"That," Dr. Wilmot remarked, "is rather a bad feature of the case. It is a difficulty which I should imagine you could get over, though. You could easily frame some excuse to get him away from his study for a short time and leave me there. Of course the affair is in your hands altogether, and I am presuming that you are anxious to have an opinion as to your father's state of health. I am not in the habit of seeking patients," he added, a little stiffly. "I was interested in my friend Whitlett's description of the case, and anxious to apply my theories to it, as it happens to differ in some respects from anything I have met with lately. Further, I may add," he continued, glancing at the clock, "if anything is to be done it must be done quickly. I have no time to spare." "You had better," Wolfenden suggested, "stay here for the night in any case. We will send you to the station, or into Cromer, as early as you like in the morning." "Absolutely impossible," Dr. Wilmot replied briefly. "I am staying with friends in Cromer, and I have a consultation in town early to-morrow morning. You must really make up your minds at once whether you wish for my opinion or not." "I do not think," Lady Deringham said, "that we need hesitate for a moment about that!" Wolfenden looked at him doubtfully. There seemed to be no possibility of anything but advantage in accepting this offer, and yet in a sense he was sorry that it had been made. "In case you should attach any special importance to your father's manuscripts," Dr. Wilmot remarked, with a note of sarcasm in his tone, "I might add that it is not at all necessary for me to be alone in the study." Wolfenden felt a little uncomfortable under the older man's keen gaze. Neither did he altogether like having his thoughts read so accurately. "I suppose," he said, turning to his mother, "you could manage to get him away from the library for a short time?" "I could at least try," she answered. "Shall I?" "I think," he said, "that as Dr. Wilmot has been good enough to go out of his way to call here, we must make an effort." Lady Deringham left the room. Dr. Wilmot, whose expression of absolute impassiveness had not altered in the least during their discussion, turned towards Wolfenden. "Have you yourself," he said, "never seen any of your father's manuscripts? Has he never explained the scheme of his work to you?" Wolfenden shook his head. "I know the central idea," he answered--"the weakness of our navy and coast defences, and that is about all I know. My father, even when he was an admiral on active service, took an absolutely pessimistic view of both. You may perhaps remember this. The Lords of the Admiralty used to consider him, I believe, the one great thorn in their sides." Dr. Wilmot shook his head. "I have never taken any interest in such matters," he said. "My profession has been completely absorbing during the last ten years." Wolfenden nodded.