"'No,' returned the jeweler, giving back the diamond and the ring to Caderousse, 'no, it is worth no more, and I am sorry I offered so much, for the stone has a flaw in it which I had not seen. However, I will not go from my word, and I will give forty-five thousand.'
"'At least, replace the diamond in the ring,' said La Carconte, sharply.
"'Ah! true,' replied the jeweler; and he reset the stone.
"'No matter,' observed Caderousse, replacing the box in his pocket, 'some one else will purchase it.'
"'Yes,' continued the jeweler, 'but some one else will not be so easy as I am, or content himself with the same story. It is not natural that a man like you should possess such a diamond. He will inform against you. You will have to find the Abbé Busoni; and abbés who give diamonds worth two thousand louis are rare. Justice would seize it, and put you in prison; if at the end of three or four months you are set at liberty, the ring will be lost, or a false stone, worth three francs, will be given you, instead of a diamond worth fifty thousand or perhaps fifty-five thousand francs, by which, you must allow, one runs considerable risk in purchasing.'
"Caderousse and his wife looked eagerly at each other.
"'No,' said Caderousse, 'we are not rich enough to lose five thousand francs.'
"'As you please, my dear sir,' said the jeweler; 'I had, however, as you see, brought you the money in bright coin.' And he drew from his pocket a handful of gold, which he made to sparkle in the dazzled eyes of the inn-keeper, and in the other hand he held a packet of bank-notes.
"There was evidently a severe struggle in the mind of Caderousse; it was evident that the small shagreen case, which he turned and re-turned in his hand, did not seem to him commensurate in value to the enormous sum which fascinated his gaze. He turned toward his wife.
"'What do you think of this?' he asked in a low voice.
"'Let him have it—let him have it,' she said. 'If he returns to Beaucaire without the diamond, he will inform against us; and, as he says, who knows if we shall ever again see the Abbé Busoni?—in all probability we shall never see him.'
"'Well, then, so I will!' said Caderousse; 'so you may have the diamond for forty-five thousand francs. But my wife wants a gold chain, and I want a pair of silver buckles.'
"The jeweler drew from his pocket a long flat box, which contained several samples of the articles demanded. 'Here,' he said, 'I am very plain in my dealings—take your choice.'
"The woman selected a gold chain worth about five louis, and the husband a pair of buckles worth, perhaps, fifteen francs.
