Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/315

 1565-] THE DARN LEY MARRIAGE, 295 ways by a Catholic alliance, the cabinet of Madrid would think no more of Darnley or herself. She would have to exchange an immediate and splendid triumph for the doubtful prospect of the eventual succession should her rival die without a child. Nor did Elizabeth herself misunderstand the necessity to which she would be driven, unless Mary Stuart saved her by some false move. She had played so often with the Archduke's name that her words had ceased to command belief; but at last she was thinking of him seriously the more seriously perhaps because many Englishmen who had before been most eager to provide her with a husband were now as well or better satisfied with the prospect of the succession of the Queen of Scots. ' The Queen,' de Silva wrote on the 8th of June to Philip, 'has taken alarm at the divisions among her subjects. A great many of them she is well aware are in favour of Lord Darnley and Mary Stuart. Several of the most powerful noblemen in England have long withdrawn from the Court and are looking to this mar- riage for the union of the two crowns. The Queen must now come to a resolution about the Archduke Charles. She understands fully that a marriage with him is the sole means left to her of preserving her alliance with your Majesty, of resisting her enemies, and of preventing a rebellion. She detests the thought of it ; and yet so strange is her position that she dares not encounter Parliament for fear her excuses may be Accepted. The people have ceased to care whether she