Chevalier Douglas and d’Eon were exerting themselves at that time to thwart the combined intrigues of the Chancellor, Bestuchef, and the British ambassador, Sir Hanbury Williams. This they succeeded in doing, thanks to the support of Woronzow and also that of Count Ivan Schouvalow, at that time the favourite of the Empress. Douglas, accompanied by d’Eon, was solemnly received in audience as the Envoy of the King of France. Nevertheless, their enemies did not consider themselves beaten, taking many measures and even attempting assassination, if we are to believe La Messelière, who relates that pistols were fired one night at their windows. But their credit with Elizabeth became greater than ever, and the negotiations soon took, at least in part, an extremely favourable turn. These negotiations were, indeed, twofold, comprising those of which the Minister for Foreign Affairs was kept informed, and those of which reports were sent directly to the King and the Prince de Conti through the medium of Tercier. The object of the official mission was to bring about the reconciliation of the two countries, to detach Russia from the English alliance so as to compel her to sign the treaty which France had just concluded with her old enemy, Austria. That of the secret commission was to induce the Empress to favour a French prince’s candidature for the throne of Poland, and even to engage her affections on behalf of Conti. That prince aspired to a throne and, if he could not reign in his own right in Poland, was quite resigned to participate as Elizabeth’s consort in the government of a great empire. Moreover, the realisation of either of these ambitious dreams would have served the political interests of France equally well. Whether Conti was king in Poland or the Czarina’s consort in Russia, Louis XV. had the aid of an ally capable of flanking his enemies: Frederick, with whom he had just fallen out, and Maria Theresa, with whom he had just been reconciled, but upon whose prolonged fidelity he hardly ventured to count.