“He is a fine child, isn’t he?” the old woman remarked. “I never expected to have a grandchild named Shane.”
Still regarding the picture with a sort of fascination, Mrs. Tolliver replied, “He is a darling, isn’t he? Does she call him that?”
“Of course. What would she call him?”
“Yes, he is a fine lad. He looks like our family.” And then after a long pause she added, “I’m glad you told me all the story. I’m glad Lily did what she did deliberately. I should hate to think that any of us would be weak enough to let a man take advantage of her. That makes a great difference.”
After she had put on her small black hat trimmed with worn and stubby ostrich plumes, she turned for the last time. “If you have another of those pictures, Aunt Julia, I would like to have one. I’d like to show it to Charles. He’s always admired Lily. It’s funny what a way she has with men.”
There was no sting in the remark. It was a simple declaration, spoken as though the truth of it had occurred to her for the first time. She was too direct and vigorous to be feline.
As she closed the door the voice of her aunt trailed weakly after. “You needn’t worry about Ellen. All her strength and character is your strength and character, Hattie. She can take care of herself.”
The niece turned in the doorway, her thick strong figure blocking the shower of dim light from the hall. “No,” she said. “It’s not as though Lily were bad. She isn’t bad. I’ve always had an idea that she knew what she was about. I suppose she has her own ideas on life. Perhaps she lives up to them. I can’t say they’re my ideas.” For a second she leaned against the frame of the door, searching with an air of physical effort for words to express her thoughts. “No, she isn’t bad,” she continued. “No one who ever knew her can say she is a bad woman. I can’t explain what I mean, but I suppose she believes in what she does.”
And with this wise and mysterious observation Mrs. Tolliver returned to the world of the concrete—her own world—swept down the long stairway and into the kitchen where she reclaimed her basket, and left the house without waiting for the hostile mulatto woman to open the door.