Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/404

 396 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 5$. was not irresistible, and he told Kidolfi that if he could bring over some bond or engagement on the part of the Lords, in which they would pledge themselves to a general insurrection, he would be able to lay the case before Philip in a form which could be no longer disre- garded. The moment was peculiarly favourable. Eidolfi must have been a man of no ordinary ability, for he had entirely deceived the English Government as to his real character. His 'name had appeared in con- nection with the Northern Earls, but his professed occupation as a banker enabled him to explain every suspicious circumstance. He admitted without hesita- tion that the Earls had borrowed money of him, but there was no evidence that he was aware of the purpose for which they wanted it, and he had come so well out of the inquiry that after Count Schwegenhem's de- parture, Walsingham recommended him to Cecil as a person who might be trusted to talk over with Philip the conditions of a possible arrangement. An opportunity was thus created to Bidolfi's hand to repair unsuspected to the very countries where he wished to go, and to the persons with whom he wished to communicate. His ostensible business would lay with Alva and the King of Spain, and the disputed question of the ownership of the money originally seized would necessarily take him to Italy. So far nothing could be more fortunate. But if a larger movement was now to be attempted in England, the character. and object of it had to be clearly de-