The Talented Mr Ripley / Талантливый мистер Рипли. Патриция Хайсмит

probably in love with you.'

      'She is. You go out of your way not to hurt people who're in love with you, you know.'

      'Of course.' He hesitated again, trying to choose his words. Dickie was not angry with him any more. Dickie was not going to throw him out. Tom said in a more cofident tone, 'I can imagine that if you both were in New York you wouldn't see her so often – or at all – but this village is so lonely – '

      'That's exactly right. I haven't been to bed with her and I don't intend to, but I really intend to keep her friendship.'

      'Well, have I done anything to prevent you? I told you, Dickie, I'm ready to leave, I don't want to do anything to break up your friendship with Marge.'

      Dickie gave a glance. 'No, you haven't done anything special, but it's obvious you don't like her around.'

      'I'm sorry,' Tom said trying to show he was feeling guilty.

      'Well, let's let it go. Marge and I are okay,' Dickie said refusing to continue the conversation. He turned away and stared at the water.

      Tom went into the kitchen to make himself a little boiled coffee. This wasn't the time to make peace with Dickie, Tom thought. Dickie had his pride. He would be silent for most of the afternoon, then go painting and at about five o'clock it would be as if the episode with the clothes had never happened.

      One thing Tom was sure of: Dickie was glad to have him here. Dickie was bored with living by himself, and bored with Marge, too. Tom still had three hundred dollars of the money Mr Greenleaf had given him, and he and Dickie were going to spend it in Paris. Without Marge.

      Dickie was back to normal by five o'clock.

* * *

      Next day Dickie asked Tom to pick up the mail at the post office. There were two letters, one to him from Dickie's father, one to Dickie from someone in New York whom Tom didn't know. He stood in the doorway and opened Mr Greenleaf's letter.

      10 Nov. 19 —

      My dear Tom,

      In view of the fact you have been with Dickie over a month and that he shows no more sign of coming home than before you went, I can only conclude that you haven't been successful. You reported that he is thinking of returning, but frankly, I don't see it anywhere in his letter of 26 October. As a matter of fact, he seems more eager than ever to stay where he is.

      I want you to know that I and my wife appreciate your efforts but you need no longer think you have any duty to me in any way. I hope you didn't have any inconvenience in the past month, and I sincerely hope the trip has given you some pleasure despite the failure of its main goal.

      Both my wife and I send you greetings and our thanks.

      Sincerely,

H. R. Greenleaf

      It was the final blow. With the cool tone – even cooler than his usual businesslike coolness, because this was a dismissal and he included a note of courteous thanks in it – Mr Greenleaf simply cut him off. He failed.

      Mr Greenleaf didn't even say that he would like to see him again when he returned to America.

      Tom walked quickly up the hill towards Dickie's house. At least, he thought proudly, he didn't try to get any more money out of Mr Greenleaf, and he might. He might, even with Dickie's cooperation.

      He stood at the corner of the terrace, staring out at the empty line of the horizon and thinking of nothing, feeling nothing except a faint lostness and emptiness. Even Dickie and Marge seemed far away, and what they might be talking about seemed unimportant. He was alone. That was the only important thing.

      They were not friends. They didn't know each other. Tom realized it like a horrible truth, true for all time, true for the people he had known in the past and for those he would know in the future. He realised that he would never know them, and the worst was that there would always be the illusion, for a moment, that he knew them, and that he and they were true friends. He began to feel a fear at his back. He felt as if he was going to faint and fall to the ground. It was too much: the foreigners around him, the different language, his failure, and the fact that Dickie hated him. He felt surrounded by hostility.

      He turned as he heard the gate open. Dickie walked up the path, smiling, but it was a false, polite smile.

      'What are you doing there in the rain?' Dickie asked.

      'It's very refreshing,' Tom said pleasantly. 'Here's a letter for you.' He handed Dickie his letter and hid the one from Mr Greenleaf into his pocket.

      When Dickie finished reading his letter – a letter that had made him laugh out loud as he read it – Tom said, 'Do you think Marge would like to go up to Paris with us when we go?'

      Dickie looked surprised. 'I think she would.'

      'Well, ask her,' Tom said cheerfully.

      'I don't know if I should go up to Paris,' Dickie said. 'I wouldn't mind getting away somewhere for a few days, but Paris – ' He lighted a cigarette. 'I'd like to go up to San Remo or even Genoa[32]. That's quite a town.'

      'But Paris – Genoa can't compare with Paris, can it?'

      'No, of course not, but it's a lot closer.'

      'But when will we get to Paris?'

      'I don't know. Any time. Paris will still be there.'

      The day before yesterday, Dickie had received a letter from his father. He had read a few lines aloud and they had laughed about something, but he had not read the whole letter as he had before. Tom had no doubt that Mr Greenleaf had told Dickie that he was tired of Tom Ripley, and probably that he suspected him of using his money for his own entertainment. A month ago Dickie might laugh at something like that, too, but not now, Tom thought.

      Примечания

      1

      Green Cage, далее Raoul's – названия баров.

      2

      Fifth Avenue – улица в центре Нью-Йорка, одна из самых известных, респектабельных и дорогих улиц в мире.

      3

      Naples – Неаполь, город в Италии в бухте Неаполитанского залива.

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Примечания

1

Green Cage, далее Raoul's – названия баров.

2

Fifth Avenue – улица в центре Нью-Йорка, одна из самых известных, респектабельных

32

San Remo – Сан-Ремо, итальянский курортный город;

Genoa – Генуя, город-порт на севере Италии.