Nicolas Harlai, Seigneur de Sancy, was of French descent, and the treasurer and intimate friend of King Henry IV. He had filled several positions of high responsibility, and served as ambassador to several of the Courts of Europe. He was also known as a man of culture, a lover of the fine arts, and an amateur in gems. In the year 1589, Baron Sancy is said to have obtained a large diamond from the Pretender to the Crown of Portugal, as security for a loan of one hundred thousand livres. The antiquaries have thus far failed to ascertain whence this gem was obtained; but it cannot be supposed that it was the identical jewel Philip II. of Spain had received from the English Princess, for the Spaniard was then the bitterest foe of Don Antonio. Furthermore, Philip, when dying, in 1598, ten years later than the above-mentioned period, gave to the Infanta a diamond of great beauty saying that it once belonged to Queen Mary of England. At all events, it is quite certain that the French Baron had in his hands a large and valuable diamond. Not long after this acquisition, Henry IV. wished to engage the services of a select body of Swiss soldiers, to serve in his army; and as security for the pay of these hirelings, he sent the gem by a trusty servant to Harlai, who was then in Switzerland. The faithful valet, whilst on his way to Bern, was beset by robbers in the forests that conceal the entrance to the pass of the Dôle, one of the mountains of the Jura. He managed to swallow the diamond without being perceived by the bandits, before he was stripped and assassinated. The Baron, on learning the fate of his envoy, mistrusted that he had resorted to this expedient of concealing his treasure. He therefore sent a party of soldiers to the place, disinterred the body, and recovered the gem. It was immediately placed in the hands of the Jews of Metz, as security for a large sum of money; and it is also related that the gem was never redeemed. Here ends the history of the second Sancy; and no further account of it can be found.