How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair (51 page)

102
   
‘Madame I am ruined’ . . . ‘way again. Go’
: ibid.

103
   
Bassenge hoped that a friend of his
: The account draws primarily on Rohan’s testimony to the investigating magistrates, his trial brief, the depositions of Boehmer, Bassenge, Achet and Laporte, and two statements the jewellers gave to the queen before and after the cardinal was arrested. The jewellers’ statements are recorded in Appendix VI of the Compte Rendu and the entry for 16 September 1785 in the diary of Siméon-Prosper Hardy respectively.

103
   
‘such a heavy burden’ . . . ‘these sort of affairs’
: Hardy, 16 September 1785.

103
   
‘to be useful’
: ibid.

104
   
‘secret negotiation’
: Georgel, vol. 2, p.58.

104
   
de Planta was horrified
: see AN X2B/1417/54/Planta.

105
   
‘heartwarming news’
: AN X2B/1417/8/Achet.

105
   
‘distinguished nobleman’
: Hardy, 16 September 1785.

105
   
offered to reward . . . mentioned together
: ibid. and AN X2B/1417/54/ Bassenge.

105
   
‘item of great importance’
: AN X2B/1417/54/Boehmer.

105–6
‘unique specimen’ . . . ‘arrangement of stones’ . . . ‘much is it?’
: AN X2B/1417/54/Bassenge.

106
   
‘act of folly’ . . . ‘madness’ . . . ‘appear glamorous’
: ibid., but see also ‘Interrogation with Rohan’, Campardon, p.233, in which Rohan protests that his language was less forceful.

107
   
would be left unpaid
: see AN X2B/1417/54/Valbonne and Grenier.

107
   
‘will pay shortly’
: ‘Interrogation with Rohan’, Campardon, p.212.

107
   
‘Monsieurs Boehmer and Bassenge’
: Réquete Rohan, p.8.

108
   
‘her intentions to me’
: ‘Interrogation with Rohan’, Campardon, p.213.

108
   
‘someone from the queen’
: op. cit., p.214.

109
   
‘you thanked the queen?’
: op. cit., p.215.

109
   
‘to deserve a gift’
: AN X2B/1417/8/Laporte.

110
   
‘a portrait medallion’
: BHVP MS691/155.

9. The Greatest Man in Europe: An Interlude

111
   
a Jesuit agent
: The details of Cagliostro’s life come primarily from
The Seven Ordeals of Count Calgiostro
by Iain McCalman and
Cagliostro: A Biography
by Roberto Gervaso.

114
   
‘Negro trumpeter’
: see
The Origins of Freemasonry
by Margaret C. Jacob, p.18.

114
   
‘a couple of painters’
:
The Seven Ordeals
, McCalman, p.37.

114
   
‘who ever lived’
: quoted in op. cit, p.57.

115
   
‘pure cult of natural religion’
:
Cagliostro
, Gervaso, p.72.

115
   
‘arch of steel’
: quoted in
The Seven Ordeals
, McCalman, p.42.

115
   
‘with a crepe veil’
: the Baronne d’Oberkirch in her
Mémoires
, p.117.

116
   
‘distilled water’
:
The Seven Ordeals
, McCalman, p.86.

117
   
‘to extend life’
:
Bad Medicine
by David Wootton, pp. 2–4.

118
   
‘nor I of him’
: quoted in
Cagliostro
, Gervaso, p.116.

118
   
‘religious awe’ . . . ‘worthy of mine’ . . . ‘his compass’
: quoted in
The Seven Ordeals
, McCalman, pp. 113–14.

118
   
‘prolong life’
: AN F7 4445/2–4550/2, ‘Interrogation with Cagliostro’, 6–7.

119
   
Franz Anton Mesmer
: for Mesmer, see
Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France
by Robert Darnton.

120
   
‘and subjugated them’
: Georgel, vol. 2, p.45.

120
   
‘now in Paris’
: quoted in
Cagliostro
, Gervaso, p.127.

120
   
‘hand in glove’
: MCB, p.52.

120
   
‘obscurity of one’
: quoted in
The Diamond Necklace
, Funck-Brentano, p.89.

120
   
‘the size of Paris’
: MCB, p.54.

121
   
‘you will see nothing’
: Mémoire Cagliostro, p.26.

122
   
‘any demons’ . . . ‘Kiss it hard’
: ‘Interrogation with Jeanne’, Campardon, p.314. Jeanne is a partial source, but it is noticeable how, when the account is put to Cagliostro, he responded with squirm and bluster.

10. Follow the Money

123
   
On 8 February . . . refused to buy them
: AN X2B/1417/54/Paris.

123
   
‘What is your name?’ . . . ‘none of your business’
: AN X2B/1417/68/ Vidal-Lainé.

123–4
‘If you’re not doing’ . . . closed the case
: AN X2B/1417/10/Bruginères.

124
   
70,000 livres-worth . . . forty-nine brilliants
: Mémoire Rohan, pp. 46–7; BHVP MS691/168.

124
   
In the middle of April
: the account of Nicolas’s activities in London derives primarily from Mémoire Rohan and Requête Rohan.

124
   
6,000 livres
: see AN X2B/1417/54/Perregaux.

124
   
‘a most brilliant’ . . . ‘any other city’
: Jean-André Rouquet, quoted in
Brilliant Effects
by Marcia Pointon, p.29.

125
   
two French ministers
: see BN JdF 2088/266.

126
   
one of Jeanne’s friends
: BHVP MS691/65.

126
   
jewellery case alone
: Requête Rohan p.16.

126
   
200,000 livres each year
: see
The French Nobility in the Eighteenth Century
, Chaussinand-Nogaret, p.57.

126
   
dour and peeling
: ‘Interrogation with Rohan’, Campardon, p.219.

