70's TV play or maybe a book.

[reddfox]

Trying to remember the name of a play I saw on TV maybe in the 70's or 80's.  It was a period drama about a woman who borrowed a diamond necklace, which she lost.  The woman and her husband borowed money to replace it, and returned the replacement without telling the owner about it.  The couple then had to work for their entire lives to repay the loan. Many years later they found out that the original necklace they had lost was only paste and that it's owner had discarded it many years earlier, not knowing that it was a replica and that it was real diamonds.  This meant that the couple had spent their entire lives working for nothing.

Does anyone recall this play, or if it is adapted from a novel, the title?  This question has bugged me for years, I would love to have the answer.

[janoel]

Think it might be "The Diamond Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant.

[Top Cat2]

Can confirm that it is from a tale by Maupassant and is so well known that there must be a translation of it, in a series of short stories that include "Boule de Suif", which is also well worth reading.