ss into
the body of a male child born of the mystic connection between a mortal
and an immortal, or, in other words, between an ordinary man and a woman
of a divine nature.

If I had thought it possible to lead back Madame d'Urfe to the right use
of her senses I would have made the attempt, but I felt sure that her
disease was without remedy, and the only course before me seemed to abet
her in her ravings and to profit by them.

If I had spoken out like an honest man and told her that her theories
were nonsensical, she would not have believed me; she would have thought
me jealous of her knowledge, and I should have lost her favour without
any gain to her or to myself. I thus let things take their course, and to
speak the truth I was flattered to see myself treated as one of the most
profound brothers of the Rosy Cross, as the most powerful of men by so
distinguished a lady, who was in high repute for her learning, who
entertained and was related to the first families of France, and had an
income of eighty thousand francs, a splendid estate, and several
magnificent houses in Paris. I was quite sure that she would refuse me
nothing, and though I had no definite plan of profiting by her wealth I
experienced a certain pleasure at the thought that I could do so if I
would.

In spite of her immense fortune and her belief in her ability to make
gold, Madame d'Urfe was miserly in her habits, for she never spent more
than thirty thousand francs in a year, and she invested her savings in
the exchange, and in this way had nearly doubled them. A brother used to
buy her in Government securities at their lowest rate and sell at their
rise, and in this manner, being able to wait for their rise, and fall,
she had amassed a considerable sum.

She had told me more than once that she would give all she possessed to
become a man, and that she knew I could do this for her if I would. One
day, as she was speaking to me on this subject in a tone of persuasion
almost irresistible, I told her that I must confess I had the power to do
what she wanted, but that I could not make up my mind to perform the
operation upon her as I should have to kill her first. I thought this
would effectually check her wish to go any further, but what was my
surprise to hear her say,

"I know that, and what is more I know the death I shall have to die; but
for all that I am ready."

"What, then, is that death, madam?"

"It is by the same poison which killed