Mathilde was a pretty young woman married to Monsieur Loisel, a clerk in the education ministry.
While he was content with their Paris apartment and ordinary, but comfortable, existence, Mathilde felt she deserved more.
She longed for the finer things in life.
Her desire was so great that she felt jealous every time she visited Jeanne Forestier, her wealthy friend.
One January night Monsieur Loisel triumphantly presented Mathilde with an invitation to the education minister's ball.
Mathilde frowned and tossed the invitation on the table.
"I thought you'd be pleased!" he said.
"Everyone wants to attend, and only a few clerks have been invited."
"I have nothing to wear!"
"What about the dress you wear to the theater?"
"That's not appropriate for a ball!" Mathilde said as two tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Give your invitation to a colleague whose wife can dress suitably!"
"My dear, how much would a dress cost—something you could wear on other occasions?"
Mathilde calculated for a few seconds.
She needed a sum high enough for a glamorous ball gown, but not so outrageous that her husband would instantly refuse.
"I might manage with four hundred francs," she finally said.
Monsieur Loisel turned pale. He'd saved that precise amount for a hunting trip.
But, swallowing his disappointment, he gave her the money.
As the ball drew near, Mathilde became more irritated and unhappy.
"You have your lovely new dress," her husband said. "What could possibly be wrong?"
"I don't own a single piece of jewelry."
"You could wear some flowers."
"And look poor? I'd rather not go at all!"
Mathilde appeared close to tears.
"I'm sure Jeanne would lend you something if you asked."
Mathilde uttered a cry of joy. "Why didn't I think of that?"
The next day Mathilde visited her friend, who was delighted to help.
Mathilde tried on expensive bracelets and necklaces, but nothing seemed extravagant enough.
"Don't you have anything else?" Mathilde asked impatiently.
"Of course!" Jeanne brought out more boxes, which Mathilde eagerly opened.
Finally Mathilde spotted an elegant diamond necklace.
She swiftly scooped it up and fastened it around her neck.
"This is all I need," she murmured as she gazed at her reflection.
On the night of the ball, Mathilde was the prettiest woman at the minister's residence.
Men wanted to dance with her, and women were jealous of her.
By midnight her husband had fallen asleep in a chair, but she was still indulging in the attention she had long desired.
At four o'clock in the morning, the ball ended, and Monsieur Loisel fetched Mathilde's cloak.
"Wait here while I find a cab," he said at the door.
But Mathilde was already running down the steps, fearful that the other women, dressed in expensive furs, would notice her everyday cloak.
At home Mathilde wanted to see her beautiful reflection one last time, but what she saw in the mirror shocked her.
"I've—I've—I've lost Jeanne's necklace!"
"Impossible! It must be here someplace."
Together the Loisels examined her dress and cloak but found nothing.
"If you had lost it in the street, we would have heard it fall," Monsieur Loisel said.
"It must be in the cab!"
He flew out of the house to retrace their steps.
He visited the cab company, the police, and finally the newspapers, where he placed an ad offering a reward.
Hours later he returned home empty-handed and found Mathilde waiting, still in her ball dress and too distraught to move.
"Write to Jeanne and say you've broken the necklace's clasp and are having it repaired," he said urgently.
"I have a plan."
That week they went from jeweler to jeweler, searching for a similar necklace.
At last they found one, but it cost forty thousand francs!
"I'll sell it for 36,000," the jeweler offered.
"If you find your necklace within a month, I'll buy back this one for 34,000."
They knew what they must do. Monsieur Loisel had inherited 18,000 francs; he borrowed the rest from friends and lenders.
Mathilde returned the new necklace to Jeanne, hoping she wouldn't examine it too carefully.
After that, the Loisels' lives changed dramatically.
To pay the horrible debt, they dismissed their servant and moved to an attic room.
Mathilde endured the housework and any other work she could find.
It took ten years for the Loisels to pay back all their loans plus interest.
Mathilde now appeared old and exhausted.
One day while walking in the park, she encountered Jeanne who still looked youthful and beautiful.
"Jeanne!"
"Do I know you?" Jeanne asked, surprised that this stranger was addressing her.
"It's me—Mathilde!"
"Oh, my poor Mathilde, how you've changed!"
"Yes, and it's all your fault for lending me that necklace."
Mathilde recounted the story of her descent into poverty.
"I never realized that the necklace wasn't the original!"
Tears filled Jeanne's eyes as she grasped Mathilde's hands.
"But, Mathilde, those diamonds weren't real.
My necklace was worth only five hundred francs!"