The Price of Salt

by Highsmith, Patricia

  Therese made fists of her hands in her pockets. She had so hoped Carol would like her work, unqualifiedly. It had hurt her terribly that Carol hadn't liked in the least a certain few sets she had shown her. Carol knew nothing about it, technically, yet she could demolish a set with a phrase.

  "I think a look at the West would do you good. When did you say you had to be back? The middle of February?"

  "Well, now I don't—I just heard yesterday."

  "What do you mean? It fell through? The Philadelphia job?"

  "They called me up. They want somebody from Philadelphia."

  "Oh, baby. I'm sorry."

  "Oh, it's just this business," Therese said. Carol's hand was on the back of her neck, Carol's thumb rubbing behind her ear as Carol might have fondled a dog.

  "You weren't going to tell me."

  "Yes, I was."

  "When?"

  "Sometime on the trip."

  "Are you very disappointed?"

  "No," Therese said positively.

  They heated the last cup of coffee and took it out to the white chair on the lawn and shared it.

  "Shall we have lunch out somewhere?" Carol asked her. "Let's go to the club. Then I ought to do some shopping in Newark. How about a jacket?

  Would you like a tweed jacket?"

  Therese was sitting on the edge of the fountain, one hand pressed against her ear because it was aching from the cold. "I don't particularly need one," she said.

  "But I'd particularly like to see you in one."

  Therese was upstairs, changing her clothes, when she heard the telephone ring. She heard Florence say, "Oh, good morning, Mr. Aird. Yes, I'll call her right now," and Therese crossed the room and closed the door.

  Restlessly, she began to put the room in order, hung her clothes in the closet, and smoothed the bed she had already made. Then Carol knocked on the door and put her head in. "Harge is coming by in a few minutes. I don't think he'll be long."

  Therese did not want to see him. "Would you like for me to take a walk?"

  Carol smiled. "No. Stay up here and read a book, if you want to."

  Therese got the book she had bought yesterday, the Oxford Book of English Verse, and tried to read it, but the words stayed separate and meaningless. She had a disquieting sense of hiding, so she went to the door and opened it.

  Carol was just coming from her room, and for an instant, Therese saw the same look of indecision cross her face that Therese remembered from the first moment she had entered the house. Then she said, "Come down."

  Harge's car drove up as they walked into the living room. Carol went to the door, and Therese heard their greeting, Carol's only cordial, but Harge's very cheerful, and Carol came in with a long flower box in her arms.

  "Harge, this is Miss Belivet. I think you met her once," Carol said.

  Harge's eyes narrowed a little, then opened. "Oh, yes. How do you do?"

  "How do you do?"

  Florence came in, and Carol handed the flower box to her.

  "Would you put these in something?" Carol said.

  "Ah, here's that pipe. I thought so." Harge reached behind the ivy on the mantel, and brought forth a pipe.

  "Everything is fine at home?" Carol asked as she sat down at the end of the sofa.

  "Yes. Very." Harge's tense smile did not show his teeth, but his face and the quick turns of his head radiated geniality and self-satisfaction. He watched with proprietary pleasure as Florence brought in the flowers, red roses, in a vase, and set them on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

  Therese wished suddenly that she had brought Carol flowers, brought them on any of a half a dozen occasions past, and she remembered the flowers Dannie had brought to her one day when he simply dropped in at the theater. She looked at Harge, and his eyes glanced away from her, the peaked brow lifting still higher, the eyes darting everywhere, as if he looked for little changes in the room. But it might all be pretense, Therese thought, his air of good cheer. And if he cared enough to pretend he must also care in some way for Carol.

  "May I take one for Rindy?" Harge asked.

  "Of course." Carol got up, and she would have broken a flower, but Harge stepped forward and put a little knife blade against the stem and the flower came off. "They're very beautiful. Thank you, Harge."

  Harge lifted the flower to his nose. Half to Carol, half to Therese, he said, "It's a beautiful day. Are you going to take a drive?"

  "Yes, we were," Carol said. "By the way, I'd like to drive over one afternoon next week. Perhaps Tuesday."

