Summary
The chapter opens with a lunch gathering at the Buchanan house. Daisy and Tom are hosting the lunch for Jordan, Nick and Gatsby. When Nick and Gatsby arrive at the Buchanan house, Daisy and Jordan are perched on the couch, complaining that the oppressive heat is too intense for any physical activity. Tom is on the phone, and Jordan whispers to Nick that Tom is supposedly talking to his girlfriend. Pammy, the daughter of Tom and Daisy, is paraded in front of the company, like a possession being displayed. After lunch, Daisy suggests that everyone drive into New York for the evening.
Jordan, Tom and Nick take Gatsby's car into the city, and Daisy and Gatsby decide to ride into the city in Tom's coupe. Tom stops at Wilson's Garage to get gasoline for the car. Wilson tells Tom that he has "wised up" to the fact that his wife Myrtle has been having an affair, and he is planning to move west with her in the near future. Tom becomes physically ill with the thought of losing his girlfriend. During the Tom's conversation with Wilson, Myrtle is peering through the window at Tom and Jordan, whom she takes to be Tom's wife. Tom, Jordan, Nick, Daisy and Gatsby meet in New York City, and after a brief argument, they decide to go to the Plaza Hotel to take cold baths and escape from the oppressive heat.
At the hotel, Tom and Daisy have a long and pointless discussion regarding a guest who attended their wedding, which then leads to an argument. Tom ironically accuses Gatsby of attempting to break up his marriage by having an affair with Daisy. Gatsby replies by announcing that Daisy never loved Tom, but has always loved him. Gatsby states that Daisy only married Tom because Gatsby was poor and had no money to support her. He demands that Daisy tell Tom that she never loved him and that throughout the marriage she has only loved Gatsby. Daisy tells Tom and Gatsby that she has loved them both. She attempts to tell Tom that she is leaving him for Gatsby, but after Tom reveals that Gatsby's source of wealth is bootlegging, she breaks down and persuaded by her husband to end the affair. Tom sends Daisy home with Gatsby in Gatsby's car as a show of confidence.
Tom, Nick and Jordan follow several miles behind Gatsby and Daisy on the way back to the Buchanan house. As Gatsby's car drives past Wilson's Garage, Myrtle runs out into the street to stop the car she mistakenly believes belongs to Tom. Gatsby's car hits Myrtle, killing her, and races away. Tom passes Wilson's Garage in his car minutes later and notices the commotion. He stops to investigate the happening. Tom learns that Myrtle had been hit by a car and is dead. When he learns that the color of the car that hit Myrtle is yellow, he proclaims that he knows the name of the driver who hit Myrtle. When Tom's car arrives at the Buchanan house, Nick finds Gatsby holding a secret vigil in the night outside a room he believes Daisy to be resting in. Nick tells Gatsby that Myrtle is dead. Although it was an accident, Gatsby takes the blame for Myrtle's death. Nick correctly guesses that Daisy was driving when the car hit Myrtle, but Gatsby is prepared to protect her and tell the authorities that he was the driver of the car. Nick leaves Gatsby in the night keeping a sacred vigil over an empty room for a lost love.
Chapter Seven