 Why did the main character no longer keep the ruby necklace?
Not even forever [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, April 1958. They soaked it into their pores and drank deeply of it, feeling life going once more through their veins. Refreshed and momentarily content, he sat staring into the dying fire, seeing the bright glowing coals as living fingers clutching at the wood in consuming embrace, taking all and returning nothing but ashes. Images began to appear, drawn from inexhaustible files, wherein are kept all thoughts, past, present, and future.... World War III had been declared, and he had enlisted, receiving his old rank of captain. "It's for you; so long as you wear it, I'll come back, even from the dead, if need be. She held the ring up to the light and read aloud, "It is forever." She took off the locket she wore about her neck and held it up to the shimmering light, letting it spin at the end of its chain. It was in the shape of a star, encrusted with emeralds, with one large ruby in the center. When he opened it, he found a picture of her in one side, and in the other a picture of the children. Three days later they had landed in Spain, merged with another division, then crossed the Pyrenees into France, and finally to Paris where the fighting had begun. The Russians had not yet used the H-bomb; the threat of annihilation by the retaliation forces had been too great.
 The love that was symbolized by the necklace is now gone.
 He would rather the monster have the necklace.  He wanted the necklace to remain with the house where his love was.  He figured his wife might come back for the necklace and know that he had returned from war.  The love that was symbolized by the necklace is now gone.