Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/464

 148 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [en. 66 future keeper, and on the 26th of March a commission had been issued to Sadler and Sir Henry Neville to take charge of her person, to carry her to Melbourne Castle in Derbyshire, to allow no excuses, and to use force if she refused to move. 1 The order had been suspended till the intended ' practice ' in Scotland should be executed, and on the confederates' failure, had been abandoned with the policy to which it belonged. A M. Mason came over from France in April to see the Queen of Scots on business connected with her dowry. The news of Angus's and Mar's flight had just reached London, but was perhaps still unknown at Sheffield. The occasion was used to send down Wade as Mason's escort, with orders to reopen negotiations for the treaty with as much dignity as circumstances would allow. It was no very easy task. They arrived at Sheffield on the 231x1 of April, 2 and the next day were introduced to the lady. As was hoped, she had heard nothing recently from Scotland. She began to talk to Mason in French. She knew that Shrews- bury was ignorant of it, and, trusting that the rest were in the same condition, said something imprudent. Wade struck into the conversation in a way that showed his easy familiarity with the language. He irritated her by doing so, and she exploded into one of her passions. She asked after her son, observing, satirically, that she had no other means of hearing whether he was alive or 1 Commission to Sadler and Ne- ville, March 26 April 5 : MSS. 2 May 3. MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.