 Family Theatre presents Gene Crane, Robert Alder, and Edgar Berrier. The cooperation with Family Theatre Incorporated brings you The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant and starring Gene Crane and Edgar Berrier. To introduce the drama, your host and narrator, Robert Alder. Thank you, Gene, and a welcome to our listeners from Gene Crane, Edgar Berrier, and all of us on the Family Theatre stage. Our story, The Necklace, was written by a great French author, Guy de Maupassant, more than 70 years ago. But I think the young couple in The Necklace may have a counterpart in our world of today. Their names were Henri and Mathilde Wassell. They lived in Paris in the 1870s. Mathilde was pretty. Her husband deeply in love with her. But that wasn't enough for Mathilde. For Henri Wassell was a low-paid government clerk. They were forced to live in a drab, cramped flat without servants. And Mathilde was envious of friends who had more material blessings than a loving husband. Like her old schoolmate, Elsa Forestier, who had managed to marry a wealthy businessman and now lived in a large and richly appointed house in the best section of the city. Another cup of tea, Mathilde? No, Elsa, thank you. It is past five. Why do you worry so about the time? Robert will take you home in my carriage. You may ignore time, Elsa, with your butler and maid and cook. Oh, but I must shop and clean and prepare dinner for Henri. I really have to run. All right, dear. Tea next week? I'd love it. Besides seeing you, Elsa, it is always a joy to admire the new things your husband has bought you. He is a darling, isn't he? Perhaps a bit old and a problem at times. Oh, how can you say that with all you have? Oh, I am not complaining, Mathilde. I know what I have, and I wouldn't exchange it for anything. Oh, I should hope not. Why, that gown you're wearing, it couldn't have cost less than five hundred four. And that diamond necklace. It's breathtaking, Elsa. You should thank your stars you caught, Paul, instead of... Oh, well, if I stand here carrying on about your things, Henri will never get his dinner. Goodbye, Elsa. Goodbye, darling. See you next week. Each time she returned from Elsa's home to her own flat, Mathilde brooded and grew angrier. And Henri and at herself, having been so foolish, is to fall in love with a government clerk. At work in her tiny dark kitchen, the heavy iron pots became personal enemies, stealing her youth, destroying her beauty. These old kettles, so rough and heavy. I'll read my hands again. Mathilde! Oh, Mathilde, wait till you see what I have here for you. What happened, darling? Nothing. Only burnt my finger on that stupid pot, that's all. Oh, I'm sorry, dear. A kiss will make it feel better. There. And I have something else that you take away the pain. What? Now, here, see for yourself. Open the envelope. The pleasure of your company is requested for dinner the night of... Henri? Henri, an invitation from the commissioner. Yes, to a formal party. And I'm the only clerk in the office invited. That must mean something, hm? Oh, it's certainly must. You see, I told you old Boudin's been warming up to me. Now, here, I'll turn on the music box. We'd better practice a few steps. Come on, darling. We have not danced in... Well, what is it, Mathilde? Is something wrong? Oh, nothing. Just that it is all ridiculous. We cannot go. We cannot go? But, Mathilde, I thought you would be delighted to go. You've always asked to go out more. In this rag. Oh, you have other things? Even a dinner dress. It was out of style two years ago. No, Henri. All the women there in the newest gowns covered with jewels. Me, looking like some poor relation. No, thank you. Go on, sit down. I will set the table. Mathilde, could you buy the proper kind of dress for, say, 500 francs? Of course I could. Oh, no, stop talking nonsense. We cannot go. Oh, Mathilde, I've been putting away a little money for a vacation. You take it. Buy something nice. Why, Henri? And as for a piece of jewelry, would not Elsa for a scale end you something? Only for the evening? Well, yes, yes, of course she would. Oh, that is a wonderful idea. And with the 500 francs... There you see, darling. You shouldn't become so upset. We always manage to work things out, do we not? Oh, Henri, now you have got me excited. You will see, you will be proud of me. I will be the handsomest woman there. Just wait, Henri. I know exactly what I'm going to borrow from Elsa. Is that my Mathilde? Oh, wait. See how the gown is cut in the back. And here, Elsa's diamond necklace. I wouldn't dream of telling her, but I do think it looks better on me than on her. Oh, come, Henri, tell me. How do I look? Every woman at the party will hate you. Oh, how wonderful. Oh, darling, forgive me if sometimes I am irritable with you. There is nothing to forgive, Mathilde. I'm happy knowing that you married me because you loved me. Obviously, it couldn't have been