Mr Jeffrey Donaldson made his overture as promised. Mr David Trimble duly nodded in reply. The two then proceeded on to the campaign trail, the one to campaign for a Yes vote in Friday's referendum, the other advocating an emphatic No.
As an exercise in unity-making this was a decidedly under whelming experience. Mr Donaldson, as a party officer, would normally expect to deliver himself from the Glengall Street headquarters. But Mr Trimble, who leads the minority Ulster Unionist Parliamentary Party, is still very much in residence. So the Lagan Valley MP was forced to make his pitch from the neighbouring Europa Hotel.
How quickly Mr Donaldson gains readmittance to HQ depends on how shaky or secure Mr Trimble's tenure looks after the votes are counted on Saturday.
As foreshadowed in yesterday's Irish Times, Mr Donaldson declared himself in the business of constructing a policy around which the Ulster Unionists could unite after the referendum. With the obvious implication that the present policy would not suffice, he announced himself ready and willing to play a constructive role in formulating one that would.
Across the road, and looking somewhat less than delighted, Mr Trimble welcomed "Jeffrey's" readiness to accept the outcome of the referendum and assist in uniting the party. It was essential that the party produced "a strong cohesive and coherent group in the assembly with a shared objective".
The difference between the two was really one of the mechanism by which to seek their shared objective, the removal of "unreconstructed terrorists" from a government in Northern Ireland. And Mr Donaldson's statement marked "the beginning of a coming together" necessary to work the agreement to the benefit not just of unionists, but of all the people of Northern Ireland.
Well, yes, but only up to a point. And the politeness the two maintained could not mask the gulf which has opened - and remained - between them since Mr Donaldson abandoned ship on Good Friday.
Mr Trimble thinks the decommissioning issue settled in a fashion he can work. Mr Donaldson says the decommissioning requirements of the agreement are "a fudge".
Mr Trimble thinks all Mr Donaldson's points of concern are effectively answered in Mr Blair's speech last Thursday. Mr Donaldson thinks it shot through with studied ambiguity.
The problem for Mr Trimble is that, on this issue, the other signatories to the agreement think his detractors have got it right. Most emphatically, the SDLP and the Irish Government do not consider "actual and continuous decommissioning" the requirement "before" Sinn Fein takes its seats in the proposed executive.
"Before" was Mr Donaldson's big word yesterday. It is the first word in his letter to Mr Blair. And in addition to actual and ongoing decommissioning, Mr Donaldson stipulates that the IRA must also have "commenced disbandment of its units and command and control structure" before claiming the benefits of the agreement.
Before the votes are counted on Saturday, it is impossible to assess whether Mr Donaldson can bring his party to this position.
Among the Trimble camp there is a fair amount of disdain for Mr Donaldson, patently open to the charge of wanting it all ways. There is certainly the view in Glengall Street that a number of his colleagues are absolutely desperate to secure well-paid jobs in the assembly.
But Mr Donaldson evinces no such desperation. He knows that if Mr Trimble wins a resounding Yes vote, he will be able to pick off his leading opponents. He also knows that failure to secure a clear unionist majority will leave the UUP leader vulnerable to those pressing for an assembly manifesto which would effectively threaten to abrogate the agreement.
The young, ambitious Lagan Valley MP might have got it terribly wrong. He might on the other hand be back in Glengall Street sooner than Mr Trimble would wish.