"Can't say just at present. Might be the one—might be the other. Much better wait till the attack passes off. You'll be able to find out better then."
"You don't think he's permanently—insane, then?" demanded Robert, with brusque anxiety.
"No—I don't. I think it's what you'd call a nerve-storm. That is your opinion, too, I believe?" he added, turning to Penberthy.
"Yes; that is my opinion."
"And what do you think about this delusion, Dr. Penberthy?" went on Parker. "Did he do this insane act?"
"He certainly thinks he did it," said Penberthy; "I couldn't possibly say for certain whether he has any foundation for the belief. From time to time he undoubtedly gets these fits of thinking that the devil has taken hold of him, and of course it's hard to say what a man might or might not do under the influence of such a delusion."
He avoided Robert's distressed eyes, and addressed himself exclusively to Parker.
"It seems to me," said Wimsey, "if you'll excuse me pushin' my opinion forward and all that—it seems to me that's a question of fact that can be settled without reference to Fentiman and his delusions. There's only the one occasion on which the pill could have been administered—would it have produced the effect that was produced at that particular time, or wouldn't it? If it couldn't take effect at 8 o'clock, then it couldn't, and there's an end of it."
He kept his eyes fixed on Penberthy, and saw him pass his tongue over his dry lips before speaking.
"I can't answer that off-hand," he said.