The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-09-23
THE DIAMOND NECKLACE.

as II by mistake of destiny, into a family Ol
laborers. She had no dowery, no prospects,
no way of becoming known, loved and mar.
ried by a rich and distinguished man. and
she gave her hand to a petty clerk ofthe
bureau OF public instruction.
She was as wretched as a disinherited
princess. A woman's beauty and grace
take the place OF birth or family. Her ma
tive refinement, her instinct for elegance,
her faciie wit, are the seal of royalty, and
make a daughter OF the people equal with
the greatest lady.
She suffered constantly from the wrethed-
ness of her abode, the baroness OF it's walls,
the age and ugliness OF its furnishings. She
dreamed OF silent ante-chambers, hung
with Oriental stuffs and lighted with lofty
bronze lamps; of great drawing-rooms
draped with ancient silks and of coquettish
perfumed little parlors, for long and init
mate talks with close friends.
When she sat before the round table, COW
cred with a thrice-used cloth, opposite her
husband, who uncovered the sOup-tureen
with the delighted exclamation, 'Ah, good
soup! there is nothing better!' she thought
of delicate dinners, OF cleaning plate, OF
tapestries to people the walls with ancient
personages and strange birds in the depths
OF enchanted forests; she thought OF whis-
pered gallantlies received with a mysterious
smile, while the fair listener partook OF the
AOoJ III Il UNIV vi = "AI0s
She had no dress, no Jewels, nothing. and
that was all she cared for all she was
mad for. She had an irresistible longing
to charm, to be envied, admired, and
courted. She spent days in weeping with
regret and dispair.
One evening her husband came home with
proud look bearing a card OF invitation
to a ball at the residence OF the Minister OF
Public instruction.
Instead OF being delighted. as he had
hoped, she threw the invitation spitefully
to the floor murmuring:
What do you expect to do with it2'
why, my dear, l thought you would be
pleased. You never 90 out, and this will
be a fine opportunity: have been at
infinite pains to get it."
She looked at him with irritation, and
demanded OF him impatiently:
What do you expect me to put on my
back?"
He had not thought OF that. He STAN
mered:
why, the dress you wore at the theater.
1t ook very well to me-"
He stopped, stupefed, overwhelmed, at
seeing his wife in tears. Two great drops
rolled slowly from the cosners Of her eyes
to the corners OF her mouth.
"What is the matter, DEAR" he began.
But by desperate effort she overcame her
distress, and answered calmly as she wiped
her wet cheeks:
Nothing. Only 1 nave no dregs, and
consequently, l cannot 60 to this ball,
Give the card to some friend whose wife is
better fitted out than l." |,
He was in despair. He then tried once
more:
LET US see, Mathilde. How much would
a suitable dress cost; something simple, {
which would come in useful on other oc-
casions?" !
She reflected a few seconds, counting up the
sum-, taking also into the question, the I
amount which she could ask for without /
calling forth an immediate refusal from her {
economical husband.
At last she replied, hesitatingly: 7
II cannot tell exactly, but it seems to i
me that l could get along with about 400 S
~francs.' ]
He turned quite pale, forhe had just that
sum, intending to buy a gun and join some r
hunting parties the following simmer. He !
replied, however: u
VERY well. will give you 400 francs. , ,
But you must get a handsome dress
=
The day OF the ball drew near and {
Mathilde seemed sad and anxious. She !,
had not been like herself for three days. !
To her husbands inquiry as to what q
troubled her. she replied:
II have no jewels, not a single stone to 1
wear. / shall make a very mean appear I
snce. l had almost rather not 60 at ALL" {
But he exclaimed: i
How foolish you are! Go to your
friend, Nine. Forester, and ask her to lend s
you some jewels. You are quite intimate !
enough with her to do that" ,
The next day, accordingly, she told her 6
perplexity to her friend. /
Nine. Forester brought a large case
from her cabinet, and told Mathild to ,
take her choice.
She looked at bracelets, at a pearl neck c
lace, and a Venetian cross. She tried on q
the jewels before the mirror, and could not
make up her mind to give them up. She
kept asking: g
"Have you not something else'" :
Suddenly she discovered in a black satin /,
box, a magnificent chain Of diamonds, and :
her heart began to beat with immoderate a
desire. She seized / it with trembling hands. :
She clasped it around her throat, over her
high dress, and looked at herselfin ecstasy. :,
Then she asked, hesitatingly, full Of trouble; L
Can you lend me that. only that" G
"Why, yes; certainly \
She rushed to her friend, embraced her
p~assionateiy, then bore her treasure away. .
At the ball Mathilde was prettier than all t
the others, elegant, graceful, smiling and ?
intoxicated with pleasure. All the men I
looked at her, asked her name, and begged n
to be presented to her. She danced with
abandon, in the triumph OF her beauty, in
asort OF cloud OF happiness.
She left about 4 o'clock in the morning.
Her husband threw over her shoulders the
wraps he had brought, modest garments
OF everyday life, which assorted but poorly
with the elegance OF her ball toilet. She
felt this, and wished to escape without
being noticed by the other ladies who were
wrapping themselves in rich furs. Her I
husband tried to restrain her, but she was "
already rapidly descending the stairs. g.
When they came into the street no car a
riages were visible. They walked SILVER
ing toward the Seine. At last they found 81
on the wharf one of those old coupes: seen
only after ~nightfall in Paris. 1t brought "
them to their own door, and they
entered gloomily. He was thinking that
he must be at his desk at 10 o'clock.
She o the ~wrappings from her shoul
ders before her mirror, that she might see o
herself once more in her glory. Suddenly a
she gave a cry and turned to her husband a
in distraction. There was no necklace L
about her neck. u
They looked in the folds OF her dress and g
cloak, in her pockets, everywhere. They p
did not find it. r;
You are sure you had it when you left a
the balI?" he asked. es
"Yes; l had my hand on it in the vesti- 81
bule." IL
III you had dropped it on the street we ~
would have heard it fall. 1t must be in the ~
CO
"ies, that is most likely. Did you take .!
the number" u
"No; didn't you notice it," Ia
mo" tt
They looked at each other in consterna- p
ton and Leoisel began to dress. "
II will go over the whole distance we a
walked" said he, Ito see if l can find it," &
He went out. She sank into a chair and II
there in evening dress, without
FIRE, without strength to go to bed.
Her husband returned about Z o'clock.
He had found nothing.
He went out again, and she waited all bt
day in the same state OF terror before this X
terrible disaster.
Leoisel returned at night with a pale and TT
hollow face. He had found nothing. OF
"You must write to your friend said
he, 'that you have broken the clasp of the te
and have sent it to be repaired. b