had once declared, "was more arrogant than Espartero."[827] On April 8, 1846, the following message[828] was received in Paris from M. Bresson, who, doubtless, had some person in his employ in close attendance upon Isabella. "_La reine est nubile depuis deux heures._"[829] Whether or not this news was communicated to Lord Cowley by M. Guizot, it was certainly known at once at the British embassy. Christina could no longer invoke physical reasons for delaying her daughter's marriage. But, meanwhile, the number of Bourbon candidates was rapidly diminishing. Trapani was too unpopular, and Don Enrique, Duke of Seville, the younger son of Don Francisco de Paula, had recently been concerned in an insurrection in Gallicia, and had been ordered to leave Spain. The only available husband for Isabella among the descendants of Philip V. was, therefore, Don Enrique's elder brother, Don Francisco, Duke of Cadiz, whom both she and her mother disliked and despised. Christina, under these circumstances, resolved to revert to the matrimonial combination which she had constantly regarded as the best. The moment was not unfavourable for openly defying Louis Philippe. Narvaez, the minister who had always been looked upon as the chief tool of the French Court, was in disgrace, and Isturiz, his successor, was her devoted servant. She accordingly determined to propose to the Duke of Saxe-Coburg that Isabella should marry his son, Prince Leopold. After informing him of its contents, she gave the letter containing this offer to Mr. Bulwer, asking that it might be conveyed to Lisbon by his messenger. The British minister complied with her request and reported the affair to his chief. Lord Aberdeen was seriously annoyed, and at once informed M. de Sainte-Aulaire of what had passed, assuring him that he should administer a severe rebuke to Mr. Bulwer. Bulwer, he considered, had violated his instructions, both in undertaking to transmit the offer to Lisbon and in concealing Christina's proceedings from M. Bresson. In consequence of the strictures passed upon his conduct, Bulwer offered to resign. Aberdeen, however, in a friendly letter insisted upon his remaining at his post.[830] A few days later, on June 29, 1846, Sir Robert Peel announced that he and his colleagues had retired from office, and that Lord John Russell had undertaken to form a government. On June 25, on the very day on which their Corn Bill had been carried through the House of Lords, ministers had been defeated in the Commons by a Radical and Protectionist coalition. In the new administration the seals of the Foreign Office passed into the keeping of Lord Palmerston. CHAPTER X THE SPANISH MARRIAGES[831]