At first the emperor endeavoured to instil into the pope's mind suspicions of the good faith of the King of France. That was no difficult matter. 'Clement dared not feel confident,' says Du Bellay, 'that the king really wished to do him such great honour.'[368]—'The Orleans marriage would certainly be very honourable and advantageous,' said Charles V. and his ministers; 'but his holiness must not rely upon it; the king makes the proposal only with the intention of _befooling_ him and using him to his own benefit.'[369] And when the pope repeated the promises of Albany, Gramont, and Tournon, the ministers of Charles kept silence, and replied only by a slight smile. The blow had told. Clement, who always tried to deceive, was naturally inclined to believe that the king was doing the same. When the emperor and the diplomatists saw that they had made a breach, they attempted a new assault. Charles asked the young lady's hand for Francis Sforza, Duke of Milan. This scheme was worthy of that exuberant genius which Charles always displayed in the invention of means calculated to secure the success of his policy. This union would, in fact, have the double advantage of wresting Catherine and the Milanese from France at one blow. Charles hinted to her uncle that he would do much better to accept for his young relative a _real_ marriage than to run after a shadow. 'It is a great offer, and the match is a good one,' said Clement; 'but the other is so grand and so honourable for my house, regard being had to dignities, that I never could have hoped for such honour ... and so much progress has been made, that I cannot listen to any other proposal without offending the king.'[370] Clement had become hard to please. If the Medici were the descendants of a merchant, the Sforzas came from a peasant, a leader of free troops, a _condottiere_. Clement looked down upon the Duke of Milan. 'Besides,' says Guiccardini, 'he burnt with desire to marry his niece to the second son of Francis I.'[371] This is what he always came back to. Charles told him that Francis wanted, by this offer, to break up the Italian league, and when that was done, the marriage would be broken off too.[372] But Clement maintained that the king was sincere in his offer. 'Good!' said the emperor to the pope; 'there is a very simple means of satisfying yourself on that point. Ask the two cardinals to procure immediately from France the powers necessary for settling the marriage contract. You will soon see whether his proposal is anything better than base money which they want to palm off upon you.'[373]