"Your father and I are sorely grieved at the loss you have suffered," she wrote to Mary; "but you are both young, and I can only hope that God, who took away those dear little ones, will send you others.... If I were good enough for my prayers to be of any avail with God, I would pray for this, but I can at least have prayers offered up by others who are better than I am, especially by the good Queen in her convent and her holy nuns. We are glad to hear the King bears his loss with resignation, and trust God will give you patience to live for Him in this world and in the next, to which tribulation is the surest way." And in a postscript she adds a word of practical advice, saying that she did not like to hear of the poor babes having so many different nurses, and fears this may have been one cause of the mischief.[332] In return for this affectionate sympathy, King James sent his mother-in-law a fine diamond and a portrait of himself, which arrived during Christina's visit, and excited much interest at Joinville. All the Duchess of Guise's daughters were absent from home, the youngest, Antoinette, having joined her sister, Abbess Renée, in the convent at Reims, where she afterwards took the veil. But her eldest son, as we have seen, was at Joinville on this occasion. A tall, dark-haired, olive-skinned youth, recklessly brave and adventurous, Aumale was a great favourite both in Court and camp, and his mother had been sadly disappointed at the failure of the marriage negotiations, which had cost her so much time and trouble. The Pope's daughter, Vittoria Farnese, who was to have been his wife, had since then been offered in turn to the Prince of Piedmont and the Duke of Vendôme, and was eventually married to the Duke of Urbino. Aumale himself cared little for the loss of the Italian bride, whom he had never seen, and had hitherto shown no eagerness for matrimony, but the sight of Christina made a deep impression upon him, and he never forgot his fair cousin's visit to Joinville. The most friendly relations prevailed between the two families, and frequent visits were interchanged during the winter. Christmas was celebrated with prolonged festivities at Nancy, and on the 6th of February the old Duke wrote from Joinville to his niece, the Queen of Scotland: "Your father and I have spent the last week together, and have made great cheer with all our family. Your son, De Longueville, is very well, and has grown a fine boy. "Your very humble and affectionate uncle, "ANTOINE."[333] [Sidenote: FEB., 1542] CHRISTINA'S ANXIETIES]