He was being advised he would do better to continue his search in the larger towns. One of his stone suppliers in Bordeaux had been a whisker away from locating him a replacement. The son of a water merchant, who had also drawn a bad number but who, by virtue of having a brother already in the service, had been exempted and was thus free to sign up. But just as the matter was about to be settled, a notary had snaffled the man up for the astronomical figure of 10,000 francs.

He was also being advised to consider returned servicemen, who were highly prized by recruitment boards for substitution purposes. His envoys in the Orne region had thus been on the lookout for such a rare gem and had ended up locating a young soldier who might well have taken Auguste’s place: a man by the name of Roussel, who had been discharged with a leg wound but who had spent two years recuperating. He stood at five foot three, incisors and canines intact, and although he was quite unattractive and prone to haemorrhoids, his legs, so it was said, were once again beyond criticism. His price was to be negotiated by his uncle, with whom he lodged, but the latter would consider nothing less than 9000 francs, half of which was to be paid in advance, which Casimir considered too steep a price given the candidate’s dubious constitution. However, the man very quickly found a taker and was acquired by the broker for a Parisian insurance company, who had come all the way to that part of the world to solicit business.

Every time they have been ready to settle, the distances involved have brought it all undone. I personally negotiated three deals at Laon, Orléans and Beauvais, none of which came through on account of the sort of people with whom I was dealing, and I have lost no less than 800 francs, what with the three journeys, the cost of lodgings, the advances paid, the brokers and the meals I was required to offer them.