Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/195

 iS8i.] VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. iJQ The French council repeated that this was not possi- ble. If France was to take a part it should be an open and avowed part. ' The marriage was the base of the rest.' The Queen had promised, the Duke had pro- mised, the contract was drawn and signed. If after all that had been done and said in England the treaty was now turned to air, France would be profoundly aston- ished, and as profoundly hurt. Time pressed : they required a distinct answer in ten days. 1 Sickened with the insincerity, and frightened at the danger, of the course which Elizabeth was pursuing, her ministers were looking eagerly for anything which would force her into an honourable position. Marriage or no marriage, if she would go to war with Spain, she would now have France for an ally. Her sharp practice, if she persisted with it, was but too likely to recoil upon her- self, and to leave her without a friend to the united vengeance of Catholic Christendom. A characteristic incident of the period came to her help. The Dutch governor at Flushing had laid a trap for Parma by offer- ing to betray the town to him for a sum of money. Notice was given to the Prince of Orange, and the Spanish force which came to take possession was to be set upon and destroyed. The governor, to do his work completely, required and obtained beforehand his pro- mised bribe. He had given his son in return as a host- age, but with a condition that the boy should be sent to England to be kept by Don Bernardino. The plot was 1 Somers and Cobham to Wai- singham, July 12 : MSS. France. Somers to Walsingham, July 12 MSS. Ibid