"I am very glad," Christina exclaimed naively, with a fervour of which she was not aware, until she saw the twinkle of amusement in the brown eyes watching her. "Oh!--I--beg your pardon," she stammered. "I ought not----" "It is not my pardon you must beg," the doctor answered, laughing a spontaneous, and very boyish laugh, "and I will promise not to tell Doctor Stokes what you said," he added, his eyes still twinkling as he saw the girl's confusion. "But indeed--please--oh! do understand," she faltered; "I don't know Doctor Stokes. I am a stranger here, and I never saw him in my life, but----" "Then why were you so glad to find I was not he?" asked Fergusson, his amused look turning to one of puzzled enquiry. "It sounds so silly," Christina said with seeming irrelevance, "but--I didn't think the person who lived in--this kind of room--was the sort of doctor I wanted to find." Fergusson threw back his head and laughed. "Do you judge all humanity by the rooms in which it lives?" he asked. "Nobody but a commonplace person could live contentedly in a room like this," Christina answered vehemently, "or call his house Pinewood Lodge, or have a house just like this house." "I rather agree with you, but Doctor Stokes is a total stranger to me too; we may be libelling him entirely; and--meanwhile, what can I do for you? "I have come to ask you to go somewhere, on a matter of life and death," she answered, "but----" "Life and death?"--the doctor's smiling face grew grave--"then we must not delay. Where am I wanted?" He touched a bell by the fireplace. "I will order the car at once. Tell me all details as briefly as possible." His humorous accent had dropped; he spoke in terse, business-like tones, his brown eyes looked searchingly at her. "Bring the car round immediately," he said to a man who answered his bell. "Now, tell me everything quickly," he went on, turning back to Christina. "Before you go, I have to ask you to promise not to tell any living soul where you have been; and you must swear to tell nobody what you see and hear when you get to the house." Fergusson stared at her blankly. "Swear secrecy about where I go, and what I find there?" he said. "Yes--swear it," she answered, quailing a little before the sudden sternness of his eyes. "But why?--in heaven's name, why?" he questioned, his voice growing imperious. "What reason can you have for making such extraordinary conditions?" "Oh!--I have nothing to do with the conditions," Christina cried, "and please--_please_ don't look doubtful, and as if you didn't mean to do what I ask. I have only come here as a messenger. There was nobody else to send, and the poor, beautiful lady seemed nearly distracted with grief." "What poor, beautiful lady? You are talking in riddles. Try to tell me quietly where I have to go, and what is the name of the lady who needs me."