do that again in your presence.”
    When he snapped his fingers, emerald cuff links flashed in the bright light streaming from the window. He was laughing, and it was contagious. With a smile like that, she could see why he was one of the most popular men in Congress. She was even starting to like him, despite herself. She glanced down at the gems on his cuff links.
    â€œEmeralds? Usually you wear amethysts.”
    â€œNonsense. I only wear the finest Maine tourmalines. Anything else would be gaudy in a government office.”
    She looked with new curiosity at the gems. “Tourmalines?”
    â€œPulled from the Callahan mine in the rocky soil outside Bangor. They come in purple, green, red, even black. Sometimes we find stones that are green on the outside and pink on the inside. We call those watermelons. See?”
    He pulled a key ring from his pocket. A stone the size of a robin’s egg dangled from the brass ring, and sure enough it had a cutaway section that revealed a pink center surrounded by alayer of green crystal. He tossed it to her, and she caught the set of keys in her hands, still warm from his body.
    â€œHow is this possible?” she asked, turning the gemstone in the light. It seemed as dazzling and outrageous as the man himself.
    â€œThe color depends on the ratio of iron and magnesium in the stone. I promote the tourmaline industry wherever I go, as the best tourmalines in the world are found in Maine. My family owns a fine tourmaline mine, if you’d like to acquire a few pieces.”
    Anna would be more likely to sprout wings and fly than to wear sparkly gemstones. She returned the key ring and directed the conversation back to the business at hand.
    â€œSir, if you wish assistance, this card needs to be filled out and put on file.” She handed him a card and a pen.
    â€œWhat’s this? Don’t you have anything decent to write with?”
    â€œIt’s a pen with a roller ball to dispense the ink. They’re new.”
    â€œI’m not writing with that newfangled nonsense. Don’t you have a decent fountain pen?”
    Many people were leery of new technology, but Anna’s best friend worked at the Patent Office, and she had access to the amazing flood of inventions even before they reached the popular market. These new ink pens were still a little globby, but Anna loved the chance to use prototypes of new inventions.
    â€œI can bring you a chisel and a clay tablet if you’d prefer. I believe they have some in the museum.”
    He set the pen down and fastened that enigmatic gaze on her. “Yes, please.”
    â€œYes please . . . what?”
    â€œI’d prefer a chisel and a clay tablet. You see, Miss O’Brien, I like old things. I prefer the challenge of a time when men went out and killed something when they were hungry, rather than opening a tin of processed