  Harge thought a moment. "All right. I'll tell her."

  "I'll speak to her on the phone. I meant tell your family."

  Harge nodded once, in acquiescence, then looked at Therese. "Yes, I remember you. Of course. You were here about three weeks ago. Before Christmas."

  "Yes. One Sunday." Therese stood up. She wanted to leave them alone.

  "I'll go upstairs," she said to Carol. "Good-by, Mr. Aird."

  Harge made her a little bow. "Good-by."

  As she went up the stairs, she heard Harge say, "Well, many happy returns, Carol. I'd like to say it. Do you mind?"

  Carol's birthday, Therese thought. Of course, Carol wouldn't have told her.

  She closed the door and looked around the room, realized she was looking for any sign that she had spent the night. There was none. She stopped at the mirror and looked at herself for a moment, frowningly. She was not so pale as she had been three weeks ago when Harge saw her, she did not feel like the drooping, frightened thing Harge had met then. From the top drawer, she got her handbag and took her lipstick out of it. Then she heard Harge knock on the door, and she closed the drawer.

  "Come in."

  "Excuse me. I must get something." He crossed the room quickly, went into the bathroom, and he was smiling as he came back with the razor in his hand. "You were in the restaurant with Carol last Sunday, weren't you?"

  "Yes," Therese said.

  "Carol said you do stage designing."

  "Yes."

  He glanced from her face to her hands, to the floor, and up again. "I hope you see that Carol gets out enough," he said. "You look young and spry. Make her take some walks."

  Then he went briskly out the door, leaving behind him a faint shaving-soap scent. Therese tossed her lipstick onto the bed, and wiped her palms down the side of her skirt. She wondered why Harge troubled to let her know he took it for granted she spent a great deal of time with Carol.

  "Therese!" Carol called suddenly. "Come down!"

  Carol was sitting on the sofa, smoking a cigarette. Harge had gone. She looked at Therese with a little smile. Then Florence came in and Carol said, "Florence, you can take these somewhere else. Put them in the dining room."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  Carol winked at Therese.

  Nobody used the dining room, Therese knew. Carol preferred to eat anywhere else. "Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?" Therese asked her.

  "Oh!" Carol laughed. "It's not. It's my wedding anniversary. Get your coat and let's go."

  As they backed out of the driveway, Carol said, "If there's anything I can't stand, it's a hypocrite."

  "What did he say?"

  "Nothing of any importance." Carol was still smiling.

  "But you said he was a hypocrite."

  "Par excellence."

  "Pretending all this good humor?"

  "Oh—just partially that."

  "Did he say anything about me?"

  "He said you looked like a nice girl. Is that news?" Carol shot the car down the narrow road to the village. "He said the divorce will take about six weeks longer than we'd thought, due to some more red tape. That's news. He has an idea I still might change my mind in the meantime. That's hypocrisy. I think he likes to fool himself."

  Was life, were human relations like this always, Therese wondered. Never solid ground underfoot. Always like gravel, a little yielding, noisy so the whole world could hear, so one always listened, too, for
the loud, harsh step of the intruder's foot.

  "Carol I never took that check, you know," Therese remarked suddenly. "I stuck it under the cloth on the table by the bed."

  "What made you think of that?"

  "I don't know. Do you want me to tear it up? I started to that night."

  "If you insist," Carol said.

  CHAPTER 14

  THERESE LOOKED DOWN at the big cardboard box. "I don't want to take it."

  Her hands were full. "I can let Mrs. Osborne take the food out and the rest can stay here."

  "Bring it," Carol said, going out the door. She carried down the last dribble of things, the books and the jackets Therese had decided at the last minute that she wanted.

  Therese came back upstairs for the box. It had come an hour ago by messenger—a lot of sandwiches in wax paper, a bottle of blackberry wine, a cake, and a box containing the white dress Mrs. Semco had promised her.

  Richard had had nothing to do with the box, she knew, or there would have been a book or an extra note in it.

