"In great haste and begging you to excuse this scrawl,
"I am, dear Lady Deringham, "Yours sincerely, "JOHN WHITLETT.
"P.S.--You will please not offer him any fee."
Wolfenden folded up the letter and returned it.
"Well, I suppose it's all right," he said. "It's an odd time, though, to call on an errand of this sort."
"So I thought," Lady Deringham agreed; "but Dr. Whitlett's explanation seems perfectly feasible, does it not? I said that I would consult you. You will come in and see him?"
Wolfenden followed his mother into the drawing-room. A tall, dark man was sitting in a corner, under a palm tree. In one hand he held a magazine, the pictures of which he seemed to be studying with the aid of an eyeglass, the other was raised to his mouth. He was in the act of indulging in a yawn when Wolfenden and his mother entered the room.
"This is my son, Lord Wolfenden," she said. "Dr. Franklin Wilmot."
"Lady Deringham has explained to you the reason of my untimely visit, I presume?" the latter remarked at once.
"Yes! I am afraid that it will be a little difficult to get my father to see you on such short notice."
"I was about to explain to Lady Deringham, before I understood that you were in the house," Dr. Wilmot said, "that although that would be an advantage, it is not absolutely necessary at present. I should of course have to examine your father before giving a definite opinion as to his case, but I can give you a very fair idea as to his condition without seeing him at all."
Wolfenden and his mother exchanged glances.
"You must forgive us," Wolfenden commenced hesitatingly, "but really I can scarcely understand."
"Of course not," their visitor interrupted brusquely. "My method is one which is doubtless altogether strange to you, but if you read the _Lancet_ or the _Medical Journal_, you would have heard a good deal about it lately. I form my conclusions as to the mental condition of a patient almost altogether from a close inspection of their letters, or any work upon which they are, or have been, recently engaged. I do not say that it is possible to do this from a single letter, but when a man has a hobby, such as I understand Lord Deringham indulges in, and has devoted a great deal of time to real or imaginary work in connection with it, I am generally able, from a study of that work, to tell how far the brain is weakened, if at all, and in what manner it can be strengthened. This is only the crudest outline of my theory, but to be brief, I can give you my opinion as to Lord Deringham's mental condition, and my advice as to its maintenance, if you will place before me the latest work upon which he has been engaged. I hope I have made myself clear."