"No. You were lying like an account man to save me." Lennox turned away. "How long did Sam know?" "A week." "And he tried to save me, too." "Yes, Jordan. He tried very hard. He tried to protect both of us." "Do you know why he did it, Gabby?" "Yes," she said. She was about to blurt the truth of her last meeting with Cooper when she caught herself. "But you'd better tell me." "I let him down," Lennox said bitterly. "He was a sweet guy, a whole man, the only normal in the business. He had sense enough to want to stay out of the rat-race and I shoved him into it. And then I let him down." "How?" "I don't like to remember." "It'll be best for you to remember. You won't be free of it until you confess it. How did you let him down?" "When he loused the song spot. He was shaky with stagefright. You saw him. Sure he loused it. Why shouldn't he? He wasn't a performer; he was a composer. He came offstage licked. And instead of standing by him I blew my crazy stack about the letters." "What did you say to him?" "Christ! What lousy things didn't I say! I called him a fag and a Judas and tried to get the cops to arrest him...." Lennox grunted in agony. "How can a man do a thing like that to a friend? He was half my life." "He still is." "He's gone." "No, you still have him." "I destroyed him." "You can't destroy remembering him. Never. Always remember Sam Cooper, the whole man, your friend." "It hurts," Lennox groaned. "You're lucky. You can punish yourself for what you did. It's the people who can't confess who suffer." "Is that why you think he did it?" Lennox asked. "Yes," Gabby answered steadily. "Why didn't he hold on? Just a few more days. I licked 'em. I beat 'em at their own game ... maybe because I'm their own kind ... but I came out on top. I've still got the old show. I've got a new one. I've got everything I was fighting for. Why couldn't he wait a little?" "I put you on top," Gabby said. "That goes without saying. I couldn't have done anything without you, I--" "You didn't do anything. I did it for you. Roy did it for you." "Roy! Audibon?" She nodded. "I made a bargain with Roy. I told him I'd go back to him." "You told him you'd...." Lennox slumped on a chair. "So that's why the show was renewed. That's why the network bought the new one. It was a deal. Yes?" "Yes. So here it is," Gabby said. "The life you love ... the life you've been fighting for so desperately ... the life you want more than anything else in the world. Here it is wrapped in ribbon, and cheap at the price." "Cheap!" "Cheap. You won't even have to give me up. That's part of the bargain too. I can have a lover if I'll be discreet." "You're kidding," Lennox said faintly. "Please don't, darling."