Read Ebook: The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth A history of the various negotiations for her marriage by Hume Martin A S Martin Andrew Sharp

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On Sunday, the 9th of February, a grand masque and tourney were given by Catharine de Medici, apparently for the purpose of showing off her youngest son to the English envoys. He and his brother the King, splendidly dressed and mounted, with six followers aside, tilted at the ring, the Queen-mother the meanwhile pointing out the perfections of the younger, who, she told Killigrew, was rather richer than his brother Anjou.

Interview of Walsingham and Smith with Catharine de Medici respecting Alen?on--Treaty between England and France-- Cavalcanti's negotiations--Montmorenci's mission to London --Walsingham's description of Alen?on--La Mole's visit to the Queen--The Alen?on match prospers--The St. Bartholomew --Resumption of negotiations--Alen?on's first letter to the Queen--Maisonfleur's mission--Special embassy of Castelnau de la Mauvissi?re--Civil war in France--Anjou elected King of Poland--Disappears as a suitor for Elizabeth's hand.

On the 21st of March Walsingham, who had now returned to his post, was walking with Smith in the park at Blois, when by accident or design they met the Queen-mother. A quaint account of the interview with her is given in a letter from Smith to Cecil dated the following day. They were speaking of the Duke of Norfolk's conspiracy, when the Queen-mother seized the opportunity of once more trying to urge the suit of her youngest son. "I would," she said, "that the Queen were quiet from all these broils; doe you know nothing how she can fancie the marriage with my son the Duke of Alen?on?" "Madam," said Smith, "you know me of old; I can affirm nothing except I have some good ground. Why, if she be disposed to marrie, I do not see where she shall marrie so well; and yet, saith she, I may as a mother be justly accounted partial, but as for those which I have heard named, as the Emperor's son or Don John, they be both lesser than my son is, and of less stature by a good deal, and if she should marrie it were pity any more time were lost. Madam, quoth I, if it pleased God that she were married and had a child, all these braggs and all these treasons would soon be appalled, and on condition that she had a child by M. d'Alen?on, for my part I care not if ye had the Queen of Scotland here, for you would then take as good care of her as we do." Catharine de Medici confirmed this view, and said that there was no reason why they should not have several children. "And if the Queen," she said, "could have fancied my son Anjou, why not this one, of the same house, father and mother, and as vigorous and lusty as he, and rather more? And now he beginneth to have a beard come forth, for that I told him the last day that I was angry with it, for I was now afraid he would not be so high as his brethren. Yea, Madam, I said, a man doth commonly grow in height to his years, the beard maketh nothing. Nay, said she, he is not so little; he is as high as you, or very near. For that, Madam, quoth I, I for my part make small account, if the Queen's Majesty can fancie him, for Pepin the short did not reach his wife's girdle and yet had Charlemagne. It is true, said she, that it is heart and courage and activity that is to be looked for in a man. But have you no word of your Queen's affection that way? Can you give me no comfort?" But Smith was not to be drawn out of his reserve without special instructions from England, and these did not come; so that although the conversation continued in the same strain for a long time, Catherine could get nothing definite in the way of encouragement to Alen?on.

In the meanwhile the "rough hewing" of the treaty had been steadily going on, and on the 19th of April the draft protocol was signed at Blois. Aid was to be given unofficially by both nations to the revolted Hollanders; the fleets of Protestant privateers in the Channel were to be sheltered and encouraged, and, above all, the Huguenot Henry of Navarre was to marry Margaret of Valois, the King's sister. Catharine wrote a letter to Elizabeth on the 22nd of April, through Smith, expressing her joy at the prospect of peace and harmony in France, which the treaty and her daughter's marriage held out, and Marshal de Montmorenci and de Foix were sent as a special embassy to England for the ratification of the formal alliance, whilst Lord Admiral Clinton, the Earl of Lincoln, was to proceed to France for a similar purpose. The Protestant party in France were thus for the moment victorious all along the line, and the connection between England and France closer than it had been for many years. Catharine, naturally desirous of securing a double hold upon England whilst these relations lasted, by settling her youngest son as Elizabeth's consort, instructed Montmorenci to make a formal offer of his hand to the Queen. As usual, Cavalcanti was sent over as a harbinger, and took with him a flattering portrait of the Prince, which was given to the Queen through Leicester. Alen?on was deeply pitted with the small-pox from which he had recently suffered, and otherwise was far inferior in appearance to his brother Anjou, so that to a person of Elizabeth's temperament he was less likely to be acceptable. She had, moreover, obtained by the treaty of Blois the close alliance with France and the predominance of the Huguenots which she desired, and could therefore afford to hold off somewhat in the marriage negotiations in which she personally had never been sincere. She accordingly instructed Lord Lincoln that if any mention were made to him of the marriage, he might say that he believed she considered she had not been well treated in the Anjou business; and moreover the disparity of years between herself and Alen?on was so great as in her opinion to be a complete "stay" to the match.

