He required Gilles to sign with blood a deed binding him to give the Devil all the Devil asked of him "except his life and soul," but, although to aid the conjurements Gilles consented to have the Office of the Damned sung in his chapel on All Saints' Day, Satan did not appear.
The Marshal was beginning to doubt the powers of his magicians, when the outcome of a new endeavor convinced him that frequently the Devil does appear.
An evocator whose name has been lost held a seance with Gilles and de Sille in a chamber at Tiffauges.
On the ground he traces a great circle and commands his two companions to step inside it.

Sille refuses.

Gripped by a terror which he cannot explain, he begins to tremble all over.

He goes to the window, opens it, and stands ready for flight, murmuring exorcisms under his breath.
Gilles, bolder, stands in the middle of the circle, but at the first conjurgations he too trembles and tries to make the sign of the cross.
The sorcerer orders him not to budge.

At one moment he feels something seize him by the neck.