Surmont's nephew and an officer of the gendarmes. At the time of her wedding, Jeanne was heavily pregnant; only one month later (7 July) her newborn twins were baptized as Jean-Baptiste and Nicolas-Marc de la Motte. Both children lived only a few days. While the de la Motte family's claim to nobility was dubious, both husband and wife assumed the title and de La Motte Valois. Of the three siblings, Jeanne would be the only one to achieve notoriety. Jacques died on military duty on Saint-Louis Island; Marie-Anne went back to religious life. None of the three Saint-Rémy children had any known living descendants. The affair of the diamond necklace When it became clear that Nicolas was unable to meet the couple's financial needs to maintain them in the extravagant style that his wife avidly desired, Jeanne resolved to ask a more generous pension from the royal family due to her royal blood. She decided to approach Queen Marie Antoinette, anticipating sympathetic reception based on commonality of gender. Jeanne therefore made frequent visits to Versailles in the hope of catching the Queen's attention. At that time, any ordinary citizen dressed in suitable attire could enter the palace and its gardens, and observe the royal family. Nevertheless, Marie-Antoinette had been told of Jeanne's questionable lifestyle and refused to meet her. The marriage between Jeanne and her husband was unsuccessful although they continued to live together. Jeanne took a lover, Rétaux de Villette, a common gigolo and Nicolas's fellow officer in the gendarmerie. Around 1783, she met Cardinal Prince Louis de Rohan. Jeanne quickly became his mistress and confidante. As a result, she became aware that the Prince wanted nothing more than to win Marie Antoinette's approval. Nevertheless, the Queen shunned the Cardinal because he had attempted to thwart her marriage to Louis XVI and she was aware of his scandalous and venial lifestyle. Jeanne was described as having been slender with small breasts; she had white skin, chestnut-brown hair, limpid blue eyes, and a "winning smile". The Abbé Georgel, Cardinal de Rohan's loyal servant, describes Jeanne as having "the wiles of a Circe." She obtained some money from the Cardinal, and a commission for her husband in the Comte d'Artois's bodyguard. At the same time, the jeweler Charles Auguste Boehmer was trying to sell a particularly expensive and luxurious diamond necklace originally designed for Madame du Barry. He had invested a