McMillan and husband

National | The woman who came between Paula Jones and her lawyers acts as big sister and defender in what is likely to be the most significant sexual-harassment trial in the nation's history | Jay Grelen

They had met for four hours, the lawyers looking over the potential client, the client assessing the lawyers, and now it was evening, and Paula Jones sat at DeLacy's Club 41, waiting.

Earlier in the day, they had convened at the home of Susan Carpenter McMillan, friend, confidante, and now spokesman for the woman who has accused President Clinton of sexual harassment. The three Texas attorneys walked into the restaurant, and Don Campbell, team leader, bent over Paula Jones's shoulder and spoke into her ear, but loudly enough for everyone else at the table to hear: "We'd be proud to represent you," he said, "if you will have us."

And thus opened the next chapter in Paula Jones's pursuit of justice: an apology from the world's most powerful leader for his behavior in an Arkansas hotel room. It brought to an end what had become an acrimonious relationship between Mrs. Jones and her previous legal team, two lawyers who quit after she refused an $800,000 settlement that didn't include an explicit apology from Mr. Clinton.