Meanwhile Gardiner, and with him most of the loyalists, disappointed in the new Earl of Devon, looked to Reginald Pole as their next best hope. Mary was known to have an affectionate regard for her kinsman, and she owed him, moreover, a debt of gratitude. It will be remembered that there had been once before a question of their marriage. But Pole, although not yet irrevocably pledged to the ecclesiastical state, being only in minor orders, was without ambition, and had no desire for matrimony. He even thought that the Queen, being of the age she was, should remain single, and leave the succession to take its course; and he charged his friend, Pedro Soto, to say this to the Emperor. But the Council were greatly concerned to negotiate a suitable match, and the only two eligible Englishmen being henceforth out of the reckoning, they turned their attention successively to the King of Denmark, the Infant of Portugal, the Prince of Piedmont and to Ferdinand of Austria, King of the Romans. But during this time, Renard was not idle. Having sounded Mary with regard to the Prince of Spain, he proceeded diligently to combat her objections. In his first interview at New Hall, he had merely put forward the suggestion of a marriage; by degrees Philip’s name was introduced, and when he judged that the time was come for delivering the Emperor’s message, he flattered himself that the day was won, because she smiled as she listened. Writing to the Bishop of Arras, Cardinal Granvelle, he said, “Je connais ladite reine, tant facile, tant bonne, tant peu expérimentée des choses du monde et d’état, tant novice en toutes choses.... Et pour vous dire confidemment ce que me semble d’elle, je suis en opinion que si Dieu ne la garde, elle se trouvera trompée et abusée, soit par pratiques des Français, soit par conspirations particulières de ceux du pays, soit par poison ou autrement.”[352] Mary has been represented by some modern historians as eagerly desiring the marriage with Philip, as greedily swallowing the tempting bait, her passion overleaping every obstacle. Nothing is farther from the truth, and those who have carefully followed her career step by step hitherto, will readily acknowledge, that such a reading of her character is altogether at variance with the whole tenour of her life. With regard to this marriage, she saw difficulties on all sides, and observed to Renard that the suitors proposed to her were so young that she might be the mother of them all, and reminded him that his Highness, the Prince of Spain, was twelve years younger than herself. She also objected that he would naturally wish to pass much of his time in Spain, ordering and administering the affairs of his kingdom, and that this would constitute an immense drawback to the marriage, adding that she had never seriously contemplated matrimony until God had promoted her to the Crown, nor felt affection for any man.[353]