The princess herself had conceived an extreme hatred against the king, ever since he had basely given up her letters; for she looked upon him as the occasion of the death of her two principal ministers of state, and of the dishonour and shame that was put upon her, when the letters were delivered to her publicly in her council, as you have heard before. Besides, it was that which gave the Gantois confidence to banish so many of her servants, and to remove her mother-in-law and the Lord of Ravestain from about her, and put her maids of honour into such a consternation, that not one of them durst open a letter without first showing it to the Gantois, nor speak to their mistress in a low tone. This made the princess carry herself very distantly to the Bishop of Liege, who was of the House of Bourbon, and a great promoter of this match with the Dauphin, which certainly would have been very honourable and advantageous for the princess, had it not been for the extreme youth of the dauphin; but the bishop was unable to effect his object, so he removed to Liege, and that affair was laid wholly aside. Without dispute, it would have been a very difficult matter to have managed that negotiation to the satisfaction of both parties; and I am of opinion that whoever had undertaken it, would have gained but little credit by it in the end. However (as I have been informed), a council was held about it, at which Madame de Hallewin[12], first lady of the bed-chamber to the princess, was present; and being asked her opinion about the dauphin, she replied, “That there was more need of a man than a boy; that her mistress was capable of bearing a child, which was what her dominions wanted more than anything else;” and this opinion prevailed. Some condemned the lady for answering so plainly, others commended her, alleging that what she spoke was purely in relation to marriage, and the necessity of her lady’s dominions, so that now the only talk was, who should be the person. I am verily persuaded, that if the king had been inclined to have had her marry the Count of Angoulesme[13], who is now living, she would have consented to it, so desirous was she to continue her alliance with France. God, however, thought fit to appoint her another husband, for reasons unknown perhaps to us, unless it were, that it might occasion greater wars and confusions on both sides than could possibly have happened, had she married the Count of Angoulesme, for by this match the provinces of Flanders and Brabant sustained great miseries and afflictions. The Duke of Cleves was at this time in Ghent with the princess, making friends, and trying all arts to effect a marriage between the princess and his son, but she had no inclination to it, for the character of the young gentleman pleased neither her nor any person about her court. At last a marriage was again proposed between her and the emperor’s son, the present King of the Romans, of which there had