When I first knew her, after Johnny’s death, she was being courted by Joe Schenck. He hadn’t moved in as quickly as I—he’d allowed a “decent interval” to pass—but soon he was trying to see her regularly. Mr. Schenck was one of the richest as well as the most respected men in the “Hollywood” community, especially honored for having gone to jail for bribing an officer of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, to prevent a strike in the industry. She told me about the night when Schenck had taken her dancing and asked her to marry him. Mr. Schenck was then seventy-one years old, had at least fifteen million dollars (a lot more money than now), and had had his first cerebral hemorrhage. He was a pretty good dancer for an old man, she told me, and as they moved around the floor, he suggested that they fly to Las Vegas right then and “get spliced.” “Every night you’d be right here in my arms,” he said. Later he took her to his home and showed her a large, expensively decorated room that would be hers anytime she wanted. But he didn’t make a pass at her. Then he gave her some paternal advice. “Don’t be a scalp in some man’s belt,” he said, “don’t be a cuspidor, don’t be an ashcan.” Again and again he told her his age, that he was not long for this world and his widow would be “fixed” with millions. Marilyn got the suggestion, but she didn’t respond; then Joe Schenck made his final appeal. “I’m seventy-one,” he said. “I know I’m a man of limited powers. But you’ll find that I’m understanding. If my wife feels she must go with other men, I’ll understand. But only so long as it’s not the same man twice in a row.” This did not appeal to Marilyn, who was a romantic. She was very touched by Joe’s offer, but the fact was that he had nothing but the money with which to try to buy his happiness at the end. A few nights later, she gave him her answer. I wondered about the women who had watched Darryl’s croquet game. Might not some of them have been tempted? In that culture, it seemed to me, Marilyn was the pure in heart.