Stephenson:Neal:Quicksilver:181:In the House of Monsieur Le Febure (Neal Stephenson)

From the Quicksilver Metaweb.

It is well attested that Newton devoted a lot of time to Alchemy and met frequently with fellow-Alchemists. The details are quite obscure; that is, there's really no telling whom he met with and when. Here I am building a story that is fictitious but not too implausible. There was a Monsieur Lefebure (spellings vary) and there were many Alchemists at the court of Charles II, including the King himself. Here I am positing that a young Newton might have been drawn into such circles.