on the other hand, entertained a gentle contempt for Egmont, which
manifested itself in all his private letters to the King, and was
sufficiently obvious in his deportment. There had also been distinct
causes of animosity between them. The governorship of Hesdin having
become vacant, Egmont, backed by Orange and other nobles, had demanded
it for the Count de Roeulx, a gentleman of the Croy family, who, as well
as his father, had rendered many important services to the crown. The
appointment was, however, bestowed, through Granvelle's influence, upon
the Seigneur d'Helfault, a gentleman of mediocre station and character,
who was thought to possess no claims whatever to the office. Egmont,
moreover, desired the abbey of Trulle for a poor relation of his own; but
the Cardinal, to whom nothing in this way ever came amiss, had already
obtained the King's permission to, appropriate the abbey to himself
Egmont was now furious against the prelate, and omitted no opportunity
of expressing his aversion, both in his presence and behind his back.
On one occasion, at least, his wrath exploded in something more than
words. Exasperated by Granvelle's polished insolence in reply to his
own violent language, he drew his dagger upon him in the presence of the
Regent herself, "and," says a contemporary, "would certainly have sent
the Cardinal into the next world had he not been forcibly restrained by
the Prince of Orange and other persons present, who warmly represented
to him that such griefs were to be settled by deliberate advice, not by
choler." At the same time, while scenes like these were occurring in the
very bosom of the state council, Granvelle, in his confidential letters
to secretary Perez, asserted warmly that all reports of a want of harmony
between himself and the other seignors and councillors were false, and
that the best relations existed among them all. It was not his
intention, before it should be necessary, to let the King doubt his
ability to govern the counsel according to the secret commission with
which he had been invested.