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I think he did. But, of course, Carlotta in his later years was always standing between Gene and contentment and happiness. It was a tempestuous love, but she destroyed him with her selfish, possessive mania. They were living at the Madison for a while. That's when Ralph Barton died, and Ralph Barton never forgot Carlotta. She was not an easy woman to forget. She was unbelievably beautiful, a tempestuous woman. Barton left a suicide note, saying that the only woman he had ever really loved was Carlotta. They called her at the Madison Hotel and said, “Mrs. O'Neill, we want you to know that Ralph Barton has died and left a note about you.”

She snapped, “Why are you disturbing me while I'm having my lunch? I haven't the faintest interest in Mr. Barton,” and slammed down the phone. This is a man she had supposedly loved for years. That's the kind of woman she was. But this Carlotta part doesn't really fit into the Cerf oral history, does it?

Yes, it makes O'Neill understandable. Now, let's get on with Bennett Cerf:

Yes. By the time you come again, Robbin, I will have my catalogues in order. They're in a terrible mess. It's going to take me hours to get them ready, but I want to get them organized. This gives me an excuse. Then we'll go into the further progress of Random House--season by season.