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Dark souls 24
How can I serve His Eminence? - The proud landing of the head of the newly-minted general was slightly spoiled by the rustic expression of his face. However, Bertrand de Gault was not deceived by this external simplicity, which misled people who did not know the leader of the English revolution well.What are you, - smiled Bertrand de Go, bowing. - It is his Eminence who is interested in how he can be useful to you. Oliver Cromwell got up from behind a wide dark wood table where he was sorting through papers.Sir, - he said, approaching Bertrand. - Why evasions? He smiled and began filling a long, thin pipe with tobacco. - The cardinal wants to know if General Oliver will go to war for Brittany and La Rochelle? Does it interest him? He blew out a puff of blue smoke.You are perceptive, General, - Bertrand de Go bowed again. - The fact is that now the minister's chair under the cardinal is slightly shaky - the Fronde* demands his resignation. Imagine what could happen in Franc
Dark souls 25
You're playing with fire, Katherine. Are not you afraid?What, Bertrand? I don't do anything reprehensible. I don't cross the road for anyone. I live quietly, I don't disturb anyone.Come on, Katherine. Sorcerers have not been burned in our country for a long time, but they continue to hang poisoners to this day. And as for the fact that you live quietly, then, I heard, the Duke of Orleans ...Poisoners?Didn't Madame de Montespan* come to you for love potions? What more does this lady want? She is the favorite mistress of the most powerful king in Europe.Ah, Bertrand. Madame Montespan does not come to me, but to La Voisin. This fool uses my drugs and ideas and even dares to teach me sometimes. I am her modest student, Jeanne Fouchet, the servant of the Marquis de Fauconnier, who, fearing everything in the world, always comes in the dark and in a mask to learn from the great sorceress the ability to rule over herbs in order to have extra earnings in old age. And as for Madame Montesp
Dark souls 26
When Katerina opened the door, on the threshold she saw a thin girl in a simple maid dress, who was shaking off raindrops.Who are you? Katerina asked, raising the candle to get a better look at the stranger.You may not know me, madam. But once you helped my mother get rid of the father who did not give us life. Now her mother owns a grocery store, her life is prosperous, and she is about to get married. And I serve with Madame Beaupertuis.It's great that you're doing well. But you uttered the name La Voisin and came to me. I don't understand…Madam, this is a very serious matter. You can't talk about him in five minutes at the door. And yes, it's raining outside.Fine. Come in. She let the girl inside, looked around the dark street and closed the door. Then, going forward, she shone the light on the girl who was rising behind her.Cloak you can throw here - She pointed to a simple stool at the door. - And sit down by the fire. I want to hear why you came, not how you sne
Dark souls 27
A knock on the door woke her up. Deciding that it was Bertrand, Katerina jumped off the chair, and in what she was, she ran to the door. However, something made her stop and look out from behind the drawn curtains into the street. At her door, she saw a middle-aged man in the clothes of a city dweller, holding some piece of paper in his hands. Grabbing the first cloak she came across, she slowly descended and opened the door.Are you Madame La Filastra? he asked, respectfully pulling off his hat.Who is asking her? Katerina lowered the hood of her cloak.I was asked to give it to her, - the citizen hesitantly turned the paper over in his hands.I'll pass it on, thank you, - Katerina quickly snatched the sheet and slammed the door. The townsman scratched the back of his head and pulled on his hat. Katerina went upstairs and flung some crowns out of the window. Hearing the ringing, the townsman raised his head, but saw only the swaying curtains. Struck by his generosity, he
Dark souls 28
The days left until the full moon, Katerina devoted to unraveling the messages of witchcraft, messages that she could not read. Cards, chickens, goats, magic potions - nothing told her what exactly awaited her. As if teasingly, any of her witchcraft only counted the days. At night, she quietly tried to observe the planets. But as soon as she tried to set up her device, which the sailors called a spyglass, clouds ran over her star or planet, behind which she wanted to look. She had not thought of buying a telescope before, because she did not think that her witchcraft talents might need such help. And now it was risky: latent mass hysteria and suspicion secretly took possession of the minds of people as in the recent gloomy Middle Ages. Only then no one hid their fears. Now, thanks to the gradual development of science, the open manifestation of witch-hunting was considered ignorance, which, however, did not mean that superstition in people had died. Ordinary people confused the conc
Dark souls 29
After half an hour of frantic racing, they stopped at a forgotten village. Hiding the carriage in a copse, Katerina went further on foot, leading the indifferent Denise by the hand. Bertrand, with a drawn sword in his hand, brought up the rear. Guided by the paths known to her alone, Katerina went around the village, passed the swamp and went out into a clearing, on which stood a rickety building made of dark logs. The door swinging on one hinge made a piercing and disturbing sound.We are in place, - Katerina raised her head to the sky. The clouds just revealed the bright disk of the full moon. The full moon will take effect in a quarter of an hour. She entered the former church. Dirt, desolation, bats, frogs, hosts of spiders did not bother her at all. She quickly arranged and lit black candles around the altar, covering the altar itself with a black cloth with some cabalistic signs. Moonlight shone through the roof of the church onto the altar.Hurry,” she whispered fev
Dark souls 30
Why is this woman bound?Your Grace, - The official, who was recording the testimony of a bound black-haired woman in a rough robe, jumped up, knocking over a rough stool. No one warned us of your arrival. He looked angrily at the commandant, who was fiddling with the keys in embarrassment next to an elderly plump man with thinning blond hair. The commandant began to fuss, offering his companion a wretched chair. The man held the wig in his hand and occasionally fanned himself with it.Otherwise, you would be conducting interrogations in the boudoir? he asked the official with a wry smile. “I asked why this woman has her hands tied?” The dark-haired woman raised her head, and Catherine de Goe's eyes blazed at the blond-haired man. Smiling tartly, she shrugged her shoulders.Your Grace, - the official hurried, needlessly fiddling with quills on the table in front of him. This woman is dangerous. She is a witch,” he said in a whisper, leaning towards the visitor.What
Dark souls 31
During the three days allotted by the Minister of Police to the executioner and his henchmen, interrogators worked replacing each other on torture instruments. One day, Katerina, who came to her senses, having gathered all her strength, nevertheless touched her hands, half crushed by one of the assistants, to the head of the nearest person, predicting his painful death in a few hours. According to her, the poor fellow really died, writhing in agony, as if he had been burned alive. The enraged executioner, during one torture, pulled out Katerina's joints so much that her hands simply could not rise. We cannot say how the method of murder used by Catherine, called in our time "death touch" or "delayed death" and which came to Europe from China, how this method became known to Catherine de Gau. Whether her crusader ancestors during campaigns in the Holy Land and meetings with various merchants at the intersection of trade routes suffered Chinese tricks and inherited their talen