The story of the diamond necklace

"The story of the diamond necklace" by Henry Vizetelly is a historical account written in the late 19th century. It reconstructs the infamous Affair of the Diamond Necklace through memoirs, letters, and official records, tracing how a single lavish jewel became a political and social scandal. The work centers on Jeanne de Valois, Countess de la Motte, and the entanglement of Cardinal de Rohan, the crown jewellers, and Marie-Antoinette, with a clear intent to clarify the queen’s role. Readers interested in court intrigue, archival detective work, and the prelude to revolution will find it compelling. The opening of the book sets its documentary approach—revised from earlier editions, grounded in archival sources, and defending the authenticity of key letters—before turning to the narrative origins of the scandal. It begins in 1764 with young Jeanne, a ragged beggar claiming Valois royal descent, noticed and aided by the Marchioness de Boulainvilliers; her family’s decline, her father’s death, and her mother’s desertion are sketched, followed by Jeanne’s rescue, schooling, brief apprenticeship, and official recognition of her lineage with small pensions. We see her uneasy passage through convents and the Boulainvilliers household, her move to Bar-sur-Aube, courtship, and marriage to the impecunious soldier Nicolas de la Motte. In parallel, Vizetelly details the creation of the unparalleled diamond necklace for Louis XV’s mistress, the king’s death, the queen’s refusal to buy it, and the jewellers’ fruitless search for a buyer—background that frames Jeanne’s later schemes. The section closes with the couple’s poverty at Lunéville, Jeanne’s introduction to Cardinal de Rohan at Saverne, her push in Paris to reclaim supposed family estates (assisted by young Beugnot), the death of her patroness, and her first successful maneuvers to secure favors—laying the groundwork for the coming intrigue.

Summary written by Project Gutenberg, by machine.