The other event which gave Cromwell a momentary ray of hope was the arrival of a piece of news from France, which at first looked like a vindication of his foreign policy as against that of the King. Early in April it was rumoured in London that the French were fortifying Ardres, and the King’s minister wrote a letter to Wallop on the twelfth instructing him to demand an explanation from Francis[699], who (according to the ambassador’s report) replied that ‘He knewe not but that He myght aswell buyld there or fortefye uppon his borders as the Kinges Highnes dothe at Callais, Guysnes, and other his fortresses[700].’ These words, though spoken ‘very gently and nothing in collour,’ appear to have caused profound anxiety at the English Court, and Henry’s faith in the success of his plans of fomenting discord between Charles and Francis received a rude shock. Everything which tended to justify the alliance with Cleves as a defensive measure was of course welcome news to Cromwell, who privately must have been as much encouraged by the messages from France as others were dismayed by them. But the satisfaction which he derived from the report of the fortifications at Ardres was only of short duration. There were no further hostile developments for the present, and an announcement was soon received from the Netherlands which offered reasons for the abandonment of the alliance with Cleves far more cogent than those which the news from France furnished for its continuance. It was reported that the Emperor, immediately after the subjugation of the revolt of Ghent, had repeated his demands for the cession of Gelderland[701] by Duke William, and there seemed every probability that in case of refusal he would enforce them by the sword. The bearing of this move on the alliance of England with Cleves has been already indicated. We have seen that when Charles first turned his steps from Paris to the Low Countries, Cromwell probably realized for the first time that the league on which he had based all his hopes might actually work to England’s disadvantage, and that Cleves might be the sole gainer from it. The news from the Netherlands was virtually a confirmation of the minister’s gravest fears. The prospect that he would soon be called upon to defend an ally whom he had expected to defend him, and for whom he had no real regard, must have been intolerable to Henry, and the state of his relations to Anne of Cleves at the time tended of course to increase rather than to diminish his vexation. Add to this the fact that tidings of a somewhat disquieting nature kept coming in from Scotland and Ireland, the blame for which could easily be made to fall on Cromwell, and one can well believe that any gains the King’s minister may have made in the Parliament which had met in April were more than counterbalanced by the losses he had sustained in the course of affairs abroad. Norfolk and Gardiner probably siezed this favourable opportunity to weave further plots against their hated rival, and to devise fresh measures to poison the King’s ear against him[702]. But even had the enmity of these men been turned into friendship, Cromwell’s political blunders had got him into a position from which nothing could extricate him. He had incurred the enmity of a master who never forgave, and his ultimate ruin could only be a question of time.