I.
The lull that followed the decisive battle of St. Quentin afforded the Duchess of Lorraine a favourable opportunity for resuming her efforts to open negotiations between the contending monarchs. The Constable, after fighting like a lion and receiving a severe wound, had been made prisoner, and was taken to the Castle of Ghent, where Christina and her daughters were staying. The Duchess paid him daily visits, and brought him letters of condolence from her aunt Eleanor, who wrote that she wished she were still in Flanders to nurse her old friend. More than this: Christina obtained leave for his wife to visit him, and even proposed that the prisoner should be allowed to go to France on parole. These good offices gratified the French King, who was very anxious for his favourite's release, and whose behaviour towards the Duchess now underwent a marked change.[529]
The young Duke Charles was almost fifteen, and his marriage to the Princess Claude was fixed for the following spring. With the King's leave, he sent his steward to Ghent to invite his mother to the wedding, and at the same time make proposals of peace through Montmorency. These letters were laid before Philip by Christina, and a brisk correspondence was carried on between her and the Constable. In December Vaudemont came to Brussels, bringing portraits of Charles and his bride as a gift from Henry II. to the Duchess, and negotiations were actively pursued.[530] But just when the wished-for goal at length seemed to be in sight, and Christina was rejoicing to think of once more seeing her son, all her hopes were shattered by the Duke of Guise's capture of Calais. The surprise had been cleverly planned and brilliantly executed. The new fortifications of the town were unfinished, and after a gallant resistance the little garrison was overpowered and forced to capitulate, on the 8th of January, 1558. This unexpected success revived the courage of the French, and strengthened the Guise brothers in the determined opposition which they offered to peace. The star of their house was at its zenith, and on the 24th of April the marriage of their niece, the young Queen of Scots, to the Dauphin, was celebrated with great splendour at Paris. In deference to his mother's wishes, the Duke of Lorraine's wedding was put off till the following year, when he should have attained his majority; but he figured conspicuously in the day's pageant, and led his lovely cousin in her lily-white robes and jewelled crown up the nave of Notre Dame.[531]
May, 1558] CHRISTINA MEETS HER SON
The French King now gave his consent to Vaudemont's request, that a meeting should be arranged between the Duke and his mother in the neighbourhood of Péronne. Philip, after his wont, raised many difficulties, and insisted that the Bishop of Arras must be present at the interview.[532] At length all preliminaries were arranged, and on the 1st of May Charles left Paris with his uncle Vaudemont and Guise's eldest son, Henri, Prince of Joinville, attended by an escort of 200 horse. The Duchess had already arrived at Cambray with her daughters and Anne of Aerschot, accompanied by Egmont, Arras, and a great train of courtiers, and had prepared a splendid reception for her son. But at the last moment fresh difficulties arose. The Cardinal of Lorraine sent Robertet, the King's secretary, to tell the Duchess that, although her son was most anxious to see her, it would be derogatory to his master's dignity for him to enter King Philip's territories as a suppliant for peace. Would Her Highness therefore consent to come as far as his castle at Péronne? This Philip quite refused to allow, and eventually the village of Marcoing, halfway between Cambray and Péronne, was fixed upon as the meeting-place. An old manor-house which had been partly destroyed in the late military operations was hastily repaired for the occasion, and here, on the 15th of May, the much-desired meeting at length took place.[533] The Frenchmen, who came in riding-clothes, were amazed to find the splendid company awaiting them. The Duchess with the young Princesses, Anne of Aerschot, and the Princess of Macedonia, stood under a bower of leafy boughs, and Egmont and the other courtiers were all richly clad and mounted on fine horses. The coming of the guests was greeted by a gay fanfare of trumpets and roll of drums, together with salutes of artillery. Then the young Duke, springing from his horse, rushed into his mother's arms. At the sight of her boy, Christina burst into tears and almost fainted away. For some minutes she remained unable to speak, and the spectators were deeply moved by her emotion. After repeatedly embracing his mother, Charles kissed his sisters and aunt, and proceeded to salute Egmont and the rest of the company with charming grace; while the happy mother followed his movements with delight, and could not take her eyes off the tall and handsome youth whom she had last seen as a child, and who had grown up the image of his father.
