Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/453

 1578-] THE ALENCON MARRIAGE. 433 themselves upon France, which England could not per- mit. Sussex's influence was deservedly great with the Queen in such matters. He had held aloof always from the Protestant section of the council, and his advice if not always wise was never factious. By him and by others the incompleteness of Philip's concessions was so forced upon Elizabeth that if unconvinced she became irritated and violent, and so the ambassador found her at his next audience. She insisted fiercely on an im- mediate truce. She abused Antonio de Gruaras, who, she said, deserved to be hanged, and then, in a loud voice and with apparent passion, she said she would have the Treaty of Ghent confirmed and observed, or an English army should try the question with Don John. Mendoza took a high tone too ; he replied that his master had a long arm ; he trusted she did not mean to support rebellion. Clearing her throat and spitting, 1 she answered that the States were not rebels; they would submit to reasonable conditions. She had heard of Don John's fine schemes, she said, and the King of Spain's dealings with the Pope. She would have no French in the Netherlands, and no Spaniards either ' By God/ she said, and three times she re- peated the oath, 2 ' I will have the Treaty of Ghent allowed, or I will stand by the States as long as I have a man left in the realm to fight for them.' 3 Mendoza, unused as yet to the Queen's character, took her words as serious. He told the King that both 1 ' Tragando un poco de saliva.' 8 ' Jurando tree veces.' 3 Descifrada de Don Bernardino, 31 de Marzo : MSS. Simancas. VOL. x. 28