Chapter 31
How . . . how did you know?” Laurent asked, looking stunned.
Sharyn waved in the direction of the van outside. “You shared a detailed brief on Saint-Germain. And I fear some of your bias showed, which helped me make this leap.”
“What do you mean?”
“Back at the Tower of London, when Sir Kelly told us about Saint-Germain, he stuck to the factual versus fanciful. As did you. Most of what you gave us pertained to Saint-Germain’s scientific pursuits, concentrating along the lines of your own archaeological study, the subject of arcane knowledge lost in the past.”
“Still, you made quite the leap to reach an answer that had baffled the Gardiens for decades.”
Sharyn shrugged. “While you included a long list of scientists, physicists, mathematicians, and doctors whom Saint-Germain had consulted, I skimmed through most of them. I concentrated on the section of Saint-Germain’s dossier that pertained to his study of astronomy.
” She pointed to the shining orb. “If there was a clue to the book’s key, it had to lie in that pursuit. ”
Sharyn pictured the tiny astrological symbols trapped within the crystal.
“I see,” Laurent said.
“Again, even in this regard, I think you inadvertently showed your hand by including a large volume of information on one particular astronomist, someone who was also a well-respected physician of his time.”
Duncan leaned closer. He had spent little time reading the supplied pages, drowsing instead, clearly exhausted from their night together. “Who are you talking about?”
“Franz Anton Mesmer,” she answered. “A German physician who spent time in Vienna and Paris and gained the attention of Saint-Germain. The two spent considerable time in each other’s company, pursuing an unusual angle of study: how the movements of the sun and moon affected the human body.
Mesmer believed there were unseen gravitational forces that could shift the energies of a body. ”
“What he dubbed animal magnetism,” Laurent explained. “Later known as mesmerism.”
“Sounds more like astrology,” Archie scoffed.
“Do not be too dismissive of Mesmer’s claims,” Laurent warned. “His belief in a flowing process through our bodies that can be influenced by outside energies is similar to qi of traditional Chinese medicine.”
“Or like Qigong practices,” Tag added, drawing on his knowledge of alternative forms of healing. “Which treats illnesses as blockages in a body’s flow.”
Sharyn nodded. “It was this pursuit that interested Saint-Germain. There is an account in Laurent’s papers from 1774.
Saint-Germain attended Mesmer’s treatment of a woman.
Someone suffering from what sounded like schizophrenia.
The doctor gave the patient a slurry containing iron, then attached magnets to specific points on her body and shifted them around.
Within hours, her delirium cleared and her symptoms disappeared. ”
Duncan stared down at the crystal orb. “And that’s why you thought magnetism might be the key?”
“If Saint-Germain believed the movement of the heavens and unseen forces was vital to revealing the mysteries of the world, then, knowing his fascination with Mesmer, it was not difficult to assume magnetism might be involved. In fact, I wager there must be iron fused into those gold-and-silver symbols.”
“Very astute, Ms. Karr. Clearly, your professor chose well in picking you to be the Thirteenth Keeper.”
Laurent opened the small leather box, which contained two dark sticks that had to be magnets. The container appeared lead-lined to keep its energies from affecting the case’s computer. He removed the rods and shifted the book closer.
“Even with such insight,” the Frenchman attested, “it took some effort to learn how to use the magnets as a key to this crystalline lock. Let me show you what was eventually determined.”
He positioned the end of each magnet to the top and bottom of the orb—its north and south poles. The orb shivered in its cradled socket, spun slightly, then aligned itself to the magnetic field.
Sharyn imagined that the constellations inside now mirrored their correct positions in the sky, matching some season or another.
They all leaned closer, but nothing happened.
“Did we break it?” Archie muttered.
“No. We must let time pass. Specifically, the turning of a year.”
With great care, Laurent slowly rotated the two dark rods, bringing north to south, then around again, rotating the orb one full turn.
“We believe this represents the journey outward and back again, of venturing forth to grow and returning to share what was learned.”
As he completed the circle, an audible click sounded as the energies of the magnet and the alchemy of the orb stirred something deeper inside the copper tin that cradled the crystal. Laurent lifted the tiny box with its orb, parting the two metal bands that had clasped the book closed.
He stared at their group. “Welcome to the true mysteries of Saint-Germain.”