he continued his assault on Margaret as a relief
from the siege of Tournay; Henry favoured his suit, and when Margaret
called Brandon a _larron_ for stealing a ring from her finger, the
King was called in to help Brandon out with his French. Possibly it
was to smooth the course of his wooing that Brandon, early in 1514,
received an extraordinary advancement in rank. There was as yet only
one duke in England, but now Brandon was made Duke of Suffolk, at the
same time that the dukedom of Norfolk was restored to Surrey for his
victory at Flodden. Even a dukedom could barely make the son of a
simple esquire a match for an emperor's daughter, and the suit did not
prosper. Political reasons may have interfered. Suffolk, too, is
accused by the Venetian ambassador of having already had three
wives.[187] This seems to be an exaggeration, but the intricacy (p. 081)
of the Duke's marital relationships, and the facility with which he
renounced them might well have served as a precedent to his master in
later years.

[Footnote 185: _L. and P._, i., 4386.]

[Footnote 186: _Ibid._, i., 4405.]

[Footnote 187: _Ven. Cal._, ii., 464. He had made
contracts with three different ladies, but had not
actually married them all. See below, p. 199 and
_D.N.B._, _s.v._ "Brandon".]

In January, 1515, the Duke was sent to Paris to condole with Francis
on Louis' death, to congratulate him on his own accession, and renew
the league with England. Before he set out, Henry made him promise
that he would not marry Mary until their return. But Suffolk was not
the man to resist the tears of a beautiful woman in trouble, and he
found Mary in sore distress. No sooner was Louis dead than his
lascivious successor became, as Mary said, "importunate with her in
divers matters not to her honour," in suits "the which," wrote Suffolk,
"I and the Queen had rather be out of the world than abide".[188]
Every evening Francis forced his attentions upon the beautiful
widow.[189] Nor was this the only trouble which threatened the lovers.
There were reports that the French would not let Mary go, but marry
her somewhere to serve their own political purposes.[190] Henry, too,
might want to betroth her again to Charles; Maximilian was urging this
course, and telling Margaret that Mary must be recovered for Charles,
even at the point of the sword.[191] Earl