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 contempt with which her nationality was treated had made on her.

We can imagine the tone of voice with which Rachel uttered the words "J'ai vu."

And the King answers—

Alfred de Musset took the fragment to her in the summer of 1839. She was apparently delighted with it, and recited it several times to small circles of intimate friends. She did not urge the poet, however, to complete his work, but seemed bent rather on the production of Polyeucte and Phèdre. Time passed. Alfred was pressed by the Revue des Deux Mondes for more work, and, being in want of money, he put away the MS. of La Servante du Roi and directed his energies to the completion of some short tales, to meet his most immediate debts. Enthusiasm on both sides cooled. The story told in Paris at the time was that Alfred de Musset, being invited to supper by Rachel to discuss some of the details of the piece, went to the Café de la Régence beforehand to play a game of