red with his enemies. But whatever he may have felt,
he was too proud or too politic to betray his mortification to the
duchess. Thus discredited by all but an insignificant party, who were
branded as the "Cardinalists," losing influence daily with the regent,
at open war with the nobles, and hated by the people, never was there a
minister in so forlorn a situation, or one who was able to maintain his
post a day in such circumstances. Yet Granvelle did not lose heart; as
others failed him, he relied the more on himself; and the courage which
he displayed, when thus left alone, as it were, to face the anger of the
nation, might have well commanded the respect of his enemies. He made no
mean concession to secure the support of the nobles, or to recover the
favor of the regent. He did not shrink from the dangers or the
responsibilities of his station; though the latter, at least, bore
heavily on him. Speaking of the incessant pressure of his cares, he
writes to his correspondent, Perez, "My hairs have turned so white you
would not recognize me."[575] He was then but forty-six. On one
occasion, indeed, we do find him telling the king, that, "if his majesty
does not soon come to the Netherlands, he must withdraw from them."[576]
This seems to have been a sudden burst of feeling, as it was a solitary
one, forced from him by the extremity of his situation. It was much more
in character that he wrote afterwards to the secretary, Perez: "I am so
beset with dangers on every side, that most people give me up for lost.
But I mean to live as long, by the grace of God, as I can; and if they
do take away my life, I trust they will not gain everything for all
that."[577] He nowhere intimates a wish to be recalled. Nor would his
ambition allow him to resign the helm; but the fiercer the tempest
raged, the more closely did he cling to the wreck of his fortunes.

The arrival of Armenteros with the despatches, and the tidings that he
brought, caused a great sensation in the court of Madrid. "We are on the
eve of a terrible conflagration," writes one of the secretaries of
Philip; "and they greatly err who think it will pass away as formerly."
He expresses the wish that Granvelle would retire from the country,
where, he predicts, they would soon wish his return. "But ambition," he
adds, "and the point of honor are alike opposed to this. Nor does the
king desire it."[578]

Yet it was not easy to say what the king did desire,--certainly not wh