Renard and his colleagues were weak reeds for Mary to depend upon, and she did well to go her own way, understanding the feeling of her countrymen better than they did. The envoys found Mary’s action in defying Northumberland: “Strange, difficult, and dangerous.... All the forces of the country are in the hands of the Duke, and the Lady has no hope of obtaining forces nor aid to oppose him, whilst her proclamation of herself as Queen will justify the new King and Queen in attacking her by force, and she will have no means of resisting them unless your Majesty stands by her. Considering your war with the French, it seems unadvisable for your Majesty to arouse English feeling against you, and the idea that the Lady will gain Englishmen on the ground of religion is vain.”[5] Serious remonstrances were sent to Mary herself by the Imperial envoys, pointing out her danger and the hopelessness of her position in the face of Northumberland’s supposed strength; and at the same time they laboured hard to dissuade the Duke from the idea that they had been sent to England to sustain Mary’s cause. The Emperor himself was no bolder than his envoys. “If you cannot draw the Duke of Northumberland to our cousin’s cause, you may see if you can gain over some of the nobles by promises about religion or otherwise, in order to alarm the Duke into showing some favour to the Princess.”[6] Renard and his colleagues had been in London five days and had already assumed the attitude towards Mary just referred to, before Secretary Petre came officially from Northumberland on the 10th July to inform them of the King’s death. They merely begged the Council to be kind to Lady Mary, although they well knew that she was mustering her forces and issuing her decrees in Norfolk, and that Jane was to be crowned in the Tower of London on the following day; after which they feared that Mary would be captured and done to death as a rebel.