Montmorenci and de Foix arrived in London on the 13th of June and were lodged at Somerset House, their entertainment being the most lavish and splendid that had been seen in England for many years. After the swearing of the alliance on the 15th at Westminster, the ambassadors had audience of the Queen and presented her with Catharine's letter offering the hand of her son. She again objected to her suitor's youth, and sustained the discussion with Montmorenci until supper was announced. Subsequently, at Windsor, he returned to the charge, when Elizabeth once more raised the religious question. The ambassador said they would be contented with the concessions which Smith had offered at Blois when Anjou was under discussion. But matters were changed now, and the Queen said she did not recollect to have made any such concessions; besides which the difference of age was so great as to be an obstacle. De Foix replied that the disproportion was not so very great after all. Alen?on was strong and vigorous, capable of begetting children, whilst she who was used to command would be better pleased with a young and docile husband than with an older one. There was much beating about the bush on the religious question, but the ambassadors made it evident that Alen?on was not a bigot like his brother, and that no great stand would be made on that point. On their departure, therefore, at the end of the month the matter was still left in suspense.

As soon as they had gone Burleigh sent some account of their visit to Walsingham in France. "They were," he says, "entertained as never before in man's memory. The honour done them also by the Queen was such as she could do no more. All the higher nobility attended them, the only difference from the Lord Admiral's entertainment in France being that no lord but my Lord Leicester entertained them, saving I at Midsummer eve did feast them and all their gentlemen with a collation of all things I could procure, not being flesh to observe their manner." He deplores that the presents of plate given to the ambassadors were not so great as he would have wished, although they both got "cupboards of plate and Montmorenci also a great gold cup of 111 ounces." With regard to Alen?on, "they got neither yea nor nay, only a month's delay."

But at the end of the letter it is clear that Elizabeth, who was not now in such a hurry, was determined if she did marry to drive as hard a bargain as possible. Walsingham is instructed to get full information of the Prince's age, stature, condition, devotion, &c., with all speed, for the Queen; and Burleigh assures his correspondent that he sees no lack of will in the Queen but on account of Alen?on's age. "If we could counter-balance that defect with some advantage such as Calais for their issue, he being governor for life." Otherwise, he says, he doubts the result, as the Queen mislikes Alen?on's youth and appearance.

In the meanwhile Lincoln came back from Paris loaded with 2,800 ounces of gilt plate, worth, says Walsingham, 10s. per ounce, and full of the magnificence and gaiety of his entertainment in France. His stay had been one succession of splendid feasts, and Alen?on especially had treated him with marked distinction. Coligny and the great Huguenot chiefs had emphatically praised the young Prince to him, and Lincoln came back to his mistress greatly impressed with all he had heard and seen, and assured her that Alen?on, far from being inferior, was better than his brother, both in bearing and credit. She characteristically objected that he was not nearly so good-looking, and that the small-pox had not improved him. Lincoln's favourable opinion was to a great extent confirmed by Walsingham's report to Cecil. The Duke, he said, was born on the 25th of April, 1555, and his stature is about the same as that of Lord Lincoln. He was reputed to be prudent and brave, but also somewhat feather-headed, which, says Walsingham, is a common fault with his countrymen. Coligny was in great hope of him in religion, and thought he might soon be brought to a knowledge of the truth; and Walsingham concludes his good character of the Prince by hinting that he was really in love with the Queen. But it will be noticed that he says not a word as to his physical charms, which indeed could not compare with his brother Anjou's somewhat effeminate beauty. He is thus described at the time by the Venetian ambassador in Paris. "His complexion is swarthy and his face pitted with small-pox, his stature small but well set, his hair black and curling naturally. He wears it brushed up from the forehead, which lengthens the oval of his face. He affects popular manners, but his prodigal promises of reforms are only a cloak for his unbridled desire for trouble and dissension."

