250 A FAMOUS NECKLACE.
profuse
in their thanks for her aid. They even pressed her to accept a diamond
ornament as a slight token of their gratitude! Madame de la Motte
dining with her dupes,graciously receiving their thanks and
magnanimously declining their presents, was certainly a spectacle for
gods and men.
The cardinal, not content with his billets-deaux from
the Queen, was to be further gratified by a midnight interview with Her
Majesty in the gardens of the Trianon. A lady dressed in the simple
shepherdess costume affected by Marie Antoinette did indeed meet him in
a dark-shadowed alley of the garden, and as he was ecstatically
pressing the hem of her garment to his lips she did present to him a
rose which he clasped to his breast in speechless rapture. The lady of
this scene and the Queen of the cardinal's fancy was a common girl off
the streets, who bore a striking resemblance to Marie Antoinette. She
was dressed up by the clever countess and was told to act according
