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other hand, challenge me. I like that. It intrigues me. You will not, I am afraid, be easily rid of me.”
    Chance stared into her eyes, holding her hand in both of his. “I’d like that very much.”
    â€œGood.” She fell silent as the waiter served their drinks. As he departed, she lifted the flute. “To a long future of successes together.”
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    Chance had to resist punching that smug smile off Trent’s face. “You have the necklace?”
    Trent nodded and Stockton placed a box on the chemin-de-fer table. He opened it. A twin Queen of Hearts glittered from its white-satin bed.
    â€œAs long as I was about rousing bank managers, I also summoned Monsieur LaPointe.” Trent waved a small, nervous man forward. His bushy moustaches boasted more hair than the top of his head, but he had diligently combed and slicked the few strands down. “LaPointe is the finest jeweler in Monaco—perhaps on the Continent. Your necklace is paste, and he shall prove it.”
    The jeweler glanced up at Chance, his shoulders hunched and eyes moist. “If you will permit me, sir.”
    â€œOf course.” Chance crossed to where Virginia sat at the table and removed her necklace. He handed it to LaPointe. “Give us an honest opinion now.”
    The small man produced a loupe and raised the necklace into the light. He studied the ruby first, then each of the diamonds in turn. He began slowly, and then more quickly spun the necklace. Finally he turned it over and studied the setting. He laid it down on the table again as gently as if it were a newborn baby, then ran a finger around his collar.
    â€œWell, man? Paste, isn’t it?”
    LaPointe’s lower lip trembled. “You will forgive me, my lord, but every stone is genuine. Flawless. Save for one tiny mark, a jeweler’s mark on the setting, I could not tell this from your necklace.”
    Trent shook his head. “This isn’t possible.”
    Chance nodded. “It is possible. Very possible.”
    â€œWhere did you find the stones? A discovery that big . . .”
    â€œI didn’t discover the stones.” Chance smiled broadly. “I manufactured them.”
    Virginia blinked with surprise. “You said you manufactured the necklace.”
    â€œA slight omission, darling.” Chance picked up his Queen of Hearts and cavalierly tossed it into the air, catching it deftly. “I told you I’d give you my name. It’s Chance Corrigan. Check on it later. I was a good little inventor ten years ago before an accident cost me . . . everything. Over the past decade I’ve spent my time well, perfecting a process to create artificial diamonds. Use enough heat, and use magnets for the high-speed linear-acceleration of pressure plates and you have diamonds. Right mix of corundum and chromium will give you rubies. Hannay and Moissan were on the right track, but they never thought of the power of linear acceleration.”
    LaPointe half-fainted, catching himself on the table’s edge. “ Mon Dieu. If this is true, we are ruined.”
    Chance helped the jeweler to a chair. “Yes, the De Beers monopoly would be broken. Were I not a reasonable man.”
    Blood had drained from Trent’s face. Even he could understand the threat. If Chance could produce gemstones so easily, the value of any of them dropped to insignificance. “You’re lying.”
    Chance cocked his head. “You’ve called me a liar and a thief. Have you no honor, sir?”
    Trent’s nostrils flared. “I am most honorable.”
    â€œAh, just a coward, then.”
    The noble turned toward Stockton and his valise.
    â€œYou’re an idiot, too. I’m not challenging you to a duel.” Chance nodded toward the table. “One game. Virginia is the bank. Your necklace against hers.”
    â€œBut this is not my . . .”
    â€œCoward and idiot, as I said.” Chance snorted.