Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/334

 518 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CM. 65. rest of her life, and that he thought her offers were not to be neglected. 1 Beale's insig-ht was not so acute as he mi- May. agined. She had grown restless at the inex- plicable delay of the long-talked- of invasion. M. Fon- tenay, her secretary's brother, had hinted that the Duke of Cruise was less earnest than he pretended. 2 A fear was beginning to rise, that the French Government might be gaining too much influence in Scotland, and that a French expedition, however Guise might en- deavour to direct its action, might lead to France ob- taining a stronger hold there than Spain could allow. 3 Mary Stuart felt uncertain whether the present over- tures to her were not merely blinds to lead her off from present designs. 4 But liberty was precious, and condi- tions after all were but words. She wrote to consult 1 Beale to Walsingham : MSS. MAKY QUEEN OF SCOTS. 2 ' Par les Icttrcs de Fontenay il me mecte en toute bonne esperance de la part du Roy Catholique mon diet Sieur et frere pour 1' execution de 1'entreprise, et me mande tout plainement que Ton n'attend que apres la resolution de mondict cousin de Guise, la quelle je trouve mer- veilleusement estrange,' &c. Mary Stuart to Mendoza, May 15, 1583 : MSS. Simancas. 3 This was Mendoza's fear. ' No es cosa ninguna mas preju- dicial segun lo que yo puedo en- tender asi para la reduction desta Isla conio para el servicio de V. Mag d que dar lugar a que Franceses por el medio de Esoocia metan las manos en ella, teuiendola totalmente a su devocion.' Mendoza al Rey, 6 Mayo. Philip, who had been taught that Guise might be trusted though France could not, writes on the margin, ' No se si es esto por lo de Hercules que seria de consideracion.' Hercules was Philip's name for the Duke of Guise. 4 ''Je crains beaucoup que tout ce remuement ne soit seulement une artifice pour me entretenir a faire laisser et interrompre mes aultres disseyns.' Mary Stuart to Mendoza, May 15 : MSS. Simanca*.