The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-11

message and that it might be received fAvorably. The poor man was only too willing to write one of the most sub misslve and persuasive documents ever penned, and he was thrown into par oxysms of delight when 1t was an- swered by brief, but ,yeracious mes sage. Again the deliriously happy Car dinal wrote. and again he was made joyous by message in reply, and this went on until the deluded man had in dited over two hundred passionate epistles, the first of which were an- swered by messages communicated on- ly by the Queens faithful confidante, the Countess de la Motte, but later ones by notes written by the royal hand on gilt paper
 The correspondence gave the Cardt- nal to understand that the Queen was favorably disposed toward him, but prevented by espionage from showing her fondness. The letters also reveal ed that the poor Queen was terribly short of money-and to this delicate hint there was, of course. but one re- ply. The Cardinal dipped deeply into his own well-lined purse and sent sum after sum to the embarrassed Sover- eign Lady by her dear De la Motte Grateful acknowledgements upon the gilt note paper were his only reward. The Famous Interview. r It was soon made manifest to the Cardinal that the Queens heart was touched by his devotion, for. to his de- light, when at last he ventured to ask for a private interview, it was prom ised him. The Queen notified him to be in one of the gardens of the palace on a certain evening, and there, at the appointed time, he was, wn-n to nm came the faithful Countess de la Mot te with the welcome news that Marie Antoinette awaited him in the Horn beam Arbor, toward which the passion ate cleric betook himself with his long est strides.
 There. indeed. was the lady who TOT years had used him so cavalierly. That however the Cardinal forgot. Full of happiness, he fell on his knees before her. But the vision was short-lived enough, Before him the tall, white robed figure dropped a rose, whispered, You know what that means. ana fled.
 1t is hardly needful to say that the letters received by his trustful Emil hence never were written by Marie An toirette, but by an accomplice or Jeanne's husband, who was an adept at that sort of thing. The Cardlnais freely given louis were spent as freely by NJ. and Mime de la Motte. It was young woman, Gay d'Oliva, low char acter, but marvellously resembling the Queen on both face and figure. wno had been hired to personate the Queen in the farce arranged by the conspira- tors for the further hoodwinking of Cardinal de Rohan.
 It was expedient after this to have the good, easy man" somewhat furth- CT from the scene in consequence or which the Cardinals next missive from the Queen" warned him that, because of fresh complications at Court, he would better hurry back to the country, which he accordingly did, carrying with him the posy which was his only souvenir of the Interview.
 Where the Necklace Came In.
 Presently his cherished letters from the Queen became less frequent, and in disappointment the Cardinal de- manded the reason. Madame de Ia Motte explained that 1t might be well to cajole her royal mistress with some little trifie in the way of a present. say, for example, a diamond necklace! She added to her suggestion the com munication that Marie Antoine:te long ed above all things to possess the dia- mond necklace which Boehmer had not yet sold.
 It was about this time that the jeweller was made aware-by accident, of course-that the person most likely to be able to persuade Marie Antoinette to take the necklace off his hands Vas Madame de Ia Motte, and having ap- preached her, received the intimation that Cardinal de Rohan was of all '.;tn in the world the most likely to buy the necklace.
 It was then conveyed to the Car dinal that he could serve the Queen in no more acceptable way than by acting as surety for her in the purchase of the necklace which, It appeared, her Majesty desired to do on the install nent plan. So Cardinal and jeweller met and drew up an agreement that the price of the necklace should be 1900 livres; that the jewel should be delivered at once, and the first pay ment should be made at the end oi two months. Both parties signed the agreement. when the obliging Madame de la Motte was requested to lay 1t before the Queen, and it was returned countersigned, Bon, Marie Antoinette de France" a signature which tho Queen never would have employed. Neither of the dupes, however, noticed the discrepancy.
 The Consequences.
 So Boehmer finally ;larted with his necklace, which De Rohan carried to the home of the De la Mottes, and there delivered 1t. with great soemni- ty, to a tall officer wearing the Queens uniform. whom he was given to under stand was Marie Antoinettes most trusted servant, and who immediately disappeared. lowing low. This pre- tenGed servant was. of course. an oh- liging friend of M. le Comte'S. who al- so made a speciality of initiating royal chirography on gilt paper.
 The end of the two months brought to several persons a painful awaken ing and to the Court of France a scan dal that shook it to It's foundations. When the first payment on the neck lace was due, but not forthcoming, Boehmer went straight to Marie An toinette, who, of course. repudiated the whole transaction. Then bedlam broke loose. Nj. de Ia Motte and his male ac- complice had fled, the first to Eng land. the second to Switzerland. and were living luxuriously on the proceeds resulting from the sale of the gems composing the necklace, which had been broken up.
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