Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/375

 I5&3-J EXPULSlOtt OF MENDOZA. 359 The raid of Ruthven and the expulsion of i-ii September. Lennox had disconcerted the plot which had been first formed for the invasion. In the original pro- gramme the Duke of Guise was to enter Scotland as the ally of the King, and with the consent of the party in power there. Savage as James had shown himself on his capture, he had been persuaded to make another trial of Elizabeth's goodwill. De Mainville, La Mothe Fenelon's companion in the French embassy, was Guise's friend and confederate, and had laboured to persuade the King that his English prospects depended on the Catholics. But so long as he had hopes of an English pension, and of being recognized as successor in preference to his mother, he had held aloof, giving hesitating answers. He had declared his intention of remaining a Protestant, and evidently, if Elizabeth had been willing to meet his wishes, was prepared to take his chance at her side. De Mainville therefore, while Colonel Stewart was still unanswered, had returned to Paris with an opinion that Scotland was not to be re- lied upon ; that the Kirk was too strong, and that Protestantism had too firm a hold upon the country. The Duke of Guise in consequence, not abandoning his enterprise, but changing the direction of it, turned his eyes upon England itself. The Jesuits assured him that the people were ripe for insurrection. He had about him a knot of young English gentlemen, cadets of Catholic families, who were in regular correspondence with their friends. Mendoza's six noblemen, though refusing to move alone, were waiting only for help from