Gatsby’s eyes opened and closed.

“You loved me too ?” he repeated.

“Even that’s a lie,” said Tom savagely. “She didn’t know you were alive. Why⁠—there’s things between Daisy and me that you’ll never know, things that neither of us can ever forget.”

The words seemed to bite physically into Gatsby.

“I want to speak to Daisy alone,” he insisted. “She’s all excited now⁠—”

“Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom,” she admitted in a pitiful voice. “It wouldn’t be true.”

“Of course it wouldn’t,” agreed Tom.

She turned to her husband.

“As if it mattered to you,” she said.