Front matter

“Are you tired?” Carol asked calmly. The question seemed not of now but of always.

“Yes.”

Carol came up behind her and set her hands on Therese’s shoulders. Therese could see her hands in her memory—flexible and strong, the delicate tendons showing as they pressed her shoulders. It seemed an age as her hands moved toward her neck and under her chin, an age of tumult so intense it blotted out the pleasure of Carol’s tipping her head back and kissing her lightly at the edge of her hair. Therese did not feel the kiss at all.

“Come with me,” Carol said.

THE PRICE OF SALT

by CLAIRE MORGAN

Bantam Books · New York

THE PRICE OF SALT

A BANTAM BOOK published by arrangement with Coward-McCann, Inc.

Printing History

Coward-McCann Edition Published May, 1952

1st Printing April, 1952

Bantam Edition Published September, 1953

1st Printing August, 1953

Copyright, 1952, by Coward-McCann, Inc. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission.

The lyrics quoted on pages 115, 116 and 117 are from the song, “Easy Living,” by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, copyright, 1937, by Famous Music Corporation, and are reprinted by courtesy of the Famous Music Corporation. The lines quoted on page 13 are from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” by T. S. Eliot, and are reprinted by courtesy of Harcourt, Brace and Company. Copyright, 1934, 1936, by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, Inc. Its trade mark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a bantam, is registered in the U.S. Patent Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada

Printed in the United States of America

Bantam Books, 25 West 45th Street, New York 36, New York

TO EDNA, JORDY, AND JEFF