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CHAPTER XVIII.

THE NECKLACE AFFAIR.

THIS affair is so well known that to give a detailed account of it is, I think, useless. I will therefore limit myself to a brief summary of the facts which caused the arrest of the Cardinal de Rohan, M. de Cagliostro, M. Retaux de Villette, and Mdlle. Oliva, and brought Madame Jeanne de Valois in contact with the executioner.

One day Madame de Boulainvilliers, wife of the Provost of Paris, met in a village in Burgundy a little girl, who held out her hand, saying: 'My beautiful lady, for the love of God, give something to the descendant of the former Kings of France.'

These words surprised Mdme. de Boulainvilliers; she asked the child to explain her singular way of begging. The curate of the village, who was passing by, told madame that the child said the truth, and that she was the lineal descendant of Henri de Saint-Rémy, bastard of Henry II. and of Nicole de Savigny.

Madame de Boulainvilliers also heard that the child was an orphan, and that she lived on public charity. She took her to Paris; her genealogy was examined,

and it was discovered that the little Jeanne de Valois, her brother, and her sister were really scions of the old royal stock. A petition was presented to the Queen and to M. de Maurepas by the Duke de BrancasCériste. Pensions were granted to the three children. The boy entered the navy; he became a lieutenant, and died under the name of Baron de Saint-Rémy de Valois.

In 1780 Jeanne de Valois married a member of Monsieur's private guard, Comte de la Motte. This officer was poor; his wife's portion consisted of a small pension; and this was insufficient for the ambition of La Motte and his wife. Madame de la Motte was considered to be a very beautiful woman; she was witty and attractive, and expressed herself with elegance and facility. She became acquainted with the Cardinal de Rohan, who lent her money and protected her. It is difficult to say whether the prelate's generosity was quite disinterested; but there is reason to believe that it was not, especially as he lent Madame de la Motte, without any plausible reason, a sum amounting to one hundred and twenty thousand livres, previous to the necklace affair. Howbeit Madame de la Motte enjoyed the intimacy of the fastidious prelate, and discovered his secret aspirations. She found out that his desire was to have over the Queen, who, it was said, exercised a sovereign domination over her husband, the same influence as Cardinal Mazarin had had with Anne d'Autriche. She flattered his hobby, and used it as the basis of her future fortunes.

The almost stupid simplicity through which M. de

Rohan fell a victim to the snare of this wily woman will afford an idea of the prelate's intellectual calibre. Mdme. de la Motte persuaded the Cardinal that she was on terms of intimacy with the Queen; that, conscious as she was of the Cardinal's eminent qualities, she had so often spoken of him to her Majesty that the Cardinal was on his way to favour; that Marie Antoinette authorised him to send her the justification of his supposed blunders during his embassy in Austria; that she further wished to have with M. de Rohan a correspondence which was to remain secret until she could openly manifest her preference for him; that Madame de la Motte was to be the bearer of this correspondence, the result of which must infallibly lead the Cardinal to the highest favour and influence.

Was Madame de la Motte at all connected with the Queen? Most historians deny the fact. Anyhow her invention was successful. The Cardinal believed her and was quite enthusiastic; he richly rewarded her for the forged letters which she gave him as coming from the Queen; and Madame de la Motte was doubtless encouraged by his simplicity.

A magnificent necklace had been ordered by Louis XV. of MM. Boemer and Bossange, the crown jewellers. It was made for Madame du Barry. The King died before it was finished; his favourite mistress was exiled by the new monarch, and the beautiful jewel remained in the hands of the makers. They offered it to the Queen; but the price, which amounted to 1,800,000 livres, was thought too high. Madame de la Motte saw the necklace. The jewellers told her they were much

embarrassed by the Queen's refusal to purchase it; they were impeded in their trade by such a considerable outlay of money, and they offered to make a rich present to whoever could find a buyer. The Countess thought that the Queen would be only too glad to get the necklace if she had not to pay for it; and she inferred that Marie Antoinette could not but feel very grateful to the person who would get it for her. Her husband, M. de la Motte, entered into the plot. They obtained the support of the Comte de Cagliostro, who exercised a powerful influence over M. de Rohan; and at length Madame de la Motte persuaded the Cardinal that the Queen wished to purchase the necklace with her own. money; that, as a token of good feeling towards the Cardinal, she requested him to buy the jewel in her name ; and that she would send him a receipt written and signed with her own hand. This document was handed to M. de Rohan by Madame de la Motte; it was dated from Trianon, and signed 'Marie Antoinette de France.' How the Cardinal could fail to discover the forgery when he saw this signature, it is difficult to say. The Queen, like all the princesses who had preceded her on the throne, signed her Christian name only, and the words 'de France,' due to the imagination of the forger (Retaux de Villette) were a sufficient indication of the origin of the document.

But he had no suspicion; and really believing that he was acting in accordance with the wishes of his sovereign, and thinking that the highest favour would be accorded to him for his intervention, he sent for the jewellers, and

showed them the Queen's receipt. They accepted the arrangements he proposed, and on February I the casket was handed to Madame de la Motte at Versailles; and it was remitted by her, in the Cardinal's presence, to a socalled valet-de-chambre of the royal household, who was no other than the forger, Retaux de Villette. This bold fraud was brought to a conclusion by the departure for England of M. de la Motte with the rich booty.

After thus gaining possession of the necklace, Madame de la Motte was not satisfied; she hoped to compromise the Queen and the Cardinal still more. She therefore set to work again. Retaux de Villette wrote other letters, by which the Queen informed M. de Rohan that, being unable to give him public marks of her esteem, she wished to see him between eleven and midnight in the shrubs of Versailles. Madame de la Motte had met a girl of the name of Oliva, whose resemblance to Marie Antoinette had struck her, and who acted the part of the Queen. The meeting took place in the Baths of Apollo. Mdlle. Oliva's performance was admirable; she gave a rose to the Cardinal, who was choking with emotion, and then sent him away in a state of high exultation.

But the date fixed for the payment of the first instalment of the price of the necklace was drawing near, and the jewellers were somewhat uneasy. They tried to ascertain whether the necklace was in the Queen's possession; but they could not obtain an audience, and they soon discovered that they were the victims of a robbery. In their indignation they made known the

VOL. I.