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Show ssz. to escape i t -- I'm always t r y i n g to escape i t . But i t 's always there, waiting when you come back to r e a l i t y . Your mother would .piiobaM-y1 s u f f e r if she lived monogamy. Maybe in a different way, but the pain would s t i l l be t h e r e . " He took a deep breath. "Obviously, I'm indebted to your father. In a way, I owe him my l i f e . But t h a t i s n ' t the reason I'm defending him. Your father believes what he l i v e s . He does the best he can with i t . There's not a shred of i n s i n c e r i ty in your father - take the word of someone who learned to recognize hypocrisy while he was too young to know what to do about i t . . ." "But Brian.. . .they say h e ' s in i t for the oower. He does have a lot of power over people - he even governs t h e ir thoughts •" Brian nodded. "Like I said, somebody has to lead. And at best, i t ' s someone who knows what h e ' s doing, someone who's been chosen for the job. Your father does know what he's doing - oh, he fouls up, we a l l foul up. But he does abetter job than most men with just one wife." I bit my l i p and stared at the carpet. "Look, t h e r e ' s always someone to poke holes in the man with the power. Some ambitious young buck to challenge the old one. in Vietnam I had my c r i t i c s . If somebody died, guess whose fault i t was. But i f we escaped, I was Moses - they called me t h a t . I could do no wrong, I was the hero. Over t h e r e ." He sighed deeply, as though trying to shift a huge weight. But his voice was s t i l l heavy when he spoke. "Jeannie, your father believes what h e ' s doing - h e ' s wholehearted about i t. He t r i e s to be f a i r - you've said that yourself - and h e ' s done a damn good job of doing what he set out to do. I hope I can |