Hardly had he read the Comte de Broglie’s letter, brought by M. de Nort, when, elated with the alluring promises and the flattery which it contained, he wrote to the King on the spur of the moment: SIRE,—I am innocent, and have been condemned by your ministers; but from the moment that your Majesty wishes it, I place my life, and the recollection of every outrage I have experienced from the Comte de Guerchy, at your Majesty’s feet. Be persuaded, Sire, that I will die your faithful subject, and that I am more than ever in a position to serve your Majesty for your great secret plan, of which you must never lose sight if you wish your reign to be the period of France’s greatness, and the humiliation and, perhaps, the total destruction of England, which is the only power really always hostile and formidable to your kingdom. I am, Sire, your Majesty’s faithful servant in life and in death, D’EON. In writing this note, d’Eon allowed himself to be guided by his first impulse, and he realised afterwards that he had been too hasty. He was pleased to regard the Comte de Broglie’s letter as an earnest of more extensive negotiations. In this he was entirely mistaken, for if M. de Nort was disposed to let things take their course, he was obliged to confine himself to the terms of the letter, which contained a promise of a sum of money not stated, and the assurance of royal protection, but no reference to his reinstatement, nor to any redress of the injuries he had suffered at the hands of de Guerchy. The infliction of this fresh and more bitter disappointment was a blunder. It was irritating him unnecessarily, and at the same time increasing his arrogance and infatuation by idle parleys. The Chevalier became aware the day after de Nort’s arrival that he had been greatly deceiving himself, and, in a fit of temper, he sent the Comte de Broglie’s letter back to the messenger, adding that, “since he was not being dealt with fairly,” he would rather remain, “like the goat in the fable, at the bottom of the well into which the King’s and the Comte de Broglie’s orders, and the personal hatred of de Guerchy’s friends, had cast him.” M. de Nort did not lose courage, and exerted himself to make him listen to reason; but d’Eon proved intractable and Tercier’s urgent letters did not meet with greater success. Feeling he had gone too far, however, in not providing himself with any loophole for the future, d’Eon declared that he could not reasonably be expected to give up the only weapons with which he could defend himself against M. de Guerchy in his judicial proceedings. The ambassador had but to desist from his action for the negotiations to be immediately simplified. Thus rebuffed, M. de Nort deemed that there was nothing more for him to do in London. He had not succeeded better, moreover, in the case of M. de Guerchy.