THE REAL DEAL
Ralston drove up to Catherine's estate, to escort her to the charity function at the Davis Mansion by the Creek.  When he tolled her doorbell, she appeared in one of her simply silver dresses and long gloves.  She was incandescent in the purple night.  Ralston was in his white dinner jacket with red tie and black trousers, also looking quite the part.

  They made their appearance at the mansion, contributing to several funds for those with difficult lives.  This Catherine loved to do and Ralston thought it was a fine way to give back to the community the blessings he had received.

  They had a grand time, waltzing to music by Strauss, mingling with old friends and those giving to such honorable work.

  The orchestra took a break, so Ralston found two vacant glasses and one bottle of a red Bordeaux wine for himself and Catherine.  They stood outside on the wide patio, near the fountain and pool.  Golden lights glowed upon the patio, a garden surrounded them with the sounds of birds and a breeze.  Ralston was perfectly content with the evening, but Catherine was not.

  'Do you know my friend, Leslie?'
  'Is that the Leslie married to Bernard who is in the oil business?'
  'The very one.  Such a charming young girl, sweet and decent, However...'
  'Yes?'
  'However, her husband left he for another woman, a young woman.'
  'Tragic things happen these days, even among our friends.'
  'It's not right, Rally, it's just not right for something like this to happen to Leslie.'
  'Not right?  Whatever do you mean?  People get divorced over matters more trivial than that.'
  'I don't mean exactly that.  I mean, such a decent woman, bad things shouldn't happen to people like her.  What did she ever do to anyone?'
  'Why is he leaving her?  Any particular reason?'
  'For medical reasons she cannot have children.  It's unfortunate but there it is.  And over this he leaves.  Whatever did she do to deserve this?' Catherine exclaimed nearly loud enough for the guests inside to hear.

  Ralston put his arm around her.  'Now, Catherine, no need to broadcast it to the social world in which we live.  Evidently it has happened, so we can only apply ourselves to helping her go on tomorrow and the next day and the next.'
  'Good people need protection from life,' Catherine said.
  Ralston said, 'Being good does not protect anyone from life.  We are all human and Leslie is, too.  It's not about avoiding trouble, or being above it all, it's about helping each other get through life.  That's what we're all here for, dear.'
  'You make it sound so easy, like it was just filling out a form, but Ralston, Leslie is inside, in one of the anterooms, crying.  She'd waited so long to marry the right man, and he turns out to be the wrong man.'  Catherine put her cheek on his shoulder.
  'Sometimes, love, it isn't about getting what you want but about wanting what you are given.'

  She turned away, gazing toward the French windows where she knew Leslie was with her friends.

  She said, 'Leslie has been given so much. She's attractive, she has money now, and she has his house but she doesn't have the one thing she coveted most of all.'
  'Go on...'
  'She doesn't have herself anymore.  Her life is not her own.  Now she has to go to court, file papers, hire lawyers, avoid his friends and the Country Club where they were members.  It's all so tragic.'
  'Someday you might realize and she might realize now that her illusion of goodness is gone, what she has is the truth about herself.  You can live on truth, but not on illusions,' Ralston said as he escorted Catherine back inside, where the evening faded into darkness.