Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/209

 1572.] THE MASSACRE OF ST BARTHOLOMEW. 189 before the Convention of the Estates with the required explanations, and he was well aware that they would prove unsatisfactory. He put it off therefore till the day when the Regent was to be chosen, when Mor- . December, ton came lor his answer ; and ' because it was thus that he related his manoeuvre to his mistress 1 because I would keep the Earl of Morton in hope till the election was passed, I excused myself upon sickness, and desired his Lordship to bear with me for a day or two, assuring him that your Majesty had as great care of the King's well-doing and safety, and of himself in particular, as ever your Majesty had heretofore ; with such like general speeches, tending all to encourage him to take upon himself the Regency. So he parted with me for that time, and I continued sick till the day after he was proclaimed Regent.' l Great in her general attitude, great in her own heart and bearing at special moments of danger, Elizabeth could yet stoop to these poor tricks, which, after all, were not to serve her. ' The Regent/ Killigrew re- ported to Burghley, ' was a shrewd fellow/ When he found that he had been duped, he too affected a few days' illness to think over his position. He then tolc the English envoy that he could do nothing without money ; the King's cause and his own life would both be in danger ; and therefore, 'if the Queen's Majesty would not help him in that which of necessity he must have, and which should be as little as might be re- 1 Killigrew to Elizabeth, December 2 : MSS. Scotland.