a french quarter merchant told one of our 'witnesses ' that marguerite had sent her devil to take care of 'those two ' and that marguerite knew more about voodoo than any black person in louisiana marguerite was reputed to have a voodoo altar in her home , to work with unguents and potions as cures and for love , and to go everywhere in the company of two beautiful quadroon servants , marie and virgime , and a mulatto coachman named octavius octavius was said to be a bastard son of one of maurice mayfair 's sons , louis-pierre , but this was not a well-circulated tale marie claudette was still living then , but seldom went out anymore , and it was said that she had taught her daughter the black arts learned in haiti it was marguerite who drew attention everywhere that she went , especially in view of the fact that her brother pierre lived a fairly respectable life , was very discreet about his quadroon mistress , and uncle lestan 's children were also entirely respectable and well liked even by her late twenties , marguerite had become a gaunt and somewhat frightening figure , with often unkempt hair and glowing dark eyes , and a sudden disconcerting laugh she always wore the mayfair emerald she received merchants and brokers and guests in an immense book-lined study at riverbend which was full of 'horrible and disgusting ' things such as human skulls , stuffed and mounted swamp animals , trophy heads from african safaris , and animal-skin rugs she had numerous mysterious bottles and jars , and people claimed to have seen human body parts in these jars she was reputed to be an avid collector of trinkets and amulets made by slaves , especially those who had recently been imported from africa there were several cases of 'possession ' among her slaves at the time , which involved frightened slave witnesses running away and priests coming to the plantation in every case , the victim was chained up and exorcism was tried without success , and the 'possessed ' creature died either from hunger because he could not be made to eat , or from some injury sustained in his wild convulsions there were rumors that such a possessed slave was chained in the attic , but the local authorities never acted upon this by investigation at least four different witnesses mention marguerite 's 'mysterious dark-haired lover , ' a man seen in her private apartments by her slaves , and also seen in her suite at the st louis hotel when she came into new orleans , and in her box at the french opera .