of an encouraging nature. I myself was too much astonished at
learning that the insane lady was actually an inmate of the house, and I
was too much interested at the prospect of seeing her so soon, to think
much of John and his anxiety; but on looking back I remember that his
mournful manner produced a certain impression upon me at the moment.

The story was strange enough. I began to comprehend what Hermione had
meant when she spoke of Paul's cold nature. An hour before dinner the
man had seen his mother for the first time in eighteen months,--it might
be more, for all I knew,--for the first time since she had been out of
her mind. I had learned from John that she had recognized him, indeed,
but had coldly repulsed him when he came before her. If Paul Patoff had
been a warm-hearted man, he could not have been at that very moment
making conversation for his cousins in the drawing-room, laughing and
chatting, his eyeglass in his eye, his bony fingers toying with the
flower Chrysophrasia had given him. It struck me that neither Mrs.
Carvel nor her sister could have known of the interview, or they would
have manifested some feeling, or at least would not have behaved just as
they always did. I asked John if they knew.

"No," he answered. "He told my daughter because he broke off his
conversation with her to go and see his mother, but Hermy never tells
anything except to me."

"When would you like me to go?" I asked.

"Now, if you will. I will call Cutter. He thinks that, as she last saw
you with him, your coming together now will be more likely to recall
some memory of the accident. Besides, it is better to go this evening,
before she has slept, as the return of memory this afternoon may have
been very transitory, and anything which might stimulate it again should
be tried before the mood changes. Will you go now?"

"Certainly," I replied, and John Carvel left the room to call the
professor.

While I was waiting alone in the study, I happened to take up a pamphlet
that lay upon the table. It was something about the relations of England
with Russia. An idea crossed my mind.

"I wonder," I said to myself, "whether they have ever tried speaking to
her in Russian. Cutter does not know a word of the language; I suppose
nobody else here does, either, except Paul, and she seems to have spoken
to him in English."

The door opened, and John entered with the professor. I laid down the
pamphlet, and prepared to accompany the