tice.

Licquet was only half satisfied with the result of the expedition; he
had hoped to take d'Ache, whom he believed to be hidden at Tournebut;
the police had arrested Mme. Levasseur and Jean-Baptiste Caqueray,
lately married to Louise d'Ache; but of the conspirator himself there
was no trace. For three years this extraordinary man had eluded the
police. Was it to be believed that he had lived all this time, buried in
some oubliette at Tournebut, and could one expect that Mme. de Combray
would reveal the secret of his retreat?

As soon as she arrived at the Conciergerie, Licquet, without showing
himself, had gone to "study" his prisoner. Like an old, caged lioness,
this woman of sixty-seven behaved with surprising energy; she showed no
evidence of depression or shame; she did as she liked in the prison,
complained of the food, grumbled all day, and raged at the gaolers.
There was no reason to hope that she would belie her character, nor to
count on an emotion she did not feel to obtain any information from
her. The prefect had her brought in a carriage to his house on August
23d, and interrogated her for two days. With the experience and
astuteness of an old offender, the Marquise assumed complete frankness;
but she only confessed to things she could not deny with success.
Licquet asked several questions; she did not reply until she had caused
them to be repeated several times, under pretence that she did not
understand them. She struggled desperately, arguing, quibbling, fighting
foot by foot. If she admitted knowing d'Ache and having frequently
offered him hospitality, she positively denied all knowledge of his
actual residence. In short, when Savoye-Rollin and Licquet sent her back
to the Conciergerie, they felt that they had had the worst of it and
gained nothing. Bonnoeil, when his turn came told them nothing but
what they already knew, and Placide d'Ache flew into a rage and denied
everything.

The prefect and his acolyte were feeling somewhat abashed at their
failure, when the concierge who had taken Mme. de Combray back to the
Palais asked to speak to them. He told them that in the carriage the
Marquise had offered him a large sum if he would take some letters to
one of the prisoners. Accustomed to these requests he had said neither
yes nor no, but had told "the Combray woman" that he would see her at
night, when going the rounds, and he had come to get the prefect's
orders concerning this correspondence.