Xavier Durrieu, who tells us this story, had the curiosity later on to see this lady.  She confirmed the story.  Yes, certainly! she had shut the door in the face of this wretch; a soldier, a traitor to his flag who dared visit her!  She receive such a man?  No! she could not do that, “and,” states Xavier Durrieu, she added, “And yet I have no character to lose.”

Another mystery was in progress at the Prefecture of Police.

Those belated inhabitants of the Cite who may have returned home at a late hour of the night might have noticed a large number of street cabs loitering in scattered groups at different points round about the Rue de Jerusalem.

From eleven o’clock in the evening, under pretext of the arrivals of refugees at Paris from Genoa and London, the Brigade of Surety and the eight hundred sergents de ville had been retained in the Prefecture.  At three o’clock in the morning a summons had been sent to the forty-eight Commissaries of Paris and of the suburbs, and also to the peace officers.  An hour afterwards all of them arrived.  They were ushered into a separate chamber, and isolated from each other as much as possible.  At five o’clock a bell was sounded in the Prefect’s cabinet.  The Prefect Maupas called the Commissaries of Police one after another into his cabinet, revealed the plot to them, and allotted to each his portion of the crime.  None refused; many thanked him.

It was a question of arresting at their own homes seventy-eight Democrats who were influential in their districts, and dreaded by the Elysee as possible chieftains of barricades.  It was necessary, a still more daring outrage, to arrest at their houses sixteen Representatives of the People.  For this last task were chosen among the Commissaries of Police such of those magistrates who seemed the most likely to become ruffians.  Amongst these were divided the Representatives.  Each had his man.  Sieur Courtille had Charras, Sieur Desgranges had Nadaud, Sieur Hubaut the elder had M. Thiers, and Sieur Hubaut the younger General Bedeau, General Changarnier was allotted to Lerat, and General Cavaignac to Colin.  Sieur Dourlens took Representative Valentin, Sieur Benoist Representative Miot, Sieur Allard Representative Cholat, Sieur Barlet took Roger (Du Nord), General Lamoriciere fell to Commissary Blanchet, Commissary Gronfier had Representative Greppo, and Commissary Boudrot Representative Lagrange.  The Questors were similarly allotted, Monsieur Baze to the Sieur Primorin, and General Leflo to Sieur Bertoglio.

Warrants with the name of the Representatives had been drawn up in the Prefect’s private Cabinet.  Blanks had been only left for the names of the Commissaries.  These were filled in at the moment of leaving.

In addition to the armed force which was appointed to assist them, it had been decided that each Commissary should be accompanied by two escorts, one composed of sergents de ville, the other of police agents in plain clothes.  As Prefect Maupas had told M. Bonaparte, the Captain of the Republican Guard, Baudinet, was associated with Commissary Lerat in the arrest of General Changarnier.