Christina's return was impatiently awaited at Brussels. The courtiers who remembered her mother, and had known her as a child, were eager to see the young Duchess, whose courage and wisdom had been shown in such trying circumstances. All through the summer her coming had been expected, and the Regent was seriously annoyed at the prolonged delays which had hindered her niece's departure from Milan. Her heart yearned over the child from whom she had parted with so much reluctance. More than this, she had in her mind's eye a second husband ready for the young Duchess. This was William, the only son and heir of the reigning Duke of Cleves. A handsome and well-educated young man of twenty-two, the young Duke had not yet developed that fatal weakness of purpose which proved his bane, and was to all appearances an excellent match for the Emperor's niece. The political advantages of the union were obvious. Duke John had married the heiress of Jülich and Bergh, and reigned over three rich and peaceful provinces on the Lower Rhine. He had always been on friendly terms with the Emperor, and when, a few months after the Duke of Milan's death, he asked for the young widow's hand on behalf of his son, Mary welcomed these advances gladly, and hastened to communicate them to the Emperor.[152] At first Charles replied coolly that, if the marriage with Angoulême could not be arranged, the proposals made by the King of Scotland or Cleves might be entertained. In October, 1536, Mary sent a confidential messenger, La Tiloye, to Genoa to learn the Emperor's pleasure in the matter, but nothing further was done. After the fresh outbreak of war in 1537, and the invasion of Artois by the French, Charles became more alive to the importance of the question, and wrote to his sister from Spain, saying that he had ordered the Widow of Milan to go to the Low Countries, and hoped she would proceed at once to the conclusion of the marriage with Cleves.[153]