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Matilda Betham-Edwards - East of Paris
Bar-sur-Aube is connected with another notoriety, the infamous Madame de la Motte, the
arch-adventuress, who, a descendant herself of Valois kings, proved the undoing of Marie Antoinette. As
was truly said by a great contemporary: - "The affair of the Diamond Necklace," wrote Mirabeau, "has
been the forerunner of the Revolution."
This Jeanne de Valois, rescued from the gutter by a benovolent lady of title and a charitable priest,
presents a psychological study rare even in the annals of crime. Never, perhaps, were daring,
unscrupulousness, and the faculty of combination linked with so complete a disregard to consequences.
The moving spring of her actions, often so complicated and foolhardy, was love of money and display. It
seemed as if in her person, was accumulated the lavishness of French Royal mistresses from Diane de
Poitiers down to Madame Dubarry. There was a good deal of the Becky Sharp about her too, although
there is nothing in her history to show that, like Thackeray's heroine, "she had no objection to pay people
if she had the money." If, indeed, anything in the shape of ethics guided the most astoundingly ingenious
swindler we know of, it was some such principle as this: she ought to have been at Versailles, there being
received as a recognised Princess of the Royal House; since, through no fault whatever of her own, she
was not, she had a perfect right to avenge herself upon royalty and society in general.
How she wormed herself into the confidence of the Cardinal de Rohan, a man of the world and of
education, would seem wholly unaccountable but for one fact. The Prince Primate had faith in Cagliostro
and his nostrums, and when an individual has recourse to astrologers and fortune-tellers, we are quite in a
position to gauge his mental condition. Like Mdlle. Couesdon of contemporary fame, Cagliostro held
intercourse with the angel Gabriel, but his occult powers and privileges far exceeded those of the Parisian
lady-seer. He was actually in the habit of dining with Henri IV., and two days before the Cardinal's arrest
made his client believe that he had just accepted such an invitation!
It had been Rohan's ambition to obtain the favour of the Queen and a foremost position at court, hence
the readiness with which he fell into the trap. For "the Valois orphan," now Comtesse de la Motte, not
only possessed great personal attractions, but an extraordinary gift of persuasiveness. Without much
apparent trouble she made the Cardinal believe that she was in the Queen's favour, and indeed in her
confidence. Having got so far the rest was easy.
How the acquisition of the already celebrated Diamond Necklace was first thought of, how, by the aid of
willing tools, she matured and carried out her deep-laid and diabolical scheme, reads like an adventure
from the "Arabian Nights." The personification of the Queen by a little dressmaker who happened to
resemble her, the forgery of the Royal signature, the final attainment of the diamonds, all seemed so easy
to this consummate trickster that it is small wonder she became intoxicated with success and blind to
consequences. No sooner was the necklace in her possession than, of course, as fast as possible it was
turned, not into money, but into money's worth. Houses and lands, equipages and furniture, costly
apparel, and delicacies for the table were purchased, not with louis d'or, but with diamonds.
We read of her triumphant entry into the little town of Bar-sur-Aube, cradle of the Saint Remy-Valois
family, in a berline with white trappings and the Valois armorials, before and behind the carriage, which
was drawn by "four English horses with short tails," rode lacqueys, whilst on the footboard ready to open
the door stood a negro, "covered, from head to foot with silver." Still more dazzling was the dress of
Madame la Comtesse, richest brocade trimmed with rubies and emeralds. As to the Count, not content
with having rings on every finger he wore four gold watch chains! Besides holding open house when at
home, the pair had a table always spread with dainties for those who chose to partake in their hosts'
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