queen. As the jeweler presented them, he slipped into the queen's hand a
letter, in the form of a petition, containing the following expression:

"I am happy to see your majesty in the possession of the
finest diamonds in Europe; and I entreat your majesty not to
forget me."

The queen read this strange note aloud, again and again exclaiming,
"What does the man mean? He must be insane!" She quietly lighted the
note at a wax taper which was standing near her, and burned it,
remarking that it was not worth keeping. Afterward, as she reflected
more upon the enigmatical nature of the communication, she deeply
regretted that she had not preserved the note. She pondered the matter
deeply and anxiously, and at last said to Madame Campan,

"The next time you see that man, I wish that you would tell him that I
have lost all taste for diamonds; that I never shall buy another as long
as I live; and that, if I had any money to spare, I should expend it in
purchasing lands to enlarge the grounds at St. Cloud."

A few days after this, Boehmer called upon Madame Campan at her
country house, extremely uneasy at not having received any answer from
the queen, and anxiously inquired if Madame Campan had no commission to
him from her majesty. Madame Campan faithfully repeated to him all that
the queen had requested her to say.

"But," rejoined Boehmer, "the answer to the letter I presented to her!
To whom must I apply for that?"

"To no one," was the reply; "her majesty burned your memorial, without
even comprehending its meaning."

"Ah, madame!" exclaimed the man, trembling with agitation, "that is
impossible; the queen knows that she has money to pay me."

"Money, M. Boehmer!" replied the lady, "your last accounts against the
queen were discharged long ago."

"And are you not in the secret?" he rejoined. "The queen owes me three
hundred thousand dollars, and I am ruined by her neglect to pay me."

"Three hundred thousand dollars!" exclaimed Madame Campan, in amazement;
"man, you have lost your senses! For what does she owe you that enormous
sum?"

"For the necklace, madame," replied the jeweler, now pale and trembling
with the apprehension that he had been deceived.

"The necklace again!" said Madame Campan. "How long is the queen to be
teased about that necklace? Did not you yourself tell me that you had
sold it at Constantinople?"

"The queen," added Boehmer, "requested me to make that reply to all
who i