Henry congratulated himself that his hopes were on the eve of fulfilment.

But, unfortunately for him, the basis, on which they were built, was as unstable as water.
The decision of his case still depended upon Clement, and Clement wavered with every fluctuation in the success or the failure of (p.

216) the Spanish arms in Italy.

Campeggio had scarcely set out, when Doria, the famous Genoese admiral, deserted Francis for Charles;[604] on the 17th of August Lautrec died before Naples;[605] and, on 10th September, an English agent sent Wolsey news of a French disaster, which he thought more serious than the battle of Pavia or the sack of Rome.[606] On the following day Sanga, the Pope's secretary, wrote to Campeggio that, "as the Emperor is victorious, the Pope must not give him any pretext for a fresh rupture, lest the Church should be utterly annihilated....

Proceed on your journey to England, and there do your utmost to restore mutual affection between the King and Queen.