The tone was scornful, almost bitter.
"Don't they!" She beamed on the flowers. "Somehow I can't ever believe flowers don't mean what they look," she said thoughtfully.
"These don't!" His little cynical smile rested on them. "Those roses there—They must have cost ten dollars at least——"
"I never saw bigger ones," assented Aunt Jane.
"My partner's widow sent them.... She sent them for business."
"Did she!" Aunt Jane looked at the roses with interest.
"Mere business!" said Medfield. "And the carnations on the desk there—are from the men in the office——"
"There's always something fresh about carnations." She got up leisurely and went over to them and lifted the vase and brought it to him.
"Just smell of those!" She held them out. "Aren't they just about the freshest things you ever smelled!"