Marie-Anne Lenormand had adopted a regular ceremony for all those who consulted her. An old servant dressed in black showed the consultant into the antechamber, saying, “Mademoiselle is busy, please wait.” This dilatory process, in use among doctors and lawyers, is to persuade the client that he or she is but one unit of a long queue. After ten minutes, the old servant led you into an oblong study at the end of which the priestess sat, her brow shaded by a turban.

She next gave her the description of her own character, as well as that of her husband, both of which were so exactly depicted, particularly that of the Duke, that she actually discovered traits in each which had previously escaped her own observation, and now appeared very evident to herself