"Yes, monseigneur."
"Well, what does the queen say about it?"
"She sent me to you."
"She is very amiable; but what can I do, my poor fellows?"
"You can tell us, monseigneur, what has been done with it."
"I?"
"Doubtless."
"Do you think I stole the necklace from the queen?"
"It is not the queen from whom it was stolen."
"Mon Dieu! from whom, then?"
"The queen denies having had it in her possession."
"How! she denies it? But I thought you had an acknowledgment from her."
"She says it is a forged one."
"Decidedly, you are mad!" cried the cardinal.
"We simply speak the truth."
"Then she denied it because some one was there."
"No, monseigneur. And this is not all: not only does the queen deny her own acknowledgment, but she produced a receipt from us, purporting that we had received back the necklace."
"A receipt from you?"
"Which also is a forgery, M. le Cardinal--you know it."
"A forgery, and I know it!"
"a.s.suredly, for you came to confirm what Madame de la Motte had said; and you knew that we had sold the necklace to the queen."
"Come," said the cardinal, "this seems a serious affair. This is what I did: first, I bought the necklace of you for her majesty, and paid you 100,000 francs."
"True, monseigneur."
"Afterwards you told me that the queen had acknowledged the debt in writing, and fixed the periods of payment."
"We said so. Will your eminence look at this signature?"
He looked at it, and said directly, ""Marie Antoinette of France:" you have been deceived, gentlemen; this is not her signature; she is of the House of Austria."
"Then," cried the jewelers, "Madame de la Motte must know the forger and the robber."
The cardinal appeared struck with this. He acted like the queen; he rang, and said, "Send for Madame de la Motte." His servants went after Jeanne"s carriage, which had not long left the hotel.
M. Boehmer continued, "But where is the necklace?"
"How can I tell?" cried the cardinal; "I gave it to the queen. I know no more."
"We must have our necklace, or our money," cried the jewelers.
"Gentlemen, this is not my business."
"It is Madame de la Motte," cried they in despair, "who has ruined us."
"I forbid you to accuse her here."
"Some one must be guilty; some one wrote the forged papers."
"Was it I?" asked M. de Rohan, haughtily.
"Monseigneur, we do not wish to say so."
"Well, who then?"
"Monseigneur, we desire an explanation."
"Wait till I have one myself."
"But, monseigneur, what are we to say to the queen? For she accused us at first."
"What does she say now?"
"She says that either you or Madame de la Motte has the necklace, for she has not."
"Well," replied the cardinal, pale with rage and shame, "go and tell her--no, tell her nothing; there is scandal enough. But to-morrow I officiate at the chapel at Versailles: when I approach the queen, come to us; I will ask her again if she has the necklace, and you shall hear what she replies; if she denies it before me, then, gentlemen, I am a Rohan, and will pay." And with these words, p.r.o.nounced with an indescribable dignity, he dismissed them.
CHAPTER LXXIV.
LOVE AND DIPLOMACY.
The next morning, about ten o"clock, a carriage bearing the arms of M.
de Breteuil entered Versailles. Our readers will not have forgotten that this gentleman was a personal enemy of M. de Rohan, and had long been on the watch for an opportunity of injuring him. He now requested an audience from the king, and was admitted.
"It is a beautiful day," said Louis to his minister; "there is not a cloud in the sky."