Page:Rachel (1887 Nina H. Kennard).djvu/63

 Mademoiselle Rachel made a graceful curtsey, and answered with downcast eyes, "Monseigneur, je crois!"

Nothing was talked of next day but the renunciation of the faith of her fathers which it was averred the young Jewess had made.

Madame Lenormand, in her Mémoires de Madame Recamier, describes Rachel as she was at this time:—

Rachel's private life at this time was in strange contrast to the brilliancy of her success. The Félix family were living at No. 27, Rue Traversière Saint Honoré, since named Rue de la Fontaine Molière. Nothing could be imagined more sordid than all the surroundings. A dining-room containing a table and a few chairs; the bed-room of the father and mother; and a kitchen, the superintendence of which fell to Rachel's share, she being the one who had always undertaken the cooking of the establishment. From the kitchen a steep staircase led to an attic in which were three small beds. In one of these slept Rebecca and Lia, in the other RaphäelRaphaël [sic], and in the third Rachel with her youngest sister Dinah, then three years old. When not employed in the preparation of the family meals, or in the education of her sister, the young girl spent