Father Jerome had been very mild with Nina, but his mildness did not produce any corresponding feelings of gentleness in the breasts of Nina’s relatives in the Windberg-gasse. Indeed, it had the contrary effect of instigating¹ Madame Zamenoy and Lotta Luxa to new exertions². Nina, in her triumph, could not restrain herself from telling Souchey that Father Jerome did not by any means think so badly of her as did the others; and Souchey, partly in defence of Nina, and partly in quest of further sound information on the knotty³ religious difficulty involved, repeated it all to Lotta. Among them they succeeded in cutting Souchey’s ground from under him as far as any defence of Nina was concerned, and they succeeded also in solving his religious doubts. Poor Souchey was at last convinced that the best service he could tender to his mistress was to save her from marrying the Jew, let the means by which this was to be done be, almost, what they might.

As the result of this teaching, Souchey went late one afternoon to the Jews’ quarter. He did not go thither⁴ direct from the house in the Kleinseite, but from Madame Zamenoy’s abode⁵, where he had again dined previously⁶ in Lotta’s presence. Madame Zamenoy herself had condescended⁷ to enlighten his mind on the subject of Nina’s peril⁸, and had gone so far as to invite him to hear a few words on the subject from a priest on that side of the water. Souchey had only heard Nina’s report of what Father Jerome had said, but he was listening with his own ears while the other priest declared his opinion that things would go very badly with any Christian⁹ girl who might marry a Jew. This sufficed for him; and then — having been so far enlightened by Madame Zamenoy herself — he accepted a little commission, which took him to the Jew’s house. Lotta had had much difficulty in arranging this; for Souchey was not open to a

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