the midday sun
After returning from her motor ride with Roger , Patty went to her room to write some letters . But she had written only so far as `` My dearest Nan , '' when a big pink rose came flying through the open window and fell right on the paper . Patty looked up , laughing , for she knew it was Bill who threw the blossom . The bay window of Patty 's boudoir opened on a particularly pleasant corner of the upper veranda , -- a corner provided with wicker seats and tables , and screened by awnings from the midday sun . And when Patty was seated by her desk in that same bay window , half-hidden by the thin , fluttering curtain draperies , Big Bill Farnsworth had an incurable habit of strolling by . But he did not respond to Patty 's laughter in kind . `` Come out here , '' he said , and his tone was not peremptory , but beseechingly in earnest .