Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/85

 1569.] ENGLISH PARTIES Westmoreland, Northumberland, and Leicester, Leonard Dacres himself, Montague, Lumley, and many others, intimated to Don Guerau that they were prepared to take arms. Lord Derby they expected would join them. Lord Shrewsbury would be with them in heart, and Lord Talbot, his eldest son, was in their confidence. They proposed to raise the whole North by a sudden simultaneous movement, set the Queen of Scots at liberty, proclaim her Queen of England, and re-estab- lish the Catholic religion. They would decide after their victory what to do with Elizabeth and her minis- ters. The more troublesome of the bishops they would send over to Flanders for Alva, to be disposed of, perhaps, in the Great Square at Brussels. 1 The Queen of Scots might marry whom she herself pleased or whomsoever the King of Spain might suggest. To Mary Stuart herself such an alternative was simply delightful. She had never pretended to Don Guerau that she looked on her marriage with Norfolk with anything but distaste. Her ambition aspired to a Spanish prince at the lowest, and believing that the ambassador shared her own desire, she sent the Bishop of Boss to him to explain away her acquiescence in the propositions of the council as forced upon her by a hard necessity. 2 1 ' Dicen que dos 6 tres obispos que les hacen embarazo les prenderan y enviaran & Flandes al Duque de Alva.' Don Guerau to Philip, July 5 : MSS. Simancas. 2 ' En cuyo nombre me dixo el obispo que ella es muy importunada del casamiento del Duque de Nor- folk, y casi necessitada &. liacerlo por valerse de su ayuda y cobrar su Reyno.' Don Guerau to Alva, Au- guat : MSS. Simancas.