Page:Novels of Honoré de Balzac Volume 23.djvu/120

 mysterious man. “Give me your hand; you shall be both actor and spectator, cause and effect.”

He took Minoret’s passive hand; he held it for a moment whilst appearing to be collecting himself, and with his other hand seized the hand of the woman sitting in the armchair; then he placed the doctor’s in that of the woman, whilst signing to the old unbeliever to seat himself beside this priestess without a tripod. Minoret noticed a slight quivering in this woman’s exceedingly calm features when they were united by the Swedenborgian; but this movement, although marvelous in its effect, was wonderfully simple.

“Obey this gentleman,” said this person, extending his hand over the woman’s head, who seemed to inhale both light and life from him, “and remember that all you do for him will please me.”

“Now you can speak to her,” said he to Minoret.

“Go to Nemours, Rue des Bourgeois, to my house,” said the doctor.

“Give her time, leave your hand in hers until she proves to you by what she tells you that she has got there,” said Bouvard to his old friend.

“I see a river,” replied the woman in a feeble voice whilst seeming to be looking within herself with profound attention, in spite of her lowered lids, “I see a pretty garden—”

“Why do you go in by the river and the garden?” said Minoret.

“Because they are there.”

“Who?”