capricious beauty, but
Mrs. Wells kept to her seriousness.

"I didn't mean that I was really angry with Captain Herrick. I was angry
at myself for the thrill of joy I felt when he kissed me and I was
frightened by the wave of emotion that swept over me. I have been
frightened all these days--even now!" She covered her eyes with her hand
as if shrinking from some painful memory.

"Please don't agitate yourself. You must not get hysterical about this.
You must have confidence in me and in your own powers of recuperation.
And you must be sure to give me all the facts. Did I understand you to
say that something else has happened--since you wrote me?"

"Yes, something quite unbelievable--it happened last night."

"Tell me about it--quietly, just as if you were discussing somebody
else."

Penelope smiled wistfully. "How kind and wise you are! I will try to be
calm, but--it is hard for me. I had a dream last night, doctor, and this
dream is true. I have evidence that it is true. I did something last
night without knowing it, and then I dreamed about it."

"You did something without knowing it?"

"Yes, I put on a red dress and a black hat that I have not worn for four
years, not since my husband died. For four years I have only worn black
or white."

"Do I understand you to say that you put on these things without knowing
that you put them on?"

"Yes."

"How do you know you did?"

"My maid told me so. You see my dream was so extraordinarily vivid--I'll
give you the details in a minute--that, as soon as I awakened, I rang
for Jeanne and questioned her. 'Jeanne,' I said, 'you know the red dress
that I have not worn since my husband died?' She looked at me in a queer
way and said: 'Madame is laughing at me. Madame knows quite well that
she wore the red dress last night.' Then she recalled everything in
detail, how I sent her to a particular shelf where this dress was folded
away and got her to freshen up a ribbon and press the skirt where it was
wrinkled. Jeanne is also positive that I put on my black hat. Then, she
says, I went out; I left the house at five minutes to nine and came back
about eleven. There is no doubt about it."

"And you remember nothing of all this?"

"Nothing. So--so you see," she faltered, then she leaned impulsively
toward the doctor. "As an expert will you please tell me if it is
possible for a woman to act like that unless her mind is affected?"

Dr. Owen tried to take this lightly. "I'm