Strange Tales of French Crimes

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 563, 17 September 1932, Page 28 (Supplement)

Strange Tales of French Crimes

By . . . DR. EDMOND LOCARD H. ASHTON-WOLFE.

It may appear absurd to affirm that the French Revolution was caused by the theft of a mere bauble, a string of precious stones, but psychologists will readily admit that such an absurdity is truly, human. Royalty was reverenced by the masses, but the scandal caused by the theft of the famous necklace rent the legend of the royal superiority to shreds, insulting pamphlets and ribald songs were made about the beautiful Marie Antoinette, and if the scandal did not -actually cause the Revolution, it wiis undoubtedly one of- the factors. First comes Count de Cagliostro, hypnotist, alt-lie mist . arid clairvoyant, well equipped, tp floqrish in such a credulous, superstitious age. Then there comes Jeanne-d 6 Valois. As a child she used to run after' the coaches on the Paris, highway calling out, “Alms, for in my veins flows the blood of the Valois, once kings of France/’ The Countess of Boulainvilliers was so taken with the girl’s beauty that she had her educated . in a convent, .whence she escaped and married a young captain of gendarmes named de la JVJotte, who, at the suggestion of his scheming wife, ennobled himself and became “Count de la Motte.”

The pseudo-countess -decided that by hook or by <yook she would enter the royal household at Versailles, and she hit on Cardinal Rohan as the means of gratifying her insane ambition. The Cardinal, young, handsome, rich, and, though a prince of the Church, thoroughly frivolous and a libertine, incurred the hatred of the Empress of Austria (mother of Marie Antoinette) when he was ambassador of France at Vienna, and this hatred of a minded woman became the pivot of the drama.

Family influence induced the King of France to make de Rohan Grand Almoner after he relinquished his post at Vienna, but Marie Antoinette even refused to giant him an audience, and the king himself treated him coldly.

Chagrined and more than hall in love with the beautiful Queen, de Rohan became obsessed with the idea of regaining her favour. It was at this juncture that the fame of the magician Cagliostro reached de Rohan, who, though clever in a way, was fantastically and childishly credulous.

Tlic Cardinal was a fitting victim for the unscrupulous -de la Motte, and his mad desire to regain favour at Court caused him to meet her half-way. Jeanne de la Motte had tried vainly to attract the attention of the Queen. Twice she had faPen to the ground in simulated convulsions just as Marie Antoinette was leaving the palace, but each time an excited crowd had surged around her, desirous to succour the apparently fainting woman, and completely screened her from the royal gaze.

The “Countess,” however, was not easily discouraged. To all her friends she related that the Queen had been so tpuched by her pitiable condition that she had insisted on seeing her carried into the palace, where ladies in waiting

tended and restored her. Before she left, Marie Antoinette had also visited and comforted her. In order to make this tale more plausible, Jeanne de la Motte began to go daily to Versailles in a hired coach, for which, of course, she did not pay. There still exists the half of a police report’ stating that she lunched and dined regularly for eight sous in a tavern kept by Master Carnot, subsisting on watery soup and beans.

On her return to Paris she would relate with extraordinary vivacity that she had ripent the day as the Queen’s guest, enumerating the wonderful dishes that had been specially prepared for her delectation. So extraordinary was her facile imagination that little by little it came to be firmly believed that Jeanne Countess de la Motte had become the intimate friend and adviser of the Queen.

Meanwhile, husband and wife were hard put to it to live at all. Their rent was only paid by countless tricke and expedients, some of which were so shady that the police began to keep the couple under observation. The husband's scanty pay barely sufficed for his frills and fancies, and food was only obtained by changing their butcher and baker as credit with each one in turn was exhausted.

It became necessary for Madame de la Motte to seek that generous assistance which a beautiful woman could find easily enough among the glittering cavaliers of the period. The young Count de Beugnot, advocate in Parliament, proved his admiration of the facile Countess by paying some of the more clamorous creditors, but among the many wooers he was perhaps the only one who did not become her dupe. In his memoirs, which fortunately still exist, he described Jeanne somewhat satirically: “Madame de la Motte was small and slim, but possessed a figure free from blemish. Blue eyes, admirable eyebrows and a lovely complexion were her principal charms, and her mouth, albeit somewhat large, was a carmine setting for perfect teeth. Helas, that she should have been entirely wanting in that education so necessary to a lady. Fortunately, although she was deficient in learning, nature had amply endowed her with the most extraordinary cunning. A scheming female, devoid of principles, she possessed the dangerous gift of persuasion, and had certainly been a stranger to truth since birth.”

This, then, was the woman who, in 1771, succeeded in making the acquaintance of de Rohan, the Grand Almoner of Prance, who at that time was concerned with only one thing—how to combat the open hostility of the young Queen and gain her good will. Jeanne de la Motte instantly realised that the broad path to wealth had opened before her. Much too clever to speak of her fictitious friendship with Marie Antoinette to the Cardinal, she prepared a subtle mise en scene.

