"Yes, sire," answered the cardinal.

"What have you done with them? Answer me, I command you."

"Sire," said the cardinal, after a pause, "I supposed that they were
given to the queen."

"Who intrusted you with this commission?"

"Sire, a lady named Countess Lamotte-Valois. She gave me a letter
from her majesty, and I believed that I should be doing the queen a
favor if I should undertake the care of the commission which the
queen had the grace to intrust to me."

"I!" cried the queen, with an expression of intense scorn, "should I
intrust you with a commission in my behalf? I, who for eight years
have never deigned to bestow a word upon you? And I should employ
such a person as you, a beggar of places?"

"I see plainly," cried the cardinal, "I see plainly that some one
has deceived you grievously about me. I will pay for the necklace.
The earnest wish to please your majesty has blinded your eyes
regarding me. I have planned no deception, and am now bitterly
undeceived. But I will pay for the necklace."

"And you suppose that that ends all!" said the queen, with a burst
of anger. "You think that, with a pitiful paying for the brilliants,
you can atone for the disgrace which you have brought upon your
queen? No, no, sir; I desire a rigid investigation. I insist upon it