may believe Fitz-Maurice and his Spanish interlocutors, she made
Clemente Generoso pay dearly for his evil counsel. One day when he was
returning from London to Madrid, with instructions for Lord Lexington,
some Irishmen, in the service of Philip V., attacked him, and, as he was
endeavouring to take refuge in a church, they killed him, conformably to
the orders which they had received, it is said, from the Princess des
Ursins and Orry.

We only give this statement, be it well understood, under reservation,
because nowhere else have we found any confirmation or even indication
of it. But thus much is certain, that the chances which Madame des
Ursins had on the part of the Queen of England were greatly diminished,
and that it was necessary to look elsewhere for more reliable aid. She
quickly despatched, therefore, her favourite d'Aubigny to Utrecht.
"But," says Saint Simon, "_c'etait un trop petit Sire_; he was not
admitted beyond the antechambers." But Saint Simon often falls into
error through excessive contempt for those below his own level. By
certain documents recently discovered at the Hague and communicated to
M. Geffroy, it may be seen that the members of the congress of Utrecht
deliberated with d'Aubigny, and that they designated him _the
plenipotentiary_ of Madame des Ursins. However that may be, d'Aubigny
did not obtain much; in fact, he spoilt everything by offering the Dutch
greater advantages than had been accorded to the English. So the latter
at least pretended, in order, no doubt, to have a pretext for wholly
abandoning Madame des Ursins and for resuming their haughty attitude
towards her, after having courted her for awhile. Queen Anne feigned, in
fact, to be hurt that the Dutch had been more favoured than her own
subjects, and exclaimed, with a readiness that betrayed an inward
satisfaction: "Since the Princess des Ursins has recourse to others, I
abandon her."[64] D'Aubigny, as the sole result, obtained only vague
hopes on the part of the Dutch, who were as inimical as the English as
to any exchange with France.

[64] Memoirs of Duclos, tom. i., p. 191.

Without being angry with her "man of business," whom she allowed even to
return to Amboise to complete the erections already begun, Madame des
Ursins selected, to continue the negotiations, a more important
personage--a young nephew of Madame de Noailles, named de Bournonville,
Baron de Capres. But he covered himself with ridicule at this game o