Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/380

 3 66 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. with Leicester, and frightened Anjou into believing that he was about to bestow himself upon a woman of infamous character. Anjou went open-mouthed to his mother, and Catherine at first could do nothing with him ; ( she would have given all the blood in her body/ she said, ' to draw the matter out of his head/ but he was obstinate and talked about dishonour ; and Cathe- rine, in despair at the thought of losing her prize, asked La Mothe whether Elizabeth would not take the Duke of Alencon instead. Alenon was but sixteen and was amenable to control. 1 But this cloud passed off. La Mothe was able to assure the Queen-mother that the stories were baseless scandals. The Court was so pure, and the Queen her- self was so much respected by all classes of her subjects, that it was impossible to believe that she had miscon- ducted herself. 2 The Pope indeed had lent his infalli- bility to the imputation, and the Catholics, to their no great credit, made Elizabeth's frailty an article of their creed; but the intelligence of men of the world, who were on the spot and could make inquiries, was not so piously credulous, and Anjou in a few weeks became as eager for the marriage as Catherine herself. A cam- 1 The Queen-mother to La Mothe, February 2 : Dkpeches, vol. vii. This singular letter was written by Catherine herself, the subject of it being of too much consequence to be trusted to the most confidential secretary. 2 ' De tant qu'en.sa court Ton ne voyt qu'ung bon ordre, et elle y estre bien fort honoree et ententive en sos affaires, et que les plus grands de son royaulme et toutz ses subjectz la craignent et reverent, et elle ordonne d'eulx et sur eulx avec pleyne au- thorite, j'ay estime que cela ne pou- voit proceder de personne mal famee, et ou il n'y eust de la vertu.' La Mothe, March 6.