Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/387

1524.] another, each waiting to be attacked. At dusk Angus withdrew to Dalkeith, and amidst the glare of torches the Queen and the young King were seen sweeping up out of the palace, behind the stronger shelter of the Castle wall. Civil war appeared to be imminent; but, happily, civil wars are not always possible; and where a nation is to suffer, the passions of the nation must first be interested in the quarrel. The French and English factions were each of them strong; but neither was the French nor the English feeling so strong as to make a compromise impossible. Money and promises had been freely distributed by Francis. Angus hesitated at drawing the sword openly against his wife; and Margaret consented to be reconciled to him if he would agree to a divorce. Anxious for entire possession of Methuen, she contrived a plea that her first husband was alive at the time of her second marriage, which was therefore of no validity. The ecclesiastical courts accepted the extraordinary story as the ground of a suit; and the technical difficulties could be overcome the more easily, if the husband offered no opposition. Peace was