The return of the wanderer saved Charles from utter ruin. His affairs were still going badly. Vieilleville, the French Governor of Verdun, seized the boats laden with provisions for the imperial camp, which Christina had sent down the Rhine, and laid violent hands on six waggons of choice fruits, wines, and cakes, which were despatched from Nancy for her uncle's table. Worse than this, he contrived to enter Pont-à-Mousson, which Fabrizio Colonna held, disguised as a messenger from the Duchess, and obtained possession of this important place by stratagem.[478] The valour of Guise and the strong fortifications of Metz were proof against the reckless courage of Albert and the might of the imperial army. The heavy rains and biting cold of an early winter increased the sufferings of the troops, and, after losing half his army by famine and dysentery, Charles was compelled to raise the siege at the New Year. "Fortune is a woman," he remarked to one of his captains; "she abandons the old, and keeps her smiles for young men."[479] In this forced retreat the Marquis performed prodigies of valour, and succeeded in bringing his guns safely over roads rendered impassable by a sudden thaw. The bulk of the army was dismissed, only the veteran Spanish and German forces being quartered in Artois and Luxembourg, and Charles himself set out for Brussels. His failing strength compelled him to halt on the way, and Morosyne gave it as his opinion that the Emperor would never reach the end of his journey alive. But his spirit was indomitable as ever, and on Sunday, the 6th of February, he entered Brussels in an open litter, amid scenes of the wildest enthusiasm. "To-day," wrote the Ambassador of Savoy, "I have witnessed the safe arrival of the Emperor. He was received with the greatest transports of joy and delight by the whole people, who feared that he was dead and that they would never see him again." And Charles himself wrote to Ferdinand that, now he was once more in his native land and in the company of his beloved sisters, he would soon recover his health.[480] FOOTNOTES: [445] Granvelle, iii. 630; Henne, ix. 162; T. Juste, 185. [446] Ascham, ii. 313; Papiers d'État, viii., Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles. [447] Lanz, iii. 75; Granvelle, iii. 527. [448] Pimodan, 375, 381. [449] Lettres des Seigneurs, iii. 104, Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles. [450] Lettres des Seigneurs, iii. 90. [451] Bulletins, etc., série 2, xii. 189. [452] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 108; Granvelle, iii. 613. [453] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 42, 108. [454] Calmet, ii. 1290; F. de Rabutin, "Collection de Mémoires," xxxvii. 185. [455] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 19. [456] A. de Ruble, "La Jeunesse de Marie Stuart," 73. [457] Calmet, ii. 1199. [458] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 101, f. 320. [459] Calmet, ii. 1300; Pfister, ii. 188; Brantôme, xii. 110; Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 101; Ravold, iii. 780. [460] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 101, f. 320.