During the next fortnight conferences were held daily in the presence of Christina, who herself read aloud each different proposal that was made, and showed infinite tact in smoothing over difficulties and suggesting points of agreement. Each morning the deputies met at Mass in the parish church, and often discussed separate questions after service. In the evenings, private interviews took place in Christina's rooms, and the Prince of Orange held long conversations with Montmorency and the Cardinal, which contributed not a little to their mutual understanding. "Loving entertainments," in Suriano's phrase, "were exchanged," and one night the Duchess gave a banquet in honour of the Constable's wife and daughter, who paid a visit to Cercamp. As the Cardinal complained jestingly, Montmorency was too good a Christian and all too ready to make peace with his country's enemies. But King Henry supported him secretly, and sent private notes and messages, telling him to take no notice of the Guises, and do all he could to make peace.[542] The great difficulty which had hitherto stood in the way of all attempts at negotiation was the restitution of Savoy. The Constable now proposed that the Duke should marry the King's sister, Madame Marguerite, with a dower of 300,000 crowns, and be placed in possession of the chief portion of his dominions. At first the Duke demurred to this offer, and begged that the King's daughter Claude should be substituted for her aunt, who was five years his senior. But the Cardinal replied that this Princess was already pledged to his nephew, Charles of Lorraine, and laid stress on Margaret's charms and learning. The Duke yielded, and a long wrangle ensued as to the towns and citadels to be retained by the French. But there was a still more thorny question to be decided. This was the restoration of Calais, which the English demanded with the utmost pertinacity, while the French were no less determined to keep their conquest. The English pleaded that they had held the town during two centuries; the French replied that it had been unjustly snatched from them in the first place. Old treaties, going back to the days of the Black Prince, were produced, and Arras and his colleagues supported the English claim loyally, knowing that, if Philip consented to abandon Calais, he would lose all hold on his wife's subjects. In vain Christina proposed that, as the marriage of the French King's elder daughter with the Infant Don Carlos had been agreed upon, Calais should form part of Elizabeth's dower. The Cardinal told the Duchess that the possession of the town, which his brother had conquered, touched his honour too closely for him to agree to the surrender, and King Henry sent word that he would rather lose his crown than give up Calais. So stern and intractable were the French that the only thing to be done was to adjourn the Conference and refer the matter to the two monarchs.[543] [Sidenote: SEPT., 1558] DEATH OF MARY OF HUNGARY]