"Madame Rachel" has again given the town a scandal to
talk about. Mrs. Pearse, a daughter of Mario, the singer, and wife of Mr. Godfrey Pearse, of 40 Ebury Street, a lady of twenty- three, fancied some " wash " would do her complexion good, and bought some of Madame Rachel, whose real name is Leverson. She received a wash, which brought out a rash over her face, and. was then told that she was in danger of being disfigured for life. Under this fear she agreed to be" enamelled," being told of several great ladies who had gone through the process ; but a difficulty occurred about the money. Madame Rachel wanted 1,000 guineas, which was pronounced impossible, and she then dropped to 200 guineas. Even this was impossible, and Madame Rachel, after suggesting, Mrs. Pearse says, that she should use funds collected for her father—a suggestion indignantly rejected—con- sented to accept £50, for which amount Mrs. Pearse's jewels were deposited with her. Mrs. Pearse finding she could raise the money, sent for the jewels, which, however, had been pawned, and she then told her husband the story. Mr. Pearse, evidently a man of decision and courage, demanded the jewels, but was met with threats, and he at once prosecuted. There was no serious defence at all, except on the point whether Madame Rachel's tricks amounted to legal crimes ; the jury found a verdict against her, and Baron Huddleston, in a severe speech, sentenced her to five years' penal servitude. The most extraordinary feature in all these cases is that women, presumably of education, when alarmed about their complexions seem ready to believe anybody except a first-class doctor, and this apparently because the quacks charge them so heavily.
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