Maurice, seeing that it was impossible to save him, admitted to du Maurier his unsteadiness and duplicity, and said that, if possessed of the confidence of a great king, he would be capable of destroying the state in less than a year.
But this had not always been the Prince's opinion, nor was it likely to remain unchanged.

As for Villeroy, he denied flatly that the cause of his displeasure had been that Aerssens had penetrated into his most secret affairs.

He protested, on the contrary, that his annoyance with him had partly proceeded from the slight acquaintance he had acquired of his policy, and that, while boasting to be better informed than any one, he was in the habit of inventing and imagining things in order to get credit for himself.
It was highly essential that the secret of this affair should be made clear; for its influence on subsequent events was to be deep and wide.
For the moment Aerssens remained without employment, and there was no open rupture with Barneveld.

The only difference of opinion between the Advocate and himself, he said, was whether he had or had not definitely resigned his post on leaving Paris.
Meantime it was necessary to fix upon a successor for this most important post.

The war soon after the new year had broken out in France.