for my money. Oh, we had better go. Wouldn't do you know to be late to the commissioners. Light as a feather, Mathilde. I had forgotten how well you danced. Oh, you have no one to blame but yourself. You should take your wife out dancing more often. Having fun, darling? Oh, yes, yes. It is just as you said, you are the handsomest woman at the party. Now the glass of champagne. I shall return your pretty wife after the next dance. Of course, Commissioner. She dances beautifully, doesn't she? Light as a feather, but with her face. You do not mind out talking about you, I hope, madame. With her face, her ability to dance is of no consequence. No consequence at all. Yes, since we've danced like this. Yes, Henri. I have a feeling our life would be different now. After tonight's party, wasn't it, Henri? Ah, yes. And what a home they have. Tell me, do you think I made an impression on old Baudin? Why, I'm sure you did. Of course I did. All those dances. More than any other woman there. And did you notice the way he looked at me when we were leaving? I thought he would never... I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they asked us for dinner soon. Just us. You see, Henri, what a difference the right gown makes. Yes. And a diamond necklace. Why, I felt just like a... Matilde. Matilde, what is it? Oh, the necklace. Else's a necklace. My wrap. Quickly, look in the pockets. Here, let me see. No, Matilde, nothing. Oh, but it must be. It must. Are you sure you had it on when we left the Baudin? Yes, yes, yes, I am sure. I looked at myself in the mirror on our way out. I wanted to see it just once more. Oh, Henri, help me to find it. Perhaps the cab. Oh, no. Yes, that's it. I must have dropped it in the carriage. Oh, please, Henri, please, you must find it. Oh, very well, Matilde. Easy now. I'll check the cab and I will go over the whole route between here and the Baudin's, street by street, if I have to. Go to bed, darling. Stop worrying. I will find it. Henri's confidence was a mask assumed to keep Matilde's belly. Inside himself, he was not so sure he would find the necklace. Paris was a large city. There were miles of dimly lit streets between the Baudin's resins and the cell flat. The necklace could have slid out of the lurching cab and disappeared down a drain or it could have fallen to the pavement to lie there gleaming invitingly at the first passerby. Henri tracked down their cabbie first. Oh, no. No, monsieur. Not on the floor. Oh, down in the cushions. You are absolutely certain. Oh, monsieur. It would do me little good to have the necklace. The police would have me in the Bastille like that. Oh, oh, oh. He is innocent. He swatted a mammoth here and mentioned the Bastille and she wants to fly. Next, quickly at first because there was much ground to cover but then slower and slower as the hours wore on and the futility of the search began to weigh him down. Dawn came and was hurrying to work item with amusement. In his evening cape he looked like a belated reveler a relic of some all-night party. What is the trouble, monsieur? Your wife locked you out? I am looking for a necklace, a diamond necklace. I saw one down the street. You did? Yes. In a jeweler's window. Direction of a newspaper office. It was a last hope. And you would like to place a advertisement asking for its return. Is that correct, monsieur? That is correct. Lost last night somewhere along the route the vineyard you are offering a reward. Reward? Yes, I suppose it might help. I should say so. Nothing like a little reward to turn things up like magic. Yes. Monsieur that will be 10 francs to publish your announcement till the end of the week. Thank you. We will hope that you have the necklace back by then. Yes. Let us hope so. Was there not to reply to run the announcement another week? No. No, thank you. I am very sorry, sir. Why do you not try a jeweler? A jeweler? How do you mean? You can make your wife a duplicate a trifle more expensive than finding the original but then when it comes to satisfying our women folk what is money, eh? What was money? Henry soon found out to make a duplicate of Elsa's diamond necklace the jeweler asked 12,000 francs 12,000 francs for Henry a lifetime fortune but he did what he had to do he mortgaged their furniture sold their few family heirlooms borrowed on his government's salary for years into the future and had the duplicate necklace made. I wondered what had happened to you, my dear. I am sorry, Elsa. I meant to return the necklace the morning after the party but I... I haven't been feeling well. Oh, that is too bad, darling. Well, I'm fine now and here is the necklace. Thank you, Elsa. I hope you did not miss it too much. Pleasure, my dear. As long as you enjoyed it. Enjoyed it? Oh, yes. Very much. Quiet. It made me the bell of the ball. Well, good. Here, let me put it in the trunk. In the trunk? Why, Elsa? Oh, yes. I have not had an opportunity to tell you. Paul and