soon as
he was in the street with the orphans, he learnt that Napoleon had
inspected the factories at half past three in the morning, and that his
departure was fixed for ten o'clock. Branzon, a revenue collector and
friend of Licquet's procured the little Acquets a card from the prefect,
by showing which they were allowed to wait at the door of the Emperor's
residence. We quote the very words of the letter written the same day by
Ducolombier to Bonnoeil and the old Marquise:

"Mlle. Querey and the three little girls were permitted to wait at
the door of the prefecture where, as you must know, they allow no
one. As soon as their Majesties' carriage came out, little Caroline
cried out to the Empress. The Emperor lowered the window to take
the petition, and handed it to the Empress, as it was meant for
her. The Empress bent forward in order to see them...."

This time their confidence was unbounded. The old Marquise was already
congratulated on her approaching liberation; but days passed and nothing
more was heard of it. They waited patiently for a year, their hopes
growing fainter each day, and when it became only too evident that the
petition had had no effect, Timoleon ventured to remind the Empress of
it, and drew up in his own name a fresh request for his mother's pardon,
with no better result than before. A supreme and useless effort was made
on the 30th of August, 1813, when Marie Louise was Empress-Queen-Regent.
At this time Bonnoeil had at length been let out of prison, where he
had been unjustly detained since August, 1807. He had not appeared
before the court, and consequently was not condemned, but was detained
as a "precautionary measure." As his health was much impaired by his
stay at the conciergerie, the prefect took it upon himself to have him
removed, and placed him at Rouen under the supervision of the police.

For there he could at least keep himself informed of what was going on.
If the newspapers gave but little news, he could still collect the
rumours of the town. Doubtless he was the first to advise his mother to
submit to her fate; and from this very moment the Marquise displayed an
astonishing serenity, as if she in fact foresaw the fall of him whom she
considered her personal enemy. She had accustomed herself very quickly
to life in the prison to which she had been transferred in 1813. The
rules were not very strict for those inmates who had a little money to
spe