Vaceau is described as a "French town on the frontiers of Spain" (304).  No further geographical information is given, and as the border between France and Spain is at least 260 miles wide, the actual position of this fictional city is difficult to locate.

Adeline and the La Lucs pass a silent journey to Vaceau.  Upon arriving there, the first thing Adeline looks for is the prison that holds Theodore.  She doesn't see it, however, and retreats to the hotel with Clara and La Luc.  La Luc decides to depart Vaceau and travel to Paris to plead for Theodore before the king.  He returns unsuccessful. 

Vaceau is a place riddled with anxiety, waiting, confinement, and eventual triumph.  Adeline is summoned away to testify in the trial of the Marquis, and she departs just as she came: "[her] carriage in leaving Vaceau passed by the prison; she threw an eager look towards it as she passed; its heavy black walls, and narrow-grated windows, seemed to frown upon her hopes--but Theodore was there, and leaning from the window, she continued to gaze upon it till an abrupt turning in the street concealed it from view " (337).

Her journey to Paris takes a realistic "several days" (338).