fortune-telling

mademoiselle lenormand motioned to josephine to seat herself in the chair which madame tallien had just vacated, and then she drew a fresh pack of cards from a drawer—probably that the destinies of one should not influence the other. then she looked fixedly at madame de beauharnais.

"you sought to deceive me," she said, "by coming to consult me in vulgar attire. i am a clairvoyant, and i saw you leave a house in the centre of paris; i saw you finally in the anteroom when your place was in the salon, and i came to look for you. do not seek to deceive me; answer my questions frankly, and since you have come in search of truth, tell the truth."

madame de beauharnais bowed.

"if you care to question me i am ready to reply."

"what animal do you like best?"

"the dog."

"what flower do you prefer?"

"the rose."

"what perfume pleases you the best?"

"that of the violet."

the sibyl placed before madame de beauharnais a pack of cards almost double the size of ordinary ones. these had not been invented more than a month, and were called the "great oracle."

"let us see first where you are placed," said the sibyl.

and, turning over the pack, she separated the cards with the wand and found the consulting client; that is to say, a brunette in a white dress with a broad, embroidered flounce, and a cloak of red velvet with a long flowing train. she was placed between the eight of hearts and the ten of clubs.

[pg 361]

"chance has placed you well, as you see, madame. the eight of hearts has three different meanings in as many different rows. the first, which is the eight of hearts itself, represents the conjunction of the stars under which you were born. the second, an eagle carrying away a toad from a pond, over which he is hovering. the third, a female near a tomb. this is what i see, madame, in the first card. you were born under the influence of venus and the moon. you have recently had a very satisfactory experience, almost in the nature of a triumph. finally, this woman dressed in black near a tomb indicates that you are a widow. on the other hand, the ten of clubs promises success in an undertaking which has just begun, and of which you are scarcely cognizant. it would be impossible to find a more fortunate throw of cards."

then, taking up the pack and shuffling them, mademoiselle lenormand asked madame de beauharnais to cut them with her left hand, and to draw fourteen cards, which she was to place in any order she chose beside the brunette, from right to left, as orientals write.

madame de beauharnais obeyed, and cut and arranged the cards as requested.

mademoiselle lenormand followed them with her eyes, more attentively than madame de beauharnais, as the latter turned them.

"in truth, madame, you are fortunate," said she; "and i am convinced that you did well not to be frightened by the prediction which i made to your friend, brilliant though it was. your first card is the five of diamonds; beside it i find the beautiful constellation of the southern cross, which is invisible to us here in europe. the main subject of the card, a greek or mohammedan traveller, indicates that you were born either in the east or the colonies. the parrot, or the orange tree, which forms the third subject, makes me incline to the colonies. the flower, which is a veratrum, very common in martinique, would almost justify me in saying that you were born in that island."

[pg 362]

"you are not mistaken, madame."

"your third card, the nine of diamonds, makes me think that you left the island when still very young. the convolvulus, which figures on the lower part of the card, and which is the symbol of a woman seeking for something to cling to, would indicate that you left the island to be married."

"that is also true, madame," said josephine.

"your fourth card, which is the ten of spades, indicates the loss of your hopes; but the fruits and flowers of the saxifrage which are on the same card suggest that the disappointment was but momentary, and that a happy conclusion—probably a marriage—succeeded fears which amounted even to loss of hope."

"if you had read in the book of my own life, madame, you could not have seen more clearly."

"that encourages me," said the sibyl; "for i see such strange things in your cards that i should stop short if your denial were added to my own doubts."

"here is the eight of spades. achilles is dragging hector, chained to his car, around the walls of troy; lower down a woman is kneeling before a tomb. your husband, like the trojan hero, must have died a violent death, probably upon the scaffold. but here is a singular thing, on the same card: opposite the weeping woman the bones of pelops are crossed above the talisman of the moon, which means, 'happy fatality.' to a great misfortune will succeed good fortune which is even greater."

josephine smiled.

"that belongs to the future and therefore i cannot answer for it."

"you have two children?" asked the sibyl.

