At that moment all Mary's energies were absorbed in the struggle with France. She herself went to Lille to superintend military operations, and appeared on horseback in the trenches before Thérouenne, where her courage excited the admiration of John Hutton, the English Ambassador. "Let the King but tarry fifteen days," she exclaimed, "and I will show him what God may strengthen a woman to do!" But, in spite of these brave words, Mary, as Hutton soon discovered, was sincerely desirous to end the war. "The Queen's anxiety for peace," he wrote home, "is as great as her ardour in war."[154] She knew the straits to which the Emperor was reduced and the exhaustion of the Treasury. "The poverty of this country is so great," she wrote to Charles on the 9th of June, "that it is impossible to provide necessary funds for the war. We must have peace, or we are lost."[155] Under these circumstances she lent a willing ear to her sister Queen Eleanor's advances, and the two sisters had the satisfaction of arranging a truce at Bomy, a village near Thérouenne. The siege of this city was raised, the French evacuated the towns which they held, and on the 10th of September peace was ratified by the Emperor at Monzone. [Sidenote: JAN., 1538] THE SUCCESSION OF GUELDERS] Mary felt that she could once more breathe freely. She lost no time in renewing negotiations with the Duke of Cleves, and the proposed marriage became the talk of the Court. "The Queen," wrote Hutton, on the 2nd of September, from Bruges, where Mary was hunting after her wont and spending all day in the saddle, "looketh daily for the Duchess of Milan, who shall be married to the Duke of Cleves's son and heir."[156] A month later the Cleves Envoys arrived at Brussels, and, after repeated interviews with the Queen and her Council, returned, well satisfied, to obtain their master's consent to the terms of the contract. The news spread rapidly, and was reported by Ambassadors from Spain and Germany, from Rome and Paris, with the same unanimity. Suddenly an unexpected event altered the face of affairs. Charles of Egmont, the fiery old Duke of Guelders, who had for many years been the Emperor's bitter enemy, fell ill, and, feeling his end to be near, summoned the Estates of his realm to choose a successor. Since he had no issue, his own wish was to leave his States to the French King; but his subjects positively refused to be handed over to a foreign Power, and chose the young Duke William of Cleves, who hastened to visit Nimeguen, where he was acclaimed by his future subjects. This was a clear breach of faith, since, by the treaty concluded a year before with the Emperor, Guelders was to pass into his hands at Charles of Egmont's death, and the ancient rights to the duchy which the House of Cleves formerly claimed had been already sold to the Dukes of Burgundy.[157] Mary's indignation was great. She wrote angrily to tell William of Cleves that Guelders was the property of the Emperor, and