“Grandier, Grandier, you must buy some at the market.”
Barre at once declared that these wild and whirling words were a proof of possession, and approached to exorcise the demon; but Sister Claire resisted, and pretending to spit in the face of the exorcist, put out her tongue at him, making indecent gestures, using a word in harmony with her actions. This word being in the vernacular was understood by everyone and required no interpretation.
The exorcist then conjured her to give the name of the demon who was in her, and she replied—
“Grandier.”
But Barre by repeating his question gave her to understand that she had made a mistake, whereupon she corrected herself and said—
“Elimi.”
Nothing in the world could induce her to reveal the number of evil spirits by whom Elimi was accompanied, so that Barre, seeing that it was useless to press her on this point, passed on to the next question.
“Quo pacto ingressus est daemon.” (By what pact did the demon get in?).
“Duplex” (Double), returned Sister Claire.
This horror of the ablative, when the ablative was absolutely necessary, aroused once more the hilarity of the audience, and proved that Sister Claire’s devil was just as poor a Latin scholar as the superior’s, and Barre, fearing some new linguistic eccentricity on the part of the evil spirit, adjourned the meeting to another day.