Such an apparition would have been sufficiently alarming had the cowl been that of a monk, but the outline of this phantom being suggested that of one of the Misericordia brethren or the costume worn of old by the familiars of the Inquisition!
His heart leapt wildly, and seemed to grow still. He sought to cry out in his terror, but only emitted a dry gasping sound.
The psychology of panic is obscure and has been but imperfectly explored. The presence of the terrible cowled figure afforded a confirmation of Stuart's theory that he was the victim of a species of waking nightmare.
Even as he looked, the shadow of the cowled man moved—and was gone.
Stuart ran across the room, jerked open the curtains and stared out across the moon-bathed lawn, its prospect terminated by high privet hedges. One of the French windows was wide open. There was no one on the lawn; there was no sound.
'Mrs. M'Gregor swears that I always forget to shut these windows at night!' he muttered.
He closed and bolted the window, stood for a moment looking out across the empty lawn, then turned and went out of the room.
Chapter 2 The Pilbroch of the M'Gregors
Dr. Stuart awoke in the morning and tried to recall what had occurred during the night. He consulted his watch and found the hour to be six a. m. No one was stirring in the house, and he rose and put on a bath robe. He felt perfectly well and could detect no symptoms of nervous disorder. Bright sunlight was streaming into the room, and he went out on to the landing, fastening the cord of his gown as he descended the stairs.
His study door was locked, with the key outside. He remembered having locked it. Opening it, he entered and looked about him. He was vaguely disappointed. Save for the untidy litter of papers upon the table, the study was as he had left it on retiring. If he could believe the evidence of his senses, nothing had been disturbed.
Not content with a casual inspection, he particularly examined those papers which, in his dream adventure, he had believed to have been submitted to mysterious inspection. They showed no signs of having been touched. The casement curtains were drawn across the recess formed by the French windows, and sunlight streamed in where, silhouetted against the pallid illumination of the moon, he had seen the man in the cowl. Drawing back the curtains, he examined the window fastenings. They were secure. If the window had really been open in the night, he must have left it so himself.
'Well,' muttered Stuart—'of all the amazing nightmares!'
He determined, immediately he had bathed and completed his toilet, to write an account of the dream for the Psychical Research Society, in whose work he was interested. Half an hour later, as the movements of an awakened household began to proclaim themselves, he sat down at his writing-table and commenced to write.
Keppel Stuart was a dark, good-looking man of about thirty-two, an easy-going bachelor who, whilst not over ambitious, was nevertheless a brilliant physician. He had worked for the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and had spent several years in India studying snake poisons. His purchase of this humdrum suburban practice had been dictated by a desire to make a home for a girl who at the eleventh hour had declined to share it. Two years had elapsed since then, but the shadow still lay upon Stuart's life, its influence being revealed in a certain apathy, almost indifference, which characterised his professional conduct.
His account of the dream completed, he put the paper into a pigeon-hole and forgot all about the matter. That day seemed to be more than usually dull and the hours to drag wearily on. He was conscious of a sort of suspense. He was waiting for something, or for someone. He did not choose to analyse this mental condition. Had he done so, the explanation was simple—and one that he dared not face.
At about ten o'clock that night, having been called out to a case, he returned to his house, walking straight into the study as was his custom and casting a light Burberry with a soft hat upon the sofa beside his stick and bag. The lamps were lighted, and the book-lined room, indicative of a studious and not over-wealthy bachelor, looked cheerful enough with the firelight dancing on the furniture.
Mrs. M'Gregor, a grey-haired Scotch lady, attired with scrupulous neatness, was tending the fire at the moment, and hearing Stuart come in she turned and glanced at him.
'A fire is rather superfluous to-night, Mrs. M'Gregor,' he said. 'I found it unpleasantly warm walking.'
'May is a fearsome treacherous month, Mr. Keppel,' replied the old housekeeper, who from long association with the struggling practitioner had come to regard him as a son. 'An' a wheen o' dry logs is worth a barrel o' pheesic. To which I would add that if ye're hintin' it's time ye shed ye're woolsies for ye're summer wear, all I have to reply is that I hope sincerely ye're patients are more prudent than yoursel'.'
She placed his slippers in the fender and took up the hat, stick and coat from the sofa. Stuart laughed.
'Most of the neighbors exhibit their wisdom by refraining from becoming patients of mine, Mrs. M'Gregor.'
'That's no weesdom; it's just preejudice.' 'Prejudice!' cried Stuart, dropping down upon the sofa.
'Aye,' replied Mrs. M'Gregor firmly—'preejudice! They're no' that daft but they're well aware o' who's the cleverest physeecian in the deestrict, an' they come to nane other than Dr. Keppel Stuart when they're sair sick and think they're dying; but ye'll never establish the practice you desairve, Mr. Keppel—never—until—'
'Until when, Mrs. M'Gregor?'
'Until ye take heed of an auld wife's advice and find a new housekeeper.'
'Mrs. M'Gregor!' exclaimed Stuart with concern. 'You don't mean that you want to desert me? After—let me see—how many years is it, Mrs. M'Gregor?'
'Thirty years come last Shrove Tuesday; I dandled ye on my knee, and eh! but ye were bonny! God forbid, but I'd like to see ye thriving as ye desairve, and that ye'll never do whilst ye're a bachelor.'
'Oh!' cried Stuart, laughing again—'oh, that's it, is it? So you would like me to find some poor inoffensive girl to share my struggles?'
Mrs. M'Gregor nodded wisely. 'She'd have nane so many to share. I know ye think I'm old-fashioned, Mr. Keppel and it may be I am; but I do assure you I would be sair harassed, if stricken to my bed—which, please God, I won't be—to receive the veesits of a pairsonable young bachelor—'
'Er—Mrs. M'Gregor!' interrupted Stuart, coughing in mock rebuke—'quite so! I fancy we have discussed this point before, and as you say your ideas are a wee bit, just a wee bit, behind the times. On this particular point I mean. But I am very grateful to you, very sincerely grateful, for your disinterested kindness; and if ever I should follow your advice——'
Mrs. M'Gregor interrupted him, pointing to his boots. 'Ye're no' that daft as to sit in wet boots?'
'Really they are perfectly dry. Except for a light shower this evening, there has been no rain for several days. However, I may as well, since I shall not be going out again.'
He began to unlace his boots as Mrs. M'Gregor pulled the white casement curtains across the windows and then prepared to retire. Her hand upon the door knob, she turned again to Stuart.
'The foreign lady called half an hour since, Mr. Keppel.'
Stuart desisted from unlacing his boots and looked up with lively interest. 'Mlle. Dorian! Did she leave any message?'
'She obsairved that she might repeat her veesit later,' replied Mrs. M'Gregor, and, after a moment's hesitation; 'she awaited ye're return with exemplary patience.'
'Really, I am sorry I was detained,' declared Stuart, replacing his boot. 'How long has she been gone, then?'
'Just the now. No more than two or three minutes. I trust she is no worse.'
'Worse!'
'The lass seemed o'er anxious to see you.'
'Well, you know, Mrs. M'Gregor, she comes a considerable distance.'
'So I am given to understand, Mr. Keppel,' replied the old lady; 'and in a grand luxurious car.'
Stuart assumed an expression of perplexity to hide his embarrassment. 'Mrs. M'Gregor,' he said rather ruefully, 'you watch over me as tenderly as my own mother would have done. I have observed a certain restraint in your manner whenever you have had occasion to refer to Mlle. Dorian. In what way does she differ from my other
