By this time another marriage for Christina was being seriously discussed at the Imperial Court. Even before the Duke's death, the French King had done his best to provoke a quarrel with him, and had begun to make active preparations for war. Hardly had Francesco breathed his last, than he openly renewed his old claim to Milan, and sent an Ambassador to the Emperor at Naples, demanding the duchy for his second son, Henry, Duke of Orleans, the husband of Catherine de' Medici. This plan, which would have made the French supreme in North Italy, could not be entertained for a moment, but Charles, in his anxiety to avoid war, was ready to accept almost any other alternative. When his sister Eleanor implored him to agree to her husband's proposal, and, by way of cementing the alliance, give "the little widow of Milan" in marriage to the King's third son, the Duke of Angoulême, he replied that he would gladly treat of the proposed marriage, but only on condition that Angoulême, not Orleans, was put in possession of Milan. The union of the French Prince with Christina now became the subject of prolonged negotiations between the two Courts. The Imperial Chancellor, Granvelle, drew up a long and careful memorandum, dwelling on the obvious advantages of the scheme, on the virtues and charms of the young Duchess, on her large dowry and great popularity in Milan, and Charles told Francis plainly that he would agree to no scheme by which the widowed Duchess was removed from the State, "where she was so much beloved and honoured, and where the people placed all their hopes of tranquillity in her presence." One great object of these negotiations, he wrote, "is to find a noble and suitable husband for our niece, the Widow of Milan, who is to us almost a daughter, and who has always shown herself so discreet and so obedient to our wishes."[131] [Sidenote: MARCH, 1536] MANY SUITORS]