127
   
‘position you deserve’
: Georgel, vol. 2, p.76.

127
   
as a man
: ‘Interrogation with Rohan’, Campardon, p.263.

127–8
   
On 10 July . . . The jewellers grudgingly agreed
: see op. cit., p.220 and AN X2B/1417/54/Bassenge.

128
   
‘write it now’
: ‘Interrogation with Rohan’, Campardon, p.221.

128
   
‘and our respect’
: BHVP MS691/302

128
   
‘best of queens’
: Requête Rohan, p.11.

129
   
‘mental aberration’ . . . ‘Saint-Cloud’
: PLMA, p.197.

129
   
‘at your calmness’
: AN X2B/1417/54/Bassenge.

129
   
A second sickening flinch
: ‘Interrogation with Rohan’, Campardon, p.221.

130
   
Sainte-James’s business
: this biographical sketch draws on
Claude Baudard de Sainte-James
by Denise Ozanam.

130
   
‘payment of the necklace’ . . . ‘to serve’
: AN X2B/1417/54/ Sainte-James.

130
   
Rohan told the queen
: the account of Rohan’s activities and dealings with Jeanne from here until his arrest is primarily reconstructed from Requête Rohan, Mémoire Rohan and his interrogations.

131
   
Breteuil was a
: details of Breteuil’s life come from
The Fall of the French Monarchy: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the Baron de Breteuil
by Munro Price.

131
   
‘of my authority’
: Georgel, vol. 1, p.419.

132
   
‘worry and despair’
: BHVP MS691/216; see also Mémoire Rohan, p.69.

133
   
more sinister interpretation
: see Georgel, vol. 2, p.87ff.

133
   
‘Are you sure’. . . ‘someone tricked you?’
: op. cit., p.91.

133
   
during that month
: see Bibliothèque municipale d’Orléans MS1421–3, ‘Memoirs of Lenoir’.

11. Days of Reckoning

134
   
‘has the necklace’
: ‘Interrogation with Rohan’, Campardon, p.221.

134
   
‘I’m tricked’
: op. cit., p.222.

134–5
‘The queen does not’ . . . ‘do it for you’
: ‘Interrogation with Cagliostro’, Campardon, p.342.

135
   
‘of your suspicions’
: Georgel, vol. 2, p.92.

135
   
Jeanne scrabbled . . . nest eggs
: AN X2B/1417/54/Loth; BHVP MS691/55.

136
   
Rohan had known . . . another two months
: AN X2B/1417/10/Boehmer; AN X2B/1417/54/Bassenge.

136
   
The cardinal’s confrontation . . . had arrived
: Mémoire Rohan, p.73ff; BHVP MS691/65 and 157.

136–7
   
Jeanne asked Bassenge . . . ‘He can pay you’
: AN X2B/1417/8/Bassenge; AN X2B/1417/54/Bassenge.

137–8
‘But the answer’ . . . ‘or the minister’
: PMLA, pp. 197–8

139
   
‘in her name’
: Castries, p.296.

140
   
and the queen
: AN X2B/1417/54/Serpaud.

140
   
Rohan himself . . . granted the chance
: ‘Interrogation with Rohan’, Campardon, p.272.

141
   
‘to me like this?’
: Georgel, vol. 2, p.97.

142
   
‘expedite the rest’
: Mémoire Cagliostro, p.29.

142
   
‘Don’t worry’ . . . ‘not completely true’
: AN X2B/1417/54/Serpaud.

12. ‘I Will Pay for Everything’

143
   
Only Nicolas . . . unknown party
: AN X2B/1417/54/Bassenge.

143
   
‘will not see him’
: PLMA, p.198.

143
   
about her debt
: AN X2B/1417/54/Sainte-James.

144
   
‘It was of ‘ . . . ‘lent Boehmer money’
: PLMA, p.198.

144
   
‘lost some diamonds’
: BHVP MS691/33.

144
   
‘business to light’
: PLMA, p.199; see also Castries, p.296, who confirms this encounter.

145
   
‘shall know it’
: PLMA, p.199.

145
   
a written statement
: see Compte Rendu, ‘Pièces Justificatives’, p.18ff.

145
   
found at home . . . Rohan’s culpability
: see Castries, p.297.

145
   
‘Have you seen’ . . . ‘What’s it to you?’
: Mercier, ‘La Galerie de Versailles’, vol. 1, p.945.

146–8
‘It is true, sire’ . . . ‘arrest the cardinal’
: This exchange is reconstructed from the four sources mentioned above: Castries, pp. 297–8; de Crosne’s account is found in
Mémoires tirés des archives de la police de Paris
by Jacques Peuchet, vol. 3, pp. 158–61; Rivière’s account is in the Archives d’Aube, EE 1623; Holstein’s account is in
Corréspondance diplomatique du Baron de Staël-Holstein et du Baron Brinkman
, edited by L. Leouzon le Duc (Paris, 1881), pp. 21–3.

13. Arresting Developments

149
   
to Bar-sur-Aube
: see AN X2B/1417/68/Texier. The account of Jeanne’s time in Bar draws primarily on MCB, p.60ff. The description
of Jeanne’s house is based on the inventory of her assets taken by the authorities after her arrest and found in AN X2B/1417/111.

150
   
‘out of the window’
: MCB, p.61.

150–2
‘princess of the church’ . . . burnt paper and wax
: op. cit., pp. 68–72.

153
   
‘Take me to her room’
: AAE MDF 1399/182.

153
   
Once the baron
: the account of Rohan’s actions until he is taken to the Bastille are drawn from Georgel, vol. 2, p.101ff and Hardy, 17 August 1785.

154
   
‘other this evening’ . . . ‘his enemy’ . . . ‘a serene countenance’
: Georgel, vol. 2, p.108.