This was all reported to Maurice when his turn came to be questioned, and he declared that the deposition of the queen was quite correct.
"But," said the president, "there was then a plot."
"Impossible," said Maurice; "I was dining at Madame Dixmer's, and proposed that she should see the prisoners, hearing her remark she had never done so; but neither the day nor the manner of so doing was arranged."
"But the flowers were purchased," said the president; "the bouquet had been made beforehand."
"Not at all; I myself purchased these flowers from a flower-girl, who offered them to us at the corner of the Rue des Vieilles-Audriettes."
"But at least this flower-girl presented the bouquet to you?"
"No, Citizen; I selected it myself from ten or twelve others. Certainly, I purchased the most beautiful."
"But was there a possibility of secreting this billet on your road to the tower?"
"Impossible, Citizen. I never left Madame Dixmer's side for a moment, and to perform the operation named on each flower,—for remark that every flower, according to Simon's account, must have contained a like billet,—would at least occupy half a day or more."