l
be the very man to advise her.' You know that I hate all deception, even
where the end in view appears to justify it. On this occasion, however,
there was no other alternative than to let the lawyer take his own
course, or to run the risk of a delay which might be followed by serious
results.

"I waited in a room by myself (feeling very uneasy, I own) until the
doctor joined me, after the interview was over.

"His opinion is, briefly, this:

"After careful examination of the unfortunate creature, he thinks that
there are unmistakably symptoms of mental aberration. But how far the
mischief has gone, and whether her case is, or is not, sufficiently
grave to render actual restraint necessary, he cannot positively say, in
our present state of ignorance as to facts.

"'Thus far,' he observed, 'we know nothing of that part of her delusion
which relates to Mercy Merrick. The solution of the difficulty, in this
case, is to be found there. I entirely agree with the lady that the
inquiries of the consul at Mannheim are far from being conclusive.
Furnish me with satisfactory evidence either that there is, or is not,
such a person really in existence as Mercy Merrick, and I will give you
a positive opinion on the case whenever you choose to ask for it.'

"Those words have decided me on starting for the Continent and renewing
the search for Mercy Merrick.

"My friend the lawyer wonders jocosely whether _I_ am in my right
senses. His advice is that I should apply to the nearest magistrate, and
relieve you and myself of all further trouble in that way.

"Perhaps you agree with him? My dear aunt (as you have often said), I
do nothing like other people. I am interested in this case. I cannot
abandon a forlorn woman who has been confided to me to the tender
mercies of strangers, so long as there is any hope of my making
discoveries which may be instrumental in restoring her to
herself--perhaps, also, in restoring her to her friends.

"I start by the mail-train of to-night. My plan is to go first to
Mannheim and consult with the consul and the hospital doctors; then to
find my way to the German surgeon and to question _him_; and, that done,
to make the last and hardest effort of all--the effort to trace the
French ambulance and to penetrate the mystery of Mercy Merrick.

"Immediately on my return I will wait on you, and tell you what I have
accomplished, or how I have failed.

"In the meanwhile, pray be under no alarm about