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The following podcast may not be
for all listeners. 

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Listener discretion is advised. 
In the span of human history, 

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the deadly sins of theft and 
greed slither through time, 

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unchanging, unrelenting. 
Like hungry wolves in the night,

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some humans want what glitters, 
what tempts, and what belongs to

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others. 
But beware, for some treasures 

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carry consequences, and the 
fingers that grasp too greedily 

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might find themselves caught in 
a trap from which there is no 

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escape. 
The air grows heavy as we 

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venture into this dark tail of 
the Hope Diamond, a stone so 

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mesmerizing yet deadly that 
broken bodies mark its path 

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through history. 
We will peel back the veil of 

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time to expose its blood soaked 
legacy. 

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Join me for a curse that spans 
over centuries, leaving a trail 

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of death behind. 
Our journey begins with the most

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infamous gem in history, the 
Hope Diamond. 

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Resting in the Smithsonian 
today, this 45 carat blue 

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diamond sparkles with an 
innocent beauty, but it's past 

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is anything but innocent. 
Legend has it that the diamond 

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carries a curse, bestowing a 
deadly fate upon anyone who 

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dares to touch it. 
Its exact whereabouts of where 

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it came from remain a mystery 
shrouded in the mists of time. 

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Some believe it was unearthed in
a volcanic eruption, while 

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others claim it was discovered 
in the cooler mines of Golkonda,

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India. 
The diamonds discovery marked 

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the beginning of a curse that 
would echo through centuries. 

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The precious stone, gleaming 
with an otherworldly light, was 

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set as an all seeing eye in the 
statue of a Hindu goddess, Sita,

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until Jean Baptiste Tavernier, a
traveling French merchant with 

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darkness in his heart, permitted
the unthinkable in 1666. 

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Undercover of night, he pried 
the sacred 115 carat blue 

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diamond from its divine resting 
place, leaving an empty eye 

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socket that seemed to weep in 
the moonlight. 

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The locals, their fury mixing 
with ancient mystical knowledge,

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Wove occurs so potent it would 
follow the Blue Diamond and its 

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future owners like a hungry 
ghost, promising torment to any 

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mortal who dared claim it as 
their own. 

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Jean Baptiste named the diamond 
after himself. 

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While it was difficult to 
confirm anything from the 1600s,

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it is said after he sold the 
diamond, he died from a fever 

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and wild dogs ate his remains. 
John Baptiste had brought the 

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diamond from India to Europe. 
King Louis the 14th bought the 

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diamond and had it cut. 
He placed it among the French 

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Crown Jewels and named it the 
French Blue. 

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The French Crown Jewels are a 
collection of jewels that 

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symbolized royal power in 
France. 

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King Louis the 14th loaned them 
to Nicholas Fouquet, the 

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Superintendent of finances in 
France, but shortly after the 

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king accused Nicholas of 
embezzlement, he was sentenced 

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to death and executed. 
As for King Louis the 14th, he 

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died a very painful death from a
gangrene infection. 

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The Blue Diamond was eventually 
given to King Louis the 16th and

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his queen, Marie Antoinette. 
King Louis the 16th was publicly

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executed on January 21st, 1793. 
His queen, Marie Antoinette, was

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imprisoned in a temple before 
being transferred to the 

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concierge, a former palace in 
Paris that was transformed into 

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a prison. 
She spent her final days being 

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insulted and humiliated in the 
shadowy confines of her prison 

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cell. 
Marie Antoinette's prized 

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diamond was passed on to the 
safekeeping of Princess Marie 

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Louise, her most devoted 
confidante. 

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But fate had woven a far more 
sinister destiny for the 

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Princess than mere guardianship 
of a gem. 

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A frenzied mob descended upon 
her like wolves to their prey, 

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the air filled with sickening 
screams. 

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While she was beaten with a 
hammer, her screams drowned by 

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the crowd's savage roars, they 
tore her body apart with 

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primitive fury, disemboweled her
on the cobblestone St. and then 

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they severed her head from her 
shoulders. 

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But the mob's bloodlust wasn't 
yet seated. 

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In a final act of unspeakable 
cruelty, they mounted her once 

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beautiful head upon a Pike. 
They paraded it through the 

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streets to Marie Antoinette's 
prison window, a grotesque 

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trophy of revolution forced 
before Marie Antoinette's eyes 

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of a woman she loved dearly. 
While their deaths most likely 

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came as a result of the French 
Revolution, some say it was the 

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curse of the Blue Diamond. 
During the bloody days of the 

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French Revolution, chaos led to 
the theft of the diamond. 

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The diamond had vanished into 
the shadows and later resurfaced

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into the hands of a Dutch 
jeweler, Wilhelm Falls. 

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Under his blade, the 115 carat 
stone was transformed, stripped 

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to a mere 45 carats. 
The mystery of how Falls 

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acquired this cursed treasure 
died with him when his own son, 

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consumed by greed, murdered his 
father in cold blood and stole 

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the diamond, adding another 
chapter to its cursed legacy. 

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By 1839, the cursed jewel found 
its way into the glittering 

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collection of Henry Philip Hope,
a wealthy Dutch born banker 

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prowling a London's elite 
circles. 

