She did not answer.
"I don't say that any such thing will be necessary," I added, "but I don't want you to be surprised at anything. I don't want, in any way, to be underhanded with you. It seems that you must, in any case, leave it wholly to me. That is, of course, provided there is no one else you can call on."
"Oh, there's nobody else! Miss Joy has no near relatives, and any one we might send for would perhaps be only too glad to have her shipped off to an asylum so that they could get hold of her property. That's what has always complicated it. That's why she lives here alone. It might be, too, why we should watch the doctor himself." She stretched out her hands appealingly to me. "Oh, Mr. Castle, you must have heard of such cases—I'm told they're common. Can't we drive her away for ever?"
"The doctor probably knows a good deal more about that than I," I replied. "I think that's probably why he's so much interested. But, if you don't trust him, the very fact that he does know so much about the subject makes him the more dangerous. I must have a talk with him. Do you know when he'll come again?"
"He may be here at any time. There's no telling. I don't think Miss Joy knows, but I have an idea that he may have arranged it with Edna. You can find that out for yourself to-morrow, can't you?"
"I think that I may be able to find out a good deal, if you'll only close your eyes."
Again that quick, indrawn breath, as if she were struck with a sudden pain, and she rose and stood before me.
"Oh, Mr. Castle, I can't help trusting you! I must trust you!"
"Will it help you," I said, looking her straight in the eyes, "if I tell you that I like Joy immensely—that, in fact, I'm very, very fond of her?"
She took both of my hands in hers, kneeling before me. "Oh, Mr. Castle!" she cried, "if you only do! If I could believe that, it would be such a comfort to me! I've wanted to believe it ever since you first came down. She's so alone—she has no one in the world but me! She needs you so much! Oh, you could do so much for her!"