  An unwanted dress still lay on the couch, a corner of the rug was turned back, but Therese was impatient to be off. She pulled the door shut, and hurried down the steps with the box, past the Kellys' who were both away at work, past Mrs. Osborne's door. She had said good-by to Mrs. Osborne an hour ago when she had paid the next month's rent.

  Therese was just closing the car door, when Mrs. Osborne called her from the front steps.

  "Telephone call!" Mrs. Osborne shouted, and reluctantly Therese got out, thinking it was Richard.

  It was Phil McElroy, calling her to ask about the interview with Harkevy yesterday. She had told Dannie about it last night when they had had dinner together. Harkevy hadn't promised her a job, but he had said to keep in touch, and Therese felt he meant it. He had let her come to see him backstage in the theater where he was supervising the set for Winter Town. He had chosen three of her cardboard models and looked very carefully at them, dismissed one as a little dull, pointed out some impracticality in the second, and liked best the hall-like set Therese had started the evening she had come back from the first visit to Carol's house. He was the first person who had ever given her less conventional sets a serious consideration. She had called Carol up immediately and told her about the meeting. She told Phil about the Harkevy interview, but she didn't mention that the Andronich job had fallen through. She knew it was because she didn't want Richard to hear about it. Therese asked Phil to let her know what play Harkevy was doing sets for next, because he said he hadn't decided himself between two plays. There was more of a chance he would take her on as apprentice, if he chose the English play he had talked about yesterday.

  "I don't know any address to give you yet," Therese said. "I know we'll get to Chicago."

  Phil said he might drop her a letter general delivery there.

  "Was that Richard?" Carol asked when she came back.

  "No. Phil McElroy."

  "So you haven't heard from Richard?"

  "I haven't for the last few days. He sent me a telegram this morning."

  Therese hesitated, then took it from her pocket and read it. "I have not changed, neither have you.

  WRITE TO ME. I LOVE YOU. RICHARD."

  "I think you should call him," Carol said. "Call him from my house."

  They were going to spend the night at Carol's house and leave early in the morning.

  "Will you put on that dress tonight?" Carol asked.

  "I'll try it on. It looks like a wedding dress."

  Therese put on the dress just before dinner. It hung below her calf, and the waist tied in back with long white bands that in front were stitched down and embroidered. She went down to show it to Carol. Carol was in the living room writing a letter.

  "Look," Therese said, smiling.

  Carol looked at her for a long moment, then came over and examined the embroidery at the waist. "That's a museum piece. You look adorable. Wear it this evening, will you?"

  "It's so elaborate." She didn't want to wear it, because it made her think of Richard.

  "What the hell kind of style is it, Russian?"

  Therese gave a laugh. She liked the way Carol cursed, always casually, and when no one else could hear her.

  "Is it?" Carol repeated.

  Therese was going upstairs. "Is it what?"

  "Where did you get this habit of not answering people?" Carol demanded, her voice suddenly harsh with anger.

  Carol's eyes had the angry white light she had seen in them the time she refused to play the piano. And what angered her now was just as trifling.

  "I'm sorry, Carol. I guess I didn't hear you."

  "Go ahead," Carol said, turning away. "Go on up and take it off."

  It was Harge still, Therese thought. Therese hesitated a minute, then went upstairs. She untied the waist and the sleeves, glanced at herself in the mirror, then tied them all back again. If Carol wanted her to keep it on, she would.

  They fixed dinner themselves, because Florence had already started her three weeks' leave. They opened some special jars of things that Carol said she had been saving, and they made stingers in the cocktail shaker just before dinner. Therese thought Carol's mood had passed, but when she started to pour a second stinger for herself, Carol said shortly, "I don't think you should have any more of that."

  And Therese deferred, with a smile. And the mood went on. Nothing Therese said or did could change it, and Therese blamed the inhibiting dress for not being able to think of the right things to say. They took brandied chestnuts and coffee up to the porch after dinner, but they said even less to each other in the semidarkness, and Therese only felt sleepy and rather depressed.

  The next morning, Therese found a paper bag on the back doorstep. Inside it was a toy monkey with gray and white fur. Therese showed it to Carol.

