Chapter XV (2)

    "No, I'm serious." Gabby watched him closely with solemn dark eyes. "You're two people in one. Everybody is, more or less, and it doesn't matter. But it does to me because I'm in love with one of you and not the other. I hate the one who built this life for you. I love the one who's trying to knock it down. He's the real Jake."
    "You've got it backwards, haven't you?"
    "You've got it backwards. You admire the wrong one. You're trying to protect the wrong one. I hate the one that's your favorite."
    "But the letters? The crazy filth...?"
    "I don't care. He's the one I love. He's filthy because he's never had a chance, but he's the real Jake ... the honest Jake. He's a man to be proud of; not the arrogant, hostile Jordan Lennox who hides him."
    Lennox shook his head in bewilderment.
    "Sometimes people fight to keep something alive when they should let it be destroyed," Gabby said. "That's what you've been doing. You taught me there are times when it's right to fight." She touched her eye. "I'll tell you about this some day. Now I want to teach you that there are times when it's right to surrender."
    "What do you want me to do?" Lennox asked.
    "Make a choice. All this and me for a mistress, or none of this and me for a wife." She backed against the piano, still watching him intently. "I won't cheat. I'll love my Jake just as hard as I can ... as long as I can find him in you. But the rest is up to you. You can have your shows and your victories and your money, and take your chance of losing the real Jake forever...."
    "And you too?"
    "And me too. Or you can let this life come down in ruins ... you know what Roy can do to both of us ... and start building the real Jake out of the rubble."
    "Maybe you're wrong about the real Jake."
    "Maybe I am. That's a chance you'll have to take. But it's a fighting chance, and you're a fighter, aren't you?"
    "I used to think so."
    "And there's one more thing. You know you're sick."
    "I said I was."
    "But you don't mean it. You're upset now, and ashamed. Later on you'll forget. You've got to go to a doctor."
    "A talk-doctor?"
    "Yes. It won't be easy."
    "I don't believe in analysts."
    "That's why it won't be easy. But you need one, badly. You'll have to promise to start and go through with it." Gabby took a breath. "All right, Jordan. There's your choice. Keep on fighting the old way, or tear it down and start fighting for something new. Make up your mind now."
    Lennox stood up slowly. He looked once around the room and then was caught again by Gabby's intent gaze. For a long moment they stared at each other while a voice within Lennox cried: "Run! Run! Run!" Suddenly he reached into his jacket and pulled out the gimmick book. With one powerful swing of his arm, he hurled it through the garden window into oblivion. As the glass came tinkling down, he swung Gabby up in his arms and carried her upstairs to his bed.
    "I cheated," she murmured honestly. "I dressed for the part."
    "Sweetheart?"
    "Ned Bacon told me you'd be home today and I know you're sucker for girls in pants."