Spinola had carried off Conde in triumph; the Princess was pining in her gilt cage in Brussels, and demanding a divorce for desertion and cruel treatment; the King considered himself as having done as much as honour allowed him to effect a reconciliation, and it was obvious that, as the States' ambassador said, he could no longer retire from the war without shame, which would be the greatest danger of all.
"The tragedy is ready to begin," said Aerssens.

"They are only waiting now for the arrival of our ambassadors." On the 9th March the King before going to Fontainebleau for a few days summoned that envoy to the Louvre.

Impatient at a slight delay in his arrival, Henry came down into the courtyard as he was arriving and asked eagerly if Barneveld was coming to Paris.

Aerssens replied, that the Advocate had been hastening as much as possible the departure of the special embassy, but that the condition of affairs at home was such as not to permit him to leave the country at that moment.

Van der Myle, who would be one of the ambassadors, would more fully explain this by word of mouth.
The King manifested infinite annoyance and disappointment that Barneveld was not to make part of the embassy.