"Ah, then I HAVE seen you before!" exclaimed Dr. Pendegrast, transfixed in the act of drawing a cigar from his case. "Your name and your face puzzled me, but I could not place you, so I didn't mention it. You must pardon an old man's bad memory. I am confused. When and where have I had the pleasure of seeing you?" "It was scarcely a pleasure," said Lynde, with bitterness. "Indeed! I cannot imagine that; it is a pleasure now," returned the doctor courteously. "It was three years ago, at your asylum. As you will recollect, I was brought there by mistake the day the patients"-- "Bless me!" exclaimed the doctor, dropping the ignited match. "How could I forget you! I took such a great liking to you, too. I have thought of that awkward affair a thousand times. But, really, coming across you in this unexpected manner"-- "I suppose I have changed somewhat," Lynde broke in. "Dr. Pendegrast, I am in a very strange position here. It is imperative you should be perfectly frank with me. You will have to overlook my abruptness. Mr. Denham may return any instant, and what I have to say cannot be said in his presence. I know that Miss Denham has been under your charge as a patient. I want to know more than that bare circumstance." The doctor recoiled a step. "Of course," he said, recovering himself, "you must have recognized her." "I met your friends six or seven weeks ago at Geneva," continued Lynde. "I recognized Miss Denham at once; but later I came to doubt and finally to disbelieve that I had ever seen her elsewhere. I refused to accept the testimony of my eyes and ears because--because so much of my happiness depended on my rejecting it." "Does Mrs. Denham know that you are in possession of the fact you mention? Denham of course doesn't." "No; it is my meeting with you that he turned my discarded doubt into a certainty." "Then, I beg of you," said Dr. Pendegrast throwing a glance across the quadrangle, "not to breathe a syllable of this; do not even think of it. It has been kept from every one--from even the most intimate friends of the family; Ruth herself is not aware of her temporary derangement." "Miss Denham does not know it?" "She has not the remotest suspicion of the misfortune which befell her three years ago." "Miss Denham does not know it?" repeated Lynde in a dazed way. "That--that seems impossible! Pardon me. How did it happen, Dr. Pendegrast?" "I assume that you are not asking me through idle curiosity," said the doctor, looking at him attentively. "I have vital reasons for my question, Doctor."