we were on a stretch of straight road , climbing up towards the heights , and he risked taking his eyes from the road for a second to look fully at me . I could n&apos;t read anything from his face . apart from a certain gravity there was nothing in it but the impersonal scrutiny that belonged to his vocation . he let another car overtake him before he spoke . still speaking from a professional point of view , he said , I would strongly advise you to pay a visit to your doctor in the very near future . I did n&apos;t answer him until we had reached the row of cottages that nestled in a hollow underneath the final ascent to the heights . he drew the car to a stop on the green in front of the last one in the row and was in the act of getting out when I said quietly , you &apos;re a doctor . he reached over into the back and lifted out his bag . but not yours , Mrs Landry . I attend only to the lower members of your household . he said it quite without rancour , and I was positive none was intended . but you could be mine , I insisted . he inclined his head . I could , yes . but I would advise you to see your own man , one who knows and understands you . he shut the door and leaned down through the window to ask , are you coming in , Mrs Landry ? no . I shook my head . no - I &apos;d rather not . as you wish . I may be a little while in here . you &apos;ve time to climb up to the heights if you feel like it . the view is well worth the scramble if you have n&apos;t seen it before . I waited until he had disappeared into the cottage before I got out and started up the path that wound its way up behind the row of houses . I had been there before and I was n&apos;t particularly interested in the view . it was the old restlessness that drove me on once I found myself alone , away from the calming influence of his presence . I was panting by the time I got to the top and sank on to a small outcrop of rock . I got my cigarette case out with a certain amount of defiance and watched the blue smoke drift lazily away on the still air . the view was a magnificent one even in the distant haze of the November morning . the sun caught and sparkled on the river as it wound its leisurely way far below . bare of leaves , the wooded hillside had a stark beauty , and the fields still held practically the fresh greenness of midsummer . I was sitting there , lost to time , when I heard the foot-steps behind me and turned to see Dr Broderick clambering over the uneven ground . I jumped up in quick remorse . oh , I &apos;m sorry - I &apos;ve kept you waiting , I said hurriedly , but he waved me back on to my rock . there &apos;s no hurry , he said . I guessed you &apos;d be up here . I often come up myself when I &apos;m out this way . he sank on to the rock next to me . I noticed that he was not in the least exerted by the rather stiff climb . his breath came evenly . and , strangely , I felt a return of that calmness . I sat there quietly with him , waiting . I had the feeling that he was waiting , too - serenely patient . but it was a long time before I spoke . he had n&apos;t invited my confidence - rather he seemed to have gone out of his way , a little earlier , to reject it . he might not like me but I felt that he would listen , and that he would have an understanding I could never expect from Charles . and so I said at last , I think I &apos;m losing my reason , Dr Broderick . he gave me no more than a casual glance . and what makes you think that ? he asked calmly . as a rule , a person who is becoming mentally unhinged is the very last to suspect anything is wrong . but I can n&apos;t remember who I am , I said , wretchedly . I know that I must be Lisa Landry , and that Charles is my husband and Joanna my daughter - but I do n&apos;t know them . I do n&apos;t know anyone with whom I come in contact - the servants , our neighbours - I did n&apos;t know you the other day - just a minute , Mrs Landry , he broke in gently . loss of memory is a very common occurrence . there are many factors that can contribute to its cause . you must n&apos;t worry that you &apos;re losing your reason because you &apos;re suffering from a temporary amnesia - but it &apos;s more than that . do n&apos;t you see ? I have a memory - but it is n&apos;t the right one . what do you mean by that ? I asked him then the question I had wanted to ask the vicar , that man of God . the question I had been too afraid to ask myself in the darkness of the unsleeping night . I asked it unflinchingly , out of the stillness which had descended suddenly upon us . do you believe , Dr Broderick , that the soul of a girl who has been dead nearly sixteen years could inhabit and take possession of a complete stranger ? 