The Black House by Patricia Highsmith Read Free Book Online Page A

hadn’t heard a word!”
    â€œWe just found out today,” said Frieda. “Lucienne called me up. She said she tried to call Edmund at his office this morning, and they said he was absent on leave, but she insisted on finding out where he was—said it concerned an emergency in his family, you know how good she is at things like that. So they told her he was in the Payne-Whitney, and she phoned there and talked with Edmund personally. He also had an accident with his car, he said, but luckily he didn’t hurt himself or anyone else.”
    â€œHoly cow,” said Peter.
    â€œHe always had a fondness for the bottle, you know,” Julian said, “and a thimble-belly to go with it. He really had to go on the wagon five or six years ago, wasn’t it, Frieda? Maybe you didn’t know Edmund then, Peter. Well, he did, but it didn’t last long. Then it got worse when Lillian walked out. But now this job—”
    Frieda Markus giggled. “This job!—Lucienne didn’t help and you know it. She invited Edmund to her place a couple of times and plied him. Made him talk about his troubles with Mag.”
    Troubles. Peter felt a twinge of dislike for Edmund for talking about his “troubles” after only three months or so of marriage. Didn’t everyone have troubles? Did people have to bore their friends with them? “Maybe he deserved it,” Peter murmured.
    â€œIn a way, yes ,” Julian said forcefully, and reached for a cigarette. Julian’s aggressive attitude implied that the anti-Edmund campaign wasn’t over. “He’s weak,” Julian added.
    Peter thanked Julian for the loan of the two books, and took his leave. Again he had work to do in the evening, so he couldn’t linger for a drink. At home, Peter hesitated between calling Lucienne or Anita, decided on Lucienne, but she didn’t answer, so he tried Anita. Anita was home and Lucienne was there. Both spoke with Peter, and both sounded merry. Peter asked Lucienne about Edmund.
    â€œOh, he’ll be sprung in another week or so, he said. But he won’t be quite the same man, I think, when he comes out.”
    â€œHow do you mean that?”
    â€œWell, he’s lost his job and this story isn’t going to make it easier for him to get another one. He’s probably lost Magda too, because Edmund told me she’d leave him if they didn’t move out of New York.”
    â€œSo . . . maybe they will move,” said Peter. “He told you he’d definitely lost his job?”
    â€œOh yes. They call it a leave of absence at his office, but Edmund admitted they’re not taking him back.” Lucienne gave a short, shrill laugh. “Just as well they do move out of New York. Magda hates us , you know. And frankly Edmund never was one of us—so in a way it’s understandable.”
    Was it understandable, Peter wondered as he got down to his own work. There was something vicious about the whole thing, and he’d been vicious plying Edmund with beers that day. The curious thing was that Peter felt no compassion for Edmund.
    One might have thought that the group would leave Edmund alone, at least, even make some effort to cheer him up (without drinks) when he got out of the Payne-Whitney, but it was just the opposite, Peter observed. Anita Ketchum invited Edmund for a quiet dinner at her apartment, and asked Peter to come too. She did not ply him with drink, though Edmund had at least three on his own. Edmund was morose, and Anita did not make his mood any better by talking against Magda. She fairly said that Edmund could and should do better than Magda, and that he ought to try as soon as possible. Peter had to concur here.
    â€œShe doesn’t seem to make you very happy, Ed,” Peter remarked in a man-to-man way, “and now I hear she wants you to move out of New York.”
    â€œThat’s true,” Edmund said, “and I dunno where