Misled by this report, which proved to be a gross exaggeration, the Spanish Junta appointed the Duke of Orleans to a command destined to act on the frontiers of Catalonia. But the local juntas were opposed to the movement. There was no harmony--no combined action. All was confusion, and the duke made no attempt to enter upon his command.[J] The Sicilian queen, Maria Caroline, irritated by the utter failure of the movement in behalf of her son, and disappointed that the Duke of Orleans had so little influence over the British Cabinet, became quite alienated from her prospective son-in-law, wrote very cold letters to him, and the failure of the marriage treaty was openly spoken of in the court and in the journals. [Footnote J: "Besides, possibly England did not think, and the exiled Bourbons of the elder branch would naturally have concurred in the sentiment, that it would be prudent or politic to send a gallant prince of Orleans to lead the Spaniards to victory, a prince who was the great-grandson of that Philippe of Orleans who, by the lustre of his talents and the many attractions of his character, became the idol of the army and the nation."--_Life and Times of Louis Philippe_, by Rev. G. N. Wright.] The duke--whose attachment to the Princess Amelia was very strong--alarmed by these procedures, repaired immediately to Palermo to confront his enemies and to plead his cause. He was successful. The confidence and love of Amelia had never abated. The presence of the illustrious young man--so handsome, so intelligent, so spotless in character, so fascinating and princely in his bearing--soon dispelled all clouds. The queen could no longer withhold her consent to the nuptials. With happiness thus beginning to dawn upon him, the duke wrote as follows to his mother: "Their majesties urged some objections to the marriage of a princess of their house to a wandering exile like myself. Upon which I stated that I should apply to you and induce you to advocate my cause, and become security for my principles and fidelity to those to whom I promised allegiance. 'Ah,' replied the queen, 'if you can obtain the advocacy of that angel, it will, indeed, be impossible to refuse you any thing.' I should like, dear mother, to give you a faithful portrait of the princess, who was destined to be my bride, even before her birth. But I feel that I could make but an indifferent and very unworthy sketch. She possesses many amiable and elevated qualities, which I shall take the liberty of summing up in one brief sentence, by assuring you that she seems to be a perfect model of my mother."