hing
that had passed. He laughed heartily, and said, "Her coffee-dregs are
like the clouds--you may see what you please in them."

There was one thing in my horoscope which struck me, that was the
comforter; because one of my uncles had taken great care of me, and had
rendered me the most essential services. It is also true that I
afterwards had an important lawsuit; and, lastly, there was the money
which had come into my hands through Madame de Pompadour's patronage and
bounty. As for Madame, her husband was represented accurately enough by
the man with the coffer; then the country of which she became Queen
seemed to relate to her present situation at Court; but the most
remarkable thing was the crooked and lame man, in whom Madame thought she
recognized the Duc de V-----, who was very much deformed. Madame was
delighted with her adventure and her horoscope, which she thought
corresponded very remarkably with the truth. Two days after, she sent
for M. de St. Florentin, and begged him not to molest the fortuneteller.
He laughed, and replied that he knew why she interceded for this woman.
Madame asked him why he laughed. He related every circumstance of her
expedition with astonishing exactness;--[M. de St. Florentin was
Minister for Paris, to whom the Lieutenant of Police was
accountable.]--but he knew nothing of what had been said, or, at least,
so he pretended. He promised Madame that, provided Bontemps did nothing
which called for notice, she should not be obstructed in the exercise of
her profession, especially if she followed it in secret. "I know her,"
added he, "and I, like other people, have had the curiosity to consult
her. She is the wife of a soldier in the guards. She is a clever woman
in her way, but she drinks. Four or five years ago, she got such hold on
the mind of Madame de Ruffec, that she made her believe she could procure
her an elixir of beauty, which would restore her to what she was at
twenty-five. The Duchess pays high for the drugs of which this elixir is
compounded; and sometimes they are bad: sometimes, the sun, to which they
were exposed, was not powerful enough; sometimes, the influence of a
certain constellation was wanting. Sometimes, she has the courage to
assure the Duchess that she really is grown handsomer, and actually
succeeds in making her believe it." But the history of this woman's
daughter is still more curious. She was exquisitely beautiful, and the
Duchess brought