“Maybe he is a friend of Mrs. Gabriel,” Vevi speculated.
She had noticed that the man kept watching both Mrs. Gabriel and the Mattox couple who had come to the show together.
“Who is Mrs. Gabriel?” inquired Mrs. Langley absently. She was not paying very much attention to the conversation for her mind was on other important matters.
“Mrs. Gabriel is very fond of flowers,” Vevi remarked. “I guess she must have one of the largest gardens in Rosedale.”
“Why do you think that, dear?”
Mrs. Langley knew every interesting garden in the entire city and had never heard of one maintained by a Mrs. Gabriel.
“Because Mrs. Gabriel buys so many tulip bulbs.” Vevi replied. “She tried to place a very large order with Peter Van Der Lann. When he wouldn’t take it, she went to the Mattox Nursery with her business.”
Mrs. Langley now was listening more attentively to the little girl. Neither of them noticed that the stranger in gray had moved closer. He too could hear their conversation.
“You say Mr. Van Der Lann turned down a very large bulb order?” the garden club president asked. “Well, that is odd. I wonder why?”
“He didn’t seem to like Mrs. Gabriel.”