Naturally a perceptive and closely reasoning woman, Mrs. Warren’s close intellectual intimacy with her husband had, in giving her the benefit of intercourse with a wide experience, added greatly to her power of reasoning by deduction.  Warren frequently felt that his talk with her was something like consultation with a specially clever and sympathetic professional confrere.  Her suggestions or conclusions were invariably worth consideration.  More than once his reflection upon them had led him to excellent results.  She made one night a suggestion with regard to the Extraordinary Case which struck him as being more than usually astute.

“Is she an intellectual woman?” she inquired.

“Not in the least.  An unsparingly brilliant person might feel himself entitled to the right to call her stupid.”

“Is she talkative?”

“Far from it.  One of her charms is the nice respect she seems to feel for the remarks of others.”

“And she is not excitable?”

“Rather the reverse.  If excitability is liveliness, she is dull.”

“I see,” slowly, “you have not yet thought it possible that she might—­well—­be under some delusion.”

Warren turned quickly and looked at her.

“It is wonderfully brilliant of you to have thought of it.  A delusion?” He stood and thought it over.

“Do you remember,” his wife assisted him with, “the complications which arose from young Mrs. Jerrold’s running away, under similar circumstances, to Scotland and hiding herself in a shepherd’s cottage under the impression that her husband was shadowing her with detectives?  You recollect what a lovable woman she was, and what horror she felt of the poor fellow.”

“Yes, yes.  That was an Extraordinary Case too.”

Mrs. Warren warmed with her subject.

“Here is a woman obviously concealing herself from the world in a lodging-house, plainly possessing money, owning a huge ruby ring, receiving documents stamped with imposing seals, taking exercise only by night, heart-wrung over the non-arrival of letters which are due.  Every detail points to one painful, dubious situation.  On the other hand, she presents to you the manner and aspect of a woman who is absolutely not dubious, and who is merely anxious on the one point a dubious person would be indifferent to.  Isn’t it, then, possible that over-wrought physical condition may have driven her to the belief that she is hiding from danger.”

Dr. Warren was evidently following the thought seriously.

“She said,” reflecting, “that all that mattered was that she should be safe.  ‘I want to keep safe.’  That was it.  You are very enlightening, Mary, always.  I will go and see her again to-morrow.  But,” as the result of another memory, “how sane she seems!”

* * * * *