Max needed the gold; he also sniffed battle, and wanted the excitement and the enterprise of war.

I had all his reasons, and still another; I wanted to give Yolanda time to execute her plans.
The war with Switzerland would probably be short.

Max would be with the duke, and would, I hoped, augment the favor with which Charles already honored him.

Should Yolanda's letter make trouble with France, Duke Charles might be induced, through his personal feelings, to listen to Max's suit.

If Charles returned from Switzerland victorious--and no other outcome seemed possible--he would no longer have reason to carry out the marriage treaty with France.