Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/363

 THE RIDOLFI CONSPIRACY. 349 dreamt of no longer, and long-lingering justice was claiming its own at last. What to do with her at present, and till the times were ripe for the sharp remedy of the axe, might well try the strongest intelli- gence. England, north and south, was trembling on the edge of a second rebellion. The Duke of Norfolk had been released from the Tower, on renewing his promise ' to deal no more in the matter of the Queen of Scots/ A second time he sent a copy of his bond to the very person with whom he was pledging himself not to com- municate, meaning bad faith from the first, as the Bishop of Ross, who was in his confidence, admitted. 1 The turn which afiairs might take in France was still far from certain. If the Admiral was received at Court, the peace might lead to war with Spain, or the project might yet be revived for the marriage of Anjouand the Queen of Scots ; 2 while engagements, guarantees, promises all the pledges, whether made by the Queen of Scots, by the Court of Paris, or by any or every per son who became security for the observance of the treaty could be brushed away like a cobweb by the all-powerful representative of St Peter. Cecil well 1 Confession of the Bishop of Ross, 1571 : MURDIN. 2 On the 3 1st of August Sir Henry Norris wrote that it was feared the King, after lulling the Admiral into a false security, would destroy him and his friends. Anjou, 4 whose haughty mind could not be restrained within a younger brother's portion,' was looking to England and Mary Stuart to provide him with a kingdom and a Avife ; and Korris warned the Queen that she must stand upon her guard if she wished France to make fair weather with her. Norris to Elizabeth : MSS France,