“No, your excellency, I had never heard of him before, and never but once afterwards, and that was from the Abbé Busoni himself, when I saw him in the prison at Nîmes.”
“Go on.”
“The jeweller took the ring, and drawing from his pocket a pair of steel pliers and a small set of copper scales, he took the stone out of its setting, and weighed it carefully.
“ ‘I will give you 45,000,’ said he, ‘but not a sou more; besides, as that is the exact value of the stone, I brought just that sum with me.’
“ ‘Oh, that’s no matter,’ replied Caderousse, ‘I will go back with you to fetch the other 5,000 francs.’
“ ‘No,’ returned the jeweller, 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 back on my word, and I will give 45,000.’
“ ‘At least, replace the diamond in the ring,’ said La Carconte sharply.
“ ‘Ah, true,’ replied the jeweller, and he reset the stone.
“ ‘No matter,’ observed Caderousse, replacing the box in his pocket, ‘someone else will purchase it.’
“ ‘Yes,’ continued the jeweller; ‘but someone 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. The law 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