The Washington herald., 1917-01-21
7 Y Pc S
MOTHER LOVE.
By SARA MOORE.

Silver cloth and sables made the old
lady beautiful She was a vision to draw
all eyes she sat listening to the over
ture. a dreamy, tender little smile soft
ening lips that had been slightly stirfen-
ed into lines of frmness and pride. Not
even the glowing beauty Of youthful
women In nearby boxes could quite over
shadow the queenly quality Of her charm.
Isn't she a darling?" said one of the
standing-room-only people near us.
Never saw such elderly beauty. Is that
her son7 Doesn't she look proud of him
And isn't he devoted?'
Yes; isn't he? How beautiful mother
love Is at any age" gushed one of the
dozen society editors who were cover
ing the opening of the opera season as
IL 1t were a strictly social event
Mother love? HE'LL" exploded man
at my elbow. Mother love can be as
brutal and selfish as any other passion.
And as for that example-there is moth
ing beautiful about it,
"Yes?" we breathed. His face was not
unpleasant, but IL was part of our news
duty to hang around when there was a
story to be told.
That woman adores her son. He adores
her." continued the stranger. almost talk
ing to himself" But she was so afraid
to share his love with anyone else she
ways. And he has let her ruin it and the
lives Of three other women who loved
him-because he loves her so much he
cannot bear to cross her in any way"
Nonsense" said the first speaker
briskly. Don't eIaggerate. How could
a moth"
TT began at college. You see, I've
known her son since we played marbles
together in the park. Louis fell in love
with a girl in his Political Economics
class. She was a girl of no family but
one OF the finest big Drained. sweet
hearted women l have ever met. Their
love affair was university idyll-at least,
until his mother heard of IT. They were
a handsome, clean-cut couple, with such
unusual ideals and ambitions that there
seemed to be no limit to what they might
build in the way of future for them
selves. But"
"YesT'
THE engagement lasted two years.
Then the mother succeeded in breaking
II down. No girl with any sensitiveness
and spirit could resist the pressure of
contempt and scorn and petty prosecu-
ttons and cold dislikes that Louis fam
lily brought to bear"
And you say it spoiled the girls
life"
She's dead. Died in France last win
ter from overwork and exposure-doiny &
some sort of working supplementing the
regular Red Cross.
You said-three women"
We'll, Frances mother is an inmate of
a sanitarium now, broken in health. The
girl was an only child, and her Vmother
took her death-very-hard. The third
woman"
We could see that, whatever had been
his connection with the little rasedy.
the part of the third woman had touched
him personally. 1t was diffcult, exactly.
to imagine it as he spoke, as II was diff
1cult to place his type. He had the voice,
manner. clothes Of Fifth avenue resi-
dents, but the half worldly, half bitter
expression Of the Broadwayite. He might
have been a gentleman fond of pudding
round in pitch: he might have been a
successful playwright, or even a wealthy
packer-never a producer-of shows.
The third woman he went on with
studied evenness, is an actress. After
Frances died Louis went to pieces. Took
to drink and lead life for wild man
for nearly year. Maiomi met his dur
ing hts reckless days-before his natural
decency began to put bride on his life
again. s- She has fastened to him He's
rich enough to finance the European war.
SO she'll never let go, even II he braces
up enough to try to get away from her"
And She"
Her tragedy lies in this. She had
talent, almost genius. Might have be-
come a great artist, IL she had kept to
the long, hard road of struggling for sue
cess. But with Louis to bedevil and his
money to spend-shes quit. She's
wasted"
And the mother"
Doesn't know about the third one
yet He was smiling very cruelty, and
staring at the box as II 1t appealed to
a cruel sense of humor In him. Then
the lights faded. the house rustled into
qutetness and the curtain rose for the
nrst act Of Manon. But all through the
nrst scene could hear, at intervals, the
stranger mutter: = =
Mother love? Rats"
itCoppdght, fHT)
Charles Woil of Rerwick pa 49,. -