Three days after, on the 30th, the King and Queen of Spain arrived at
Bayonne; and it is impossible to describe the homage which the Emperor
paid them. The Duke Charles de Plaisance went as far as Irun, and the
Prince de Neuchatel even to the banks of the Bidassoa, in order to pay
marked respect to their Catholic Majesties on the part of their powerful
friend; and the king and queen appeared to appreciate highly these marks
of consideration. A detachment of picked troops, superbly uniformed,
awaited them on the frontier, and served as their escort; the garrison of
Bayonne was put under arms, all the buildings of the port were decorated,
all the bells rang, and the batteries of both the citadel and the port
saluted with great salvos. The Prince of the Asturias and his brother,
hearing of the arrival of the king and queen, had left Bayonne in order
to meet their parents, when they encountered, a short distance from the
town, two or three grenadiers who had just left Vittoria, and related to
them the following occurrence:

When their Spanish Majesties entered Vittoria, they found that a
detachment of the Spanish body guards, who had accompanied the Prince of
the Asturias and were stationed in this town, had taken possession of the
palace which the king and queen were to occupy as they passed through,
and on the arrival of their Majesties had put themselves under arms. As
soon as the king perceived this, he said to them in a severe tone, "You
will understand why I ask you to quit my palace. You have failed in your
duty at Aranjuez. I have no need of your services, and I do not wish
them. Go!" These words, pronounced with an energy far from habitual to
Charles IV., met with no reply. The detachment of the guards retired;
and the king begged General Verdier to give him a French guard, much
grieved, he said, that he had not retained his brave riflemen, whose
colonel he still kept near him as captain of the guards.