Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-01
By Margaret Culhin Banning
She Had the Promised Gems But Very Little Else

/ bility of her being cold. For , hours
they drove about the magic city. and
its beauty finally drove them to silence;
but they shared the silence.
It was after IL when he left her at
her impressive apartment door, a little
disheveled from the ride, but all the
prettier for that
I'm afraid it's been dull evening, y
he said
mo, indeed" said Maud
you've been aWfully good to come
out with me- know how much brighter
your usual crowd is"
Maud thought of that crowd. dissolved
into space now. but held her peace.
Good night" he said: and" HIS
eyes fell on her rings as he took her
, hands, and he checked himself. Good
night. and thank you again for COM
ing"
Good night" answered Maud, She
watched him run down the stairs. she
knew he was going away, that he would
have no reason for coming back, that
he had misunderstood her completely.
She went in to meet the stiffness.
and. pulling on the light, sat down.
Suddenly she stripped the rings from
her fingers. the pin from her breast.
the bracelets from her arm. and, tossing
them in twinkling heap under her
pillow. threw herself on the bed, face
downward.
THERE was nothing rustic about the
Il Dudley house, where Bills mother
lived. 1t was old and shabby, without
gaining any dignity from its age. a
stupid wooden house that had always
been stupid. Yet Maud had not been
in the house more than few hours
before she discovered how intensely
Mrs. Dudley respected her home. She
found out many things in the first
few hours. including the strange feeling
of Bits family about her.
It had never occurred to her until
then that the DudleyS had any definite
attitude toward her. She had seen her
mother-in-law only twice: when they
had stopped at this hous, for a few
hours during their wedding trip, and
when they had buried Bill The elder
Mrs Dudley had wept bitter passionate
tears then.
Maud had cried. too. but more in
pity that Bills good times were over
than in actual grief AS for his people,
thew had never really seemed to belong
to Bill, but to be somehow accidental
in his life: to be remembered at Christ
mas with some expensive gifts, ana
that was about all
Yet here were the Dudleys. and now
Maud was finding out how all that had
been resented, counted against her.
somehow. Mrs. Dudley said little, She
was a tall woman, work-worn, living
with her daughter and her daughters
child. The daughter was neutral
tinted, from the effect Of trouble.
Bill had told Maud about the trouble
but Maud had paid little attention,
Georgfa'S husband had run away, leaV~
ing, as his only bequeSt. the child. JIM
my. But Jimmv was something to
leave. the one glowing thing in the
llousehold-a sturdy. noisy boy OF II
who looked amazingly like Bill when
he smiled
Maud saw that they were moor. and
that. in addition to poverty. they were
bound bv their own inadenuacv. There
was nothing clever about the house
keeping. nothing graceful about the
furnishings, nothing we'll favored in
the TODD. Bills presents--the ones she
herself had bought--stood about, con-
traSting with everything about them.
useless The floor -lamp, the tea-wag-
on, the mahogany tip-top table. the
nhonograph. There they were. testifv-
ing mutely to the gap between Bills
life and that of his mother, It seemed
impossible that big iovial Bill could
hsv" come from such setting.
They cared for Bill. They had
brought Jimmy up in the glamorous
idea Of his Uncle Bill, rich. atfiuent.
generous That was the note most
often struck, the one Of Bills generosity
II was a tradition.
HE was so generous. Once, when
he was in Syracuse, he sent Mother a
| rosa-tree as high as this room for
Mothers day" said Georgia
That was Bill, thought Maud Why
hadn't he sent his mother an insurance
policy instead? She saw the worn