Remonstrances which had been made upon the Government were now directed straight to the Throne.
“You see,” said her advisers, “how the persons whom you have overwhelmed with honours and favours speak against you!”
The Generals O’Donnell and Dulce finally took an active part against the Ministry, supported by the Queen-mother and Rianzares.
The Count of San Luis was a man of fine bearing and charming manners. He had been conspicuous in his early days for his banquets and gallantries, but he had also been known for many a generous deed to his friends; and it was noticeable that when the tide of favour left him he was deserted by all those to whom he had been of service.
The birth of another royal infant in 1854 excited little or no interest in the capital, where discontent with the reigning powers was so evident. General Dulce was accused in the presence of the Queen and San Luis of having conspired against the Throne. This the officer indignantly denied on the spot, declaring that never could he have believed in the perfidy which had prompted the report.
At last the storm of revolution broke over Madrid, and the parties of the Generals O’Donnell and Dulce came into collision with those of the Government. Insulting cries against the Queen-mother filled the streets, and during the three days’ uproar the house of Maria Cristina, in the Calle de las Rejas, was sacked, as well as those of her partisans. The furniture was burned in the street, and Maria Cristina took refuge in the royal palace.
After the Pronunciamento of Vicalvaro and O’Donnell to the troops, it was evident that the soldiers of the Escorial would also revolt against the Government.
It was then that Isabella was filled with the noble impulse to go alone to the barracks of the mutinous regiments and reason personally with them. With her face aglow with confidence in her soldiers and in herself, she said: “I am sure that the generals will come back with me then to Madrid, and the soldiers will return to their barracks shouting ‘Vivas’ for their Queen.”
But this step, which would have appealed with irresistible force to the subjects, was opposed by the Ministers, who objected to a course which would have robbed them of their portfolios by the Sovereign coming to an understanding with those who were opposed to their opinions.
