Unhappily, the authors of this story fell into contradictions which they could excuse only by throwing the blame on Satan, who, they said, was an unwilling witness, and a liar from the beginning.

In the midst of their conjuring, the Inquisition came down upon them.

It must be admitted that, if the Holy Office had reserved all its terrors for such cases, it would not now have been remembered as the most hateful judicature that was ever known among civilised men.

The subaltern impostors were thrown into dungeons.
But the chief criminal continued to be master of the King and of the kingdom.

Meanwhile, in the distempered mind of Charles one mania succeeded another.