The particulars of the conspiracy are very imperfectly known. It is said the principal stipulations of the treaty with Spain were, that Philip should recognise as dauphin the natural son of Henry by the marchioness of Verneuil, on her putting him into his hands; that, in the first instance, the mother and child should seek refuge at Sedan, under the protection of the duke of Bouillon, and that subsequently five Portuguese fortresses should be ceded to them as places of security; and that France should be invaded on the frontiers of Champagne, Burgundy, and Provence, by the marquis of Spinola, the count of Fuentes, and the duke of Savoy. To the prosecution of Auvergne there were two obstacles, which arose out of the conduct of Henry. When the count was released from the Bastile, he offered to continue his correspondence with the Spanish court, for the purpose of betraying its secrets to the king; and a regular authority for so doing was unwisely granted to him. It was base in Auvergne to make such a proposal, and scarcely less so in Henry to adopt it. By another act, the monarch gave him a fresh pretext for holding intercourse with a power which was thoroughly hostile at heart. Henry being attacked by a fit of illness, the marchioness, who had insulted Mary of Medicis beyond endurance, affected to feel, or perhaps felt, such extreme dread of what would befal her and her offspring in case of his death, that the king gave her half brother a written permission to negotiate an asylum for her in a foreign country. Cambray was the place which she and Auvergne selected as the city of refuge; and this selection afforded them, while the negotiation was proceeding, an opportunity to carry on intrigues with the emissaries of Spain.