The Wilmington morning star., 1947-03-22
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rnoo Sherry let herself into the
u.iliar fuchsia-and-white foyer Of
onartment Sunday night the
Tie d strains of Beethoven's Sew.
I symphony washed out and
sa .n,nd beI in a glorious tide. Her
LINER, not Val, Sherry fell sure,
listening to the record player.
Va she probably had not the
wv S,est idea anyone had come in.
sssrrv slipped off her coat and
~ and put them away in the
~ 1a,et Then she stood for a
sN'aming moment, her arms
lsssed. her head tipped back,
a!.,ine of the weekend that was
a.isbed and feeling an odd reluc-
pn.a at the thought of stepping
,, Nv once more into the regular
S 's+ine Of her life. She always re-
o...od the end of her visits with
But this time the regret
". was sharper, oddly poignant,
." -boug' she had left a part of
''..elf al the farm. 1t was Lex
".-rell who made the difference.
s..rrv was too honest not. to face
W. fact squarely in her own
l;nd unwilling as she would have
w. 10 admit it to anyone else.
'' cse gave herself a mental shake
s.! moved toward the living
l AN her feet quiet on the deep
..rnet. In the doorway she paus-
~ the music swept to its eli
Her mother was sitting re-
l.Ssd in a tapestry-covered chair,
',r ewes closed, her feet on au-
.4,nan. e was wearing a soft
WOOL '.ssn hostess gown and above the
III color her face looked pale and
= ID without its customary accent
makeup. She looked almost old.
The thought of her mother as
n startled Sherry. Somehow,
'sda Kent had always seemed
.ssIess. changeless, indestruc-
esle 10 both her daughters. Yet
M, Sherry noted that there was
,orn gray than she had realized
!, te dark hair, faint but dis
.srrible circles beneath the closed
,rss. a sagging of the flesh. under
fsda's firm chin. Sherry thought:
1s works too hard, she's always
,orked too hard, trying to give
Vi and me everything.
And vet - Sherry couldn't be
,re about Val, but she knew it
Va true in her own case-their
rotber had never made any effort
4, find out whether the things she
ave them we're what they want
4 A beautiful apartment at a
,od address, expensive clothes.
,bools that we're attended by the
smghters of wealthy people
Angs like these mattered to Leda
o she worked hard getting them
r her daughters. But they didn't
natter to Sherry, they didn't
make her happy. Perhaps that
Tas why she couldn't feel as
rsteful to her mother as she
mould. When she was small. she
isd scarcely ever seen Leda.
yrsemaids. housekeepers, a
whole procession of servants had
brought up Sherry and Val. Some
d them had been all right, others
tad been dreadful The two little
iris had been afraid of the conse-
aaences if they complained to
their mother. And Leda was away
100 much and too engrossed in her
ib to notice.
Sherry thought. honestly but re-
She's always been too
busy to give Val and me anything
H herself, to make an effort to
fsy close 10 US spiritually. And
gradually, without her realizing it,
! suppose, her jobs become more
important to her than We are. Or,
It least, that's how it seems. Oh,
1e loves us, of course-but she
Doesn't understand US. She never
has.
lke-when Val wanted to mar
Y Rick before he went away.
Sherry felt that they should have
married., whatever happened aft
Il. They were so deeply in love,
10 sure. It would have been right.
But Leda couldn't see that, she
id everything in her power to
'op them. And she succeeded.
Now Rick was dead - and Val?
Well, Leda was convinced she'd
zone the right thing, that Val was
0erter Oft But Sherry didn't think
TO- 1t was as though something
vas dead in Val, too. She'd chang
3D. She did things now she
wouldn't have dreamed of doing
aelore. She spent so much time
WITH that crowd of Susan Pyle's
VINO were just a bunch of morons
Snerry's opinion. Wade Caring
WI Was a representative example
and Val seemed to find him end
IsSsly entertaining.
val had grown hard. And she