Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/418

 398 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 44. some ' that she should be warded in Stirling Castle till she had approved in Parliament what they had done, established their religion, and given to the King the whole government of the realm/ Some measure of this sort they were without doubt prepared to venture ; it had been implied in the very nature of their enterprise : yet to carry it out they re- quired Darnley's countenance, and fool and coward as they knew him to be they had not fathomed the depth of his imbecility and baseness. While the lords were in consultation the Queen had wormed the whole secret from him ; he told her of the plot for the return of Murray and his friends, with the promises which had been made to himself ; he revealed every name that he knew, concealing nothing save that the murder had been his own act and design and provoked by his accusa- tions against herself; he had forgotten that his own hand- writing could be produced in deadly witness against him. From that moment she played upon him like an instrument ; she showed him that if he remained with the lords he would be a tool in their hands; she assured him of the return of her own affection for him, and flattered his fancy with visions of greatness which might be in store for him if he would take his place again at her side ; she talked of ' his allies the con- federate princes,' who would be displeased if he changed his religion ; she appealed again to the unborn heir of their united greatness, and she bound him soul and body to do her bidding. After possessing him with the plans which she hud