"You ask me for the cause. That, my dear sir, I cannot say," was his answer. "There are several causes which would produce a similar effect. Probably it was some great shock. But of what nature we cannot possibly discover unless she herself recovers her normal memory so far as to be able to assist us. I see that I have noted how she constantly repeats the words 'red, green and gold.' That combination of colours has apparently impressed itself upon her mind to such an extent that it has become an obsession. Often she will utter no other words than those. She was seen by a number of eminent men, but nobody could suggest any cause other than shock." "Is it possible that some drug could have been administered to her?" "Everything is possible," Sir Charles answered. "But I know of no drug which would produce such effect. In brief, I confess that I have no idea what can have caused the sudden mental breakdown." I felt impelled to relate to him the whole story of my own adventures, but I hesitated. As a matter of fact I feared that he might regard it, as he most probably would have done, as a mere chimera of my own imagination. A girl I had seen dead--or believed I had seen dead--was now living! And she was Gabrielle Tennison. Of that I had no doubt, for the dates of our adventures corresponded. And yet a girl also named Gabrielle had died and her body had been cremated! The whole affair seemed to be beyond human credence. And yet you, my reader, have in this record the exact, hard and undeniable facts. CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH SOME INTERESTING REVELATIONS Next day I went to the office of Francis and Goldsmith, and after a consultation with both principals, during which I briefly outlined the curious circumstances such as I have here related, I was granted further leave of absence. Yet I entertained a distinct feeling that old Mr. Francis somewhat doubted the truth of my statements. But was it surprising, so extraordinary had been my adventures? "Perhaps you do not credit my statements, gentlemen," I said before leaving their room. "But one day I hope to solve the enigma, and you will then learn one of the most extraordinary stories that any man has lived to tell." Afterwards I went round to the Carlton and inquired for Monsieur Suzor. To my surprise he was in. Therefore I was ushered up to his private sitting-room, where he greeted me very warmly--so frankly welcome did he make me, indeed, that I wondered whether, after all, he had detected me following him, or whether he had entered and escaped from that house in the Euston Road with some entirely different motive. "Ah, my dear friend!" he cried in his excellent English. "I wondered what had become of you. I called at Rivermead Mansions three days ago, but I could get no reply when I rang at your flat. The porter said that both you and your friend were out, and he had no idea when you would return. I go back to Paris to-morrow." "Shall you fly across this time?" I asked.