"By no means; we must have recourse to science. In human nature there are antipathies to be overcome—sympathies which may be forced. Iron is not the lodestone; but by rubbing it with a lodestone we make it, in its turn, attract iron."
"Yes, yes," muttered La Mole; "but I have an objection to all these sorceries."
"Ah, then, if you have any such objections, you should not come here," answered Réné.
"Come, come, this is child's play!" interposed Coconnas. "Maître Réné, can you show me the devil?"
"No, Monsieur le Comte."
"I'm sorry for that; for I had a word or two to say to him, and it might have encouraged La Mole."
"Well, then, let it be so," said La Mole, "let us go to the point at once. I have been told of figures modelled in wax to look like the beloved object. Is that one way?"
"An infallible one."
"And there is nothing in the experiment likely to affect the life or health of the person beloved?"
"Nothing."