The Haunted Hotel / Отель с привидениями

She was unquestionably a handsome person. She produced in the Doctor an overpowering feeling of professional curiosity. The case might be something entirely new in his professional experience.

She perceived that she had produced a strong impression upon him, and dropped her hold on his arm.

�You have comforted many miserable women � she said. �Comfort one more, today.’

And she led the way back into the room.

The Doctor followed her, and closed the door. He placed her in the patients’ chair, opposite the windows.

Even in London the sun, on that summer afternoon, was dazzlingly bright. The radiant light flowed in on her. Her eyes met it unflinchingly. The smooth pallor of her unwrinkled skin looked more fearfully white than ever.

She had, strangely enough, nothing to say to him. A curious apathy took possession of this woman. The Doctor merely inquired what he could do for her.

She said abruptly: �I have a painful question to ask.’

�What is it?’

Her eyes travelled slowly from the window to the Doctor’s face.

�I want to know, if you please, am I going mad?’

Doctor Wybrow was disappointed. Was the new patient only a hypochondriacal woman, whose malady was a disordered stomach and whose misfortune was a weak brain?

�Why do you come to me?’ he asked sharply. �Why don’t you consult a psychiatrist?’

�I don’t go to a psychiatrist,’ she said, �I come to you, because my case is outside of all lines and rules, and because you are famous in your profession for the discovery of mysteries in disease.

Are you satisfied?’

He was more than satisfied. She was correctly informed as to his professional position.

�I am at your disposal,’ he answered. �Let me try if I can find out what is the matter with you.’

He put his medical questions. She answered promptly and plainly. The strange lady was, mentally and physically, in excellent health. Not satisfied with questions, he carefully examined the great organs of life.

Neither his hand nor his stethoscope could discover anything wrong.

�I can find nothing the matter with you,’ he said. �I can’t even explain the extraordinary pallor of your complexion. You completely puzzle me.’

�The pallor of my complexion is nothing,’ she answered a little impatiently. �In my youth I escaped from death by poisoning. That’s why my skin is so delicate. But that is not important. I wanted your opinion.