I are moving to Brussels. But when? Tomorrow. Well, I hate leaving Paris but Paul's business demands it. Anyway, he has promised me the Brussels house is even larger than this one. I am... I'm sure it will be lovely. Come, darling. Don't feel too badly about my going. We are taking a villa at Austen for the summers. And perhaps you and Henri can visit us there. But you must promise to write me regularly, Mathilde, and keep me informed on all the latest gossip. Actually, Mathilde was glad Elsa was moving away. She thought it would make it easier to forget the lost piece of jewelry. But she was wrong. There was too much at home to remind her of it. Mathilde? Mathilde! A new hat. Mathilde! I did not hear you come in. I was... Mathilde, this hat. Did you just buy it? Oh, this afternoon. Here. I will let you see it on. But we both understood that... There. Like it? No, Mathilde. No. We cannot afford it. But you do not know how much it was. Whatever it costs, we cannot spare it. Oh, darling, don't you understand? The salary I earn is not ours anymore. It will take every cent we can save. And more I'm afraid to pay off our loans. You want me to appear in public as an old drudge? You could never look like an old drudge to me. Other people see me too, you know. Mathilde, forget other people. Let us get our life straightened out. I need your help. Of course, throw it up to me. You never blame yourself, do you? If you had made an adequate salary in the first place, I would not have had to borrow any jewelry. There. I will take the hat back. But I tell you, I do not wish to hear about that necklace again. I do not want to hear about it. And so, with the 12,000 franc debt, a curse on their lives. The days, the weeks, the months pass by. And Mathilde resigned herself to the loss of even the few little luxuries she used to enjoy. She prepared the cheapest foods. She did her own washing. They never went out. Every evening at home. Honorary working. Mathilde employed the hours to mend all clothes so they would not have to buy new things. In the beginning, it was a silent, sullen, grudging resignation. Mathilde felt very sorry for herself and blamed Honorary for having ruined her life. But then, slowly, as she watched her husband labor uncomplainingly night after night for extra money to meet their debts, something touched Mathilde's heart. For the first time, she began to feel a sympathy for someone else's pains. Honorary? Honorary, wake up. It is two in the morning. Come to bed, darling. You've worked long enough tonight. No, I must finish these accounts. You will only fall asleep over them again. Go on, darling. No, no, do not worry about the books. I will put them away. You just go to sleep. Good morning, Monsieur. Oh, it is you. Come in. I have our payment ready. I will get it. Fine, fine, Monsieur. I will have my day called out tonight. Nice to get inside for a bit. I would not be surprised to see snow fly before the week is out. Here is the money. Well, tidy gentlemen, you are, Monsieur Lois-Elle. All wrapped up neat in an envelope. If you do not mind, I will count it out right here. Check you up for the month and be on my way. Here. 50, 60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 1, 2... Monsieur Lois-Elle, there are only 93 francs here. It is every zoo we have saved for the month. The payment is 100. You know that, Monsieur. I just could not put any more aside. There were some other bills. I am not interested in your other bills, Monsieur Lois-Elle. Please, not so loud, my wife is... We made a loan to you. You will either live up to your obligations or we will be forced to take some very unpleasant steps. It's all right, Mathilde. A very simple matter, Madame Lois-Elle. Your husband is 7 francs short in this month's payment. But I thought we had enough... I had to take some out. The butcher was going to stop credit. Now I am sure you understand, Madame. My company cannot... Yes, yes, I understand. We owe you 100 for a month. It's no concern of yours how or where we get it. Just a moment. We have paid you regularly month after month. Now for the first time we are a trifle short and you threaten my husband. Well, I understand something else too. Henri has been working day and night going without sleep, losing his health just so we can scrape together enough to pay you. If we are short this month we will make it up next month or the month after. But do not threaten us. We are not going to be intimidated. Can you understand that? You are not going to grind us into the earth. I did not mean any harm, Madame. Here is your hat. Good night, Monsieur. Good night, Monsieur. Mild. I cannot tell you how good it made me feel to hear you speak to him in that way. Henri, we must earn more money. I think I have a way. You have. I am going to learn bookkeeping. Darling, you are doing enough now. No, I am going to learn. Then you can bring some more work home and I can do it with you. Yes, I