Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/612

592 past years had been a favourite with Henry. An arrest and an admonition were considered an adequate punishment for an act of folly; and he was acquitted of responsibility for the language of others. But conduct which, under any interpretation, was discreditable, added to the cloud over the family; and Norfolk could effect but little in the direction of English policy.

Events dragged on, therefore, in uncertainty. Francis varied as his moods swayed him. In his interviews with the English ambassador he was alternately overflowing with passion and expressing the utmost anxiety for Henry's friendship. At one time he admitted his debts by desiring to compromise them; at another he would declare that Henry had broken the conditions, and had no claims upon him. In his first disappointment at the disaster on the Solway he instructed Marillac to attempt to rearrange his relations with the English Government. Henry replied that he was ready to meet him in any reasonable agreement; but the money question could not be postponed. He sent in a formal schedule of his claims, with copies of the obligations by which Francis had bound himself, and refused to allow any settlement short of an