Thanks to various important sums of money obtained from the Grand Almoner, for the poor, Mine, de la Motte had moved to a comfortable apartment in the Rue St. Gilles and appointed one of her husband's friends named Retaud de Villette as her secretary. De Villette was an adroit penman and could counterfeit the dainty hand of a woman to perfection. One day, while Mine, de la Motte was visiting de Rohan, her secretary de Villette called, dressed in sombre silk, and handed her a letter written on fine linen paper, with. the three lilies of Trance in one corner. - “T

"From the Queen,” he whispered loudly enough for the Cardinal to hear. Breaking the royal seal, which had been stolen by Mine, de la Motte when alone for a moment in the study of M. de Xolhae, she Jet the letter slip from her lingers. The Cardinal retrieved it with a courtly bow, but a rapid glance bad shown him that it was signed “Marie Antoinette de France.”

Mme. de la: Motte read the letter ami making a grimace slie begged de Rohan to excuse her,' the Queen wished to consult her immediately. This audacious comedy produced tile desired effect. The Cardinal had hever seen the Queen’s handwriting, iior did ho remember that she never signed “Marie . Antoinette do France.” but merely her name. Here, apparently, was an iijtimate friend of his sovereign and one who. could plead for him.

Thereafter not a daypassed without some further proof that Mmc. de la Motte was indeed the ardently desired

mediator. Caglios.tro, whom he at once consulted, was at first inclined to resent the intrusion of a rival, but when he attempted to belittle Jeanne <le la Motte he realised that his hostility was a false move and would probably estrange the Cardinal. Astute and unwilling to lose so generous a dupe, he thereupon staged a mystical seance in a room illuminated by one hundred candles, where after endless formulas, incantations, and magical passes with a sword, he ordered his wife to read the omens in a bowl of crystal fluid. She thereupon declared that she saw the Cardinal kneeling before the throne, and Mme. de la Motte noklirig bis hand. De Rohan hesitated no longer, and the following day he begged the adventuress to intercede for him with the Queen. Now ensued a long and amazing correspondence between the Cardinal, and, as he imagined, Marie Antoinette. Hi* letters, laboriously composed and full of respect and devotion, were read by Jeanne de la. Motte, her husband, and her secretary de Villettc and then destroyed. Letter after letter was written in reply to his missives by the adroit secretary, and brought to the Cardinal by his sympathetic friend the Countess, who insisted upon burning them immediately after their perusal. These bogus letters from bis sovereign increased in warmth as time went on; but gave many reasons why as yet she could not receive the Cardinal openly. The King was still hostile—there weie political enemies who would make trouble for her in Vienna —and so forth. Finally the Cardinal became impatient. Since the Queen dared to write, surely she could receive him. Mme. de la Motte perceived that something must be done to weld the Cardinal to her and efface all doubt from his mind. An interview had to be staged. The daring ; woman resolved to find someone who could play the part of Marie Antoinette, and. as usual, luck was with her. The Count de la Motte, frivolous and iibertine as most of the gallants of that time, had encountered a young tearnstress in the gardens of the Palais Royal, whose resemblance to the Queen was extraordinary. Her name was Mile. Nicole Le Guet. She had the same i aureole of golden hair, the same figure, ! the broad brow, and the vivacious mailj ner so characteristic of Marie Antoinj ette; furthermore, she was incredibly I simple, not to say stupid. | De la Motte introduced her to his I wife, who at once set to work to flatter and cajole her. Le Guet was too plebeian a name, so she endowed her with a title, and simple Nicole became the Baroness d’Oliva, the anagram of Valois. When the girl’s head was thus completely turned, Mme. de la Motte abruptly proposed to give her fifteen thousand francs if slie would go at night with de Villette to the palace gardens at Versailles and hand a rose to a cavalier with the words: “You realise what this means.” Then, as Nicole still hesitated, she added: “It is a great secret, but you will also oblige my friend the Queen.” She it was arranged. Mme. de la Motte informed the delighted Cardinal that, although for the ■ time being she could not reinstate him ! publicly, Marie Antoinette would meet i him two nights hence near the statue of j Venus, in the Versailles gardens. As proof of her friendship she would give | him a. rose.

A dress bad already been made, which, although'''the unsuspicious girl did not know it, was a copy of the flowing white gown in which the famous artist Mine. Vigee Lebrun had painted the Queen, and which had caused such a sensation at the art exhibition in 1783. After the plotters had enjoved a succulent dinner, ordered in advance at an inn in Versailles, and' drunk many bottles of Burgundy,

EIGHTEENTH OF SERIES. THE NECKLACE OF THE CARDINAL.

Nicole was dressed and her hair brushed and curled fashionably. Towards midnight Jeanne de la Motte, her husband, the secretary de Villette, .and Nicole, enveloped in a long dark cloak and carrying a superb rose, set out for the royal gardens, which since the death of Louis XV. remained open all night. There was only a crescent moon, and the paths under the trees were in shadow.

When Wiey arrived at the statue of the goddess Venus, Xicole, much to her astonishment, was left standing alone, dressed only in her white gown. She felt cold and extremely nervous, and was about to seek her companions when a heavy step crunched on the gravel; doubtless it was the nobleman to whom she was to hand the rose. In her agitation she let it fall.

