and tales of the marvellous. The lover of the Comtesse de
Saint-Vallier, one of the daughters whom Louis XI. had in Dauphine by
Madame de Sassenage, however bold he might be in other respects, was
likely to think twice before he finally entered the house of a
so-called sorcerer.

The history of Maitre Cornelius Hoogworst will fully explain the
security which the silversmith inspired in the Comte de Saint-Vallier,
the terror of the countess, and the hesitation that now took
possession of the lover. But, in order to make the readers of this
nineteenth century understand how such commonplace events could be
turned into anything supernatural, and to make them share the alarms
of that olden time, it is necessary to interrupt the course of this
narrative and cast a rapid glance on the preceding life and adventures
of Maitre Cornelius.



CHAPTER II

THE TORCONNIER

Cornelius Hoogworst, one of the richest merchants in Ghent, having
drawn upon himself the enmity of Charles, Duke of Burgundy, found
refuge and protection at the court of Louis XI. The king was conscious
of the advantages he could gain from a man connected with all the
principal commercial houses of Flanders, Venice, and the Levant; he
naturalized, ennobled, and flattered Maitre Cornelius; all of which
was rarely done by Louis XI. The monarch pleased the Fleming as much
as the Fleming pleased the monarch. Wily, distrustful, and miserly;