text:  Notwithstanding this refusal the jealousy of the Dutch was such that on the revival of a report that the government had been again confirmed to the Duke of Marlborough they were thrown into such a ferment that in the public congress the Pensionary could not avoid exclaiming in the presence of the English ambassador "Mon Dieu! est-il possible qu'on voudrait faire ce pas sans notre participation?"[25] The French government were soon informed of this jealousy and of the open desire of the Dutch for an accession of territory on the side of Flanders at the expense of Austria; and they took advantage of it early in the summer of 1706 to open a secret negotiation with the States-general for the conclusion of a separate peace with that republic