[ It's the answer he'd expected, and the one he would have given, in her shoes — until the end.]
Peggy, I didn't mean to — I should have said earlier. [ Something, anything, even though words aren't his strong suit. He put himself in a compromised position, he revealed himself to Peggy, agreed to work with her, didn't say how much secrecy or openness he expected, made the mistake of assuming they were the same. No, he made the mistake of thinking she was Roxy. Because Peggy is so much of her: from confidence to competence (and warmth, he thinks, that too). Of course it isn't that simple, in the end. Of course she's her own woman from her own agency with its own rules and tendencies. He swallows. ] I won't mention him. Swear down.
[ He pauses, then. Like her, he wants to snap again: Do I get to know what he thought of the drawings? Are you still thinking about not telling me that, too? Instead, he says, ] What did he think of the drawings, then?
no subject
Peggy, I didn't mean to — I should have said earlier. [ Something, anything, even though words aren't his strong suit. He put himself in a compromised position, he revealed himself to Peggy, agreed to work with her, didn't say how much secrecy or openness he expected, made the mistake of assuming they were the same. No, he made the mistake of thinking she was Roxy. Because Peggy is so much of her: from confidence to competence (and warmth, he thinks, that too). Of course it isn't that simple, in the end. Of course she's her own woman from her own agency with its own rules and tendencies. He swallows. ] I won't mention him. Swear down.
[ He pauses, then. Like her, he wants to snap again: Do I get to know what he thought of the drawings? Are you still thinking about not telling me that, too? Instead, he says, ] What did he think of the drawings, then?