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His family fortune flowed from 
the powerful Hope and Company 

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Bank Empire. 
He gave the diamond the name it 

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bears today, the Hope Diamond. 
Perhaps unwittingly, he branded 

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the stone with cruel irony, for 
Hope was the last thing this 

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cursed gem brought to its 
owners. 

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In a final twist of fate, the 
diamond's inclusion in Hope's 

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meticulous gem catalogue only 
served to document its dark 

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journey through history, like a 
Ledger of doom marking each I'll

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fated hand it passed through. 
When Henry passed away, the 

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jewel passed through the Hope 
family, including nephews and 

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grandsons. 
But the final family member to 

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own it was Lord France's Hope, 
who sold the blue diamond to pay

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his financial debts. 
It passed through the hands of 

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Joseph Frankels in New York, who
in turn also sold the diamond to

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pay debts. 
Others who owned it were Salem 

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Habib, Chapter Rosineau and 
Simon Mann Carite, a Greek 

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merchant who sold the diamond to
Pierre Cartier in 1910. 

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After Simon sold the diamond, he
drove his car off a Cliff with 

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his wife and child inside. 
In 1910, fate drew another 

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unsuspecting soul towards the 
cursed diamond when it gleamed 

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from its perch at Cartiers in 
Paris, catching the eye of 

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American socialite Evelyn Walsh 
McLean, the wife of Washington 

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Post owner and publisher Edward 
Beal McLean. 

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Evelyn was no stranger to power 
and luxury, but this stone 

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promised something more 
sinister. 

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Though she dismissed the 
original setting as unworthy, 

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the diamond spell had already 
taken hold. 

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The transaction that sealed her 
destiny occurred in 1911 within 

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the ink stained walls of the 
Washington Post offices. 

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Edward, perhaps blind to the 
darkness that shadowed the Gems 

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history, presented it to his 
wife as the ultimate token of 

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affection. 
But love, like everything else, 

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touched by the Hope diamond, 
carried its price. 

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Evelyn, defiant in the face of 
whispered warnings, draped 

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herself in what many believed to
be her own doom. 

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She flaunted the diamond at 
lavish gatherings, its blue fire

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dancing at her throat while 
friends and family begged her to

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part with it. 
Their desperate pleas for her to

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sell the cursed jewel before it 
claimed her as another victim 

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were ignored. 
Like so many before, Evelyn 

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refused to listen, wearing her 
feet like a badge of honor at 

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every soiree and social 
gathering. 

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Daring the diamonds dark legacy 
to touch her, she assured 

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friends and family she was safe 
as she had the diamond blessed 

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by a priest. 
During Evelyn's ownership of the

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diamond, she suffered many 
hardships. 

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Her husband left her for another
woman, she lost her son in a car

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accident, her daughter passed 
from a drug overdose, and the 

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Washington Post went bankrupt, 
forcing her to sell it. 

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Evelyn passed, owing large debt.
Her surviving children sold the 

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diamond to the American jeweler 
Harry Winston. 

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It was shown at many exhibits 
for nearly a decade. 

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When Harry Winston finally 
mailed the diamond to the 

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Smithsonian as a donation in 
1958, he paid $2.44 for postage 

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and $155 to ensure the delivery.
It is said that the mailman, 

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James Todd, who delivered the 
diamond, suffered a leg injury 

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in a truck accident shortly 
after the delivery. 

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The day the infamous Hope 
Diamond rests behind bulletproof

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glass at the National Museum of 
Natural History in Washington, 

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DC, its violent history 
seemingly tamed by the sterile 

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hulls of the Smithsonian. 
Valued at a staggering 250 

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million, this notorious gem 
draws millions of mesmerized 

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visitors each year, making it 
the museum's most magnetic 

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attraction. 
Perhaps it's not just the 

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Diamonds legendary beauty that 
pulls people close, but the dark

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whispers of its past, the trail 
of destruction it left across 

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centuries of human desire. 
The stone glows with an 

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otherworldly blue fire under the
museum lights, deceptively 

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peaceful now in its velvet lined
display. 

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Yet some say that even here is 
safely locked away in the 

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National Gem and Mineral 
collection. 

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The Hope Diamond hasn't lost its
power. 

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It's merely waiting, collecting 
new admirers, as if gathering 

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energy for its next chapter. 
After all, 250 million might 

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tempt another's soul to test 
whether the curse still lingers 

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in those crystalline depths. 
From John Baptiste to Louis the 

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16th and Marie Antoinette, the 
trail of destruction followed 

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this mesmerizing stones for 
centuries. 

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Even now, in our modern age of 
science and reason, visitors 

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report feeling an inexplicable 
chill when standing by its 

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display. 
The Hope Diamond continues its 

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vigil behind 3 inches of 
bulletproof glass in the 

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Smithsonian, with the guards 
armed and watching. 

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But one must wonder if all that 
security is really meant to keep

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thieves out, or to keep 
something far more sinister 

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contained within. 
Perhaps some curses never truly 

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die. 
Maybe they just merely wait, 

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patient as the diamonds 
themselves, watching through 

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facets that have witnessed 
centuries of human suffering. 

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So until next time, inspect 
those family heirlooms with wary

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eyes. 
And remember, when a stranger 

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offers you a gem of unearthly 
color, run. 

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Run as if your very soul depends
on it, because it just might.