Then he unfolded roll after roll, stopping from
time to time for a look at the larger brilliants.
"These are from the famous necklace which the Grand Duke inherited
from his grandmother," he said, calling our attention to a little
pile of marvellous gems in one of the last packets. "Crochard, of
course, removed them from their settings--that was inevitable. He
could melt down the settings and sell the gold; but not one of these
brilliants would be marketable in Europe for many years. Each of them
is a marked gem. Here in America, your police regulations are not so
complete; but I fancy that, even here, he would have had difficulty
in marketing this one," and he unfolded the last packet, and held up
to the light a rose-diamond which seemed to me as large as a walnut,
and a-glow with lovely colour.
"Perhaps you have stopped to admire the Mazarin diamond in the
_galerie d'Apollon_ at the Louvre," said M. Pigot. "There is always a
crowd about that case, and a special attendant is installed there to
guard it, for it contains some articles of great value. But the
Mazarin is not one of them; for it is not a diamond at all; it is
paste--a paste facsimile of which this is the original.
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