“My friend,” said Chassaigne, seriously, “in that young woman was neither shame nor pretence. I observed her closely. She genuinely did not recognize any acquaintance in you. She genuinely did not even know French. She was genuinely resentful of your familiarity. That was no play-acting performance. She was taken by surprise. She had no time to prepare herself for it.” The young man beat his brow. “Oh, I am going mad!” he cried. “It was she, I swear it!--and yet--she did not know me! It baffles me.” He stopped for a moment, then looked up with a new idea. “Chassaigne! You are an authority on these things. It is possible--by hypnotism or anything of the sort--to change a personality completely--so that they forget everything--start afresh?” Chassaigne met his glance, hesitated. “It is--perhaps--possible,” he said, slowly. He went up to his friend, put his hand on his shoulder, drew him to a chair. “Sit down, my dear fellow. Let us be calm and think this out. If you are right--if this young woman is indeed your--your friend--your suggestion might _perhaps_ be the key to the enigma. But we shall achieve nothing by getting excited.” Vincent allowed himself to be gently forced into the chair. He looked white and ill, thoroughly shaken. His friend, contemplating him, was impressed by his appearance. Could such a shock be produced by a merely imagined resemblance? He felt that it could not--and then those three moles! His mind reverted to the young woman, to her indubitably genuine non-recognition, and he felt more than ever puzzled. With a quiet deliberation he drew up a chair and seated himself close to his comrade. “Now let us analyze this problem,” he said. He spoke in a calm, consulting-room voice which eliminated in advance all emotion from the discussion. Vincent looked up, his eyes miserable. “Have you ever known of such a case?” “Of a personality _permanently_ changed? No.” “Is it hypothetically possible?” “Hypothetically--yes.” “By hypnotism?” “By hypnotism and suggestion.” “But a woman cannot be hypnotized against her will, can she?” “No--technically not--but her will may be stunned, so to speak, into abeyance by a sudden shock or by terror and then, virtually, she might be hypnotized against her will. It is possible.” The young man took a deep breath. “That acquits her moral responsibility. But you say it is hypothetically possible to change a personality _permanently_? It sounds fantastic to me. Would you please explain?” Chassaigne leaned back in his chair and lightly joined the finger-tips of his two hands. He spoke in the impersonal tone of a professor elucidating a thesis.