De Sartines found himself painfully embarrassed at the peculiar position into which he was forced by the King, and showed no little diffidence and hesitation in his action. ‘I find him a very timid man,’ was de Broglio’s remark to the sovereign, ‘and yet I do not see what he has to fear, having received his master’s orders.’ Louis XV. was little apprehensive that the police officer would fail in his duty towards himself, for he had already received from him a bundle of recovered papers. Fortunately for the royal schemes in hand, de Praslin was at Versailles with the Court, and although he had announced his intention of being present at the examination of the prisoners, the day was not fixed. Advantage was taken of this respite by the sneaking monarch to corrupt yet another of his officials, so urgent was he in seeking to lift, at least his own self, out of the mire. His Majesty authorised M. Jumilhac, Governor of the Bastille, to admit Tercier to a conference with Drouet and Hugonnet, thereby requiring him to violate his trust! Every precaution was to be taken that Tercier might enter and leave the prison unnoticed, for fear that some busybody should carry the tale to the ministers. De Broglio was to appoint to each actor in the farce about to be played his part for misleading de Praslin. Drouet was to declare that he had been acting on his own responsibility and to oblige a friend; Hugonnet would insist that he was employed by Drouet, and by him alone, without reference to any other person; the titles had reference to certain friends of D’Eon; and, finally, de Sartines was to countenance these fanciful declarations and not conduct too searching an interrogatory. ‘I have been at work for fifteen hours consecutively, wrote de Broglio to the King, ‘preparing material for the investigation, the replies to be given by the Sieur Drouet, the depositions to be made by Hugonnet, all of which will be in keeping with what has already transpired, and I have prepared a sort of interrogatory for M. de Sartines.’ ‘They are playing the fool with me!’ said de Praslin to de Sartines, peevishly, as he went away at the close of the investigation, and on making his report the following day, Sunday, at a Cabinet Council, he insisted that Drouet had not been telling the whole truth. ‘There is some truth in this!’ observed the King, in communicating de Praslin’s impressions to Tercier. ‘Drouet is to undergo another examination, and will be discharged from prison towards the end of this week. Hugonnet will be detained a little longer, but I hope we see the end. Everything went off well at the council, and there was no distrust. I did not think it desirable to order Drouet’s liberation, so as not to excite any suspicion.’[212]