If you had n't consented I should have had to put it into the hands of some outsider whom I could n't have helped at all . And I wanted to help . I wanted to have a finger in everything , because it is for her , you see , Miss Sally . It will be such a delight to fix up this little house , knowing that she is coming to live in it . '' `` I wonder if you really mean it , '' said Miss Sally bitterly . `` Oh , I dare say you think you do . But do you ? Perhaps you do . Perhaps you are the exception that proves the rule . '' This was a great admission for Miss Sally to make . For the next two months Miss Sally was happy . Even Willard himself was not more keenly interested in Eden and its development . Miss Sally did wonders with his money . She was an expert at bargain hunting , and her taste was excellent . A score of times she mercilessly nipped Willard 's suggestions in the bud . `` Lace curtains for the living room -- never ! They would be horribly out of place in such a house . You do n't want curtains at all -- just a frill is all that quaint window needs , with a shelf above it for a few bits of pottery . I picked up a love of a brass platter in town yesterday -- got it for next to nothing from that old Jew who would really rather give you a thing than suffer you to escape without taking something . Oh , I know how to manage them . ''
`` You certainly do , '' laughed XXXXX .
Eden Sally Willard curtains delight development escape exception frill outsider