Philip and the Catholics were of course overjoyed, and the Guises soon made their heavy hands felt. And then, not many days after the massacre, Catharine de Medici saw the mistake she had made, and tried so far as she could to retrace her steps, by again raising hopes of the Huguenots and redressing the balance of parties. She accordingly sent Castelnau de la Mauvissi?re, a moderate man known in England, to Walsingham for the purpose of once again bringing the Alen?on match forward. Walsingham, sick with the horrors he had lately witnessed, bluntly told him he had no belief in their sincerity, and in a subsequent interview with Catharine he repeated the same to her, much to her indignation. But Walsingham carefully reported that Alen?on himself was entirely free from complicity in the massacre, which he openly and loudly condemned, taking the side of the Huguenots and swearing with Henry of Navarre to avenge the murdered admiral. He was closely watched at Court, and was for long meditating an escape and flight to England. On the 21st of September he had a private interview with Walsingham, whom he satisfied of his good faith personally, and on the following day he signed a letter to Elizabeth which was the beginning of the extraordinary correspondence which continued for years, most of which still may be found at Hatfield. The body of the letter is written by a secretary, and is full of the most fulsome flattery of Elizabeth, of "her rare virtues and infinite perfections." "His affection and fidelity for her are such that there is nothing in the world, however great or difficult it may be, that he would not willingly do in order to render her more certain thereof;" and with this he begs her to listen to what will be said on his behalf by the bearer of the letter, a certain L'huillier, seigneur de Maisonfleur. At the bottom Alen?on has scrawled a postscript himself in his ridiculously illiterate boyish French, saying, "Madame je vous supli mescuser si sete letre nest toute escripte de ma min, et croies que nay peu faire autrement." Maisonfleur was a strangely chosen emissary for such a mission. He had been a follower of the Guises and a sergeant-carver to Catharine, and was now a Protestant and an equerry of Alen?on. It was arranged that after seeing Elizabeth, he should return to Dover and receive Alen?on, who had planned to escape and sail for England. When Maisonfleur arrived at Court he found the Huguenot nobles who were with the Queen had told her something of his history and she refused to give him audience. Either for this reason or from the Duke's misgivings Alen?on's flight to England on this occasion fell through, and Maisonfleur returned to London from Dover without having seen his master. After his return he managed to obtain access of the Queen, and gradually broke down her distrust. In a letter of great length, dated December 1st, he wrote to his master under the name of Lucidor, giving him an encouraging account of Elizabeth's attitude, and urging him to fulfil his former intention of escaping to England. He says: "She would not use the short word you desire, but her heart seemed to speak to me through her eyes--'Tell him to come and to despair of nothing; if I marry any prince in the world it will be he.'" He urges Alen?on that it will be useless to attempt to bring about the match by ordinary diplomacy, and above all by the intervention of Madame la Serpente, as he calls Catharine de Medici, the deepest distrust prevailing of the ruling powers in France since St. Bartholomew. The only way, he says, will be for Don Lucidor to strike out a line independent of his relatives, to break with the Catholics, draw to his side the Huguenots, and the German and Swiss Protestants, come over and marry Madame L'isle and become a great sovereign. Maisonfleur, in a postscript which he showed to Burleigh, laid down full instructions for Alen?on's escape and urged him to bring Navarre and Cond? with him, but only a few attendants, amongst whom should be La Mole, to whom he also wrote begging him to urge his master to escape.

The King was dying by this time, and could not receive Leighton for several days. On the 15th of May, although too ill to stand, he saw the envoy, and in reply to his message affected to be surprised at the rumours that he and his brother were bad friends. They were on the best of terms, he said; and when Leighton asked whether he might see the Duke, he replied: "Oui Jesus!" as one would say, why of course you can. But Alen?on well knew the falseness behind it all, and was afraid to say anything; so Leighton got no confirmation from him. He afterwards saw the Queen-mother, who was somewhat indignant at Elizabeth's meddling in her family quarrels, and retorted, sarcastically, that as "she was so careful of Alen?on, it was an undoubted argument and good augury of some good effect to follow of the former matters that had been moved." The result of Leighton's remonstrances, however, was that Alen?on and Navarre were "allowed to go abroad for supper for countenance sake."

