Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/407

 1583.] EXPULSION OF MENDOZA. 391 was reproached day by day for his inaction by letters from the Queen of Scots, and vexed with the fretful pleadings of the Jesuits and refugees. ' Hours/ wrote de Tassis, ' appear like years to those poor afflicted crea- tures, pining as they are for deliverance.' 1 'Nothing could be done without the Spanish ships, and no Spanish ships appeared. Instead of them came letters preaching patience, and insisting on elaborate preparation as a condition of success. The days wore away. October passed, and with the broken weather the season for action passed also. Philip promised everything in the spring, but the Pope had now grown suspicious. He was still ready to issue Bulls, make Allen Nuncio, and give his blessing to assassins. He was less liberal about money, and contracted miserably the extent of his con- tributions. The Duke of Guise, weary of his dilatory allies, turned his thoughts once more to Scotland, and had resolved to use the fishing boats of Normandy, and make a sudden descent on the coast of Fife. But his English friends again interposed. They represented to him that a French army invading from Scotland would irritate the national sensibilities, and that the patriotism of the Catholics would prove stronger than their creed. Unwillingly the Duke consented to wait till the spring. Too many persons had been taken into confidence under the impression that the invasion would be immediate, and the English, as experience had proved, were ill keepers of dangerous secrets. 1 J)e Tassis to Philip, November 515 : TEULET, vol. v.