"I am glad you don't believe it," she said, "because I should not like
to tell you what I see if you did; before morning you will know whether
it is all the foolishness you think it."
He apologized. "I'm immensely interested," he said, "but I didn't know
any one regarded this sort of thing seriously. So far as you've gone
you've hit me off very well, and I don't mind telling you that I am a
physician, and I'm just back from the far East."
"Thank you," she said gravely. "Have you ever heard that if a man has
made love to a girl under the constellation of Cassiopeia he should not
marry until he has also made love under the Southern Cross? There is a
conjunction of malign planets at this time; they threaten your happiness
through love, through hate, through accident. If you have become
interested in any person born under Saturn, that is between the
twenty-first of December and the twentieth of January, particularly
about the seventh of January, you should certainly take time to consider
carefully, for there is nothing but wretchedness and misunderstanding in
such an alliance; there may be much that is attractive on the surface,
but you will find a complete lack of harmony, of similarity of tastes
and ambition that would leave you forever alone, and there is much
selfishness and stubborness of will. Saturn and Scorpio are not good
marital allies." He gave her a searching glance, for the seventh of
January was Leonora's birthday, but her face was quite inscrutable.
"There is something here I do not understand; this accident does not
happen to you, nor to any one near you, yet it has a lasting and a
terrible effect upon your life----" she shuddered and pushed the charts
away from her. "I will not tell you any more," she said, "but I wonder
whether you would do me the favor of giving me your name and address. I
want to cast your horoscope carefully, and I will send you the chart."
He thanked her and wrote down his name as requested, somewhat impressed
in spite of himself. As he rose to go she stood also and lifted her hand
as if she would have drawn him back, then let it drop heavily. If it was
a piece of acting, he told himself it was perfectly done. "Do be careful
for the next twenty-four hours," she said, "and beware of the evil that
may come out of good."
That last Delphic utterance stamped the whole affair as a clever piece
of mind-reading, guesswork and acting, and, somewhat annoyed that he
should have been hoaxed even for a moment, Jack withdrew.
The hour was growing late and the crowd dispersing when they turned
from the fortune-telling booths and entered the ballroom, and presently
Jack said to his sister, "There she is; the one in the green gown."
"Yes, that is Silvia Holland. What a superb dancer, and how democratic!
The man she is dancing with is at the head of one of the labor
organizations that is championing woman's suffrage. Come, Jack, let us
have a whirl, as of old, and I will then bring your 'Mystery' over to
the box."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account