  "My God," Carol said softly, and smiled. "Jacopo." She took the monkey and rubbed her forefinger against its slightly dirty white cheek. "Abby and I used to have him hanging in the back of the car," Carol said.

  "Abby brought it? Last night?"

  "I suppose." Carol went on to the car with the monkey and a suitcase.

  Therese remembered wakening from a doze on the glider last night, awakening to an absolute silence, and Carol sitting there in the dark, looking straight before her. Carol must have heard Abby's car last night.

  Therese helped Carol arrange the suitcases and the lap rug in the back of the car.

  "Why didn't she come in?" Therese asked.

  "Oh that's Abby," Carol said with a smile, with the fleeting shyness that always surprised Therese. "Why don't you go call Richard?"

  Therese sighed. "I can't now, anyway. He's left the house by this time."

  It was eight forty, and his school began at nine.

  "Call his family then. Aren't you going to thank them for the box they sent you?"

  "I was going to write them a letter."

  "Call them now, and you won't have to write them a letter. It's much nicer to call anyway."

  Mrs. Semco answered the telephone. Therese praised the dress and Mrs. Semco's needlework, and thanked her for all the food and the wine.

  "Richard just left the house," Mrs. Semco said. "He's going to be awfully lonely. He mopes around already." But she laughed, her vigorous, high-pitched laugh that filled the kitchen where Therese knew she stood, a laugh that would ring through the house, even to Richard's empty room upstairs. "Is everything all right with you and Richard?" Mrs. Semco asked with the faintest suspicion, though Therese could tell she still smiled.

  Therese said yes. And she promised she would write. Afterward, she felt better because she had called.

  Carol asked her if she had closed her window upstairs, and Therese went up again, because she couldn't remember. She hadn't closed the window, and she hadn't made her bed either, but there wasn't time now. Florence could take care of the bed when she came in on Monday to lock the house up.

  Carol was on the telephone when Therese
came downstairs. She looked up at Therese with a smile and held the telephone toward her. Therese knew from the first tone that it was Rindy.

  "... at—uh—Mr. Byron's. It's a farm. Have you ever been there, Mother?"

  "Where is it, sweetheart?" Carol said: "At Mr. Byron's. He has horses. But not the kind you would like."

  "Oh. Why not?"

  "Well, these are heavy."

  Therese tried to hear anything in the shrill, rather matter-of-fact voice that resembled Carol's voice, but she couldn't.

  "Hello," Rindy said. "Mother?"

  "I'm still here."

  "I've got to say good-by now. Daddy's ready to leave." And she coughed.

  "Have you got a cough?" Carol asked.

  "No."

  "Then don't cough into the phone."

  "I wish you would take me on the trip."

  "Well, I can't because you're in school. But we'll have trips this summer."

  "Can you still call me?"

  "On the trip? Of course I will. Every day." Carol took the telephone and sat back with it, but she still watched Therese the minute or so more that she talked.

  "She sounds so serious," Therese said.

  "She was telling me all about the big day yesterday. Harge let her play hooky."

  Carol had seen Rindy day before yesterday, Therese remembered. It had evidently been a pleasant visit, from what Carol had told Therese over the telephone, but she hadn't mentioned any details about it, and Therese had not asked her anything.

  Just as they were about to leave, Carol decided to make a last call to Abby. Therese wandered back into the kitchen, because the car was too cold to sit in.

  "I don't know any small towns in Illinois," Carol was saying. "Why Illinois?... All right, Rockford... I'll remember, I'll think of roquefort... Of course I'll take good care of him. I wish you'd come in, nitwit... Well, you're mistaken, very mistaken."

  Therese took a sip from Carol's half-finished coffee on the kitchen table, drank from the place where the lipstick was.

  "Not a word," Carol said, drawling the phrase. "No one, so far as I know, not even Florence... Well, you do that, darling. Cheerio now."

  Five minutes later, they were leaving Carol's town on the highway marked on the strip map in red, the highway they would use until Chicago. The sky was overcast. Therese looked around her at the country that had grown familiar now, the clump of woods off to the left that the road to New York passed, the tall flagstaff in the distance that marked the club Carol belonged to.