.
Devon, hand prob'bly Mr. Bangs, halso. Jepson would harsk at once.

Jepson moved ponderously away to do so, while Rodney, opening his big
box in the hall, drew out the poinsettia and chrysanthemums and
proceeded to arrange them in a gorgeous armful. Bangs had unexpected
taste in color and arrangement, as Epstein's stage-directors had
discovered in the past. Laurie watched him with polite interest.

"Making a picture of yourself, aren't you?" he asked. "Going into the
sick-room with your little hands full of flowers?" But even as he
scoffed he was unwrapping his own flowers. Bangs was right. The act of
handing a pasteboard box to a sick friend lacked esthetic value.

Jepson returned with a cordial message. Mrs. Ordway would be charmed to
see both young men, but she received only one visitor at a time. Would
Mr. Bangs come up now? And perhaps Mr. Devon would drop in again during
the afternoon or evening.

Rodney grasped his floral offerings and mounted the stairs two steps at
a time. He was excited and his brown eyes showed it. It was most awfully
good of Mrs. Ordway to let him come up in this informal way. Standing by
the _chaise longue_ where she lay, he told her so, his auburn head
shining among the flowers he carried, like a particularly large
chrysanthemum. Then, selecting some empty vases, he sat down on the
floor beside her and began to arrange his flowers, while she watched
him, at first with surprise, then with growing admiration.

Rodney had no social airs and graces, no parlor tricks. If he had been
formally sitting on a chair, holding his hat, he would have been a
self-conscious and unhappy young man. As it was, with hands and eyes
busy, and wholly at his ease, he talked his exuberant best.

"How about Laurie's romance?" Louise asked at once.

Bangs told her about the vision in the mirror. As he did so, luncheon
was served, and he was casually invited to share it. Susanne, moving
shuttle-like between the table in the sick-room and the dumb-waiter in
the upper hall, presently confided to a young footman a surprising piece
of news, which he in turn confided to the incredulous Jepson. Young Mr.
Bangs, who was lunching with Mrs. Ordway, must be as amusing as young
Mr. Devon himself. He had actually made the mistress laugh both times he
came. She was laughing now, as Susanne had not heard her laugh for
weeks. To be sure, this was one of her good days. But it wasn't easy to
amuse Mrs. Ordway at any time.