After France's common lands were redistributed in 1789, there was a baby boom. Even tenant laborers acquired land, improving their once desperately miserable lives. And with lords and nobles gone, there were no longer any land consolidators. People began to long for happy, comfortable lives.
At the same time, some smallholders and day laborers left the countryside for the cities. It was not only the lure of urban wages, jobs, and new ways of life, but also because the Ancien Régime that had once firmly bound serfs had collapsed. In some places, serfs' children had been required to remain at home if they wished to inherit their parents' possessions; otherwise, everything their parents owned would be taken by the lord.
Cities, especially one like Paris, drew in many people. That might have been why Jeanne had not left after committing her fraud, but instead remained in Paris until the truth could no longer be concealed.
Other than Paris, everywhere else was the countryside. How could someone accustomed to life at Versailles possibly adapt to it?
After changing clothes, Georgiana calmed down somewhat. Human memory was deeply unreliable: it was easily forgotten and easily distorted. That was why tools like a Pensieve were needed, allowing one to witness the circumstances of a crime firsthand, as if watching surveillance footage.
Rumors could not be controlled. Though they were not necessarily all false, one could not rule out the possibility that someone had deliberately spread them. For instance, after the Diamond Necklace Affair, another rumor circulated that Marie Antoinette and Jeanne had colluded to swindle Cardinal de Rohan out of his money.
When everyone was spreading rumors, some people would take them for truth and even unconsciously alter their testimony to match them. Bow Street Runners needed more than diligence; they needed speed.