Page:Marie Corelli - the writer and the woman (IA mariecorelliwrit00coat).pdf/69

 and put herself in his hands. This she does, with astounding results; for, from a miserable, woe-begone creature, all "palpitations and headaches and stupors," Casimir's potions and electrical remedies change her into an absolutely healthy woman, "plump and pink as a peach." In Casimir's house lives the physician's sister, Zara, who, by means of the same medical and electrical properties, retains, at thirty-eight, the complexion and supple health of a girl of seventeen, being ever "as fresh and lovely as a summer morning." During her stay with him, Heliobas expounds his "Electric Creed" to the young musician, and by her own wish, and by means of his extraordinary hypnotic powers—combined with a fluid preparation which he causes her to take—throws her into a trance, in the course of which "strange departure," her soul is temporarily separated from her body and floats from the earth to other spheres. Guided by the spirit Azùl, it wanders to the "Centre of the Universe," and, after being permitted to gaze upon the wonders and glories of the supernatural, returns to earth and once more takes its place in the work-a-day body from which it had been temporarily released. After Casimir has afforded the girl further explanations of his theories, she is admitted to the small circle of adherents to the Electric Creed. As a result of Casi