Loud was the acclaim that greeted the young King when he entered Madrid; but the rejoicings were soon damped by the ambiguous behaviour of Murat, who, on entering Madrid at the head of his troops, skilfully evaded any recognition of Ferdinand as King.  In fact, Murat had received (March 21st) a letter from Charles IV.’s daughter begging for his help to her parents at Aranjuez; and it soon transpired that the ex-King and Queen now repented of their abdication, which they represented as brought about by force and therefore null and void.  The Grand Duke of Berg saw the advantage which this dispute might give to Napoleon; and he begged the Emperor to come immediately to Madrid for the settlement of matters on which he alone could decide.  To this Napoleon replied (March 30th) commending his Lieutenant’s prudence, and urging him to escort Charles IV. to the Escurial as King, while Godoy was also to be protected and sent to Bayonne.

To this town the Emperor set out on April the 2nd, as though he would thence proceed to Madrid.  Ferdinand, meanwhile, was treated with guarded courtesy that kept alive his hope of an alliance with a French princess.  To favour this notion, Napoleon despatched the wariest of his agents, Savary, who artfully persuaded him to meet the Emperor at Burgos.  He succeeded, and even induced him to continue his journey to Vittoria.  At that place the citizens sought to cut the traces of the royal carriage, so much did they fear treachery if he proceeded further.  Yet the young King, beguiled by the Emperor’s letter of April 16th, which offered the hand of a French princess, prolonged his journey, crossed the frontier, and was received by Napoleon at Bayonne (April 20th).  His arguments, proving that his father’s abdication had been voluntary, fell on deaf ears.  The Emperor invited him to dinner, and afterwards sent Savary to inform him that he must hand back the crown to his father.  To this Ferdinand returned a firm refusal; and his advisers, Escoiquiz and Labrador, ventured to warn the Emperor that the Spaniards would swear eternal hatred to France if he tampered with the crown of Spain.  Napoleon listened good-humouredly, pulled Escoiquiz by the ear as a sign of his personal regard, and added:  “You are a deep fellow; but, I tell you, the Bourbons will never let me alone.”  On the next day he offered Ferdinand the throne of Etruria.  It was coldly declined.[191]

Charles IV., his Queen, and Godoy, arrived at Bayonne at the close of April.  The ex-King had offered to put himself and his claim in Napoleon’s hands, which was exactly what the Emperor desired.  The feeble creature now poured forth his bile on his disobedient son, and peevishly bade him restore the crown.  Ferdinand assented, provided his father would really reign, and would dismiss those advisers who were hated by the nation; but the attempt to impose conditions called forth a flash of senile wrath, along with the remark that “one ought to do everything for the people and nothing by the people.”