At last, on October 16, Savary presented to Napoleon the anxiously-looked-for report, which advised the prisoner’s discharge. To every one’s astonishment, the Emperor only made the following observation: _Better keep him until universal peace is declared_. There was nothing to be done but to submit to this merciless imprisonment, and to accept the explanation which was given, viz. that d’Auerweck was “a bold intriguer, who was to be found everywhere: sometimes in the interests of Austria, sometimes in England’s.” Afterwards, as though to find an excuse for this prolonged detention, the Baron was brought in contact with one of those persons who are known as _Moutons_; his line of action was to get on friendly terms with the prisoner, and to try to get him to talk, the result of these conversations being handed on to the police. A man called Rivoire was chosen for this purpose. He was formerly a naval officer, but had been arrested and imprisoned for conspiracy; he escaped, but was caught and put in prison for the fourth or fifth time. The “Chevalier de Rivoire” was at the end of his resources, and hoped to obtain a remission of his sentence by spying on his companions in misfortune. It was impressed on him that he must specially pump Baron d’Auerweck on the subject of the Rastadt assassination. The two reports, which he sent to Desmarets during the year 1811, give a rather amusing account of the success of his enterprise: a success, of course, skilfully exaggerated. “D’Auerweck is very suspicious when one begins to put questions to him, so I adopted the ruse of contradicting him and of only grudgingly giving in to him. Then, after having started him in the right direction, if I resign myself to listening patiently, he obligingly begins to overwhelm me with confidences, both false and true, and with all the rubbish which his conceit and his insatiate garrulity inspire in him.... He boasted of having rendered the most important services to the English, both on the Continent and in their own country, where he had exposed and baffled many plots, and had been the cause of the arrest and punishment of many French agents.... When we began to talk about the Rastadt affair, he at first repeated the story which had been manufactured in order to divert suspicion from the real culprits. “_Rivoire_: ‘Only children will believe such a fairy tale.’ “_D’Auerweck_ (laughing): ‘That’s true; but we must always tell it, and by dint of many repetitions they will begin to believe it. The matter concerns other people’s interests. I only left Austria when I saw that its Government was fatally weak; so much so that it has to be treated like a spoilt child that does not want to take its medicine. Besides myself, there are not more than two people who are acquainted with the correct details of this affair.’