"Oh yes. I once, long ago, had a friend who lived there. I know it quite well." "I have only a small flat, otherwise I would offer you hospitality." "Oh—no," said the widow. "I can easily stay at the Carlton, the Ritz, or somewhere." "Then think it over," said the pleasant woman from London. "Yes, I will," replied the other. "We have many things in common, I believe, and I am sure that we shall be good friends." "I’m delighted to hear that your thoughts coincide with my own. I make very few new acquaintances; I have so many old friends." "And I make none. Not that I’m at all exclusive, I hope. But the majority of women I meet I find too shallow and frivolous, and they don’t attract me." "Then I consider myself highly honoured!" laughed Ena, as the pair rose to walk back to the Crianlarich Hotel to tea. And while Mrs. Morrison of Carsphairn, ignorant of what was in progress, believed that she really had found a delightful friend—a woman after her own heart—the Red Widow smiled within herself, highly gratified at her success. *CHAPTER IX* *A GENTLEMAN NAMED GREIG* The days passed pleasantly enough at Ardlui. Mrs. Morrison and her newly-found friend usually went walking or driving together over the heather-clad mountains, or along the loch-side, so remotely picturesque and silent. One day she received an offer—through a firm of estate-agents in Edinburgh—from a well-known cotton-spinner in Oldham to rent Carsphairn furnished for a year. It was a most tempting offer, and Mrs. Morrison showed the letter to her friend. "If I were you, I would accept it," Mrs. Pollen urged. "It would do you good to travel, to see London life a little, and go over to Paris and to Nice in winter. I could not vegetate always on a Scottish estate, much as I love the country." "I confess I feel half inclined to accept. Lately I have felt very lonely and dull at Carsphairn, and now with winter in front of us I should, I agree, be far more happy with a little amusement." "Of course," said Ena, as they were walking together near the hotel. "You are going to Edinburgh next week, so I would write to the agents and say that you will call upon them." "Very well, I will," said Mrs. Morrison. "You are coming to Edinburgh, too, aren’t you?" "Just for a couple of days before I return to London." "Then we will travel together, and stay at the Caledonian," said Augusta Morrison. And so it was agreed. That Ena had successfully ingratiated herself with Mrs. Morrison was proved by a letter she wrote that day to her niece at Brighton, in which she said: