IV.
The question of Calais having been settled, the French and Spanish Commissioners met again on the 13th of March, and conferred for six hours on their own affairs. The Duke of Savoy's marriage treaty was the chief point under discussion. Madame Marguerite's own eagerness for the union was well known. She had repeatedly asked her friend the Constable to press the matter, and on the 25th of March she sent her maître d'hôtel, Monsieur de l'Hôpital, to Câteau-Cambrésis to sign the contract on her behalf. The Duke's original reluctance had been overcome, and he sent Margaret word through a friend that she must not think him ill-disposed towards her, but that, on the contrary, he counted himself fortunate to win so noble and accomplished a bride, adding, with a touch of irony:
"I believe that the fate with which you have often threatened me is really in store for me, and that I shall submit to be governed by a woman whom I shall try to please."[560]
But there still remained some troublesome details to arrange. All through Holy Week, Christina stayed at her post, while the French and Spanish delegates wrangled over the citadels to be given up by Henry and Philip respectively. On Maundy Thursday a sharp contest arose between Ruy Gomez and the Cardinal on this point. Both parties left the room angrily, and a complete rupture seemed imminent.
"They fell suddenly to such a disagreement," wrote Howard, "that they all rose up, determined to break off and depart home the next morning, being Good Friday."[561]
The Cardinal ordered his rooms to be dismantled and his beds and hangings packed, and on Good Friday morning he and his colleagues had already put on their riding-boots, when Christina appeared at the door and made a last appeal.
April, 1559] CHRISTINA'S EFFORTS
"The Duchess," wrote the Venetian Tiepolo, "regardless of personal fatigue, went to and fro between the Commissioners, with the greatest zeal, ardour, and charity, imploring them to come together again."[562]
Seven years before, on another Good Friday, in her own palace, Christina had knelt in an agony of grief at the King of France's feet, asking to be allowed to keep her only son. To-day she pleaded with tears and prayers, in the name of the same Christ who died on the cross, for the suffering thousands who were sighing for peace. This time her prayer was heard. The Cardinal was induced to meet the Spanish delegates once more, and, after a conference which lasted over seven hours, it was decided that King Philip should keep Asti and Vercelli, and surrender all the other citadels which he held in Savoy. Ruy Gomez hastened to the Abbey of Groenendal to obtain his master's consent to this plan, and, to the amazement of the whole Court, the Cardinal appeared suddenly at La Ferté Milon, at dinner-time on Easter Day. Happily, there was little difficulty in arranging matters. Madame Marguerite told her brother plainly that he ought not to let her marry the Duke, if he treated him with suspicion, and Henry bade her be of good cheer, for all would be well.[563]
On Easter Tuesday the Commissioners held another meeting at Mon Soulas, and by the following evening the terms of the treaty were finally arranged. The Cardinal embraced the young Princesses of Lorraine, and the Duke bade his mother farewell, and rode off as fast as his horse could take him to bear the good news to the French King. All the Commissioners attended a solemn Te Deum in the church, and bonfires were lighted in the town. "Thanks be to God!" wrote the Constable to his nephew, Coligny: "Peace is made, and Madame Marguerite is married."[564] One point still awaited settlement. The Princess Elizabeth's hand had been originally offered to Don Carlos, but the Constable brought back word that Henry would greatly prefer his daughter to wed King Philip himself. The plan had already been mooted at an earlier stage of the Conference, but it was not until Philip saw that there was no hope of marrying the Queen of England that he consented to wed the French Princess. On the 2nd of April, when the articles of the treaty were being drafted, the Constable made a formal proposal from his master to the Duchess, who, after a few words with Arras and Ruy Gomez, graciously informed him that King Philip was pleased to accept his royal brother's offer.[565]
"It seems a bold step," wrote Tiepolo, "for the Catholic King to take to wife the daughter of the Most Christian King, who had been already promised to his son, especially as marriage negotiations with the Queen of England are still pending. But, seeing how this Queen has already alienated herself from the Church, he has easily allowed himself to be brought over to this plan, which will establish peace more effectually, and will no doubt please the French, who are above all anxious to keep him from marrying the Queen of England."[566]
April, 1559] CONCLUSION OF PEACE
On the next morning the Commissioners met for the last time, and signed the treaty, after which they heard Mass and all dined with the Duchess, who received the thanks and congratulations of the whole body. Then they went their several ways, rejoicing, in Arras's words, "to escape from purgatory." Howard and his colleagues hastened home to make their peace with the offended Queen. In spite of her affected indifference, Elizabeth was by no means gratified to hear of Philip's marriage. "So your master is going to be married," she said with a smile to Count Feria. "What a fortunate man he is!" Presently she heaved a little sigh, and said: "But he could hardly have been as much in love with me as you supposed, since he could not await my answer a few months."[567]
Before leaving Câteau-Cambrésis, Christina sent letters of congratulation to the French King and Queen and to Madame Marguerite, expressing her joy at the conclusion of the treaty, and the pleasure which she had received from her son's presence. To Henry II. she wrote:
"It has pleased God to set the seal on all the joy and content which I have experienced here—chiefly owing to Your Majesty's kindness in allowing me to see my son, and, after that, Madame your daughter and her company—by bringing those long-drawn negotiations to a good end, and concluding, not only a lasting peace, but also the marriage of the Catholic King with Madame Elizabeth. For all of which I thank God, and assure Your Majesty that I feel the utmost satisfaction in having been able to bring about so excellent an arrangement, and one which cannot fail to prove a great boon to Christendom."
In her letter to Catherine, Christina dwells chiefly on her gratitude to the Queen and her daughter for allowing her to keep her son so long.
"I thank you, Madame," she writes, "very humbly for your kind interest in our son, who is very well, thank God, and I hope that the pleasure of seeing you will prevent him from feeling the fatigues of the journey. And I am greatly obliged to Your Majesty and our daughter for having lent him to me so long. I praise God that our negotiations have ended so happily, and that these two great monarchs will henceforth not only be friends, but closely allied by the marriage of the Catholic King and Madame Elizabeth, which, as you will hear, was frankly and joyfully arranged after all the other articles of the treaty had been drawn up. I rejoice personally to think that by this happy arrangement I shall often have the pleasure of seeing your Majesties, our daughter, and my son, and take this opportunity of wishing you joy on this auspicious event, hoping that in future you will not fail to make use of me as of one who is ever ready to do you service."[568]
The Duchess now returned to Brussels with her daughters and the Prince of Orange. All the towns and villages through which she passed were hung with flags and garlands of flowers, and her coming was hailed with shouts of joy. The prison doors were thrown open, and the poor French soldiers, who had languished in captivity for years, called down blessings on her head.[569] When she reached Brussels, the King himself rode out to meet her, at the head of his nobles, while courtiers and ladies flocked from all parts to welcome her return and offer their congratulations on the triumphant success of her labours. For Christina it was a great and memorable day. The bitterness of past memories was blotted out, and peace and good-will seemed to have come back to earth.
May, 1559] REJOICINGS AT BRUSSELS
At Whitsuntide the Treaty was ratified. The Duke of Lorraine came to Brussels with the Cardinals of Lorraine and Guise and the Constable, and spent a fortnight with his mother. They were present in the Court chapel, with Cardinals and Princes, when the King, laying his hand on a relic of the True Cross, took a solemn oath to keep the articles of the Treaty. And Christina occupied the place of honour at Philip's right hand at the state banquet in the great hall, while her son and daughters and the Duchess of Aerschot were all at table.[570] The King gave the Cardinal of Lorraine a service of gold plate and a wonderful ship of rock-crystal studded with gems, and bestowed similar presents on the Constable; while the Marshal St. André, being a poor man was excused his ransom. They all left Flanders on the following Sunday, except the Duke of Lorraine, who remained another week with his mother. Before he left Brussels, letters from Denmark were received, confirming a report which had already reached the Court of his grandfather King Christian II.'s death. The old King had died in the Castle of Kallundborg, after forty-five years of captivity, on the 25th of January, 1559, at the ripe age of seventy-seven. He was buried with his parents in the Franciscan church at Odensee, and Duke Adolf of Holstein followed his kinsman's remains to their last resting-place. When her son left Brussels, Christina put her household into mourning, and retired to the Convent of La Cambre to spend a month in retreat. After the strain and stress of the last six months, she felt the need of rest sorely, and the shelter of convent walls was grateful to her tired soul.[571]