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DIAMONDS IN FASHION: I
member
of a ring that included not only her husband but two Sicilian impostors
named Villette and Giuseppe Bal-samo, the latter being generally known
by his assumed name of Count Alessandro di Cagliostro. Di Cagliostro,
curiously enough, seemed to have some entree into polite society, once
or twice even having been invited to a ball at Versailles.
All
these things Jeweler Bohmer did not know. Nor did he know that the
woman de la Motte concocted with her husband and other members of her
ring a daring scheme by which they intended to outwit Jeweler Bohmer,
the Prince Cardinal de Rohan, and the queen, Marie Antoinette, by
obtaining not only the price of the diamond necklace but the necklace
itself. So armed with the knowledge of the queen's desire for the
necklace and de Rohan's desire for the queen's favor, Mme de la Motte
proceeded to carry out the daring plan.
She
informed the prince cardinal of the queen's real longing for the jewel.
She whispered that if he were to loan the queen enough money to enable
her to purchase it, assuring her she could repay it at her leisure, it
would mean for de Rohan the restoration of his high standing in French
royalty. He agreed with her. But how was the queen to be approached?
That was easy, said de la Motte. Did not her friend, the Count di
Cagliostro, enjoy favor with those close to the queen? She even laid
out the plan: Through the assistance of Count di Cagliostro, the prince
cardinal would be enabled to have a surreptitious interview with the
queen concerning the necklace as well as his own frankly selfish
interest in the matter.
The
"interview" took place. The character employed by the ring to
impersonate Marie Antoinette was what dramatic critics call today a
masterpiece of casting. Di Ca-
(175)
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