In order to ascertain whether anything was being arranged between the French and the Spaniards the Queen took the opportunity, on the night of the 21st of January, as she was walking in the gallery at Whitehall with Alençon, to say that she had decided to come to terms with Philip. Poor Alençon was thunderstruck at this specious piece of news, and told Marchaumont afterwards that he could only suppose the Queen meant to leave him floundering in the morass into which she had led him. But this was not her only shot at the same interview. She had already fully primed Simier, who was still lingering here, with similar intelligence, and had arranged that he should enter the gallery by a private door, of which he had the key, as soon as she had fired her shot. Directly he entered she discreetly said it would not become her to stand between master and servant, and retired, leaving Alençon and the “ape” together. The Prince turned upon his former favourite, and sneeringly asked why he was still staying in England. Was he afraid that he, Alençon, would have him killed if he went to France? “No,” said Simier, “I do not think you would have me killed, but I do fear that I should be murdered by some of my enemies.” Then Alençon opened the floodgates of his anger and piled reproach upon reproach on the devoted head of poor Simier. He had sold and betrayed his master, he told him; it was through him alone that the marriage had fallen through, and he had been the means of frustrating his hopes of intervening in the Netherlands. As soon as he could get in a word, Simier asked the Prince to tell him what he had done to cause all this. “You have discredited and defamed the best friend I have in England, the Earl of Leicester,” replied the irate Prince, “and he has consequently been unable to influence the Queen in my favour as he would otherwise have done.”