For the gold
alone which was used in the setting she received forty thousand
francs; for one of the diamonds, which she sold in Paris, she
received fifty thousand francs; for another, thirty-six thousand.
The diamonds of uncommon size and immense worth she did not dare to
dispose of in Paris, and her husband was compelled to journey to
London to sell a portion of them there. On his return thence he was
able to buy for his wife the house in Bar-sur-Aube, for the sum
received in London was four hundred thousand francs in gold, in
addition to the pearls and the diamond medallion which he brought
his wife from London. And of all this luxury, this extravagance,
Cardinal de Rohan had naturally no suspicion. When he visited her,
where did the countess receive him? In a poorly-furnished attic-
chamber of the house hired by her. In simple, modest attire, She met
him there and told him with trembling voice that the rich countess
who lived in the two lower stories of the house had allowed her to
have this suite next to the roof gratis. But when danger approached,
and Lamotte began to fear that Bohmer and Bassenge, in claiming
their pay from the queen, would bring the history of the necklace to
the light, the countess came to the cardinal to pay her parting
respects, as she was going into the country to a friend to live in
the greatest privacy.
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