Meanwhile, the money rolled in, and Madame Rachel, who had once told fortunes in vile public-houses at a penny a time, now sported a carriage and pair, and was frequently seen in the most fashionable restaurants. When strangers saw her they invariably inquired as to the identity of the vulgar creature, and the usual answer was, "She's the famous Madame Rachel, who is the greatest beauty specialist in the world. She has accomplished miracles, I am told." Thus was her fame extended.
But suddenly the number of patrons began to diminish perceptibly, greatly to the alarm of the swindler, whose great ambition was to provide such handsome dowries for her two daughters as would win for them titled husbands. She had already saved thousands of pounds, but she required much more for her purpose, and it was quite by accident she discovered how to improve upon her swindle.
A certain woman of thirty, plain and uncouth, came to her to be changed into a beauty. She had the money to pay for the process, and Madame Rachel took her in hand. Alice Maynard was one of those women who never attract men, and she was fully conscious of the fact. When she confided her griefs to the "sympathetic" sharper she was at once promised a husband with a title on the condition that she would reward her benefactress for her trouble. Miss Maynard cheerfully promised anything, and from time to time handed over various sums, ranging from ten guineas to a hundred.
When informed that the woman's savings were exhausted Madame Rachel introduced her to a man who called himself the "Hon. George Sylvester." He proposed at once, was accepted, and married the girl shortly afterwards. Then the "Hon. George," having borrowed fifty pounds from his bride, disappeared, and it was only when the weeping woman consulted a book on the peerage with a view to communicating with her husband's relatives that she discovered that there was no titled family of the name of Sylvester. Later a solicitor elicited the information for her that the man she had married was a bookmaker's tout, who had escorted other ladies to the altar, and for whom the police were searching.
Alice Maynard, broken-hearted and ashamed, retired to the country, to die within a few months, leaving Madame Rachel in peaceful possession of the seven hundred pounds she had had from her. Madame had paid the "Hon. George Sylvester" five pounds to pose as the son of a peer and marry the forlorn young lady, and, as she anticipated, it proved a cheap method for getting rid of her.
The success, from Madame Rachel's point of view, of this affair caused her to develop it on a larger scale, and very soon another victim presented herself for the purpose of being plucked. As this deluded creature seemed likely to yield thousands of pounds, the "beauty specialist" prepared to reap a rich harvest.
One evening a thin, spare, scraggy little woman with yellow hair, obviously dyed, painted face and eyebrows, and the affected giggle of a schoolgirl, called at the beauty shop in Bond Street. She introduced herself as Mrs. Borradaile, the widow of Colonel Borradaile, and she asked that she might be made beautiful for ever, because, although fifty, she had the heart of a child, and she wished to marry again, if possible.
Even Madame Rachel, with all her experience, had the greatest difficulty in preventing herself from laughing at this human caricature, but as Mrs. Borradaile made no secret of her strong financial position she entered seriously into negotiations. Her first question was about the amount the widow wished to spend, and the answer was that she did not want to pay more than a hundred pounds.
Madame Rachel pretended to be satisfied, and there and then she accepted ten pounds on account, a sum she had often before refused with scorn. But she knew that Mrs. Borradaile could be bled if properly treated, and she proved the correctness of this view by getting from her in the course of the first month four hundred guineas.
The widow was crazy to become beautiful, and, when chance enabled the swindler to get Mrs. Borradaile completely in her power, the rest was easy. The two women were discussing the treatment in Madame Rachel's private room when a maid entered with a card.