ants (91). Shortly, the court jewelers, still trying to get rid of the necklace heard a rumor, devised by the countess herself, of the great friendship with Marie Antoinette. They approached Jeanne about the matter. Being a master of deception and intrigue, she rapidly devised a way to steal the necklace by using the Cardinal as a dupe. She said that in fact the Queen did wish to purchase the necklace but not wanting to deal with them directly she had commissioned the Cardinal de Rohan to do business with them. Soon afterwards, the Cardinal presented the jewelers with a contract which stated that the purchaser should remain anonymous and the necklace would be delivered on February 1st at the price of 1,600,000 francs. The payments would be in four installments, six months apart starting on August 1st. Bohmer and Bassange signed the document, greatly relieved that the necklace was finally sold (90).On the first day of February, the jewelers visited Rohans home to deliver the necklace. That very evening he went directly to the Countess de la Motte-Valois and handed her a black case containing the necklace, thinking that she would deliver it to her friend (Komroff 90).In the following months, Bohmer, Bassange and Rohan waited anxiously to see the Queen wearing her new jewelry, but she never did. The Cardinal found this strange. He also had cause for concern because, despite his pardon, the Queen continued to treat him coldly. August 1st was approaching and the jewelers would be expecting payment. The Countess, wrote a letter from the Queen demanding a 200,000 franc price reduction and a postponement of the first payment. The jewelers gave in to these conditions but on the recommendation of the Cardinal, wrote Maria Antoinette the letter which she then so carelessly burned (91).When the Queen summoned the jeweler after speaking with her lady-in waiting and heard her name so closely linked to such a crime, she demanded that th...
