In came Mrs. Widdup. She was comely to the eye, fair, flustered, forty and foxy.
"Higgins is out, sir," she said, with a smile suggestive of vibratory massage. "He went to post a letter. Can I do anything for you, sir?"

Thanks for the reminder of O. Henry’s genius, Bill. I haven’t read a thing by him since I was 14 when I devoured everything I could get my hands on, and you’ve inspired me to revisit the old master.
Is this the site you read from by any chance?

http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/ohenry/bl-ohenry-marry.htm

I note this sentence seems to have a clear spelling mistake (since I take it that it should read “Now if you’ll excuse…”):

“Not if you'll excuse me, lady. It'll be a pleasure to fix things up for you any way you please."

That confirmed my wondering if Albany grabs is just a typo for Albany grass – what do you think? I have a collection of his short stories at home and can try to LIU tonight, unless someone else has a print copy of this story to hand.