"yes, madame."

"a son and a daughter?"

"yes."

"see here on the same card, the ten of diamonds, your son takes a resolution without consulting you, which is of the greatest importance, not in itself, but in its results.

[pg 363]

"on the bottom of this card is one of the talking oaks of the forest of dodona, as you see; jason is lying in its shade and listening. what does he hear? the voice of the future which your son heard when he decided upon that step which he has just taken.

"the card which follows, the knave of diamonds, shows you achilles disguised as a woman at the court of lycomenes. the glitter of a sword will make a man of him. is there something about a sword that has occurred between your son and some other person?"

"yes, madame."

"well, here at the bottom of the card is juno, crying: 'courage, young man, help will not be wanting!' i am not sure, but in this card, which is nothing less than that of a king of diamonds—but i think i see your son addressing a powerful soldier, and obtaining of him what he wants.

"the four of diamonds shows you yourself, madame, at the moment when your son is telling you of the fortunate result of his attempt. the flowers growing at the bottom of this card admonish you not to let yourself be overcome by difficulties, and that you will thereby reach the goal of your desires. and finally, madame, here is the eight of clubs, which positively indicates a marriage; placed as it is, next to the eight of hearts, which is the eagle soaring aloft with the toad in his talons, it indicates that this marriage will exalt you above the most eminent ranks of society.

"then, if we still doubt, here is the six of hearts, which unfortunately is so rarely seen with the eight. here is the eight and upon it the alchemist watching the transformation of the stone into gold; that is to say the ordinary life changing into one of nobility, honors, and a lofty position. see among these flower a convolvulus, twining itself around a lily shorn of its blossoms; that means, madame, that you will succeed; that you, who are simply seeking a support, will succeed—how shall i tell you?—to everything that is grandest and most powerful in france, in short to the lily[pg 364] shorn of its blossoms; and, as indicated by the ten of clubs, that you will succeed to all this by passing across battlefields, where, as you see, ulysses and diomedes are carrying off the white horse of rheseus, placed under the care of the talisman of mars.

"there, madame, you will enjoy the respect and affection of the whole world. you will be the wife of this hercules stifling the lion of the nemean forest; that is to say the useful and courageous man who exposes himself to every danger for the good of his country. the flowers with which you are crowned are the lilac, the arum, and the immortelle, for you will represent true merit and perfect goodness."

then, rising enthusiastically and seizing madame de beauharnais's hand as she fell at her feet, she said: "madame, i know neither your name nor your rank, but i can read your future. madame, remember me when you are—empress!"

"empress? i? you are mad, my dear woman."

"what, madame, do you not see that your last card, the one to which the other fourteen lead, is the king of hearts, the great charlemagne, who holds his sword in one hand and the globe in the other? do you not see upon the same card the man of genius, who, with a book in his hand and a sphere at his feet, meditates upon the destinies of the world? and, last of all, do you not see on the two desks, placed opposite each other, the book of wisdom and the laws of solon, which proves that your husband will be a legislator as well as a conqueror."

improbable as was the prediction, the blood rushed to josephine's head. her eyes grew dim, her forehead was bathed with perspiration, and a shiver ran through her whole body.

"impossible! impossible! impossible!" she murmured, and she sank back in her chair.

then suddenly remembering that this consultation had lasted nearly an hour, and that madame tallien was waiting[pg 365] for her, she rose, tossed her purse to mademoiselle lenormand without looking to see how much it contained, and darted into the salon. she seized madame tallien by the waist and drew her away, scarcely replying to the bow which the incroyable made to the two ladies as they passed before him.

"well?" asked madame tallien, stopping josephine on the flight of steps which led down to the courtyard.

"well," replied madame de beauharnais, "that woman is crazy."

"what did she predict for you?"

"it is your turn first."

"i warn you, my dear, that i have already become accustomed to her prediction," said madame tallien; "she said that i would be a princess."

"well," said josephine, "i am not yet accustomed to mine. she said that i would be an empress."

and the two false grisettes got into their carriage.