This scheme of Biron[145] (assuming that it is his scheme) will go far to confirm the judgment of those who maintain that, though an active and experienced commander, he is in all other respects a person of little discernment. Alençon, being shut out of Antwerp, spent the night with his army at the monastery of St. Bernard. There he was joined by the officers of his household. They had remained in their quarters during the disturbance, and, being held guiltless of any part in the conspiracy, were sent back to their master by the men of Antwerp. However, Alençon’s first object was to cross the Scheldt before any attempt should be made to obstruct the passage; so all night the Swiss were hard at work building a bridge. As soon as it was finished, he crossed from Brabant into Flanders, and came to Dendermonde, where he is supposed to be still lying. The question now is, what is he to do? Ought he to lead his forces back to France, and abandon all interest in the Netherlands? Or again, ought he to make up his quarrel with the people of Antwerp? Now that there is an end of all confidence between them, I fail to see how this latter alternative is possible; but the French are wonderful fellows when they set their minds on a thing! These details, which I have picked out of several different versions, I have thought it my duty to place before your Majesty. Time will give us further particulars, and accounts on which we can better rely. Your Majesty and the Archduke[146] Ernest are supposed to have played a part in this drama. This notion was very rife when the news first came, and no particulars had as yet transpired. Some people about the Court, who fancied themselves to be wondrous wise, would have it that the eldest daughter of the King of Spain was betrothed to your Majesty, and the younger to the Archduke Ernest, with all the provinces of the Netherlands as her dowry, and that it was, therefore, of prime importance to your Majesty and the Archduke that the French in Antwerp should be cut to pieces, and Alençon driven from the city; that on this account there had been secret negotiations with the townsmen, who had been promised an amnesty for all past offences, on condition of their exterminating the French; and further, that your Majesty and the Archduke had secured the concurrence and assistance of the Prince of Orange; for they argue, the townsmen of Antwerp would never have ventured to go so far had they not been thus aided and abetted.