7 . there was a bird singing in a tree near at hand . I could n&apos;t see it but the high , sweet notes of its song held a plaintive , appealing sadness . the faint whirring of some distant machinery reached us clearly , a dull monotonous sound . when Dr Broderick moved his foot suddenly I jumped nervously . he had sat quietly , not looking at me , his face quite inscrutable so that I had no means of knowing what he was thinking . when he spoke at last he sounded oddly helpless in his hesitation . my dear girl - I do n&apos;t profess to know anything about the spiritual body - only the physical one . a clergyman would be better equipped than I am to answer such a question . but tell me why you ask it ? I took a deep breath and faced him fully . because that &apos;s what I think has happened to me . if it has n&apos;t - then I know I am mad . I gave a little mirthless laugh . take your choice , Dr Broderick , which would you rather be if you were me - possessed or insane ? what makes you think you are either ? there &apos;s nothing else I can think - when the only life I know is that of a girl who has been dead more than fifteen years . I took the cigarette he offered , drawing at it raggedly . I gave him a quick , nervous glance but he was n&apos;t looking at me . he was gazing out across the wooded stretch beneath us . I knew that he was waiting for me to go on but would n&apos;t hurry me , that his calmness did n&apos;t mean that he was disinterested . I started to tell him about Dorcas Mallory . I began with abrupt , sometimes not quite coherent sentences , but presently beneath the soothing influence of his quiet attention I went on more fluently . I told him about her adoption when she was a child - no more than three years old - so that there was no memory of a previous life before that with the Mallorys . there was only a vague recollection , too , of the new mother who had died not much more than a year later . but the memory of the life with Adrian Mallory was clear . I told him of her childhood in the house , High Towers - a lonely childhood , perhaps , but a happy one , with dear old Henrietta and the kindly Mrs Bakewell . I told him of small , uninteresting incidents that only Dorcas Mallory could have known ; those trivial , everyday occurrences that mean nothing to anyone other than the person they happened to . I evoked memories of old Henrietta who probably had n&apos;t been as old as she seemed at that time to the young Dorcas - of her warm motherliness and her fragrance of lavender ; of Adrian Mallory , his shyness and his gentle kindness , and as I talked about him I think I realized for the first time that I would never see him again - that perhaps I had never known him , for how could I have done so ? I know that I talked of him with a sadness that went deep inside me . I recalled Dorcas Mallory &apos;s schooldays - rather lonely schooldays with not many close friends because the reserve that was in Adrian Mallory was in Dorcas , too . but she had not particularly felt the loneliness and the holidays had been happy ones - spent mostly at home , at first because of her father &apos;s reluctance to travel and then because the war made travelling impracticable . when I told him about Russ I found it difficult to speak impersonally . there was so much that I could n&apos;t put into words , not even to someone as understanding as Dr Broderick . how could I possibly describe to anyone the love between Russell Winslow and Dorcas Mallory ? my voice broke when I finally told him of the wedding that never took place , of the journey to London of Dorcas and Adrian Mallory , of the happiness of that girl on the eve of her marriage . I sat silent at last , my head bent , watching the slight breeze lazily stirring a curled brown leaf at my feet . it rustled faintly as it moved , and then a sharper breath of wind caught it and hurried it away . Dr Broderick said gently , what then ? I looked up , somehow startled that he had been unable to follow the wistful trend of my mind . what then ? I repeated , and then , keeping my voice as steady and expressionless as I could , Dorcas and her father were killed in an air raid . there was no wedding . they both died that night . this girl you have been telling me about - she is the one &amp;hellip; ? he paused uncertainly . I think his logical mind found it difficult to put my fantastic supposition into words . I waited to see if he would continue . when he did n&apos;t , I said , I woke up on the day of Joanna &apos;s wedding thinking that it was my wedding day . I did n&apos;t know where I was , or why , but the events I have been telling you about - that evening in London - were so clear to me that I thought it was still April , 1944 . I took up Dorcas Mallory &apos;s life exactly at the point where she died . he stirred slightly as though he would have interrupted but I went on , I can n&apos;t tell you a single thing about Lisa Landry &apos;s life prior to that morning in August , but I can tell you all about Dorcas Mallory . I can tell you of these things that no one - not even Charles - could have told me . I am Lisa Landry - but my mind is Dorcas Mallory . he said , Charles - your husband ? yes . why do you say - that even Charles could not have told you ? how could he know anything at all - Charles and Adrian Mallory were stepbrothers , I said . I - Dorcas never saw him until a few weeks before - before she died . he spent most of his time in Canada . did you know this girl ? no . but you probably heard your husband talk about her ? he never really knew her . I said it defensively , but against what I was n&apos;t quite sure . I told you - Dorcas never met him until a few weeks before she was killed . and then she barely knew him - they only met a very few times . Charles could n&apos;t possibly know all the things I have told you about her . he could know a good deal of it , he said gently . and some of the things &amp;hellip; . are you quite sure that you know these things , or could you have imagined them ? no ! I said it with a sense of outrage . no one could possibly imagine everything I know about Dorcas Mallory - every detail of her life - every incident , day by day . and Russ &amp;hellip; . the man Dorcas was to marry ? yes - I knew him immediately I saw him . how could I have recognized a man I have never met ? 