This works seems to be really well done. I like the sophisticated word choice, but I was somewhat confused. The events seem to be moving a little too quickly. Reader’s are immediately thrust into the story. All we know is that Spyglass is looking for an invitation and he and his wife suddenly end up at the US Embassy in Jerusalem. I feel as though something is missing and that you could add some filler paragraphs, such as a short conversation b/w Spyglass and his spouse on the way to the Embassy or some short descriptions of Spyglass. This observations may simply be a minor qualm of mine. Use this suggestion as you see fit.

But I want to comment on a minor detail about your third paragraph. You write:

“They each bore a crown of melting snowflakes as a Marine lieutenant colonel in dress blues and a silver-sheathed sword hanging from one hip examined the proffered credentials, then flung open the scrolled cherrywood door…”

A Marine Lieutenant Colonel would be doing door duty at a US Embassy. If anything it would probably be an enlisted man, a marine private. Officers would not be in charge of such duties.

But here is one part that really confused me:

Only Gus Semple, the consul-general to Al Quds in the Lesser Palestinian Republic, hurried over to greet his friend.

"Here you are at last, Ez," he chirped, his plump, rubicund face wreathed in smiles. "The prez will be delighted."

"Ez and the prez," Alice echoed with a mocking smile. "Sounds like a comedy team. Who'll be the straight man, I wonder?"

“Now, Ally,” Spyglass cautioned with a sly grin, for he knew from bitter experience how destructive his wife’s wit could be when her mood grew caustic…”

I had to read this section a few times in order to find out who Alice was. You should probably mention who Alice is the first time, but since you mention her name as being Ally in the last bit of above dialogue. Try this to fix things up

“Ez and the prez,” Mrs. Spyglass echoed with a mocking smile. “Sounds like a comedy team. Who’ll be the straight man, I wonder?”

I believe this clears up the confusion fairly well. Again, use this suggestion as you see fit.

In closing, I have no qualms about the style of writing. However, just as a suggestion I would say to make sure you clear up your character introductions. I was confused towards the end with introduction of two many characters. In other words, I felt it was sort of rushed when you mentioned Secretary Quitclaim and Brigadier Derev. Maybe these characters may be mentioned in passing which is probably your original intent for this story. Hope these suggestions are helpful. Great piece of writing and look forward to reading some more.

It snowed in Jerusalem on the night of the president's gala reception at the US embassy, and Spyglass almost forgot to transfer the invitations to the pocket of his overcoat. They were on the desk in his study and the half-grown kitten Fortinbras, who loved to lie on paper, had plunked himself down on the large vellum envelope. Only by a happy chance did Spyglass notice one cream-colored corner protruding from beneath the recumbent feline rump when he went in to verify that his PC had been switched off.

Good stuff. My only thought is your use of "Spyglass" rather than "Dr. Spyglass" or something to make clear in the reader's mind that Spyglass is a character's name, not code for anything.

Her wrath might have easily been such as to quell her wish for a divorce. That would have been catastrophic.

It's just a little overwritten for me. Also, "That would have been catastrophic" is unnecessary because it's already implied.

They each bore a crown of melting snowflakes as a Marine lieutenant colonel in dress blues and a silver-sheathed sword hanging from one hip examined the proffered credentials, then flung open the scrolled cherrywood door to the great central hall and whispered something into the ear of the waiting major-domo.

I think we could use a line or two more of setting prior to the start of this paragraph. The first two pgphs don't really place these characters in a setting, but they give us a sense of the story. But suddenly we're talking about "crowns of melting snowflakes" which can be confusing when it's imperative the reader knows these two people have left their room, taken a car through downtown Jerusalem, walked from likely a valet up the steps to the front door of a large building, a bustling crowd surrounding the entrance to the embassy dinner. Or something like that.

The immense crowd of guests was too busy inching along a receiving line, shaking the hands of the ambassador, the secretary of state, Prime Minister Balaganist and, of course, Her Royal Crankiness (as wags interpreted the initials HRC), the President of the United States.

The HRC acronym only sort of worked for me. Why not just say up front that it's Clinton?

Only Gus Semple, the consul-general to Al Quds in the Lesser Palestinian Republic, hurried over to greet his friend.

I'm getting a little lost in the titles. I want to meet the person first. The next lines you have:

"Here you are at last, Ez," he chirped, his plump, rubicund face wreathed in smiles. "The prez will be delighted." "Ez and the prez," Alice echoed with a mocking smile. "Sounds like a comedy team. Who'll be the straight man, I wonder?"

"chirping, plump, rubicund face..." that works. "wreathed in smiles" worked less for me. But I'd also want to know how old, tall/short, or an ethnicity, or even the quality of his apparel.

In addition, "Ez," "prez," and "Ez and the prez" made them sound like kids. Or it makes the author seem like an adolescent failing to capture what adults might talk like.  I know that's not your intention.

and a modicum of reason still controlled the intermittent madness.

Due to the vocabulary, this portion of the sentence doesn't seem to describe anything directly.

With civil flights still suspended due to the military putch, the presidential jet was Spyglass's only hope of parting with his wife.

This seemed  "explainy" to me.

