Territorial Rights by Muriel Spark

Author:Muriel Spark [Spark, Muriel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4532-4508-8
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media LLC
Published: 2012-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

The signature was Robert’s or very like it. But Curran spent no time studying this or any other detail. He folded the letter and put it in his inner pocket. Mary had sat down and was attempting to make conversation with Katerina, who stood by, fidgeting with the edge of her pullover and watching Curran eagerly. ‘Isn’t it peculiar,’ said Mary in a voice which was rather shrill in an effort to make herself understood to someone not English, ‘how the beauty, the great beauty, of Venice simply changes when one has some worry on one’s mind. Take this morning, for instance, when we were looking high and low for this young man, Robert, it wasn’t so enchanting as it was the other mornings when I went for walks in Venice. The beauty simply—’

‘It’s from Robert,’ Curran announced. ‘He’s all right. He got a friend to drop the letter in; very obliging of him. He asks me to pay the bill and collect his belongings. So that’s what I’ll do, Katerina.’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘that’s the best. I can get that done for you right away. Eufemia said she hoped we wouldn’t have to tell the police.’

‘But where is he?’ said Mary, looking at Katerina as if finding it somewhat curious that Katerina herself had not asked this question.

‘It’s infantile,’ Curran said, sitting down beside her. ‘I’m afraid Robert’s behaving in a quite infantile way. But it’s quite simple really. He says … he says. …’ Curran pulled the letter out of his pocket and scanned it casually. ‘He says … “Tell everyone that I have gone for a trip to an undisclosed destination, that I don’t want to be followed, that I don’t want to be looked for.” Those are his very words. Pompous, infantile. Anyway, at least we can forget him, now. He asks me to take his belongings. I’ll get Violet to look after them. Well, Mary, we might have saved our shoe-leather and our breath.’

‘Could I see the letter?’ Mary said, holding out her hand.

‘Oh, later, later,’ Curran said, putting it back in his pocket. ‘I’ll have the key to his room, Katerina. I’d prefer to do the packing myself, since he asks me to do so. Where’s Eufemia? One of you had better come with me to make everything correct. I don’t suppose he has anything valuable, but I want to make a list, and I’ll give you a receipt.’

‘Eufemia’s in bed with a headache. She’s taken a bad turn,’ Katerina said, in Italian.

‘Speak English,’ said Curran. ‘Mrs Tiller is present.’

‘I understand a good bit of Italian,’ Mary piped. ‘More than you think.’

‘The Signora understands Italian,’ Katerina said.

‘That’s what I thought,’ said Curran. ‘But we don’t want to be rude, do we?’

One of the clients was at the desk waiting to pay for some postcards. Katerina went over to serve him. Then she said, pointing rather angrily to the rows of pigeon-holes, ‘The key to number 28 isn’t here. The maid must have taken it.’

‘I’ll wait for you,’ said Curran.

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