They went up the stone stair and turned into Miss Cromarty's boudoir. On her, Mr. Carrington produced a favourable impression that was evident at once. At all times she liked good-looking and agreeable gentlemen, and lately she had been suffering from a dearth of them. She had been suffering also from her brother's pig-headed refusal to reconsider his decision not to buy a car; and finally from the lack of some one to sympathise with her in this matter. In the opulent-looking and sportingly attired Mr. Carrington she quickly perceived a kindred spirit, and having a tongue that was not easily intimidated even by the formidable looking laird, she launched into her grievance. They had been talking about the long distances that separated most of the mansions in the county. "Isn't it ridiculous, Mr. Carrington," said she, "we haven't got a car!" "Absurd," agreed Mr. Carrington, helping himself to cake. "Do you know, this brother of mine here has actually come into a fortune, and yet he won't buy me even one little motor car!" Ned frowned and muttered something that might have checked their visitor's reply, had he noticed the laird's displeasure, but for the moment he seemed to have become very unobserving. "Come into a fortune?" said he. "What a bit of luck! How much--a million--two million?" "Oh, not as much as that, worse luck! But quite enough to buy at least three decent cars if he was half a sportsman! And he won't get one!" Mr. Carrington was now trying to balance his cake in his saucer and was evidently too absorbed in his efforts to notice his host's waxing displeasure. "In my experience," said he, "you can't get a decent car much under four hundred." "Well," said she, "that's just the figure it would bring it to." "Lilian!" muttered her brother wrathfully. But at that moment Mr. Carrington coughed, evidently over a cake crumb, and failed to hear the expostulation. "But perhaps he is going to buy you something even handsomer instead," he suggested. "Is he!" she scoffed, with a defiant eye on her brother. "I believe he's going to blue it in something too scandalous to talk about in mixed society! Anyhow it's something too mysterious to tell me!" By this time Ned's face was a thundercloud in which lightning was clearly imminent, but Mr. Carrington now recovered his wonted tact as suddenly as he had lost it. "That reminds me of a very curious story I heard at my club the other day," he began, and in a few minutes the conversation was far away from Miss Cromarty's grievances. And then, having finished his cup of tea, he looked at his watch with an exclamation and protested that he must depart on the instant. As he lay back in his car he murmured with a satisfied smile: "That's settled anyhow!"