During the conversation which followed, Charles spoke to his mother with great good sense and wisdom, telling her how kindly he was treated at the French Court, and how it would be hard for him to feel at home anywhere else. But directly after his marriage he and his wife intended to return to Nancy, where he hoped that his mother would join them and live among their own people. The Duchess and her children now sat down to an exquisite _déjeuner_ with the Duchess of Aerschot and the Cardinal, while Egmont and Arras entertained Vaudemont and the Prince of Joinville, and the other French gentlemen dined with the members of Christina's suite. After dinner three Spanish jennets which King Philip had sent the young Duke were led out, and Charles mounted a spirited charger given him by the French monarch, and performed a variety of feats of horsemanship before the company, to his mother's great delight. Then the Duchess and her sister and children retired to enjoy each other's company in private, leaving the Cardinal to confer with Arras and Egmont. The Cardinal produced the royal mandate, and Robertet read out Henry's proposals, offering to restore Savoy to the Duke, but only on condition of receiving Milan in exchange. All Arras would say in reply to these demands was that they must be referred to his master, upon which the Cardinal exclaimed with some heat that these were the only terms which the King of France would accept. "Thus," remarks the Venetian Ambassador, "this meeting, which began with such a beautiful outburst of motherly love and tenderness, ended in mutual recrimination."[534] The Cardinal then took leave of the company, after presenting the young Princesses and their mother with gifts of gold bracelets, rings, and brooches, and receiving a box of choice gloves, perfumed, and embroidered in Italian fashion from the Duchess. As he rode back to Péronne, he saw the flames of a burning village which had been destroyed by the Imperialists, and, in spite of his safe-conduct, was seized with so great a panic that he hurried back to Paris, fearing his château might be surprised by the foes. The young Duke and Vaudemont spent another day with the Duchess, and only returned to Compiègne on the 18th of May. Here Charles received the warmest of welcomes from the royal family, who had feared that he might be induced to remain with his mother. The King threw his arms round the boy's neck, the Queen and Dauphin, the Princesses Elizabeth and Claude and the young Queen of Scots, all embraced him affectionately, telling him how much they had missed him. In fact, as Soranzo remarks, this short absence served to show how much beloved the young Prince was by the whole Court.[535]