For the first year after the new King's arrival in France, he and his brother seemed to hold rival Courts. The King's, perhaps, was the more horribly and shamelessly licentious, but both were filled with quarrelsome, dissolute, and utterly unscrupulous young men, who gloried in their vices. Those who surrounded the King were mostly Catholics, whilst Alen?on's courtiers were oftener Huguenots and moderates. Between the two Courts quarrels, duels, and secret murders were incessant, and a fresh civil war was the inevitable outcome of such a rivalry.

At last matters came to a crisis, and Alen?on, on the evening of September 15, 1575, walked out of the Louvre with his face covered, and accompanied only by a single attendant. Outside, in a quiet spot near the Porte Ste. Honor?, his faithful courtier, Jehan Simier, of whom more anon, was waiting with a fair lady's carriage into which Alen?on mounted, and was carried as fast as the horses could gallop to where a body of three hundred horsemen were ready to serve as his escort. They got two hours' start before the King learnt of his brother's flight, and orders were given in rage and panic to bring him back at any cost. But Alen?on was the heir to the crown, and the courtiers did not care to risk his future displeasure by too much zeal, and he reached Dreux unharmed. There he issued his proclamation, demanding reform of abuses but taking care not to identify himself too closely with the Huguenot cause.

This change of front frightened Elizabeth, who feared that if the Protestants in the Netherlands were conquered her turn would come next, and she once more held out the bait of marriage. She expressed sorrow to Castelnau that the Duke had ceased to write to her and had forgotten her. But this time the fish failed to rise, and for the next three years Alen?on remained ostentatiously Catholic, sometimes in arms against Huguenot resistance, sometimes at Court with his brother, with whom he was nominally on good terms. But the personal hatred and jealousy between them continued still, and the duels and murders between their respective courtiers went on as before. The Duke's turbulent and discontented friends openly scoffed at the painted mignons who surrounded the King, and if they resented the insult, Bussy d'Amboise, the first swordsman in France, was ready to fight any number of them.

At length, at the beginning of 1578, Bussy d'Amboise was waylaid in Paris and nearly murdered by some of the King's courtiers, and had to seek safety in absence from the Court. Then several other of the Duke's friends were bought over by favours to the King's side, and the mignons, emboldened by his isolation, went to the length of sneering at Alen?on himself. This was at a ball at the palace of the Montmorencis to which Catharine had forced her son to go against his will; and fearing that this demonstration of the mignons portended the Bastille or poison for himself, the Duke lost patience, and demanded permission to withdraw himself from Court for a time. The only answer vouchsafed was the rigid searching of his apartments by the Scots guard at midnight, in the presence of the King himself, with every circumstance of contumely. The Duke was arrested, all his papers were seized, and the principal friends who remained with him were cast into the Bastille.

Bussy d'Amboise had not been idle outside in the meanwhile. He had sent the fiery cross through the provinces, and men-at-arms and nobles were flocking to the Flemish frontier to join the standard of Alen?on when it should be raised. The gates of Paris, it is true, were closely guarded, and Alen?on himself, with his sister Margaret , were not allowed out of the sight of the Scottish archers. But the Court was full of nobles who were disgusted with the King's mode of life, and plans were rife to rescue the captive. Bussy crept back into Paris to plan an escape with Simier, but both were captured and laid by the heels. Then Catharine managed somehow to patch up a reconciliation. Bussy was made to kiss his principal antagonist Qu?lus in the presence of the whole Court, which he did in so exaggerated a fashion as to make every one laugh, and left Qu?lus more enraged than ever. The prison doors were opened, the guards removed, and the partisans of both brothers swore eternal friendship. But the mignons saw the wound was rankling, and told the King so the same night. The guards were again ordered to watch Alen?on's door, and after three days of semi-imprisonment, on the 14th of February, his sister contrived his escape with Simier, from her chamber on the second floor of the Louvre, by a rope into the moat. Bussy was awaiting him in the abbey of St. G?n?vi?ve, where, by connivance of the abbot, a hole had been knocked in the city wall, through which they escaped, and swift horses carried them to Angers, where they were safe.

