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15INT. PRIVATE DINING ROOM, OLD TAVERN IN WASHINGTON DC - NIGHT

In a cramped private alcove, a low, sagging timber ceiling, sooty walls, sawdusted floor, ancient curtain closing it off, Seward sits at a small table with ROBERT LATHAM, an Albany NY political operative, RICHARD SCHELL, a Wall Street speculator, and W.N. BILBO, a Tennessee lawyer and lobbyist. A chandelier with candles drips wax on them.

On the table, a leather folio lies open: prospectuses for jobs in the administration. Latham and Schell study these. Bilbo is studying Seward.

SEWARD

The President is never to be

mentioned. Nor I. You're paid for

your discretion.

W.N. BILBO

Hell, you can have that for

nothin', what we need money for is

bribes. It'd speed things up.

SEWARD

No. Nothing strictly illegal.

ROBERT LATHAM

It's not illegal to bribe

Congressmen. They starve otherwise.

RICHARD SCHELL

I have explained to Mr. Bilbo and

Mr. Latham that we're offering

patronage jobs to the Dems who vote

yes. Jobs and nothing more.

SEWARD

That's correct.

W.N. BILBO

Congressmen come cheap! Few

thousand bucks'll buy you all you

need.

SEWARD

The President would be unhappy to

hear you did that.

W.N. BILBO

Well, will he be unhappy if we

lose?

A WAITRESS brings in a platter of roasted crabs, which she slams down on the table, and leaves.

SEWARD

The money I managed to raise for

this endeavor is only for your

fees, food, and lodgings.