As soon as the King of England’s ambassadors were returned, about three weeks or a month later, sometimes more, sometimes less (which in such cases is a great matter), the king our master would send his envoys; but always new persons, and such as had not been employed in any overture with the English before, to the end that if anything had been promised by their predecessors, but not afterwards performed, they might pretend ignorance, and not be obliged to give an answer. The ambassadors, therefore, who were sent into England, used their utmost endeavours to persuade King Edward of the good inclinations of the King of France, so that he might remain quiet, and not give the least assistance to the Princess of Burgundy: for both the King and the Queen of England were so desirous of the match with their daughter, that upon that account, not to mention several other reasons, the king was willing to wink at these proceedings, and take no notice of the remonstrances that were made to him by some of his privy council, who represented to him how prejudicial it would be to the interest of the whole nation. Besides, he was afraid the marriage might be broken off, as it began already to be laughed at in England, especially by such as were desirous of war. But to clear up this matter a little more, the king our master never designed to effect this marriage, by reason of the disproportion in their years; for the young lady[10], who is now Queen of England, was much older than the dauphin, who is now King of France.[11] So that a month or two were spent in sending ambassadors from one court to another; and these artifices were made use of purely to gain time, and hinder the English from declaring war against our king: for certainly, had it not been in hopes of this marriage, the King of England would never so tamely have suffered our king to have taken so many towns, without endeavouring to have defended them; and had he declared at the outset for the young Princess of Burgundy, as our king was so fearful of bringing anything to a hazard, he would not have encroached so far upon the dominions of the House of Burgundy, nor have weakened it so much. My chief design in narrating these transactions is, to show the method and conduct of all human affairs, by the reading of which such persons as are employed in the negotiation of great matters, may be instructed how to manage their business; for though their judgment may be good, yet a little advice sometimes does no harm. This I have been assured of, that if the Princess of Burgundy could have been persuaded to marry Earl Rivers, the Queen of England’s brother, they would have succoured her with a considerable number of troops; but that marriage would have been very unequal, for he was only an earl, and she the greatest heiress of her time.