An account of Simier--His mission to the Queen--Her strange relations with him--Leicester's jealousy--Simier's negotiations on behalf of Alen?on--Rochetaill?'s mission-- Leicester's attempts to have Simier murdered--Alen?on's first visit to England--Elizabeth's infatuation for him--His departure and letters to the Queen--Exhaustive discussion of the marriage negotiations by the English Council--The Queen announces her determination to marry Alen?on--Philip Sidney's remonstrance.

On the 16th of January, only a few days after her first interview with Simier, the Queen wrote a letter to Alen?on, in which her delight at his envoy is clearly indicated. She says that she is so pleased with him that no other advocate is necessary to make his peace with her. Alen?on's own words, she tells him, are worthy not of being written on parchment, but graven on marble. She bids him consult his wisest friends about coming over, but if he thinks his honour will suffer the least thereby she would not have him come for untold gold. She assures him of her eternal friendship. She has never, she says, broken her word in her life, so that as constancy is rare amongst princes she is offering no common thing. She ends by hoping that he will reach the years of Nestor, and that all his foes may be confounded.

The new conditions demanded by Simier and Rochetaill? in the interest of Alen?on were, first his coronation immediately after marriage, secondly the association of him with the Queen in the government, and thirdly the granting to him of a life pension of ?60,000 per annum. These new demands had been strenuously resisted by Cecil and Sussex and the other councillors, but at length Simier began to get restive and threatened to leave unless a decided reply were given within two days. Representations were being made to the Queen from all quarters, and especially from the Spanish ambassador and his creatures as to the danger she would incur if the match were effected, but, says Mendoza, "she expresses to Simier such a strong desire to marry that not a councillor, whatever his real opinion may be, dares to say a word against it." At length she could procrastinate no longer, and started for a short stay at Leicester's house at Wanstead, in the last days of April, taking Simier and Castelnau with her for the purpose of giving them an answer. As usual she desired to free herself from personal blame, and ordered each member of her Council to give her his opinion on the match in writing. This they all refused to do, and confined themselves to stating the arguments on both sides, leaving her to draw the conclusion. During the stay at Wanstead, almost day and night, Sussex, Leicester, Burleigh, and Walsingham remained in conference, but could come to no conclusion; and the Court had to return with the Queen to London still without an answer being given. At Whitehall on the 3rd of May, a full meeting of the Council was held to finally discuss the conditions, and Simier was invited to be present. The second demand of the association of Alen?on with the Queen in the government and distribution of offices was at once declared to be impossible, and was abandoned by Simier after some demur; but the other two conditions were insisted upon by him. Simier then retired to an adjoining room whilst the Council discussed these points. The first councillor to speak was the new Lord Chancellor Bromley, who set forth the danger of the match, in admitting Frenchmen, their traditional enemies, into the country, its unpopularity and the improbability of there being any issue, and ended by declaring uncompromisingly against the marriage. In the end the whole of the Council except Sussex agreed with him, and word was privately sent to the Queen that the Council was well-nigh unanimously unfavourable. Then Simier was called in and told that his new demands were such as had never been made before, and were absolutely inadmissible. The Frenchman's suavity suddenly left him, and he flew into a great rage, flinging out of the room before Sussex could reach him, banged the door after him in a fury, and went straight to the Queen, who was in the garden. She professed great sorrow at her Council's decision, swore to Simier that she would marry in spite of them all, assumed an appearance of settled melancholy in his presence, and sent a loving letter to the Prince by his secretary, de Vray, who was despatched the same night to his master with the Council's reply.

