as to which of them should reign as Queen
of France, the trial came on at Rheims. Crowds flocked to the town,
prepared to give their prince an ovation on his acquittal; but the law
was very stern and uncompromising. The conviction of Hervagault was
affirmed; and, moreover, the acquittal of Madame Seignes was quashed,
and she was sentenced to six months' imprisonment as the accomplice of
a man who had been found guilty of using names which did not belong to
him, and of extorting money under false pretences.

But all the evidence which was led failed to convince his dupes, and
they subscribed liberally to supply him with comforts during his
confinement. The authorities at Paris had ordered him to be kept in
strict seclusion; but his jailers were not proof against the splendid
bribes which were offered to them, and the august captive held daily
court and fared sumptuously, until the government, finding that the
belief in his pretensions was spreading rapidly, ordered his removal
to Soissons, and gave imperative injunctions that he should be kept in
solitary confinement.

The infatuated ex-bishop in the meantime was wandering about the
country, endeavouring by every possible means to procure his release;
and when he heard that the _pseudo_-prince was to be transferred from
one prison to another, spent night after night wandering on the high
road, or sitting at the foot of some village cross, hoping to
intercept the prisoner on his way, and perhaps rescue him from the
gens d'armes who had him in custody. Of course, he did not succeed in
his quixotic undertaking; and when he subsequently demanded admission
to see the prince in Soissons jail, he was himself arrested and
detained until the government had decided whether to treat him as a
conspirator or a lunatic.

At Soissons, as at Vitry, Chalons, and Rheims, crowds flocked to pay
homage to the pretender, until at last Bonaparte, disgusted with the
attention which was given to this impudent impostor, caused him to be
removed to the Bicetre, then a prison for vagabonds and suspects. The
place was thronged with the offscourings of Paris, and Hervagault
found himself in congenial quarters. Certain enjoyments were permitted
to those of the inmates who could afford to pay for them; and, as the
so-called prince had plenty of money, and spent it liberally, his
claims were as unhesitatingly recognised by his fellow-prisoners as
they had been by the royalists of the provinces. Grad