It was impossible for Henry to ignore the immense popular enthusiasm of which Mary was the object, and it hampered him considerably, for he was not by any means prepared to acknowledge himself in the wrong, by replacing her in his good graces unconditionally. The desire of the nation, combined with Jane’s influence and his own much-vaunted affection, did not equal his obstinacy and vanity. Only, as the above-mentioned poem goes on to relate, when the enthusiasm developed into impatience, and a rumour was circulated that he had sent for her, and had shown her kindness, did he realise that it might be prudent to reckon with the Londoners. Fearing a disturbance, if he did not show some sign of relenting, he sent them a condescending message, in which he thanked them for their goodwill to him and his daughter, and held out hopes of their speedy reconciliation.[173] But Henry was still hedged in with difficulties, and he had far more to consider than a mere peace-making with an eager, affectionate daughter of twenty, whom all, except those whose interest it was to keep them apart, agreed in praising. To give Mary back her rights without terms, would be tantamount to submission to the Pope, whose decree he had treated with open scorn and defiance, to humbling himself before the Emperor, after the haughty tone he had assumed in his letters to him, and to climbing down in the eyes of his ally, the King of France. And while on the one hand, he would be able to secure a powerful friend by bestowing her on a candidate of the Emperor, he would on the other, cease to be an important factor in the game of European politics. His strength, he knew, lay in temporising, in being considered a valuable prize _in petto_ to Francis and Charles alternately. If he definitely gave himself up to Charles, he would but swell the importance of the empire, at the sacrifice of his own pride. The Emperor, when it became known that Anne’s fall was imminent, made decided advances, promising “to be a mean to reconcile him with the Pope”. He begged Henry to legitimatise his daughter, and to give her a place in the succession, and took the opportunity to request his help against the Turk, slipping in a solicitation for his support, in accordance with an existing treaty, in the event of an invasion of the Duchy of Milan, by the French King.