except perhaps that those in marseille do not believe so much in witchcraft and ascribe the madness of the persecution to the superstition of the mountain people , though what is that superstition without the famous witch judge to goad it on7 it is most easy for me to inquire about these two for no one here knows that i have been in the mountains , and it seems that those whom i invite to join me in a cup of wine do love to speak of charlotte and antome fontenay as the townspeople of montcleve loved to speak of the entire family a great stir was caused here by charlotte and young fontenay , for apparently they live with much extravagance and generosity to everyone , handing out coins as if they were nothing , and they appeared at the church here for mass with a retinue of negroes as they did in montcleve , which drew all eyes it is said also that they paid very well every doctor here whom they did consult with regard to antome 's affliction and there is much talk about the cause of this illness , as to whether it springs from the intense heat of the west indies , or is an old malady of which many europeans have suffered in ages past there is no doubt among these people as to the wealth of the fontenays , and they did have agents in this city for trade until very recently , but taking their departure here in great haste , before the arrest of deborah had become common knowledge , they broke their ties with the local agents , and no one knows where they have gone now , i have more to tell you maintaining myself at great expense as the rich dutch merchant , i managed to discover the name of a very gracious and beautiful young woman , of fine family , who was a friend to charlotte fontenay , a name mentioned in connection with that of charlotte whenever the name charlotte is mentioned in a conversation of any length saying only that i had known and loved deborah de montcleve in her youth in amsterdam , i managed to secure this lady 's trust , and learned more from her lips her name being jeanne angehque de roulet , she was at court during which time charlotte was at court , and they were presented to his majesty together jeanne de roulet , fearing nothing of the superstition in the mountains , avers that charlotte is of a beguiling and sweet disposition and could never be a witch she too lays it down to the ignorance of the mountamfolk that anyone could believe such a thing she has offered a mass for the repose of the soul of the unfortunate com ' sse as for antome , the lady 's impression of him is that he bears his illness with great fortitude , and indeed loves his wife and is not , all things taken into account , a poor companion to his wife however , the cause of their long journey home to deborah was that the young man may not now father any more children , so great is his weakness , and the one boy child now living , though very strong and healthy , may inherit the malady no one knows it was further stated that the father of antome , the master of the plantation , was in favor of the journey , so eager is he for male children through antome and so disapproving of his other sons , who are most dissolute and cohabit with their negro mistresses , rarely bothering to enter their father 's house this young woman by the way maintains a great devotion to charlotte and laments that charlotte did not take leave of her before sailing from marseille however , on account of the horrors in the cevennes , all is forgiven when asked why no one came to the defense of deborah in these recent proceedings , the woman had to confess that the comte de montcleve had himself never been to court , and neither had his mother , and that they had been huguenots at one time in their history , and that no one in paris knew the comtesse , that charlotte herself had been there only briefly , and that when the tale went round that deborah de montcleve was in fact the fatherless daughter of a scottish witch , a mere peasant by all accounts , outrage over her predicament turned to pity and finally to nothing at all 'ah , ' says the young woman , 'those mountains and those towns ' she herself is eager to return to paris , for what is there outside paris7 and who can hope to obtain favor or advancement if he or she is not in attendance upon the king7 that is all that i have time to write we sail within the hour stefan , must i make it more plain to you71 must see the girl , i must warn her against the spirit , and where , for the love of heaven , do you imagine , that this child , born eight months after deborah took leave of me in amsterdam , got her fair skin and her flaxen hair ?