The Cardinal was quite as perturbed as the girl, for he was convinced at sight of the characteristic dress and golden cloud of hair, that the Queen had actually kept her tryst. He instantly

dropped to one knee, kissed the liem of Nicole’s gown and picking up the rose, began to pour out Lis respect and devotion in a passionate speech. The girl tried vainly to remember the ’line she had been taught to say, but could only murmur unintelligible words. At that instant de Villette, who was listening, appeared suddenly and cried in simulated alarm: “Your Majesty — quick—here comes Madame d’Artois! ” The Cardinal at once rushed off and I Nicole was hurried away. But the scone i had been more impressive than the coni spirators thought. The gloom, the j mystery, the sudden appearance of the i same man who had once brought Jeanne I a letter from the Queen, instead of awakenivg doubts in the mind of de Rohan, convinced him that bis dearest wish bad been granted and that the Queen of France at last looked upon him with favour. No doubt the inconceivable audacity of the scheme and the man’s vanity both made for success; nor did Jeanne commit the mistake of accepting any reward. De Rohan later admitted that he did not question the sincerity of the countess, for it seemed that she had nothing to gain by any deception. The time had come, thought Jeanne de la Motte, to reap what she had sown. First she brought the Cardinal a letter in the now familiar writing. The Queen was in need of 100,000 livres, for which she did not wish to apply to the King. Without hesitation, de Rohan handed over the money, flattered that he should be chosen for such a service. The ease with which this sum was obtained emboldened Mme. de la Motte. and she would probably have repeated the operation, when the opportunity to obtain at one blow enough money to enable them all to seek safety abroad presented itself unexpectedly. Truth to tell, the conspirators knew that any day some unforeseen mishap might bring ruin and punishment, and they were prepared to flee at a moment's notice. Boehmer and Bassange, a famous firm of jewellers, had fashioned a necklace of the finest diamonds, which they had intended to offer to Louis XV. for his favourite, Mme. du Barry. The death of the wanton king had come too soon, and the necklace, valued at nearly 2,000,000 francs —a huge sum at that time—was unsaleable. They had offered it in vain to the King of Spain, and later, when all France was mad with joy at the birth of the ill-fated Dauphin, they attempted to persuade Louis XVI. to buy the trinket for Marie Antoinette. The King had appeared willing enough, but his wife refused it with the words: “Two millions! That is the price of two battleships. We need them more than diamonds.” All this Mme. de la Motte learnt through a fellow named Laporte, who had vainly tried to earn the commission offered by Boehmer and Bassange to anyone able to sell the necklace for them. With no definite plan as yet, Jeanne visited the jewellers on December 20, 1784, and requested them to show her • the famous gems. One look was enough. Those diamonds should belong to her by hook or by crook. The Cardinal had gone to Strasbourg and this gave Jeanne time to mature her scheme. On January 21 she again called on the "partners and announced that she had discovered a probable buyer for the necklace. “He is a great nobleman and desires to discuss tlie transaction with you in person. I do not wish to have anything to do with the matter. In fact, I prefer that mv name should not even be menWhen a few days later the Cardinal returned to Paris, she informed him that Marie Antoinette ardently coveted the jewels, but that the King was unwilling to buy them. Not wishing to offend her

husband, she had also feigned to refuse when the jewellers publicly offered her the necklace. Nevertheless, she had decided to acquire it and pay the price out of her private income. Since it was important that no one should guess *at the truth, a trusted emissary was necessary, who would keep her secret and who was in a position to negotiate with the jewellers on her behalf. On the advice of her friend Jeanne de la Motte, the Queen had come to the conclusion that de Rohan was the ideal intermediary, and as proof Jeanne showed the Cardinal another of those pretty letters, purporting to be from Marie Antoinette, which her secretary, Retaud de Yillette, now wrote with ease. This time de Rohan hesitated. Before deciding he would interview his counsellor, the magician Cagliostro. Unfortunately, there is no document nor any real proof in existence to show whether Cagliostro and Madame de la Motte now became accomplices. At the trial Mme. de la Motte accused the magician, but then she also accused everyone else. It is more than probable that the wise Italian realised that in truth the Cardinal had already made up his mind, and that to prophesy or counsel adversely would be tactless. At any rate, another mystical performance was arranged. Incantations, incense and the perfumed vapours of 200 wax tapers created an atmosphere at once propitious and intoxicating. The wife appeared in a white dress fringed with silver, a huge golden sun embroidered on the front, and when she had succumbed to the hypnotic passes of the master mummer, the Cardinal—heedless of his vows to the Church—meanwhile kneeling at her feet, she proclaimed in a musical chant that she saw the throne once more, and on the right of the King sat Marie Antoinette, a wonderful necklace glittering on her ceremonial robes. This was sufficient. On January 24 de Rohan called on the jewellers and examined the gems, end on the 20th Boehmer and Ba6sange came to the Cardinal’s palace and signed the agreement, according to which 1,000,000 francs were to be paid in four half-yearly instalments. The first became due in August, but the necklace was to be delivered on February 1. (See next Wednesday for conclusion of story.) •