'Madame! I have since recovered the copy of the letter which the emperor had written to M. de Praet, and of other writings which I now send, as a summary of the communications which here took place. At the commencement, the said lady recapitulated the proposition which had already been entertained respecting the marriage, the ransom, or the cession of the duchy (of Burgundy) on condition that it should be pronounced by the Parliament of Paris a possession belonging of right to the king, who would be ready to give hostages in this case, to ensure its surrender. On this point, however, the emperor declared, as he had before done, without any reference to the marriage, that no ransom would satisfy him, nothing less than the duchy, his ancient heritage, the foundation of his order, of which he bore the name and arms, rejecting the conditions attached to it as wholly inadmissible. Some days afterwards, the said lady made a proposition to the emperor, who went to visit her at her lodgings, to choose arbitrators, which he had before refused, and which he then, as she told me the same day, was ready to agree to. Afterwards, however, when she was in conference with the ambassadors, they came to a standstill when they touched on the aforesaid condition relating to the Parliament of Paris, and the hostages which the emperor, they maintain, would not accept.... Communications have passed in writing on both sides, of which the result has been nothing more than is above related. They have now taken their leave, both the Duchess of Alençon and the ambassadors, declaring that the king has fully made up his mind not to resign the said duchy except on the condition already proposed, choosing rather to submit to perpetual imprisonment; and this very day the said lady has sent to demand her passports, that she may return to France under the same security as she travelled hither, which has been granted her. No further movements or proposals have since taken place, the emperor continuing in the same determination to obtain possession of the duchy; and if the said lady takes her departure, as appears her intention, the hope of peace which has been excited by her arrival, and the subsequent attempts at negotiation, as well as by the arbitration supposed to be agreed on, will altogether vanish for the present.