By the end of October the English Envoys were back at Brussels, rejoicing to be once more in comfortable quarters. Here they found great fear and distrust of France prevailing, and much alarm was expressed lest the Queen should have been induced to give the Duchess of Milan in marriage to a French Prince. This, however, was not the case, and the English Ambassadors were satisfied that beyond feasting and merrymaking nothing had been done. A friendly gentleman, Monsieur de Brederode, told them that there had been some attempt at marriage-making among the women. Queen Eleanor still pressed her sister earnestly to further the marriage of Christina with the Duke of Orleans, as the best way of insuring a lasting peace, and had revived her old dream of marrying her daughter, Maria of Portugal, to the Prince of Spain. But Mary turned a deaf ear to all these proposals, saying that she could not consider them without Charles's approval. At La Fère, in the valley of the Oise, Francis entertained his guests at a splendid banquet, after which he presented Mary with a very fine diamond, and Christina with a beautiful jewel, besides lavishing rings, bracelets, brooches, caps, and pretty trinkets from Paris and Milan, Lisbon and Nuremberg, on the ladies of their suite. Here he took leave of his guests, but the Duke of Vendôme insisted on escorting the Queen and her niece as far as Valenciennes.[215] [Sidenote: NOV., 1538] KING HENRY'S ANGER] On Monday, the 4th of November, Mary and Christina reached Brussels, and were received with warm demonstrations of affection. Now, "after all these gay and glorious words," the English Ambassadors confidently hoped to see some end to their toil. But they soon realized that their hopes were doomed to disappointment. First the Queen was too tired to receive them; then nothing could be done until the return of the Duke of Aerschot, who was her chief adviser. At length, on the 16th, the first conference took place at the Duke's house. The Captain of the Archers, Christina's old friend De Courrières, conducted the Ambassadors to the room where the Commissioners were awaiting them--Aerschot, Hoogstraaten, Lalaing, and the Chancellor of Brabant, Dr. Schoren, "a very wise father." After a lengthy preamble, setting forth the powers committed to the Regent, the terms of the contract were discussed. The chief points on which Wriothesley insisted were that Henry should be allowed to see his bride, that the payment of her dowry should be assigned to Flanders instead of Milan, and that Christina's title to Denmark should be recognized, although, remarked the Ambassador, "for my little wit I care not if this last condition were scraped out of the book."[216] The Duchess's claim to the throne of Denmark, as Wriothesley realized, was so remote that it seemed hardly worth discussing. The dowry and the question of the Papal dispensation were the two real stumbling-blocks, and he advised