We were on a stretch of straight road , climbing up towards the Heights , and he risked taking his eyes from the road for a second to look fully at me .sx I couldn't read anything from his face .sx Apart from a certain gravity there was nothing in it but the impersonal scrutiny that belonged to his vocation .sx He let another car overtake him before he spoke .sx " Still speaking from a professional point of view , " he said , " I would strongly advise you to pay a visit to your doctor in the very near future .sx " I didn't answer him until we had reached the row of cottages that nestled in a hollow underneath the final ascent to the Heights .sx He drew the car to a stop on the green in front of the last one in the row and was in the act of getting out when I said quietly , " You're a doctor .sx " He reached over into the back and lifted out his bag .sx " But not yours , Mrs. Landry .sx I attend only to the lower members of your household .sx " He said it quite without rancour , and I was positive none was intended .sx " But you could be mine , " I insisted .sx He inclined his head .sx " I could , yes .sx But I would advise you to see your own man , one who knows and understands you .sx " He shut the door and leaned down through the window to ask , " Are you coming in , Mrs. Landry ?sx " " No .sx " I shook my head .sx " No- I'd rather not .sx " " As you wish .sx I may be a little while in here .sx You've time to climb up to the Heights if you feel like it .sx The view is well worth the scramble if you haven't seen it before .sx " I waited until he had disappeared into the cottage before I got out and started up the path that wound its way up behind the row of houses .sx I had been there before and I wasn't particularly interested in the view .sx It was the old restlessness that drove me on once I found myself alone , away from the calming influence of his presence .sx I was panting by the time I got to the top and sank on to a small outcrop of rock .sx I got my cigarette case out with a certain amount of defiance and watched the blue smoke drift lazily away on the still air .sx The view was a magnificent one even in the distant haze of the November morning .sx The sun caught and sparkled on the river as it wound its leisurely way far below .sx Bare of leaves , the wooded hillside had a stark beauty , and the fields still held practically the fresh greenness of midsummer .sx I was sitting there , lost to time , when I heard the foot-steps behind me and turned to see Dr. Broderick clambering over the uneven ground .sx I jumped up in quick remorse .sx " Oh , I'm sorry- I've kept you waiting , " I said hurriedly , but he waved me back on to my rock .sx " There's no hurry , " he said .sx " I guessed you'd be up here .sx I often come up myself when I'm out this way .sx " He sank on to the rock next to me .sx I noticed that he was not in the least exerted by the rather stiff climb .sx His breath came evenly .sx And , strangely , I felt a return of that calmness .sx I sat there quietly with him , waiting .sx I had the feeling that he was waiting , too- serenely patient .sx But it was a long time before I spoke .sx He hadn't invited my confidence- rather he seemed to have gone out of his way , a little earlier , to reject it .sx He might not like me but I felt that he would listen , and that he would have an understanding I could never expect from Charles .sx And so I said at last , " I think I'm losing my reason , Dr. Broderick .sx " He gave me no more than a casual glance .sx " And what makes you think that ?sx " he asked calmly .sx " As a rule , a person who is becoming mentally unhinged is the very last to suspect anything is wrong .sx " " But I can't remember who I am , " I said , wretchedly .sx " I know that I must be Lisa Landry , and that Charles is my husband and Joanna my daughter- but I don't know them .sx I don't know anyone with whom I come in contact- the servants , our neighbours- I didn't know you the other day- " " Just a minute , Mrs. Landry , " he broke in gently .sx " Loss of memory is a very common occurrence .sx There are many factors that can contribute to its cause .sx You mustn't worry that you're losing your reason because you're suffering from a temporary amnesia- " " But it's more than that .sx Don't you see ?sx I have a memory- but it isn't the right one .sx " " What do you mean by that ?sx " I asked him then the question I had wanted to ask the vicar , that man of God .sx The question I had been too afraid to ask myself in the darkness of the unsleeping night .sx I asked it unflinchingly , out of the stillness which had descended suddenly upon us .sx " Do you believe , Dr. Broderick , that the soul of a girl who has been dead nearly sixteen years could inhabit and take possession of a complete stranger ?sx " 7 .sx THERE was a bird singing in a tree near at hand .sx I couldn't see it but the high , sweet notes of its song held a plaintive , appealing sadness .sx The faint whirring of some distant machinery reached us clearly , a dull monotonous sound .sx When Dr. Broderick moved his foot suddenly I jumped nervously .sx He had sat quietly , not looking at me , his face quite inscrutable so that I had no means of knowing what he was thinking .sx When he spoke at last he sounded oddly helpless in his hesitation .sx " My dear girl- I don't profess to know anything about the spiritual body- only the physical one .sx A clergyman would be better equipped than I am to answer such a question .sx But tell me why you ask it ?sx " I took a deep breath and faced him fully .sx " Because that's what I think has happened to me .sx If it