As a proof, I will relate to you the following circumstance.
You are aware," continued the duke, "that the cardinal de
Richelieu, the author of our good fortune, spite of the superiority
of his mind, believed in judicial astrology. When his own
immediate line became extinct by the unexpected death of his
family and relatives, he wished to ascertain what would be the
fate of those children belonging to his sister, whom he had
adopted as the successors of his name, arms, and fortune. The
planets were consulted, and the answer received was, that two
centuries from the day on which Providence had so highly elevated
himself, the family, upon whom rested all his hopes of perpetuating
his name, should fail entirely in its male descent. You see that
the duc de Fronsac has only one child, an infant not many days
old. I also have but one, and these two feeble branches seem
but little calculated to falsify the prediction. Judge, my dear
countess, how great must be my paternal anxiety!"
This relation on the part of the duc d'Aiguillon was but ill
calculated to restore my drooping spirits, and although I had
no reason for concluding that the astrologer had spoken
prophetically to the grand cardinal, I was not the less inclined
to believe, with increased confidence, the predictions uttered
respecting myself by my inexplicable visitor of the morning. My
ever kind friend, the duchesse d'Aiguillon, was not long ere she
too made her appearance, with the view, and in the hope of
consoling me.
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