Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/98

 8 4 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 52 goes, as I have already told your Excellency, all is ar- ranged in the Queen of Scots' favour, and if she is once at liberty your Excellency can make your game as you please with one Queen or the other/ 1 'With one Queen or the other/ That only was wanting to complete the universal treachery. .Norfolk was pretending an anxiety for the Reformation ; and when he had gained the Queen of Scots he was going over to the Catholics. The Queen of Scots was making use of Norfolk ; and when she had obtained her liberty by his means, she intended, if Philip would encourage her, to leave him in the mire. The astute Spaniard, when he had placed Mary Stuart in a position to be dangerous to Elizabeth, was to play whichever card pro- mised best to his advantage. France already had its eye on her, as a fit match, could she escape, for the Duke of Anjou. The Duke of Alva would have looked on complacently if it compelled Elizabeth to fall back upon his master. 2 From the expression that if Norfolk married the Queen of Scots she would herself within four months be in the Tower, it was clear that Elizabeth guessed shrewdly at the Duke's real intentions. While in the extreme of perplexity, four days after Pembroke's mes- sage to Don Guerau, she heard, by some means or other, the substance of Norfolk's conversation with Murray at 1 MSS. Simancas. 2 *Es bien verdad que he des- cubierto que este embajador tiene in- tencion que si la de Escocia fuese una vez libre, procurase de casarla con el Duque de Anjou.' Don Guerau to Alva, September 4.