The Red Widow; or, The Death-Dealers of LondonLe Queux, William
General
The Red Widow; or, The Death-Dealers of London
Le Queux, William
Mystery fiction
Question after question she read, and her answers he wrote down in the
space reserved for them. Once or twice she hesitated before replying,
but he put down her hesitation to a natural reserve.
The filling up of the form took some time, after which she appended her
signature in a bold hand, and this completed the proposal.
"I fear it will be necessary for you to go to London to pass the
doctor," he said. "When would that be convenient?"
"Any time after next Wednesday," she replied. "As a matter of fact, I
have some shopping to do in town before I return to Scotland, so I can
kill two birds with one stone."
"Excellent! They will, of course, make it as easy for you as possible.
You will hear from Mr. Gray at the head office. Where shall you stay in
town?
"With a friend of mine—a Mrs. Pollen." And she gave him an address in
Upper Brook Street which he wrote down.
Before eleven o’clock Mrs. Morrison had dispatched a telegram addressed
to "Braybourne, 9b, Pont Street, London," which read:
_"All preliminaries settled. Shall be in London end of week._—AUGUSTA
MORRISON."
Meanwhile, the solicitor, greatly elated at securing such a remunerative
piece of work, sent the completed proposal to the head office of the
company in London, and on the following day, accompanied by his wife,
returned to his home in Manchester, after what had turned out to be a
very profitable as well is beneficial holiday.
Before leaving, Mrs. Morrison arranged that he should carry the whole
matter through, her parting injunction being:
"Remember—tell the Company to write to me at Upper Brook Street, and not
to Scotland. And always write to me yourself to London."
Now that same evening, after Emery’s departure, there arrived at the
Beach Hotel, wearing rimless pince-nez, a dark, strongly-built man, well
dressed, and with a heavy crocodile suit-case which spoke mutely of
wealth. He signed the visitor’s form as Pomeroy Graydon, and gave his
address as "Carleon Road, Roath, Cardiff, Shipbroker."
He was late, and ate his dinner alone. Afterwards he went out for a
stroll on the esplanade in the direction of the Little Orme, when, after
walking nearly half a mile, he suddenly encountered the red-haired
widow, who was attired plainly in navy blue with a small hat, having
evidently changed her dress after dinner.
"Well, Ena!" he exclaimed, lifting his soft felt hat politely. "I’m
here, you see! I thought it best to come up and see you. I’m at your
hotel as Mr. Graydon of Cardiff."
"I’m awfully glad you’ve come, Bernie," she said. "I rather expected
you."
"As soon as Lilla got your wire I started, and was fortunate to get to
Euston just in time for the Irish mail—changed at Chester, and here I
am!"
The pair strolled to a convenient seat close to where the waves lazily
lapped upon the wall of the esplanade—for the tide was up—and the night
a perfect one with a full white moon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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