9
GIRLHOOD.
In December 1834, Rachel definitely left the school in the Rue Vaugirard. As the months went on, she showed less capacity for singing and more for declamation. Choron had hoped to develop a contralto voice, but hers exceeded the ordinary contralto compass. He determined, therefore, to persuade his friend Pagnon Saint Aulaire, who educated pupils for the stage independently of the Conservatoire, to take her into his class. Like Choron, Saint Aulaire recognised the girl's dramatic genius, and for four years devoted himself to the task of developing it. Not only did he teach her declamation, but he made her read the best French authors, and endeavoured to improve her style of expression in writing and speaking, which, as we have seen, was entirely uncultured. The rôles of Hermione, Iphigenia, and Marie Stuart, were imprinted by him in his pupil's memory, word by word, line by line, intonation by intonation. Master and pupil discussed and fought over every detail. She preferred to study the part of Dorinne in Tartuffe, Philaminte in Les Femmes Savantes, or Lisette in
