The queen started.
“No money!” stammered she.
“No, madame; an unexpected creditor claimed this money from him. It was a debt of honor, and he paid it.”
“The whole 500,000 francs?
“Yes, madame.”
“And he has no more?”
“No, madame, he told me this an hour and a half ago, and confessed to me that he had no other resources.”
The queen leaned her head on her hands; then, after a few moments’ reflection, she said:
“This, countess, is a terrible lesson for me, and a punishment for having done anything, great or small, without the king’s knowledge. It was a folly; I had no need of this necklace.”
“True, madame; but if the queen consulted only her absolute wants——”