By December 1649 the Irish Royalists were near defeat and in early 1650 Parliament ordered the arrest of those like Andrews who refused to swear allegiance to the Protectorate. Left with few options, he made arrangements to emigrate to North America before being persuaded to stay by Barnard, who apparently hoped to implicate more potential conspirators. One of these was Sir John Gell, former Parliamentarian commander in Derbyshire who had been stripped of all his offices in February 1649. Gell managed to avoid committing himself, although a former retainer named Benson was less careful; realising the conspiracy was going nowhere, Andrews prepared to leave for Holland but was arrested at Gravesend, Kent on 24 March 1650.