Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/146

 126 &E1GN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 58. to trust himself again in Paris. But he dared not, by absenting himself, impair his influence with the King. His intentions were thoroughly loyal. He said that he would rather be torn by horses than disturb again the internal peace of France ; and he had been many times within hearing of the bells of Notre Dame with fewer friends about him than he would find assembled in the Capital. The retinues of the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde, his own followers, the trains of Roche- foucault, Montgomery, and Montmorency, the noble- men and gentlemen of Languedoc and Poitou all these would tie there, and these were the men who for ten years had held at bay the united strength of Ca- tholic France, and were now gathering in arms to en- counter Alva. If evil was intended towards them some other opportunity would be chosen, and personal danger, at least for the present, he could not antici- pate. Thus at the appointed time the Admiral returned to the Court, and notwithstanding Elizabeth's tricks, he found the King unchanged. The Duke of Guise shook hands with him in Charles's presence, and Charles again spoke to him with warmth and confidence of the Flan- ders expedition. On the i8th of August the great event came off which the Catholics had tried in vain to prevent, and which was regarded as the symbol of the intended policy of France. The dispensation from Rome was still withheld, but the Cardinal of Bourbon ventured in the face of its absence to officiate at the ceremony in the cathedral. The sister of the King became the bride