assumption that such women's bodies may contain souls--in process of
development, of course--that formerly were merely cat souls, but that
are now gaining humanity gradually, are working their way upwards in
the scale. After all, we are not so much above the animals, and in our
lapses we often become merely animals. The soul retrogrades for the
moment."

He paused again and looked at me. I was biting my lips, and my glass of
wine was untouched. He took my agitation as a compliment, I suppose, for
he smiled and said:

"Are you in process of conversion?"

I half shook my head. Then I said, with an effort: "It is a curious and
interesting idea, of course. But there is much to explain. Now, I should
like to ask you this: Do you--do you believe that a soul, if it passes
on as you think, carries its memory with it, its memory of former loves
and--and hates? Say that a cat's soul goes to a woman's body, and
that the cat has been--has been--well, tortured--possibly killed, by
someone--say some man, long ago, would the woman, meeting that man,
remember and shrink from him?"

"That is a very interesting and curious problem, and one which I do not
pretend to have solved. I can, therefore, only suggest what might be,
what seems to me reasonable.

"I do not believe that the woman would remember positively, but I think
she might have an intuition about the man. Our intuitions are, perhaps,
sometimes only the fragmentary recollections of our souls, of what
formerly happened to them when in other bodies. Why, otherwise, should
we sometimes conceive an ardent dislike of some stranger--charming to
all appearance--of whom we know no evil, whom we have never heard of nor
met before? Intuitions, so called, are often only tattered memories.
And these intuitions might, I should fancy, be strengthened, given
body, robustness, by associations--of place, for example. Cats become
intensely attached to localities, to certain spots, a particular house
or garden, a particular fireside, apart from the people who may be
there. Possibly, if the man and the woman of whom you speak could
be brought together in the very place where the torture arid death
occurred, the dislike of the woman might deepen into positive hatred.
It would, however, be always unreasoning hatred, I think, and even quite
unaccountable to herself. Still----"

But here Lord Melchester rose from the table. The conversations broke
into fragments. I felt that I was pale to the li