"Will the other side of the house be the same, but backwards?" Shelley asked.

Bitsy nodded.

"Do you want them to have the same decor?"

"Oh, no," Bitsy replied. "Some visitors may

stay two or three times. I'd like the two suites to be quite different in style."

"What styles?" Shelley asked.

"Well, that will be partly up to you two. But I picture this one sort of Old Englishy. Big deep claw-footed bathtub, heavily canopied bed with lots of pillows with shams. Floral drapes. Deep, lush carpeting with a subtle pattern. Not too feminine, though. Antique furnishings."

Shelley nodded knowingly. "And the other?"

"I've been thinking of something just a hint retro, do you see? Those big white tiles with the little black ones in the corners in the bathrooms. Curved dividers. A classy 1930s sparse but expensive look. Sort of like those Poirot mysteries on television."

"That's a look that's popular right now," Shelley said, "but I don't think it's going to last much longer. I think you'd make a better investment if you went with something less trendy. So many offices these days are done in that sparse, sterile look. People who work in them don't want to live in them, too. Especially not when they're traveling."

Bitsy was nodding enthusiastically. "I knew I'd picked just the right people!"

Jane had to turn away and pretend to examine the piles of Sheetrock to conceal her laughter. Shelley was talking off the top of her head — quite impressively, to be sure — but without any experi-

ence in sparse decor. Except the time they saw a house decorated that way and Shelley expressed her hatred of the style.