ABSTRACT

At the time when the Count was being plagued by moneylenders and merchants at Naphtali Rokeah’s guest house, Rabnicki, his steward, sat at his ease and enjoyed a glass of sherry and his beautiful daughter sat in a comer of the establishment chatting with two girls of her own age, the daughters of a fellow who had come to greet her father. We have no idea what the girls spoke about, nor should we try to discover what it was, except that we can be sure that it focused on the constantly changing fashions. These interested them so much that they forgot the world around them, they paid no attention to their parents and did not overhear what they said to each other. Even when the door opened and David, the agent, entered, calling a greeting in a loud voice, the girls neither heard nor saw what was going on in the establishment.