The embassy's chief of protocol subvocalized into the pink whorl between the golden bouffant beehive on the chief executive cranium and the heavy circlet of precious stones depending from the lobe beneath.

It's vocab word time. Now, don't get me wrong. I know what all of these words mean. But it certainly slowed the pace of my reading, and it didn't contribute that much more to the story for me.

(He had practiced all afternoon in front of the mirror on his wife's dresser.) "So, Professor Spyglass," she almost gushed (which, of course, heads of state and of government never do),

I have to agree with and give credit to my pal Amber Lynn who advised me that while parentheses are a fine cue in speeches, in prose they serve as speed bumps.

She held out her hand and, for a split second of dreamy indecision, Spyglass debated whether to kiss or squeeze it. In the end, his no-nonsense American upbringing trumped the long-nurtured Elizabethan Renaissance courtliness in which the twenty-plus years of his academic career had been steeped, and he settled for a palm-to-palm rather than lip-to-wrist salutation.

Here's a good paragraph giving us some idea of what kind of man Spyglass is. Personally, I think it should arrive a little earlier.

"Well met indeed, Madam President," he said through a throatful of embarrassing phlegm, and couldn't resist adding: "I appreciate the Shakespearean allusion, of course, but I'm sure I don't have to remind you that Oberon's greeting to Titania in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is 'ill met by moonlight'."

Since we didn't get to actually hear the president's speech, I didn't really feel like this exchange worked.

Oops! Was correcting the President of the United States quite de rigueur? Whether or not, he could no more have denied the pedant and pedagogue within himself than walk on his thumbs. And HRC didn't seem to take offense.

The vocab and narrative voice don't seem to match the tone, language, or plot of the rest of this piece. I think it's going to be a Ludlum-esque mystery/thriller. Words like "pedant and pedagogue" are major speedbumps.

Also, I'm not sure if interchanging HRC and president work, especially since we don't know our relationship to her yet. Are we pals?

"Of course not, you silly man," she simpered. "'Midsummer' happens to be my favorite play. I've seen it dozens of times and own an original folio auctioned off at Sotheby's a couple of years ago. If Willy were still alive, I'd have had him autograph it long ago."

I rarely say this, but I think the dialogue could use a little more choreography. Slow it down, add some visualization of her movements, bodily gestures, and whatnot. I'm curious to know how I (through Spyglass's 3PL) is reading into his interaction with her. She's the president, after all.

Willy?! Spyglass's hair almost stood on end at the casual blasphemy. However, he said nothing.

Where is his bias and prejudice coming from? We don't have any reference to draw from.

In essence, I don't really understand who Spyglass is just yet as a character.

It seemed to be indisputably true that the president was rather taken with his best seller study of the Shakespearean 'And' romantic tragedies, "Food for Fortune's Tooth". Why that should be, why indeed the book had struck a responsive chord with the middle-American readership, was quite beyond him. What possible charms would the popular taste find in a scholarly monogram on "Troilus and Cressida", "Romeo and Juliet" and "Anthony and Cleopatra"? No accounting for literary fads, he supposed. And when all was said and done, it was money in the bank.

Again, good stuff to add characterization to Spyglass. I think it could come earlier.

"Well, stay alert for a summons, my friend. It may come in fifteen minutes or three hours, but come it will."

I really like your characterization of Clinton.

In the event, Spyglass had time only for a single cocktail before a youthful bird colonel in full regimentals with a chest full of medals tinkling as he walked appeared at his elbow.

The bold section here is one long subject. The verb is "appeared"

Neither had the president, nor the cadaverous black man who was her secretary of state, nor Prime Minister Eliezer Balagan who had wormed his way into his patroness's affections.

I think his search for a pen among these members of cabinet could use a little more setting. Where are these people sitting/standing In relation to the president. Let us experience it through Spyglass's eyes.

quoth Secretary Quitclaim mournfully.

Alice asked politely.

Spyglass replied somewhat smugly.

See if you can stand omitting these adverbs.

"Just step out for a second, Lije,

Who is Lije? Is it short for Elijah? I notice there's an abundance of nicknames "Ally" "Ez" "Ezzy" "HRC" and it's hard for me to keep track of too many names this early. I would recommend against having characters call people by their nicknames at this point in the story.

"When shall we three meet again? In the words of MacBeth's 'weird sisters'."

I'm starting to get really lost in all the references. They might sound neat if they were spoken aloud in a film, but in prose I don't see the need because they don't contribute directly to the plot, characterization, or forward progress of story.

"Your appointments secretary okayed your attendance at my production of Hamlet in Hassidic dress at the auditorium of the Modest Daughters of Rebecca Teachers Seminary for Ultra-Orthodox Women. And, if you don't mind, Brigadier Derev, the military governor of Jerusalem, will be present as well."

This lacks a hook. Here you describe something he's going to do tomorrow. While you name some attendees, and that may be significant, there's no punchline to add any foreseeable hint of significance to the Hamlet production.

Paul, this is competently written. I'd like to see more description, some more heightened tension, and a hook or two to lead me to believe the plot is going somewhere. Nonetheless, you've got a good narrative voice. I wish you continued success with it. Good luck!