"Everything confirmed the opinion, that the conjuror, up to the
present moment, merely supposed himself sent for to satisfy the
curiosity of some country nobleman and his lady, who were both
anxious and eager to read their future fortune thro' his assistance.
I can only suppose, if he had been in ignorance of the real rank
of those who addressed him, the sight of the king must have
quickly undeceived him, as the conclusion of the story proves he
well knew to whom he spoke when he delivered his prediction.
However this may have been, he was no sooner alone with the
marchioness, than he commenced the necessary preparations for
the performance of his sorceries and enchantments; he burned
perfumes, offered prayers, and with loud invocations adjured the
powers of hell to answer him; and in the midst of a wild and
agitating sound which pervaded the whole building, during the
heavy swell of noises too dreadful to have arisen from mortal
sources, and whilst a thousand visions were flitting to and fro,
he drew the horoscope of the king and madame de Maintenon. He
promised Louis XIV that he should succeed in all his undertakings;
and that, on the very day on which he spoke the words (the 2nd
of October) one of his children had been called to the inheritance
of an immense fortune. Then giving him a small packet, wrapped
in new parchment, 'The day in which you form the fatal resolution
of acquainting yourself with the contents of this packet,' said
he, 'will be the last of your prosperity; but if you desire to
carry your good fortune to the highest pitch, be careful upon
every great festival, that is to say, Easter, Whit-Sunday, the
Assumption, and Christmas, to plunge a pin in this talisman, so
that the point shall pass directly thro' it; observe to do this,
and you will live perfectly happy.
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