Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/295

1553.] no interruption; and the next day, Arras having sent the necessary unction, the ceremony was performed at the Abbey without fresh burdens being laid on Mary's conscience.

The banquet in the Great Hall passed off with equal success; Sir Edward Dymocke, the champion, rode in and flung down his gage, and was listened to with becoming silence: on the whole, Mary's friends were agreeably disappointed; only Renard observed that, between the French ambassador and the Lady Elizabeth there seemed to be some secret understanding; the princess saluted Noailles as he passed her; Renard she would neither address nor look at—and Renard was told that she complained to Noailles of the weight of her coronet, and that Noailles 'bade her have patience, and before long she would exchange it for a crown.'

The coronation was a step gained; it was one more victory, yet it produced no material alteration. Rome, and the Spanish marriage, remained as before, insoluble elements of difficulty; the Queen, to her misfortune, was driven to rely more and more on Renard; and at this time she was so desperate and so ill-advised as to think of surrounding herself with an Irish body-guard; she went so far as to send a commission to Sir George Stanley for their transport.