Charles that "Philip might not look to give laws
to France." Catharine partook of her son's indignation, the more so as she
seems at this time to have shared in the current belief that her daughter
Elizabeth had been poisoned by her royal husband.[850] At last, in
November, the ambassador withdrew from court, without taking leave of the
king, after having, in scarcely disguised contempt,[851] given away to the
monks the silver plate which Charles had presented to him.

[Sidenote: Charles gratified.]

While the new policy of conciliation and toleration thus disgusted one, at
least, of those foreign powers which had spurred on the government to
engage in suicidal civil contests, it was at home producing the beneficent
results hoped for by its authors. Charles himself appeared to be daily
more convinced of its excellence. In a letter to President Du Ferrier,
the French envoy at Constantinople, written during the admiral's stay at
Blois, he exposed for the sultan's benefit the reasons for the mutation in
his treatment of the Huguenots, and for the cordial reception he had given
Coligny at his court. "You know," he said, "that this kingdom fell into
discord and division, in which it still is involved. I forgot no
prescription which I thought might cure it of this ulcerous wound; at one
time trying mild remedies, at others applying the most caustic, without
sparing my own person, or those whom nature made most dear to me.... But,
having at length discovered that only time could alleviate the ill, and
_that those who were at the windows were very glad to see the game played
at my expense_,[852] I had recourse to my original plan, which was that of
mildness; and by good advice I made my Edict of Pacification, which is the
seal of public faith, under whose benign influence peace and quiet have
been restored." And referring to Coligny's arrival, he added: "You know
that experience is dearly bought and is worth much. I must therefore tell
you that the chief result which I hoped from his coming begins already to
develop, inasmuch as the greater part of my subjects, who lately lived in
some distrust, have by this demonstration gained such assurance of my
kindness and affection, that all partisan feeling and faction are visibly
beginning to fade away."[853]

[Sidenote: Proposed marriage of Henry of Navarre and the king's sister.]

Besides the Flemish project, an important domestic affair engaged the
attention of the king and his co