  Comparing models of Simple Stellar Populations (SSP) with observed line
strengths generally provides a tool to break the age-metallicity degeneracy in
elliptical galaxies. Due to the wide range of Balmer line strengths observed,
ellipticals have been interpreted to exhibit an appreciable scatter in age. In
this paper, we analyze Composite Stellar Population models with a simple mix of
an old metal-rich and an old metal-poor component. We show that these models
simultaneously produce strong Balmer lines and strong metallic lines without
invoking a young population. The key to this result is that our models are
based on SSPs that better match the steep increase of Hbeta in metal-poor
globular clusters than models in the literature. Hence, the scatter of Hbeta
observed in cluster and luminous field elliptical galaxies can be explained by
a spread in the metallicity of old stellar populations. We check our model with
respect to the so-called G-dwarf problem in ellipticals. For a galaxy subsample
covering a large range in UV-V colors we demonstrate that the addition of an
old metal-poor subcomponent does not invalidate other observational constraints
like colors and the flux in the mid-UV.
