The Triangle

At Jack and Joanne Allen's antique shop, Whit and Connie arrive to collect paintings for the treasure room at Whit's End. Joanne is away at an antiques fair, but Jack has another treasure waiting: an original copy of C. S. Lewis's *The Allegory of Love*. He has spent a long time searching for it and believes this particular day is the right time to give it to Whit. The book brings back memories of how Whit first met his wife, Jenny, and Connie insists that Whit and Jack tell her the whole story.

Years earlier, while attending the University of Southern California and working for the Pasadena Public Library, Whit enters an elevator on his way to a college lecture. A young woman named Guinevere Morrow has written several newspaper columns that Whit and his friends enjoy mocking. Not realizing that the woman beside him is Guinevere herself, Whit harshly criticizes her ideas, grammar, and writing. He even invites her to join him and his friends so they can count her mistakes during the lecture.

To Whit's horror, the young woman walks to the front of the room and introduces herself as the speaker. Her friends call her Jenny, though she pointedly tells the embarrassed Whit that he may call her Guinevere. She gives an excellent lecture on *The Allegory of Love*, proving that Whit's careless judgment has not shown him the whole person.

Afterward, Whit apologizes. Jenny accepts his apology coldly, especially when his attempt at praise still includes criticism of her writing. Then she discovers that he has written several excellent pieces for the student magazine. Whit suggests that they begin again and invites her to the library coffee shop. He can help her improve her writing, and she can help him overcome his weakness in public speaking.

The awkward meeting turns into a two-hour conversation. Whit and Jenny discover a shared love of books and learn about each other's hopes. Jenny is studying literature and education because she wants to help children discover the joy of reading. Whit studies philosophy and literature and dreams of writing novels, children's stories, and poetry. Their growing connection encourages Whit to ask whether they can meet again on Friday, but Jenny tells him that she is already dating someone.

Whit later meets his close friend Jack Allen, who attends UCLA and works at a Pasadena auction house. Jack often exchanges letters with his intelligent childhood friend Emily, although he insists that their relationship is only friendship. He also reveals that he has begun dating someone else and invites Whit to meet her at a basketball game between their rival universities.

Outside the stadium, Whit discovers that Jack's date is Jenny. She had visited the auction house in search of a first edition of *The Allegory of Love*. Jack could not supply it, but he promised to search for a copy, showed her around, and eventually asked her out. During the game, however, Whit and Jenny become absorbed in a lively conversation about books and Christian writers. Jack struggles to join in, especially since he has not read the book Whit lent him.

Jenny mentions that Whit has agreed to help with her writing, and their lessons continue while she dates Jack through the fall. With Whit's guidance, her newspaper essays improve until one wins an award. In return, she persuades Whit to enter a public debate about human nature. His speech earns a standing ovation, and each credits the other for helping uncover an ability that was already there.

After the debate, Whit and Jenny realize that accomplishing their original goals removes their reason to keep meeting. Neither seems eager to part. Before they leave, Jenny confides that she cares deeply for Jack as a friend but does not love him as he loves her. She has fallen in love with someone else, and she fears that telling Jack will hurt him. Whit urges her to be honest and kind when she has dinner with Jack that evening.

At dinner, Jenny tries to speak first, but Jack is too nervous to wait. He reads part of a letter he has written to Emily, describing all the little qualities he admires in Jenny and confessing that he loves her. Overwhelmed and unable to give the painful answer she intended, Jenny says almost nothing. Jack mistakes her stunned silence for hopeful surprise.

The next day, Jack eagerly tells Whit about the dinner. He believes that Jenny may share his love because his confession left her speechless. Whit knows what Jenny had planned to say, but he cannot bring himself to explain. As Jack celebrates, Whit can answer only that the situation is “positively unbelievable.”