There were other things, too, which made it expedient for Philip to
hurry to his father’s side. The Venetian ambassador went to see him at
Richmond at the beginning of June, and on their way to chapel together
Philip told Michaeli that he had that moment received news from Brussels
that Cardinal Caraffa had been elected Pope. The ambassador noticed that
the King was disturbed and unquiet at the news, as well he might be,
for the Neapolitan, Caraffa, was the bitterest foe of Spain alive; and
this meant that the peace which was being so painfully negotiated at
Calais would be frustrated, or in any case be of short duration; for in
future the Spanish champion of orthodoxy would have not only to contend
against the “eldest son of the Church,” but against the head of the
Church himself,[96] making common cause, “not only with France, but with
the Turk, and if need be with the devil himself,” to dwarf the Spanish
power in Italy and the Mediterranean. But, urgent though Philip’s
presence elsewhere might be, it was more urgent still in England until
safety came with the birth of his hoped for child. Writing in June to
the Emperor, Renard says that everything hangs upon the happy issue of
that event. He continues: “The doctors and ladies were two months out of
their reckoning, and there is now no appearance of the affair happening
for another ten days. If, by God’s mercy, she does well, matters here
will take a better turn; but if not, I foresee trouble, and a great
disturbance, so great, indeed, that the pen cannot express it. For it is
certain that they have managed so ill with regard to the succession, that
if anything untoward happens Lady Elizabeth will have the preference,
heresy will take a new life and religion be overturned. She being French
in her leanings, the nation will decline, the ecclesiastics will be
persecuted, and revenge will be more rife than ever. I am not at all
sure that the King and Court will be safe from the people, and the final
tragedy will be calamitous. It is incredible to what extent this delay in
the birth affords to the partisans of Elizabeth ground for the spread of
false rumours. Some say the Queen is not pregnant at all, and that if a
fitting child had been found there would not have been so much delay.”[97]