“Ah, Vanens!” she said familiarly.
He bowed.
“I bring you,” he announced, “a lady who has need of your skill.”
And he waved a hand towards the tall cloaked figure at his side.
La Voisin looked at the masked face.
“Velvet faces tell me little, Madame la Marquise,” she said calmly. “Nor, believe me, will the King look at a countenance that you conceal from me.”
There was an exclamation of surprise and anger from Madame de Montespan. She plucked off her mask.
“You knew me?”
“Can you wonder?” asked La Voisin, “since I have told you what you carry concealed in your heart?”
Madame de Montespan was as credulous as only the very devout can be.