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7/8/2025, 11:29:08 PM
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>In both cases, however, Orléans, is obliged to demonstrate his trust by venturing into a lonely and hostile environment
>What happened?
>According to d'Allonville, the duke was alone in his study when he received an unexpected visit from a Jewish man dressed in rags, who promised to reveal to him a "secret of the highest importance". He was told to go to a particular spot in the forêt de Bondy, where a "personage of remarkable form" would appear to him out of a supernatural fire. The duc de C*** and his companion kept watch whilst Orléans proceeded into the forest as arranged. He later returned in a state of agitation and reported that events had happened as predicted. He showed them an "iron ring" which the apparition has given him - the text says that its hand "sealed an iron ring at his throat". He claimed to have spoken with the phantom for over an hour, but would never reveal, even to his intimates, the promises that had been made
>The idea that Orléans's visitor was sorceror is made explicit in Souvalie's more summary version. Here he is described a "man of an austere and remarkable countenance", who offers to "raise the devil." We are also informed that the magician revisited the duke on several subsequent occasions
>Hostile historians like Capefigue readily accused Orléans of having made up the whole story, in order to take advantage of the supernatural to bolster his claim to the throne. Orléans was after all a Freemason and widely rumoured to be a dabbler in the dark arts. This, of course, remains the most likely conclusion. However, there are certain aspects to the narrative, which remain curious:
>In d'Allonville's version at least, Orléans comes across as genuinely disconcerted. (In own retelling, as reported by Souvalie, he is more in command of the situation, even going so far as to offer the sorcerer money.)
>In both cases, however, Orléans, is obliged to demonstrate his trust by venturing into a lonely and hostile environment
>What happened?
>According to d'Allonville, the duke was alone in his study when he received an unexpected visit from a Jewish man dressed in rags, who promised to reveal to him a "secret of the highest importance". He was told to go to a particular spot in the forêt de Bondy, where a "personage of remarkable form" would appear to him out of a supernatural fire. The duc de C*** and his companion kept watch whilst Orléans proceeded into the forest as arranged. He later returned in a state of agitation and reported that events had happened as predicted. He showed them an "iron ring" which the apparition has given him - the text says that its hand "sealed an iron ring at his throat". He claimed to have spoken with the phantom for over an hour, but would never reveal, even to his intimates, the promises that had been made
>The idea that Orléans's visitor was sorceror is made explicit in Souvalie's more summary version. Here he is described a "man of an austere and remarkable countenance", who offers to "raise the devil." We are also informed that the magician revisited the duke on several subsequent occasions
>Hostile historians like Capefigue readily accused Orléans of having made up the whole story, in order to take advantage of the supernatural to bolster his claim to the throne. Orléans was after all a Freemason and widely rumoured to be a dabbler in the dark arts. This, of course, remains the most likely conclusion. However, there are certain aspects to the narrative, which remain curious:
>In d'Allonville's version at least, Orléans comes across as genuinely disconcerted. (In own retelling, as reported by Souvalie, he is more in command of the situation, even going so far as to offer the sorcerer money.)
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