Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/389

 1566.]. THE DARNLEY MARRIAGE. 369 and long-cherished projects. She Determined to make an effort to induce the^ Estates to re-establish Catholic- ism as the relig^n^of^Scotland^J-eaving the Protestants for the present with liberty of conapjfmnftj 1-mf. with small prospect of retaining long a privilege which when in power they had rafnagdj;o their opponents. The defeat of the lords and the humiliating exhibi- tion of Elizabeth's fears had left Mary Stuart to out- ward appearance mistress of the situation. There was no power in Scotland which seemed capable of resisting her. She wrote to Pius to congratulate him on her triumph over the enemies of the faith, and to assure him that ' with the help of God and his Holiness she would leap over the wall.' 1 Bedford and Randolph ceased to hope ; and Murray, in a letter modestly and mournfully beautiful, told Cecil that unless Elizabeth interfered, of which he had now small expectation, ' for anything that he could judge ' he and his friends were wrecked for ever. 2 Suddenly, and from a quarter least expect- -- -i- i _ C February. edxj^ little cloud rose over the halcyon pros- pects of the Queen of Scots,_wrapped the heavens in blackness, and burst over her head in a tornado. On the political stage Mary Stuart was but a great actress. The ' woman ' had a drama of her own going on behind the scenes ; the theatre caught fire ; the mock heroics of the Catholic crusade burnt into ashes ; and a tremendous 1 Mary Stuart to the Pope, January 21, 1566 : MIGNET. 2 Murray to Cecil, January 9 : Scotch MSS. Rolls House VOL. vn. 24