“A theft! well, speak out.”
“Sire, your majesty knows the diamond necklace?”
“M. Bœhmer’s, which the queen refused?”
“Precisely, sire,” said M. de Breteuil; and ignorant of all the mischief he was about to do, he continued, “and this necklace has been stolen.”
“Ah! so much the worse. But diamonds are very easy to trace.”
“But, sire, this is not an ordinary theft; it is pretended that the queen has kept the necklace.”
“Why, she refused it in my presence.”
“Sire, I did not use the right word; the calumnies are too gross.”
“Ah!” said the king with a smile, “I suppose they say now that the queen has stolen the necklace.”
“Sire,” replied M. Breteuil, “they say that the queen recommenced the negotiation for the purchase privately, and that the jewelers hold a paper signed by her, acknowledging that she kept it. I need not tell your majesty how much I despise all such scandalous falsehoods.”