“There is nothing I would not do for you, Helen!” cried Inez, throwing her arms impulsively around her friend’s neck and kissing her passionately. “You are so strong you make me more ashamed than ever of my own weakness.”
“Thank you, dear,” Helen replied, simply, returning her embrace; “but don’t make any mistake about my strength. It is because I lack it so sadly that I ask you to stay.”
Dr. Montgomery found Armstrong’s temperature considerably higher when he called later in the day, after the disquieting mental experience his patient had passed through. Armstrong also appeared to be preoccupied, and more interested in asking questions than in answering them. For the first time he seemed to be curious in regard to the nature of his illness.
“In a case like mine, is it possible for the mental convalescence to be retarded or to go backward?” he asked.
“Yes,” Dr. Montgomery replied, “it is possible, but hardly probable, especially with a patient who has progressed so normally as you have.”
“It is normal for the memory to have a complete lapse, as in my case?”
“Absolutely so.”
“Is it possible for a knowledge of the events which occurred during such a lapse to be restored—say, weeks afterward?”
“Yes; under certain conditions.”
“And those conditions are?” asked Armstrong, eagerly.