Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/138

118 others might choose to say, both she and her brother remained in one mind and purpose, and desired nothing better than to see the Duchess Christina Queen of England. Her language remained similarly cordial till the beginning of October; and, as the least violent hypothesis is generally the safest, it may be believed that till this time the Emperor had really entertained, or had not as yet relinquished, the intention of bestowing his niece as he professed to wish. But from the end of the autumn the tide turned, and soon flowed visibly the other way. There was no abrupt conclusion—the preliminaries were wearily argued day after day. The English minister was still treated with courtesy; but his receptions had lost their warmth, and with Court and people his favour chilled with the changing season. He was taunted with the English apostasy from the Church. 'It is said that religion is extinct among us,' he wrote in November—'that we have no masses—that the saints are burned—and all that was taken for holy clearly subverted.' Each day the prospect became visibly darker: from cordiality there was a change to politeness—from politeness to distance—from distance to something like a menace of hostility. The alteration can without difficulty be interpreted.

The intentions of the Papal Court had been made known by Michael Throgmorton, in his letter to