Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/596

 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 67. escape by, or, at least, to make signals from to friends. So for the present remained Mary Stuart, to fret herself into the desperation which provoked the final catastrophe. Meanwhile James affected to be devoted to Elizabeth. He sent no answer to Guise's offer of a place in the League. The King of Navarre invited him into the Protestant Alliance. 1 In this and all things he pro- fessed to desire to be guided by ' his good sister.' Ed- ward Wotton was sent to him in April to arrange the terms of the Anglo- Scotch League, and the Queen ' understanding that his revenues, by the over-liberal spending of his mother in the time of her government, were much diminished,' declared herself ' willing to be- stow upon him yearly some reasonable proportion of money.' 2 She had promised the Master of Gray to allow him 5ooo/. a year. When Gray's back was turned however she naturally thought it too much ; she had cut down the sum so far that Walsingham feared it would do more harm than good to mention it ; he ad- vised Wotton therefore to keep ' to generalities,' ' put- ting them in hope that her Majesty would have princely consideration of the King's necessities ; ' something would probably happen before long to alarm her, and he thought he would then be better able to persuade her to keep to her engagements. 3 A few couple of 1 The King of Navarre to the King of Scots, May 10; Segur to the King of Scots, July 8 : TECLET, vol. iii. 2 Instructions to Edward Wotton, April. 1585 ; MSS. Scotland. 3 Walsingham to Wotton, May 23 June 2 : MSS. Ibid.