“Joan, I would just as lief you didn’t run down Eunice to me.”
“Jake darling! I am not running her down. I am trying to find out what you know about her, so that I can model myself more closely after her. I loved her—and love her still more today. But if you told me that you knew she was mistress to six other men, a whore on the side, and playing girl games in her spare time—I—well, I’ve never known you to lie to me, Jake, so I would try to go and do likewise. You haven’t told me much but what you have told me confirms what I believed—that Eunice was a perfect lady, with enough love in her heart to love three men at once and give each of them exactly what he needed to make him happy.” (Thank you, Boss. Shall I bow?) (Quiet, little darling.) “But not a wanton, never a slut, and—while she wasn’t prudish—I doubt if Winnie would have interested her.” (Now wait one frimping minute!) (I’m telling him what he wants to bear, dear—if you want Winnie, we’ll keep it out of Jake’s sight.) (Who wants Winnie? You dirty old man!) (We both do—but it may be smart never to let it hatch. Dearest, Winnie wouldn’t look at us with a man around.) (Want to bet?)
Joan sighed. “Jake, with my unique double inheritance it would be easy for me to turn ambi-female. I’m not going to, because I don’t think Eunice would. With the deep. female drive this body has—bloodstream brimming with hormones and gonads the size of gourds is the way it feels—I could easily become ‘No-Pants Smith, the Girl Most Likely To.’ Very easily—as Johann Smith was an old vulgarian who regretted only the temptations he had been forced to pass up. But I’m not going to do that, either, as Eunice did not behave that way. But if I don’t get married fairly soon, I’m going to find it hard to stay off the tiles.”
“Joan, I love you—but I am not going to marry you. It’s out of the question.”
“Then you had better help my granddaughters to swindle me.”
“Eh? Why?”
“You know why. A multimillionaire who is young and female stands as much chance of getting a good husband as that well-known tissue-paper dog had of chasing that asbestos cat through Hell. Lots of them in our country—and all they ever got were Georgian princes, riding masters, and other gigolos. I don’t want one, won’t have one. I’d rather be broke, like Winnie, and take what love I can find. Jake, besides the fact that you understand me and no one else can, you’d still be in my top ten because my money does not impress you. Quite aside from wonderful fact that I love you and you love me, any marriage broker would call us a perfect match.”
“Hardly. There’s still the matter of age—body ages. Joan, a man who marries at my age isn’t taking a wife, he’s indenturing a nurse.”
“Oh, frog hair, lake! You don’t need one and I’ll lay even money that you’ll stay strong and virile right through my breeding period. But when you do need one I’ll nurse you. In the meantime we’ll sing. ‘September Song’—you lead, I’ll harmonize.”
“I sing bass. And I won’t sing ‘September Song.’”
“Jake? We could buy you a new body. When you need it.”
“No, Joan. I’ve had a long run and a good one, most of it happy, all of it interesting. When my time comes, I’ll go quietly. I won’t make the mistake you did, I won’t let myself fall into the hands of the medics, with their artificial kidneys and their dials and their plumbing. I’ll die as my ancestors died.”
She sighed. “And you called me stubborn. I’ve taken you up on a high mountain and shown you the kingdoms of the earth—and you tell me it’s Los Angeles. All right, I’ll quit pestering you—and humbly accept any love you can spare. Jake, will you take me out on the town and introduce me to eligible young men? You can spot a fortune hunter—I think Eunice may be too naive, too inclined to think the best of people.” (Rats, Boss, I bought me a gigolo with my eyes open…and, since I wasn’t kidding myself, I bought top quality.) (I know you did, darling—but the Joe Brancas in this world are as scarce as the Jake Salomons.)