But Alen?on was not lightly put off. Rochetaill? was already on his way back to England with handsome presents for Leicester and the rest of them, and de Vray returned at the end of May with his master's answer. He would, he said, marry her on her own terms, and only timidly stipulated that he should be allowed the private exercise of the mass in his own apartments, concluding by announcing his approaching visit to the Queen to press his suit in person. This was by no means welcome news to Elizabeth, who at the time certainly had no intention of marrying him, and who feared the visit might either force her hand or throw upon her personally the responsibility of breaking off the match. The Council, however, decided unanimously that the Duke should not be affronted by a refusal to receive him, and that the Queen could not decently draw back now without at all events seeing her suitor. So it was settled with Simier that his master should come to England in the middle of August, and the Queen's ships and safe-conduct should await him at Calais. When this was decided the Queen desired to be left alone with Simier, and Leicester was obliged, however unwillingly, to take Castelnau out hunting. When they returned three hours afterwards Simier and the Queen were still together, and whilst Castelnau supped with Leicester Simier took his evening repast at the Queen's table.

Castelnau, writing an account of affairs to the Queen-mother, says that all was now going as smoothly as ever: "Not a day passes that she fails to send for him . On one occasion she came in her barge to my lodging to fetch him before he had read his despatches, and when he was not dressed. He was obliged to come out to see her with only his doublet on, and she took him with her. Those who are against it are cursing him, and declare that Simier will cheat her, and has bewitched her." Castelnau now quite believed in the marriage. The Queen told him she really was convinced that the Duke was seeking her for herself alone, and not for her crown, but she feared that, however much he might esteem her, he would only love her for a year or two. She would, however, promise before God that if he was a good husband to her she would be the best wife in the world.

It is probable that by this time the Queen's feelings were really getting the better of her judgment, and that the satisfied vanity of having a young prince at her feet was carrying all before it. The whole country was ringing with the strange news of her close intimacy with Simier, who had, it was said, bewitched her with a love philtre; and afterwards Mary Stuart, in her prison, imprudently made herself the echo of the scandal by writing to the Queen the outrageous letter published by Labanoff, accusing her of immorality with both Simier and Alen?on. The murmurs were industriously fostered by the Spanish ambassador, who did his best to stir up trouble and make the match unpopular. He writes to his King at the end of June: "Although there is no binding undertaking about the marriage, the Queen gives every sign of being most anxious for it, and affirms that she will never marry a man whom she has not previously seen. She is burning with impatience for his coming, although her councillors have laid before her the difficulties which may arise, the other side having her support, has carried the day. She herself is largely influenced by the idea that it should be known that her talents and beauty are so great that they have sufficed to cause him to come and visit her without any assurance that he will be her husband."

The way seemed now clear. The King of France and his mother had been convinced by Simier and Castelnau that Alen?on had only to appear before the Queen for her to marry him, and they were willing to run the risk of his going secretly on the chance, in order, if possible, to get rid of so troublesome an element as Alen?on was in France. In England the match was looked upon as settled; but still gloomy, patient Philip, in his cell, was incredulous. "Whatever may be said," he wrote to Mendoza, early in August, "I do not believe the marriage will take place, as there can be on either side no great desire for it, but a large amount of pretence." The only thing he left out of the calculation was Elizabeth's passion and vanity, which for a time were overmastering her judgment.

Alen?on started from Paris on the 2nd of August, sending a confidential messenger ahead of him to announce his coming to the Queen and Simier. The latter had previously lodged in apartments adjoining those of the Queen, to which he had a key giving him private access, but now, for the sake of appearances, he was transferred to a pavilion in the garden at Greenwich, where rooms were also prepared for the Prince. Various attempts at mystification were made to prevent the knowledge of his arrival becoming public and to throw people off the scent, but as he was delayed by bad weather at Boulogne for some days, the news spread and his arrival was after all an open secret. The Queen coyly told the Spanish ambassador that her lover had not come, but her hints and her simpers clearly implied that he had. The courtiers, to keep up an appearance of innocence, stayed away as much as possible, and they were prudent in doing so, for the Countess of Derby and the Earl of Bedford's daughter, who were caught gossiping about the Prince's arrival, were incontinently placed under arrest until after he had gone.

From a letter from Simier to the Queen it would appear that the Prince's approach was first made known to her early in the morning, and that she instantly sent word to Simier, who was in bed. Simier says that as her messenger left his room the Prince himself entered it so effectively disguised that he hardly knew him. He had, he said, been met in the street by many persons, but had not been recognised. He was, says Simier, tired to death, but notwithstanding that, entreated Simier to go at once to the Queen and beg her to let him go and salute her, all travel-stained and weary as he was. "But I showed him how impossible this was, as he would have to pass through a dozen chambers before he got to yours, and that you were still asleep. At last I persuaded him to take some rest, and soon got him between the sheets, and I wish to God you were with him there, as he could then with greater facility convey his thoughts to you, for I well know that 'mal si riposa chi non la contentezza.'"

