These preliminaries having been got through, Pere Lactance questioned
her in French for nearly two hours, her answers being in the same
language. Then he passed from questions to adjurations: on this, Duncan
came forward, and said a promise had been given that the superior’s
hands should be tied behind her back, in order that there might be no
room for suspicion of fraud, and that the moment had now arrived to keep
that promise. Pere Lactance admitted the justice of the demand, but said
as there were many present who had never seen the superior in
convulsions such as afflicted the possessed, it would be only fair that
she should be exorcised for their satisfaction before binding her.
Accordingly he began to repeat the form of exorcism, and the superior
was immediately attacked by frightful convulsions, which in a few
minutes produced complete exhaustion, so that she fell on her face to
the ground, and turning on her left arm and side, remained motionless
some instants, after which she uttered a low cry, followed by a groan.
The physicians approached her, and Duncan seeing her take away her hand
from her left side, seized her arm, and found that the tips of her
fingers were stained with blood. They then examined her clothing and
body, and found her dress, bodice, and chemise cut through in three
places, the cuts being less than an inch long. There were also three
scratches beneath the left breast, so slight as to be scarcely more than
skin deep, the middle one being a barleycorn in length; still, from all
three a sufficient quantity of blood had oozed to stain the chemise
above them.
This time the fraud was so glaring that even de Laubardemont exhibited
some signs of confusion because of the number and quality of the
spectators. He would not, however, allow the doctors to include in their
report their opinion as to the manner in which the wounds were
inflicted; but Grandier protested against this in a Statement of Facts,
which he drew up during the night, and which was distributed next day.
It was as follows:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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