her accustomed ease:

"Not at all, monsieur. The legend of that dutiful son interested me very
much, and I am pleased to know that my necklace had such a brilliant
destiny. But do you not think that the son of that woman, that
Henriette, was the victim of hereditary influence in the choice of his
vocation?"

He shuddered, feeling the point, and replied:

"I am sure of it; and, moreover, his natural tendency to crime must have
been very strong or he would have been discouraged."

"Why so?"

"Because, as you must know, the majority of the diamonds were false. The
only genuine stones were the few purchased from the English jeweler, the
others having been sold, one by one, to meet the cruel necessities of
life."

"It was still the Queen's Necklace, monsieur," replied the countess,
haughtily, "and that is something that he, Henriette's son, could not
appreciate."

"He was able to appreciate, madame, that, whether true or false,
the necklace was nothing more that an object of parade, an emblem of
senseless pride."

The count made a threatening gesture, but his wife stopped him.

"Monsieur," she said, "if the man to whom you allude has the slightest
sense of honor---"

She stopped, intimidated by Floriani's cool manner.

"If that man has the slightest sense of honor," he repeated.

She felt that she would not gain anything by speaking to him in that
manner, and in spite of her anger and indignation, trembling as she was
from humiliated pride, she said to him, almost politely:

"Monsieur, the legend says that Retaux de Villette, when in possession
of the Queen's Necklace, did not disfigure the mounting. He understood
that the diamonds were simply the ornament, the accessory, and that
the mounting was the essential work, the creation of the artist, and
he respected it accordingly. Do you think that this man had the same
feeling?"

"I have no doubt that the mounting still exists. The child respected
it."

"Well, monsieur, if you should happen to meet him, will you tell him
that he unjustly keeps possession of a relic that is the property and
pride of a certain family, and that, although the stones have
been removed, the Queen's necklace still belongs to the house of
Dreux-Soubise. It belongs to us as much as our name or our honor."

The chevalier replied, simply:

"I shall tell him, madame."

He bowed to her, saluted the count and the other guests, and departed.

* * * * *

Four days later, the counte