Mrs Jelain smiled. ‘Why, child, you must not mind us! We are your family. And although I was anxious to find out how you were, I cannot stay long. Dr Falla visited us last evening, after he had seen you.’

She was indignant still, but curiosity kept her silent. Mrs Jelain went on:

‘He spoke of your condition. It is not uncommon, he says, in those of a nervous disposition, when there has been such a shock as that which was caused by your father’s death.’

‘My disposition is not a nervous one!’

Ignoring her, Mrs Jelain said: ‘It produces melancholia, and a form of derangement of the mind. This must be closely watched. There is a risk of violence, both to the melancholic and to others.

‘In the ordinary way he would be obliged to order confinement, until the illness was relieved, in the place provided for such unhappy wretches – the asylum for lunatics at Ctel. It is not a pleasant place, I fear, and the appearance and behaviour of its inmates would be likely to shock a person of sensitivity. Fortunately in your case, since we have this farmhouse remote from the town where you can be looked after, he is prepared to agree that you should stay here.’

‘I demand to be allowed to see another doctor.’

Mrs Jelain shook her head. ‘You are not in circumstances where you can make demands.’