at parties, dinners, and any other places where he might meet new women. Right away she could mark out which type he went for. She prided herself on her ability to abort an introduction or to swiftly separate him from his target by attracting her husband’s interest in something or someone else.
His sisters wouldn’t know anything. More importantly, she doubted they would have the imagination to suspect their brotherhad—as Jackie had convinced herself he did over the last twenty-four hours—unnatural sexual needs.
When they were first married they had had countless arguments when Jack had refused to be bound by their wedding vows.
At first he would try to brush off her worries by lying about where he had been, but as time went on he tried to persuade her that his infidelities meant absolutely nothing and that they would never threaten their marriage. Religion and a sense of family would never let any of his “girling” impose on their life together. He felt that the United States was puritanical and tried to persuade her that in Europe things were different. After all, the more devout Italians and the French, who prized family and heritage above all else, rarely remained faithful but seldom divorced. Relying in equal measure on her low self-esteem and her abiding love for him, he attempted to persuade her that coming home in the early hours after vanishing with a girl at a party meant absolutely nothing. He claimed that his inability to resist the occasional one-night stand was the result of being a longtime bachelor; he had been thirty-six when they wed. His way of jousting with illness and pain was to find sexual release.
“It means no more to me than having a cool drink on a hot day,” were his exact words. “Just a little palliative for the old ache in the groin,” was another description. “No more important than an aspirin.”
However much he tried to reassure Jackie, there were many times when she felt the situation was unendurable, although once Caroline was born in 1957, both Jackie and her husband knew that she would never let her daughter suffer the same miserable childhood she had. She could never subject Caroline to divorce.
That Marilyn had been seeing Jack for so long was a big shock. All night she had tried to piece the thing together. Marilyn had not been a casual fling, she had been Jack’s mistress.
How often did he see her? How often did he talk to her on the phone? Why did he fancy her so much? What did she do for Jackthat made her so special to him? What did they say about her behind her back?
Jackie was no prude. Jack had persuaded her to view some pornographic movies; they had been to see one or two raunchy films. If only she could convince herself that the affair with Marilyn was because of some strange sexual kink.
She alternated between anger and tears. She felt so helpless, her fate in the hands of Lyndon Johnson and some film star’s maid.
Despite her ambivalence toward her in-laws she took comfort from their phone calls. All morning they had been phoning to praise her for handling the memorial service with her usual aplomb, citing this or that from last night’s TV programs or this morning’s newspapers. Admittedly it was the female side that called. To try and find out what they knew she gently prodded them all, including her mother-in-law, to discuss what they expected the press would say about Jack and the dead actress. All believed that this would be a one-day wonder, that the date was just a coincidence.
As the morning passed, with no further word from the White House, it was a desperate Jackie who called the eldest surviving Kennedy brother. She could think of no better person than Bobby to advise her. He had, after all, relinquished the post of attorney general quite recently and he could tell her what influence Lyndon could bring to bear on Consuelo James. Equally important, if she decided to tell him what she knew, she was sure that he would keep this shocking
His sisters wouldn’t know anything. More importantly, she doubted they would have the imagination to suspect their brotherhad—as Jackie had convinced herself he did over the last twenty-four hours—unnatural sexual needs.
When they were first married they had had countless arguments when Jack had refused to be bound by their wedding vows.
At first he would try to brush off her worries by lying about where he had been, but as time went on he tried to persuade her that his infidelities meant absolutely nothing and that they would never threaten their marriage. Religion and a sense of family would never let any of his “girling” impose on their life together. He felt that the United States was puritanical and tried to persuade her that in Europe things were different. After all, the more devout Italians and the French, who prized family and heritage above all else, rarely remained faithful but seldom divorced. Relying in equal measure on her low self-esteem and her abiding love for him, he attempted to persuade her that coming home in the early hours after vanishing with a girl at a party meant absolutely nothing. He claimed that his inability to resist the occasional one-night stand was the result of being a longtime bachelor; he had been thirty-six when they wed. His way of jousting with illness and pain was to find sexual release.
“It means no more to me than having a cool drink on a hot day,” were his exact words. “Just a little palliative for the old ache in the groin,” was another description. “No more important than an aspirin.”
However much he tried to reassure Jackie, there were many times when she felt the situation was unendurable, although once Caroline was born in 1957, both Jackie and her husband knew that she would never let her daughter suffer the same miserable childhood she had. She could never subject Caroline to divorce.
That Marilyn had been seeing Jack for so long was a big shock. All night she had tried to piece the thing together. Marilyn had not been a casual fling, she had been Jack’s mistress.
How often did he see her? How often did he talk to her on the phone? Why did he fancy her so much? What did she do for Jackthat made her so special to him? What did they say about her behind her back?
Jackie was no prude. Jack had persuaded her to view some pornographic movies; they had been to see one or two raunchy films. If only she could convince herself that the affair with Marilyn was because of some strange sexual kink.
She alternated between anger and tears. She felt so helpless, her fate in the hands of Lyndon Johnson and some film star’s maid.
Despite her ambivalence toward her in-laws she took comfort from their phone calls. All morning they had been phoning to praise her for handling the memorial service with her usual aplomb, citing this or that from last night’s TV programs or this morning’s newspapers. Admittedly it was the female side that called. To try and find out what they knew she gently prodded them all, including her mother-in-law, to discuss what they expected the press would say about Jack and the dead actress. All believed that this would be a one-day wonder, that the date was just a coincidence.
As the morning passed, with no further word from the White House, it was a desperate Jackie who called the eldest surviving Kennedy brother. She could think of no better person than Bobby to advise her. He had, after all, relinquished the post of attorney general quite recently and he could tell her what influence Lyndon could bring to bear on Consuelo James. Equally important, if she decided to tell him what she knew, she was sure that he would keep this shocking
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