Bassompierre was ready enough to repay the courtesies and confidences which were now lavished upon him by using the influence which the fact that he had been one of her father’s most intimate friends, and had known her since her childhood, gave him over the Queen to bring about an amicable settlement. He recognised that there had been faults as well as grievances on both sides, and, in his private conferences with Henrietta, he pointed out to her that she had committed a very grave error in surrounding herself so closely with her own people and establishing, so to speak, a foreign camp in the midst of the English Court. His task, however, was a far from easy one, and it was complicated by the circumstance that Henrietta was convinced that Buckingham was her personal enemy, and that, jealous lest she should acquire influence with the King, he had made mischief perpetually between them.[74] Eventually, however, by a happy combination of tact, patience, and firmness, he brought her to take a more reasonable view of the situation, though her Majesty’s temper was very uncertain, and more than once, when he flattered himself that differences were satisfactorily adjusted, fresh trouble arose, and he had to begin his work over again. But let us turn to his journal, wherein he has noted the progress of his negotiations from day to day:-- “_Friday, the 16th_ [October].--The King and Queen returned to London. The duke [Buckingham] sent to ask me to come to Somerset [House], where we spent more than two hours debating our affairs. “_Saturday, the 17th._--I went to salute the Queen at Houaithall [Whitehall], and to render her an account of all that I had conferred with the duke about the preceding day. “_Sunday, the 18th._--I was visited by the Secretary Convé [Conway], who came to see me on behalf of the King. Then the Earl of Carlisle and millord Carleton came to see me. “_Monday, the 19th._--I went to visit the Queen at Houaithall [Whitehall]. “_Tuesday, the 20th._--The Viscount Houemelton [Wimbledon] and Goring came to dine with me. After dinner I was heard at the Council [Privy Council]. “_Wednesday, the 21st._--I wrote a despatch to the King [of France]. I went to see the Queen and to confer with the duke at Somerset [House]. “_Thursday, the 22nd._--The duke and the Earls of Carlisle and Holland, with Montague, came to dine with me.... Then I went to the Queen’s, and in the evening to the house of Madame de Strange.[75] “_Friday, the 23rd._--I went to see the Earl of Carlisle.... “_Saturday, the 24th._--I went to see the Queen. The King came there, and she quarrelled with him. The King took me into his chamber, and talked to me for a long while, making many complaints of the Queen his wife.