By these measures he hoped still to be able to provide against the possibility of Caron's seeking to leave Paris.
But Caron had been gone over an hour, and as a matter of fact, he was back again in Paris within a very little time of these orders having been issued.

At the Barriere d'Enfer, although recognised, he was not molested, since the orders only, and distinctly, concerned his departure and nowise his arrival.
Thus, not until he had reached his lodgings did he realise that all was not as he had hoped.

And even then it was only within doors that he made the discovery, when he found himself suddenly confronted by the sous-lieutenant, who was idling in the passage.

The officer saluted him respectfully, and no less respectfully, though firmly, informed him that, by order of the Citizen-deputy Billaud Varennes, he must ask him to confine himself to his own apartments until further orders.
"But why, Citizen-officer ?" La Boulaye demanded, striving to exclude from his voice any shade of the chagrin that was besetting him.

"What do these orders mean ?" The officer was courtesy personified, but explanations he had none to give, for the excellent reason, he urged that he was possessed of none.
He was a soldier, and he had received orders which he must obey, without questioning either their wisdom or their justice.