The Savoy marriage, which Philip was so anxious to bring about, also ended in smoke. During Christina's visit, the matter was brought forward and eagerly urged both by the King and Queen. Charles was no less anxious for the marriage, and Mary of Hungary proposed to appoint the Duke, Governor of the Low Countries when she resigned the office. The plan would have been very popular in Flanders, where the Duchess was beloved by all classes, and was warmly supported by Egmont and Orange. On the 1st of May, Badoer, the Venetian Ambassador at Brussels, announced that the marriage contract had already been drawn up by De Praet, and that the Duke had started for Italy, disguised as a German, and only attended by one servant, to arrange his affairs in Piedmont before the wedding.[500] [Sidenote: MAY, 1555] DUKE OF SAVOY'S MARRIAGE] The Venetian's news was apparently premature, but a fortnight later a Piedmontese noble, Count Avignano, came to London to consult Philip as to the marriage and arrange further details on his master's behalf. He talked freely at table to the French and Venetian Ambassadors, Noailles and Michieli, saying that the Emperor had offered his master the government of the Netherlands with the hand of Madame de Lorraine, an arrangement which he for his part regretted, thinking that the Duke would be more likely to recover his dominions if he married in France. But, since the friendship between his lord and the Duchess was so great, he saw no hope of any other alliance, and the marriage was, in fact, considered by the Emperor and all his family to be practically settled.[501] Emanuel Philibert, like many others, evidently felt the power of Christina's fascination, and enjoyed a large share of her intimacy. But he does not seem to have shown any great eagerness for the marriage, whether it was that, as Avignano said, it would be a bar to the recovery of his States, or whether he recognized the Duchess's own insuperable objection to matrimony.