May, 1558] DUKE CHARLES OF LORRAINE
During the conversation which followed, Charles spoke to his mother with great good sense and wisdom, telling her how kindly he was treated at the French Court, and how it would be hard for him to feel at home anywhere else. But directly after his marriage he and his wife intended to return to Nancy, where he hoped that his mother would join them and live among their own people. The Duchess and her children now sat down to an exquisite déjeuner with the Duchess of Aerschot and the Cardinal, while Egmont and Arras entertained Vaudemont and the Prince of Joinville, and the other French gentlemen dined with the members of Christina's suite. After dinner three Spanish jennets which King Philip had sent the young Duke were led out, and Charles mounted a spirited charger given him by the French monarch, and performed a variety of feats of horsemanship before the company, to his mother's great delight. Then the Duchess and her sister and children retired to enjoy each other's company in private, leaving the Cardinal to confer with Arras and Egmont.
The Cardinal produced the royal mandate, and Robertet read out Henry's proposals, offering to restore Savoy to the Duke, but only on condition of receiving Milan in exchange. All Arras would say in reply to these demands was that they must be referred to his master, upon which the Cardinal exclaimed with some heat that these were the only terms which the King of France would accept. "Thus," remarks the Venetian Ambassador, "this meeting, which began with such a beautiful outburst of motherly love and tenderness, ended in mutual recrimination."[534] The Cardinal then took leave of the company, after presenting the young Princesses and their mother with gifts of gold bracelets, rings, and brooches, and receiving a box of choice gloves, perfumed, and embroidered in Italian fashion from the Duchess. As he rode back to Péronne, he saw the flames of a burning village which had been destroyed by the Imperialists, and, in spite of his safe-conduct, was seized with so great a panic that he hurried back to Paris, fearing his château might be surprised by the foes. The young Duke and Vaudemont spent another day with the Duchess, and only returned to Compiègne on the 18th of May. Here Charles received the warmest of welcomes from the royal family, who had feared that he might be induced to remain with his mother. The King threw his arms round the boy's neck, the Queen and Dauphin, the Princesses Elizabeth and Claude and the young Queen of Scots, all embraced him affectionately, telling him how much they had missed him. In fact, as Soranzo remarks, this short absence served to show how much beloved the young Prince was by the whole Court.[535]
Meanwhile Arras and Egmont returned to Brussels, satisfied that the French had no real wish for peace, and Philip declared his conviction that they had made a plot to capture the Duchess, which had only been defeated by the strong escort with which she was attended. But Christina herself was radiant with happiness, and received congratulations from all her friends. The French had done her many cruel wrongs, but they had not been able to rob her of her son's heart, and the future still held the promise of some golden hours.
June, 1558] THE PRINCE OF ORANGE
For a while the war still raged fiercely. The capture of Thionville by Guise in June was followed a month later by Egmont's fresh victory at Gravelines, when the Governor of Calais, De Thermes, and his whole force, were cut to pieces. The Count had always been a splendid and popular figure; now he was the idol of the whole nation. His brilliant feat of arms had saved Flanders from utter ruin, and made peace once more possible. Both sides were thoroughly weary of the long struggle, the resources of both countries were exhausted, and the unhappy inhabitants of Picardy and Artois were crying out for a respite from their sufferings. Christina made use of the opportunity to renew her correspondence with the Constable and the Marshal St. André, his companion in captivity.[536] A new recruit now came to her help in the person of William of Orange. This young Prince had enjoyed the favour of Charles V. and his sister Mary from his boyhood, and had been treated with especial kindness by the Duchess of Aerschot and her sister-in-law. The death of his young wife, Anna, Countess Büren, in the spring of 1558, had thrown him much into the company of these ladies, and it was already whispered at Court that he would certainly marry Madame de Lorraine's elder daughter, Renée, who was growing up a tall and attractive maiden. The Prince himself was a handsome youth with fine brown eyes and curly auburn locks, and a charm of manner which few could resist. If the cares and anxieties of his later life made him taciturn, in youth he was the most genial and pleasant of companions, and Arras, who never loved him, said that he "made a friend every time that he lifted his hat." His attire was always as faultless as it was splendid, he was renowned for his skill as a rider and jouster, and had greatly distinguished himself in the recent campaigns. Both in his home at Breda and in the stately Nassau house at Brussels the Prince kept open house, and the worst faults of which his enemies could accuse him were his reckless hospitality and extravagant tastes.
