First, my apologies if this should be in the mechanics forum - I was not quite sure.

My fiancée has an old Lotus Excelle mixte which has generally seen better days, but the frame is in pretty good shape. So I am embarking on a project of rebuilding it. Part of this is going to involve a modern 9-speed drivetrain. (We live in a hilly place - I want to put a lot of range on the cassette, so 9 speeds makes a lot of sense.)

To get to the point, the bike currently has mostly Shimano 600 Arabesque components, and it makes me a little grumpy that nothing I might replace these parts with will be nearly as cool looking. So, is there any chance that the rear derailleur has enough travel to accommodate a 9-speed cassette?

PS - If it is important, this is going to need index shifters of some form - my fiancee and friction shifters do not get along. (And frankly, friction shifters are really only for a certain obsessive group of people who I respect greatly, but am not one of.)