Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-09-06
TIE PRINCESS DIAMOND NECKLACE.


One evening when NAPOLEON |. was in
all his glOr!. t.ere " - II grand gala pro
ductlOn ut the Grand opera How many
reigninC kings and princes occupied the
boxes and balconies, it is impossible for
me to estimate; the very seats usually OC-
Cupied by the claqueurs were filled with
mob emen.
The Princess Borghese, the beautiful
and accomp lished Pauline, sparkled and
shoue in her box, eClipsiny all around he:
by the splendUr of her loveline>s, as the
sun does its satellites by the br.lliancy OF
its rays. On Der neck she wore a neck
lace, the diamOlds and massive pearls of
which, intertwincd and blendid witt
transcendent art, still further enhanced
her Incompatible briIliancy. When she
entered her box there was a murmuT Of
general admiration.
The imperial box opened in its turn, and
the master of the world appeared, saiuted
by these kings and princess with for
midable cry of "Nive L Empereur" 1t was
generally remarked that the empress
seemed unable to take her eyes off her sis
'cr-in-law, and appeared 10 be fa-cl mated.
lazZ!ed, like the other occupants Of the
vast auditorium, with the marvellous bril-
hanCy of the necklace suddenly the box
of the Princess BOrghese opened, and II
young major presented himself, wearing
the brilliant blue and silver uniform OF
the aide e-de-camps of the emporer's staff.
Her majesty the empress" said he, bow
ing low, "admires the wonderful necklace
worn by your imperial highness, and has
expressed the hvelie,t desire To examine it
closer" The beautiful Pauline made a
gi,y ~, Of hnr laf9 e hnpnr NEb n n
clasped and detached the necklace from
the princess neck and placed it in the
hands of the staff officer The latter
bowed gravely and disappeared. This ep
isOde occurred toward tine middle of the
second act. The eutr' acte came and
passed away The thiri act concluded in
its turn. The fourth act came and passed,
and the entertainment concluded, yet still
the necklace was not returned.
The Princess Borghcse took this for a
characteristic freak of Marie LOuiSe's.
{ Next day, however she asked if the neck
lace had please the empress, and whether
she had IOund the setting and arrange
ment of the jewels to her taste. The EN-
press was thunderstruck, for she had not
seen it and had sent no officer for it as de-
sCribed. Napoleon deigned TO mix him
self up in the affair. He had the names
of all the staff officers on duty the preced-
ing evening ascertained. And then one
by one, under some pretext or other, he
had them called before his sister. She
did not recognize one of them They sum
moned the prince of Otranto, minister OF
police. A long counsel was held. Every
thing possible was done, but in vain. The
unfortunate Fouche was ready to tear hi,
ha + in despair. He had set his keenest
bloodhounds at work His best detectives
were literally worn 81 their legs, without
result. As to their imperial master. he
was literally bubhling over with rage and
was almost ON the point Of thrashing his
chief Of police. But neither the necklace
(Which was worth nearly million), nor
the audacious thief was ever seen again
san Francisco News Letter.