It seems probable that Busbecq, after the completion of his studies, returned to Flanders, and for a few years led that quiet life with his books and a few friends, which afterwards, amid the blaze and glare of a court, seemed to him the perfection of human happiness. We have no record of his life during these years, but it is easy to picture it. Many a quiet morning spent in reading at Bousbecque, or in a corner of the Halluin library at Comines, a chat with a chance student friend as to the last news from the Universities, a stroll to inspect Roman coins or pottery lately discovered at Wervicq, a search for some rare plant, a series of observations on the habits of some animal. Nor would his life be spent only in the country. At Lille there was the family mansion, and his aunt Marie Ghiselin to welcome him; there he could find a larger circle of literary friends, and ransack their libraries for books, which might be absent from the collections at Bousbecque and Comines. It may seem strange that he was so thoroughly accepted in the family, but the explanation is not difficult. His address was singularly winning, and at the same time he inspired every one with confidence in his honesty;[63] he was remarkable for his tact[64] in dealing with the prejudices of his fellow-creatures, and when it was necessary to be firm[65] he could be firm without blustering. The qualities which made him so successful as a diplomatist were the qualities most calculated to endear him to his friends. The man who could ingratiate himself with Roostem was not likely to be unpopular among his own kith and kin. We now come to the event which first introduced Busbecq into public life. On July 25, 1554, in Winchester Cathedral, Mary of England gave her hand to Philip of Spain. Among those who witnessed the ceremony was Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq. It was only natural that Ferdinand, the brother of Charles V., should send an ambassador to represent him at the marriage of his nephew to the daughter of his unfortunate aunt, Catherine of Aragon. For this purpose he selected a Spanish gentleman, Don Pedro Lasso de Castilla,[66] who had been the companion of his boyhood in Spain, and had since continued to be a member of his household. With him Busbecq went as attaché. In the life appended to the Elzevir edition of Busbecq’s letters, we are told that he joined the embassy on Don Pedro’s invitation; but in a document of infinitely higher authority, the Patent of knighthood given in the Appendix, it is distinctly stated that the summons came from Ferdinand himself, who thus adopted into his service the grandson of the _écuyer trenchant_ who had served his brother, his father, and his great-grandfather. In order to mark the importance of the occasion, Don Pedro Lasso was attended to England by a numerous train, many of whom were gentlemen. Altogether there were nearly seventy persons in his suite.[67]