to state that neither of the proposed unions ever took place, and Henry’s frantic endeavours to frustrate the steadily increasing amity of France and Spain were entirely unavailing. Matrimonial agitations being found useless to serve his purpose, Henry had recourse to other methods to stir up suspicions between Charles and Francis, and to prevent the dreaded peace. Whatever malicious tale-bearing and false representations could accomplish was used to the full by the King and his minister. Cromwell wrote to Sir Thomas Wyatt at the Spanish Court, directing him to ‘declare how the frenche men show themself_es_ so ernest to put al in the king_es_ hand _tha_t they offer vpon any significac_i_on _tha_t themp_er_o_ur_ woll make ... to condescende to the same,’ and telling how the French ambassador had promised that Henry ‘shuld for the French king_es_ p_ar_te haue the hole and entier manyeng of the Peax betwen him and Themper_or_[598].’ If Henry could not obtain the ‘hole and entier manyeng of the Peax,’ he did his best to convince Charles and Francis separately that his own friendship was more valuable to each of them than that of the other. Furthermore he took pains to assure each one of the two rivals apart, that the other prized England’s amity so much that great concessions would be necessary to regain it. But in spite of all Henry’s efforts to avert it, the news of the truce between Charles and Francis and of their subsequent interview at Aigues Mortes reached England in July, 1538[599]. Still so confident was the King in the wisdom of his original policy of strengthening England solely by attempts to embroil these two powerful sovereigns under cover of offers of mediation, that he refused definitely to abandon it, in spite of the threatening outlook on the Continent. He remembered that the situation there had often changed before, and saw that it would probably do so again. He encouraged himself with hopes that in spite of the failure of his attempts to contract a marriage in France, he might still gain the hand of the Duchess of Milan, and with the reflection that the inroads of the Turk into the Emperor’s dominions would be a serious hindrance to any direct attack upon England. He was unwilling to seek security in an outside alliance, for fear of imperilling his hard-won position as a neutral between France and Spain. He wished still to rely solely on judicious interference in the affairs of Charles and Francis for England’s safety.