And she was seized with a fit of trembling. I kissed her, with difficulty kept back my tears, and said: "It is nothing; they have sent for me to make a statement as a witness in a matter that has to do with a newspaper trial. It will all be over in a few hours and I shall come back to breakfast with you." The police-spy had remained standing at the open door; he saw this scene and I said to him, as I returned to place myself in his hands: "You see, sir, the effect of your somewhat matutinal visit." I crossed the court-yard with my bumbailiffs; three of them got into the coach with me, the rest of the squad accompanied the capture on foot and we reached the yard of the Prefecture of Police unmolested. The gaoler who was to put me under lock and key was not up: they woke him by tapping at his wicket and he went to prepare my lodging. While he was busy with this work, I walked up and down the yard with the Sieur Léotaud, who was guarding me. He chatted and said to me, in a friendly way, for he was very civil: "Monsieur le vicomte, I have the great honour of remembering you; I have often presented arms to you, when you were a minister and used to come to the King's: I used to serve in the Body-guards. But what would you have one do? One has a wife and children; one must live!" "You are right, Monsieur Léotaud; how much does this pay you?" "Ah, monsieur le vicomte, that depends on our captures .... The perquisites are sometimes good and sometimes poor, just as in war." During my walk, I saw the spies return in different disguises like maskers on Ash Wednesday coming down from the Courtille: they came to report on the doings of the night. Some were dressed as vendors of green-stuff, as street-hawkers, as charcoal-sellers, as market-porters, as old-clothes'-men, as rag-men, as organ-grinders; others wore wigs under which appeared hair of a different colour; others had false beards, whiskers and mustachios; others dragged their legs like respectable invalids and wore a dazzling red ribbon at their button-holes. They disappeared into a small yard and soon returned in other clothes, without mustachios, without beards, without whiskers, without wigs, without baskets, without wooden legs, without arms worn in a sling: all these birds of day-break of the police flew away and vanished as the light increased. My lodging was ready, the gaoler came to tell us, and M. Léotaud, hat in hand, led me to the door of my honest dwelling, saying, as he left me in the hands of the gaoler and his assistants: "Monsieur le vicomte, I am your humble servant; I trust to have the pleasure of meeting you again." [Sidenote: And taken to prison.]