Lafayette was somewhat misanthropic, avoiding close relationships with anyone other than his dog Beauty. A pit bull given to him by the escape artist Harry Houdini, Beauty lived in luxury, enjoying her own suite of rooms and eating sumptuous five-course meals. A sign in Lafayette's London home made clear to visitors the importance of Beauty to her master:
Tragedy struck the very next day when Beauty died of a stroke. Lafayette was inconsolable.
Beauty's grave rests at the foot of the gravestone of her master.
So ended the life of one of the world's greatest illusionists. Whether he really foresaw his own death or whether it was just spectacular coincidence can never be known. What is without doubt is that in death The Great Lafayette pulled off one of the most