Christina had always taken especial interest in William of Orange, for the sake of the kinsman whose name and wealth he inherited, and he on his part became deeply attached to her. So intimate was their friendship, that the Duchess one day told Count Feria's English wife, Jane Dormer, in speaking of the Prince's intended marriage with her daughter, that she would gladly have married him herself.[537]
The Prince now joined his personal exertions to those of the Duchess, and was the frequent bearer of letters between Brussels and the camp near Amiens, where the two Kings and their rival armies were drawn up face to face. At length, on the 9th of September, a ten days' armistice was proclaimed, and a few days later the Prince of Orange, Ruy Gomez, and Arras, met the Constable and St. André at Lille, to discuss preliminaries of peace.[538] The two French prisoners were eager for peace, and had the secret support of Henry II. and Diane de Poitiers; but the Guises, who had everything to lose and nothing to gain by the cessation of war, were still strongly opposed to a truce, and Renard told Philip that the only way of gaining their good-will would be to give Mademoiselle de Lorraine's hand to the Prince of Joinville. In the end, however, their opposition was overruled, and on the 30th of September William of Orange was able to bring the Duchess news that a Conference had been arranged, and would take place at the Abbey of Cercamp, near Cambray, in October. He found Christina at Douai, where she and her daughters were attending a marriage in the d'Aremberg family. She had just heard of her son's return to Nancy, where he had been received with acclamation by his subjects, and where her own presence was eagerly expected. But at Philip's earnest entreaty she consented to remain in Flanders for the present, and preside at the coming Conference. This proposal was strongly supported by the Cardinal of Lorraine, who hastened to send the Duchess a safe-conduct, saying that her presence would do more than anything to bring the desired peace to perfection.[539]
Oct., 1558] THE CONFERENCE OF CERCAMP
Christina herself was very reluctant to accept the post, as we learn from the following letter which she wrote to Philip from Douai on the 12th of October. Her delicate child, Dorothea, was ailing, and her faithful companion, the aged Princess of Macedonia, was hardly fit to be left alone.
"I have received the letter which Your Majesty has been pleased to send me, and thank you humbly for your affectionate expressions. As to the inconvenience of the place selected for this Conference, I should never allow my comfort or pleasure to interfere with your commands, and will accordingly go to Arras to-morrow and await your further orders. I have been very unwell lately, and must beg Your Majesty to provide for my safety, not only because I am a woman, but because, as you know, I am not in the good graces of the French. My daughters must remain here a few days longer, as Dorothea is indisposed, and the Princess of Macedonia is in a very feeble state. I will follow Your Majesty's advice as to Bassompierre's mission and my son's affairs, and cannot thank you enough for your kind thought of me and my children. I kiss Your Majesty's hands.
"Your very humble and obedient cousin,
"Chrétienne."[540]
Some further difficulties—chiefly the work of Silliers, poor Belloni's hated rival and successor—delayed the Duchess's journey for another week. On the 16th Arras wrote to tell her that the Commissioners had already arrived at Cercamp, and beg her to come as soon as possible. The Cardinal was very anxious to see her, and hoped that she would not fail to bring his young cousins, "Mesdames your daughters," with her. Christina could delay no longer, and hastened to Cercamp the following day.