hasn't- then I know I am mad .sx " I gave a little mirthless laugh .sx " Take your choice , Dr. Broderick , which would you rather be if you were me- possessed or insane ?sx " " What makes you think you are either ?sx " " There's nothing else I can think- when the only life I know is that of a girl who has been dead more than fifteen years .sx " I took the cigarette he offered , drawing at it raggedly .sx I gave him a quick , nervous glance but he wasn't looking at me .sx He was gazing out across the wooded stretch beneath us .sx I knew that he was waiting for me to go on but wouldn't hurry me , that his calmness didn't mean that he was disinterested .sx I started to tell him about Dorcas Mallory .sx I began with abrupt , sometimes not quite coherent sentences , but presently beneath the soothing influence of his quiet attention I went on more fluently .sx I told him about her adoption when she was a child- no more than three years old- so that there was no memory of a previous life before that with the Mallorys .sx There was only a vague recollection , too , of the new mother who had died not much more than a year later .sx But the memory of the life with Adrian Mallory was clear .sx I told him of her childhood in the house , High Towers- a lonely childhood , perhaps , but a happy one , with dear old Henrietta and the kindly Mrs. Bakewell .sx I told him of small , uninteresting incidents that only Dorcas Mallory could have known ; those trivial , everyday occurrences that mean nothing to anyone other than the person they happened to .sx I evoked memories of old Henrietta who probably hadn't been as old as she seemed at that time to the young Dorcas- of her warm motherliness and her fragrance of lavender ; of Adrian Mallory , his shyness and his gentle kindness , and as I talked about him I think I realized for the first time that I would never see him again- that perhaps I had never known him , for how could I have done so ?sx I know that I talked of him with a sadness that went deep inside me .sx I recalled Dorcas Mallory's schooldays- rather lonely schooldays with not many close friends because the reserve that was in Adrian Mallory was in Dorcas , too .sx But she had not particularly felt the loneliness and the holidays had been happy ones- spent mostly at home , at first because of her father's reluctance to travel and then because the war made travelling impracticable .sx When I told him about Russ I found it difficult to speak impersonally .sx There was so much that I couldn't put into words , not even to someone as understanding as Dr. Broderick .sx How could I possibly describe to anyone the love between Russell Winslow and Dorcas Mallory ?sx My voice broke when I finally told him of the wedding that never took place , of the journey to London of Dorcas and Adrian Mallory , of the happiness of that girl on the eve of her marriage .sx I sat silent at last , my head bent , watching the slight breeze lazily stirring a curled brown leaf at my feet .sx It rustled faintly as it moved , and then a sharper breath of wind caught it and hurried it away .sx Dr. Broderick said gently , " What then ?sx " I looked up , somehow startled that he had been unable to follow the wistful trend of my mind .sx " What then ?sx " I repeated , and then , keeping my voice as steady and expressionless as I could , " Dorcas and her father were killed in an air raid .sx There was no wedding .sx They both died that night .sx " " This girl you have been telling me about- she is the one .sx .? " He paused uncertainly .sx I think his logical mind found it difficult to put my fantastic supposition into words .sx I waited to see if he would continue .sx When he didn't , I said , " I woke up on the day of Joanna's wedding thinking that it was my wedding day .sx I didn't know where I was , or why , but the events I have been telling you about- that evening in London- were so clear to me that I thought it was still April , 1944 .sx I took up Dorcas Mallory's life exactly at the point where she died .sx " He stirred slightly as though he would have interrupted but I went on , " I can't tell you a single thing about Lisa Landry's life prior to that morning in August , but I can tell you all about Dorcas Mallory .sx I can tell you of these things that no one- not even Charles- could have told me .sx I am Lisa Landry- but my mind is Dorcas Mallory .sx " He said , " Charles- your husband ?sx " " Yes .sx " " Why do you say- that even Charles could not have told you ?sx How could he know anything at all- " " Charles and Adrian Mallory were stepbrothers , " I said .sx " I- Dorcas never saw him until a few weeks before- before she died .sx He spent most of his time in Canada .sx " " Did you know this girl ?sx " " No .sx " " But you probably heard your husband talk about her ?sx " " He never really knew her .sx " I said it defensively , but against what I wasn't quite sure .sx " I told you- Dorcas never met him until a few weeks before she was killed .sx And then she barely knew him- they only met a very few times .sx Charles couldn't possibly know all the things I have told you about her .sx " " He could know a good deal of it , " he said gently .sx " And some of the things .sx . Are you quite sure that you know these things , or could you have imagined them ?sx " " No !sx " I said it with a sense of outrage .sx " No one could possibly imagine everything I know about Dorcas Mallory- every detail of her life- every incident , day by day .sx And Russ .sx . " " The man Dorcas was to marry ?sx " " Yes- I knew him immediately I saw him .sx How could I have recognized a man I have never met ?sx "