The mission with which d’Eon was to be entrusted was connected with the intricate scheme of these mysterious negotiations. For fourteen years diplomatic relations had been discontinued between France and Russia. The irregular and discourteous proceedings, which had led to the Marquis de la Chétardie being somewhat unceremoniously escorted to the frontier at the time of his last embassy, had left Elizabeth with a feeling of resentment which her liking for Louis XV. had not entirely effaced, and which the Grand Chancellor, Bestuchef, an avowed enemy of France, did all he could to promote and to revive. The personal sentiments of the Empress, her dislike for Englishmen and Prussians, were known at Versailles, and since that deplorable rupture attempts had been repeatedly made to renew relations, which seemed all the more important in proportion as the friendship of the King of Prussia appeared more deceptive and treacherous. Many envoys had set out, bearing letters from Louis XV. to Elizabeth, but all had failed. Russia was far from being easy of access, and Bestuchef’s agents, who kept a good watch at the frontier, had managed to detect all these political smugglers. One of them, the Chevalier de Valcroissant, had avoided detection; but, having been followed and recognised in the interior of the empire, he was arrested and confined in the fortress of Schlüsselburg, on Lake Ladoga, where his jailers were barbarous enough to put him into irons. The wretched man had been in prison for a year when the enterprise which had turned out so badly for him was attempted again. Among the Prince de Conti’s protégés was Sir Mackenzie Douglas, who had come to offer his services to France. His attachment to the Stuarts had compelled him to seek refuge in flight, and his hatred of the English left no doubt as to the eagerness with which he would undertake a mission directed against them. Douglas had given proofs of his courage in accompanying the Pretender in his romantic wanderings. A knowledge of mineralogy enabled him to give his journey the plausible appearance of a scientific expedition. His English nationality and his ability were relied on to avert all suspicions. The scheme thus devised was approved by the King, who deemed it prudent to impart it to his ministers, doubtless the better to conceal the essential part of the negotiations. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Monsieur Rouillé, gave his sanction, and countersigned Douglas’ mission. The instructions, which were delivered to Douglas by the Prince de Conti immediately after they had been submitted to the King (they were written in small characters and enclosed in the false bottom of a tortoise-shell snuff-box), specified the route he was to take and the principal subjects upon which he was to obtain information.