will work right along with you. And though before this neither would have dreamed it possible Matilde did learn bookkeeping and soon was able to work alongside Henri. From then on they met all their obligations together. It took ten years but the night finally arrived when they were free. When all their debts were paid it was a night for flowers on the table. Henri, such lovely flowers which you shouldn't have. And a special wine. Such a bouquet what Matilde you shouldn't have. And a very special dinner. Well, do you like the soup? Is it not wonderful? Madame Loiselle, it is customary for the cook to wait for the guest to compliment her not to compliment herself. You were deliberately holding back. Besides, the soup is wonderful. So it is, darling. And so was the whole dinner. It was a very happy night. A night for celebration. And when dinner was over Henri did something he hadn't done in years. May I have this dance, madame? Henri, it's been so long. Oh, come madame. Into my arms. Oh, your light is a feather. And you, sir, are the handsomest man at the party. Oh, let it ring. It is probably some bill collector who has forgotten we're paid up. I can scarcely blame him. Oh, no, wait a minute, darling. I will see. Yes? I beg your pardon. I was looking for Madame Loiselle. I wondered if she still is. Elsa! Good heavens. For a moment I hardly... I mean, come in, Elsa. Monsieur Loiselle. Madame Faustier. Oh, come, Elsa. You're upset about not recognizing me, don't be. I know I have changed. After all, darling, it must be ten years since I last saw you. A long time. Even longer than you think. What a poor hostess I am. Come, come sit down. Have a glass of wine with us. I cannot stay. Paul and I just moved back to town. Well, I was passing tonight and I thought... Of course you can stay. Here, sit down. I'll get a glass for you. Do you know, Elsa, it must have been fate that brought you here tonight. Yes, madame. Well, tonight we are having a celebration that concerns you. Well, how nice. Elsa, do you remember the necklace you lent me? A necklace? It was just before you moved to Brussels. Oh, yes. The one you wanted for a big party. Well, I lost it that night. But I am sure I remember you returning it. Go on. Tell her, Matilde. Elsa, that was the duplicate I returned. And we... We finished paying for the duplicate just today. That's what we are celebrating. Well, come, madame. Drink a toast with us. Wait. You just finished paying? Well, it was a fortune to us. Twelve thousand francs. But they were fine diamonds. You see, you never knew the difference. Matilde, Matilde, the necklace I lent you was paced a copy, not worth more than a hundred francs. Copy? With only a hundred francs? Oh, really? Oh, really? No mistake. Ten years of your lives wasted. Wasted. Wasted. Wait, Matilde. Where are they? Darling, look at me. Were these ten years wasted? No. No, oh, really? They were not wasted. Then, Edgar Barrier for your splendid performances. You know, the necklace is the kind of story we like to do on family theater because it brings out a point that can make for greater happiness in every family. The point is simply this, that true family happiness comes not from the money we possess or the beautiful home we own or the social contacts we have made. No. It comes from the love and understanding that exist between husband and wife. And strangely enough, love will grow from the most unlikely seeds from hardship and misfortune and even illness. Yes, from those difficulties which must demand sacrifice and unselfishness and faith. Often the troubles we fear in family life can be a positive blessing for us. We are stronger for having faced them and overcome them. And we will overcome them if we have the faith to call upon God's help through prayer. Daily prayer. Daily family prayer. It has been proven time and time again that the happy family is the family that knows how to pray. Yes, experience shows that the family that prays together stays together. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Guide of Opisodes The Necklace starring Jean Crane and Edgar Berrier with Robert Alder as your host and narrator. The radio adaptation was written by Andrew Michaels with music composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman and was directed for Family Theater by Jaime Del Valle. Heard in the supporting cast were Mary Ship, Dennis Hoy, Earl Lee, Stanley Waxman and Junius Matthews. This series of Family Theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who have felt the need for this type of program and by the Mutual Network which has responded to this need. This is Gene Baker inviting you to join us next week at this time when your Family Theater will present J. Carol Nash in Jeffrey Chaucer's The Partner's Tale. Join us, won't you? Come from Hollywood. Put more opportunity in your future. Invest in United States savings bonds. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.