Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/593

 1585-] THE BOND OF ASSOCIATION. 57, placed in his charge, and < he would not be diverted from his duty by hope of gain, fear of loss, or any pri- vate respect whatsoever ; ' l he would show her all re- spect and courtesy, but he must obey the orders of his Sovereign. ' The calm beginning ' had therefore ' a rough proceeding.' The coachman who ex- ercised her horses, the laundress who carried out the clothes, the almoner who distributed her charities in the adjoining village all were employed on her corre- spondence, and all had to be watched, and searched, and worried. Country gentlemen of Catholic leanings ' to whom the Queen of Scots was the only saint upon earth,' hung about the place ' seeking intelligence with her, though it cost them their lives,' 2 and this too pro- voked collision and altercation. Letters stole in, despite of Paulet's care ; but they brought small comfort, and did not make the lady's temper more docile, or his task less difficult. Pere la Rue indeed told her of the League, of the combination of the Catholic powers, and the prospects of her kinsmen. But the triumph of the cause was no longer to be the triumph of the Queen of iScots. Not she, but the wretched James who had be- trayed her, was the favourite of the Pope and the House of Lorraine, if only he could be recovered to the faith. Guise, La Rue said, had sent to offer a place in the Confederacy to the boy whose persistence in heresy had 1 Paulet to Elizabeth, April 19 29 : MSS. MARY QUEEN OF 2 Morgan to the Queen of Scota, July 1020: MSS. Ibid. SCOTS. VOL.. xi. 37