Emperor; and with her was closely leagued the Count of Melgar,
Hereditary Admiral of Castile and Prime Minister.

Such was the state of the question of the Spanish succession at
the time when Portland had his first public audience at
Versailles. The French ministers were certain that he must be
constantly thinking about that question, and were therefore
perplexed by his evident determination to say nothing about it.
They watched his lips in the hope that he would at least let fall
some unguarded word indicating the hopes or fears entertained by
the English and Dutch Governments. But Portland was not a man out
of whom much was to be got in that way. Nature and habit
cooperating had made him the best keeper of secrets in Europe.
Lewis therefore directed Pomponne and Torcy, two ministers of
eminent ability, who had, under himself, the chief direction of
foreign affairs, to introduce the subject which the discreet
confidant of William seemed studiously to avoid. Pomponne and
Torcy accordingly repaired to the English embassy; and there
opened one of the most remarkable negotiations recorded in the
annals of European diplomacy.

The two French statesmen professed in their master's name the
most earnest desire, not only that the peace might remain
unbroken, but that there might be a close union between the
Courts of Versailles and Kensington. One event only seemed likely
to raise new troubles. If the Catholic King should die before it
had been settled who should succeed to his immense dominions,
there was but too much reason to fear that the nations, which
were just beginning to breathe after an exhausting and
devastating struggle of nine years, would be again in arms. His