Page:Rachel (1887 Nina H. Kennard).djvu/232

 She wrote to a friend:—

Then comes the last letter written before her departure. It is addressed to Augustine Brohan, whom, we may imagine, touched by a temporary penitence for the many hard things she had said about Rachel during the days of comradeship at the Théâtre Français, had written a letter expressing sympathy with her rival in her present distress:—"Patience and resignation have become my motto. I am most grateful, dear Mademoiselle Brohan, for your amiable interest; but I am afraid God alone can help me now! I am leaving directly for the South. I hope the warmth and sunshine will calm my suffering."

Shortly after, she left for Le Cannet, where A. L. Sardou, the father of the famous dramatist, had offered her his villa The morning of her departure she ex-