Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard
Ann (Carole Lombard) and David Smith (Robert Montgomery) are a married couple living in New York who, though happy, often have fights that last for days before they lovingly reconcile. One morning, Ann asks David if he had to do it over again, would he marry her? To her disappointment, although he is very happy with her now and wouldn't marry someone else, he answers that he would not. Later that day, Harry Deever (Charles Halton), an Idaho county official, informs David that due to a jurisdictional mishap, their three-year-old marriage license from Idaho is not valid. Since Deever is a family acquaintance of Ann's from Idaho, he stops by their apartment to tell Ann and her mother (Esther Dale) the same thing. Ann does not mention this to David and thinks he will remarry her that very night, as he just invited her out to a romantic dinner at the fancy restaurant they ate at before they were married. When they arrive at the restaurant, however, they realize that the restaurant has turned into a seedy joint, and they head home. When Ann feels she has given David long enough to propose and leave to get married, she confronts him and accuses him of not wanting to marry her again. While David protests and says he was going to ask her shortly, Ann dismisses that and kicks him out of their apartment.
David spends the night at his club, but when he goes home after work the next day, he is not allowed entry by her maid. David waits in the lobby and sees Ann return with an older gentleman suitor. An angry and disheartened David takes to following Ann around, telling her he will not support her, then getting her fired from a new job she has just taken (as it turns out, the older gentleman suitor is her boss). Ann tells David she has no intention of ever marrying him.
David's friend and law partner, Jefferson "Jeff" Custer (Gene Raymond), tells David he will talk to Ann and persuade her to remarry. However, when David shows up later that evening, he finds that Jeff has instead decided to "represent" Ann in the separation. To add insult to injury, Jeff asks Ann to dinner the following night in front of David. David tells Ann if she goes on the date, "We're through," but Ann accepts the invitation.
After dinner, Ann and Jeff leave and go to the fair, but they become stuck on the parachute ride and are forced to sit through hours of rain many feet up in the air. When they get back to Jeff's apartment, he dresses to go back out, but Ann gives him a lot of liquor to drink "medicinally" even though he is a teetotaler. As Jeff becomes increasingly more drunk, Ann leaves for the night.
Ann and Jeff begin to date seriously, and Ann meets Jeff's parents. They decide to take a vacation with Jeff's parents at a Lake Placid skiing resort â the same resort where Ann and David had earlier been planning to holiday. Upon arriving at the resort, they find that David has rented a cabin right next to them, but when confronted, David simply faints. David spends the next few hours pretending to be sick and delirious while Ann fawns over him, but when Ann discovers his deception, she yells at him and leaves. They argue once again, and while yelling at each other, Jeff walks in. He knows Ann and David are meant for each other, as Ann, still playing out her scheme, then insults and berates Jeff for not beating up David.
Ann decides she wants to get away to the lodge by ski, even though she does not know how to ski. Seated while she puts on the skis, David offers to help her, but instead lifts up her legs so that she cannot stand up from being on upright skis. As she struggles while threatening him in anger, she frees one ski, but then she is feigning helplessness, by reattaching the ski to her foot. David sees this too, and while she pretend rants at him, he bends down and kisses her, silencing her.

Question: Who is with Ann when Deever delivers the bad news?
Answer: her mother