And it was all authentic enough.

There was a real prince; and the claim too was sufficiently real--only unfortunately it was not a valid claim.

So the prince lost his case on the last appeal and the beginning of de Barral's end became manifest to the public in the shape of a half-sheet of note paper wafered by the four corners on the closed door of The Orb offices notifying that payment was stopped at that establishment.
Its consort The Sceptre collapsed within the week.

I won't say in American parlance that suddenly the bottom fell out of the whole of de Barral concerns.

There never had been any bottom to it.