unpractical, and thenceforward there was little restraining power upon the Council, except such as could be exerted by Philip, far away in Flanders and overwhelmed with his own affairs. Philip had found his father in the last stage of mental and physical depression, and soon after the son arrived from England, on the 25th October, 1555, Charles V., in one of the most dramatic scenes in history, surrendered to him the sovereignty of the land of his birth, his beloved Flanders. This was soon followed by the abandonment of the rest of his crowns; and Philip, in January, 1556, found himself monarch of all the vast inheritance of Burgundy and Spain, whilst his uncle Ferdinand took the exalted but powerless crown of the Empire. Almost simultaneously with Philip’s accession to the Spanish Crown the Emperor, desirous above all things of leaving his son at peace, brought the long-drawn peace negotiations to an end by signing a five years’ truce at Vaucelles with his rival, France. England was thus for a short time relieved from the dread of being drawn into the war to please the King Consort. In the meanwhile, Mary had been fretting and pining for her absent husband. He had promised her faithfully to return in a month, but that, of course, was out of the question. Stories came to her, also, that he was enjoying himself there with ladies younger than herself, not wisely but too well for the faithful spouse of so saintly a wife. “This has so much upset her that in conversation with one of her most intimate friends she said that if it should so happen that the King never came back, notwithstanding all her efforts to recall him, she must put up with living the rest of her life without the company of a man, as she had done before her marriage, and with such patience as she could. This gives food for the reflection that in order to persuade him to return the sooner she will make incredible efforts in this Parliament in his favour.”[105] Philip’s revenge for his enforced good behaviour in England, indeed, almost alarmed the Emperor. For the only time in his life the King Consort now became dissipated, carrying on vulgar intrigues and scouring the streets of Brussels in disguise in search of adventure. News came to Mary that he had fallen ill, though there was nothing the matter with him but the effects of too much gaiety, and a special English courier sent by the anxious Queen to learn the truth with regard to his health was received by Philip in Brussels in December, 1555. The King sent reassuring news to his wife with affectionate greetings, and a faithful promise to go over to England at once, and the English messenger, overjoyed at the good tidings he bore, promised the Spanish courtiers that he would not damp the Queen’s delight by telling her of her husband’s high jinks, “as she was so easily upset, and was so anxious about him that it would afflict her too much.” For a few days after she