The Count of Gabalis

...foresaw that I would have to endure several spiritual discourses, and that the devil who possessed him was a great moralist and preacher.

The Count left me the entire night to devote myself to prayer, and at the break of the following day, he wrote me a few lines saying he would come to me around eight o’clock and, if it pleased me, would like to take a carriage ride with me. I awaited him; he arrived, and after exchanging mutual pleasantries, he requested that I lead him to a place where we could be free and no one could interrupt our conversation. I suggested Rueil original: "Rüel"; referring to Rueil-Malmaison, a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, known for its pleasant and secluded atmosphere., which seemed to me pleasant and solitary enough.

He agreed to this; we climbed into the carriage, and along the way, I observed my new teacher. Never have I found such great contentment in any man as his every manner displayed; his spirit was as calm and cheerful as one would never expect from a practitioner of the black arts: Original German "Schwarzkünstler," referring here to a necromancer or sorcerer who deals in forbidden occult knowledge.; his face was that of a man whose conscience is spotless. I was