Like communists during the McCarthy era, pessimists about the future of the peace process were thin on the ground at Stormont's Castle Buildings yesterday. There were more than a few born-again optimists who declared that secretly, in their heart of hearts, they had never really lost hope even in the darkest days.
None of them had quite got to the stage of denouncing friends who had yielded to despair in the bad times but it may come to that if a special committee of investigation is ever established.
However, talks insiders warned against complacency. There had been progress but it was still a toss-up between a breakthrough and a breakdown.
Sure, Sinn Fein was stretching as far as it could, within the terms of the Belfast Agreement, but there was still no guarantee that the deal would be good enough for David Trimble to sell to his party.
Word began to filter out around lunchtime that Gen de Chastelain's report on decommissioning would not be delivered in the afternoon as scheduled.
Mr Blair's spin-doctors appeared, to confirm that the two prime ministers had held a half-hour meeting with the general and the rest of the international decommissioning body.
Although the general was ready to deliver, Mr Blair and Mr Ahern told him progress was being made which would be "relevant to his report". The general agreed to delay presentation until today to take account of such progress.
A five-sided meeting involving the two government heads, the UUP, SDLP and Sinn Fein, which was originally scheduled for Monday, was finally set for 7 p.m.
There was a series of bi-laterals and one four-handed meeting involving the Prime Minister, the Taoiseach, Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness lasted 75 minutes. The prime ministers also had lengthy discussions with Mr Trimble.
A deal was cooking but Sinn Fein and the UUP still retained the option of switching off the oven.
The state of play with the general's report was described as follows: he had an accurate reading of where things at present stood on decommissioning but fuller information on the prospects for the future was being incorporated into the final text.
Suggestions from a sceptical media that the two governments would write the report, with the general simply putting his name to it, were rejected as unfair by official sources. There might be some necessary help with his homework by Dublin and London but the general was his own man.
Although not so visible yesterday, SDLP leader John Hume has been heavily engaged in the talks. His old missionary zeal has returned and he was even spotted at one stage this week giving UUP prodigal son Jeffrey Donaldson the benefit of his wisdom.
Seamus Mallon was also in evidence, especially during an intriguing walkabout in the company of David Trimble. These two gentlemen, whose relationship is as chequered as that between Iran and Iraq, strolled together into the press tent to have some coffee. They refused to answer any serious questions, in an exercise clearly intended to be "for the optics".
Sources were impressed by Tony Blair's demeanour, describing it as "steely". The Prime Minister was determined not to leave empty-handed as at Hillsborough.
There was pain for all sides. "Every party has to take its turn in the dentist's chair," was how a well-informed mandarin put it.
There was considerable media interest in the presence of well-known republican activists like Martin Ferris and the veteran Joe Cahill. A prominent Border republican thought to be the head of the movement's unparliamentary side was also said to be in the vicinity but nobody could be certain since this man has rarely been photographed.
One of the wilder rumours was that Mr Blair had dismissed Sinn Fein and demanded "Bring me the head of the IRA Army Council".
Republican sources poured scorn on the notion that the movement was about to "roll over" on weapons to get into government. They would go as far as they could in terms of language but nothing was possible which went outside the Good Friday document.
While republicans felt Mr Trimble was inching towards a deal, there was an abiding fear that he would allow the prime ministers to squeeze every last drop of compromise out of them and then walk away. Speculation that Sinn Fein was about to agree a timetable for decommissioning was dismissed out of hand. Nor would republicans countenance a legislative mechanism ensuring their expulsion if the guns didn't turn up.
Sinn Fein sources also warned repeatedly against an over-optimistic reading of the situation and described the "spin" emanating from Mr Blair's spokesman as excessively positive. Remember how you got burnt at Hillsborough, they told reporters.
Today begins with renewed expectation of the long-awaited De Chastelain report. Ignoring the smirks of some journalists, the Blair camp insists it has not seen the text.
The possibility of a separate document dealing with non-decommissioning matters has not been ruled out.
"Today has been better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today," the Prime Minister's spokesman said.
Maybe it's true that things can only get better, but a lot of people are still keeping their fingers crossed.