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Rh superstitious, and Méneval suggests that a good deal of the money she threw away so recklessly went into the pockets of Madame Lenormand, the famous conjurer of the period. If Napoleon, as is reported, ever did pay Lenormand a visit in Josephine's company, it was at the period when he was too much in love with Josephine to refuse even her most unreasonable request. But Napoleon retained from his early days the "habit of involuntarily signing himself with the cross, on hearing of some great danger; or on the discovery of some important fact, where the interests of France or the success of his plans were concerned, or at the news of some great and unexpected good fortune, or of some great disaster."

But though Napoleon believed in his star, he never trusted much to luck.

"He was always prepared in advance for every reverse he might meet."

"Before finally deciding upon his plans he would subject them to the minutest scrutiny; every hazard, even the most improbable, being discussed and provided for. I saw Napoleon enjoying prosperity with the keenest pleasure, but I never once saw him betray any surprise. His measures were so well taken, and adverse chances so minimised by his calculations and arrangements, that if anything could have surprised him, it would have been the failure of plans which he had prepared with so much skill and so much care."