Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/112

 9% REIGN OF ELIZABETH [CH. 53. a victim of the Earl of Murray, breaking her soleinr promise, and forcing back upon him the sovereign whom only she had induced him to accuse. She was now frightened into a recollection of her obligations. She discovered that the matter which had been proposed by her ' was very weighty,' that Mur- ray's answer ' had been with great deliberation con- ceived, and carried with it much reason.' 1 But the difficulty of the Queen of Scots' presence was none the less embarrassing. She could trust no one since the rupture in the council but Cecil and two or three more. Lord Shrewsbury was suspected for those Catholic tend- encies on account of which he had been selected as the Queen of Scots' guardian ; but the substitution of Huntingdon, though necessary for her immediate safety, had been received with strong expressions of displeasure by the ambassadors of the Catholic Powers. She had offended a powerful English nobleman, and it was to no purpose that she pretended that her motive in making the change had been Lord Shrewsbury's ill health. The Earl demanded as a point of honour, that the prisoner should be restored to his custody ; 2 and, although the danger of escape was notoriously increased, the Queen could not afford to alienate a tottering on the one side it is desperate that her Majesty will bona fide intend to marry, and on the other side it is doubtful whether upon the hard dealings past she may be induced to any further talk thereby. God work in her heart to do that may be most for her honour and surety.' Sussex to Cecil, October 1 1 : Cotton. MSS. BM. 1 Elizabeth to Murray, October 23 : MSS. Scotland. Correspondence between Shrews- bury, Huntingdon, and Cecil, Octo ber, 1569 : MSS. QUEEN OF SCOTS,-