Leicester in the meanwhile was furious, and the Spanish ambassador was missing no opportunity of fanning the flame of discontent against the marriage. The Queen dined alone with Alen?on in Simier's room on the 17th of August, the day after his arrival, and although the young Prince was no beauty, with his swart, pocked-marked face, Elizabeth at once fell in love with him. He became from the first day her "frog" , and the little endearments of the two young lovers went on ceaselessly all day, and often far into the night. "The Queen," writes Mendoza on the 25th of August, "is delighted with Alen?on, and he with her, as she has let out to some of her courtiers, saying that she was pleased to have known him, was much taken with his good parts, and admired him more than any man. She says that for her part she will not stand in the way of his being her husband." Castelnau, the French ambassador, writing at the same time, says to the Queen-mother: "These loving conferences have lasted eight days. The lady has with difficulty been able to entertain the Duke, being captivated, overcome with love: she told me she had never found a man whose nature and actions suited her better. She begs me to write to your Majesty asking you not to punish him too much for the great folly of risking so much in coming to see a woman so unworthy as she is." The young Prince had been brought up in a Court where love-making was the great business of life, and flattered and languished as successfully as La Mole and Simier had done, and Elizabeth's overweening vanity had probably never been so satisfied before. She gave a ball on Sunday, the 23rd of August, 1579, at Greenwich, Alen?on, being only half hidden behind the arras. The Queen danced and posed even more than usual, and ever and anon made signals to her guest, of whose presence all the courtiers pretended to be ignorant. On the same night news came to the Duke that his staunch friend, Bussy d'Amboise, had at last been killed in a duel, and on the 27th Alen?on started by coach to Dover to take the ship which was awaiting to carry him to Calais. Castelnau said after he went that he wrote letters "ardent enough to set fire to water," and to judge from the curious letters sent by him and Simier from Dover before he embarked, the ambassador was not very wide of the mark. These letters are in the Hatfield collection, and are worth transcribing as a specimen of the love-letters of the time, although that of the Prince seems to our eyes a perfect burlesque, considering that it was written by a lover of twenty-four to a mature beauty of nearly double his age. He is, he says, envious of his letter which will reach her hand. He dare not commit himself to a long discourse, knowing well that he is not himself, as he is continually occupied in stanching the tears which flow from his eyes without intermission. He swears that his affection for her will last for ever, and that he is and will remain the most faithful and affectionate slave who can exist on earth. "As such," he says, "on the brink of this troublesome sea I kiss your feet."

This was accompanied by a letter from Simier in the quaint French of the time, which the reader may well be spared. It runs as follows: "Madame: I must tell you how little rest your frog had last night, he having done nothing but sigh and weep. At eight o'clock he made me get up to discourse to him of your divine beauty and of his great grief at leaving your Majesty, the jailor of his heart, the mistress of his liberty. Only his hope that he will soon see you again gives him some consolation. He has sworn to me a thousand times, but for that he would not wish to live another quarter of an hour. Do not then be cruel to him as he desires only to preserve his life so long as you are kind. Before he was out of bed he seized the pen and has ordered me to send off Captain Bourg with this, pending my own return to you, which will be as soon as I see him at sea with his sails spread. The weather is beautiful and the sea calm and I expect he will have a fair passage unless he swell the waves with the abundance of his tears. The monkey takes the liberty of humbly kissing your lovely hands." These letters were sent on the 28th of August, and on the two following days similar extravagant missives were sent by the Prince, by Castelnau, and Simier; and then, on his arrival at Boulogne, more lovelorn epistles followed, by the hands of Admiral Howard and Edward Stafford, who had escorted the Prince so far. The Queen could only talk of her ardent young lover, who, by the way, had scattered liberally amongst the courtiers the rich jewels his mother had provided for the occasion, the Queen herself receiving a splendid diamond ring worth 10,000 crowns; and in conversation with the Spanish ambassador she could find no words of praise strong enough for Catharine de Medici, "whom she had formerly abominated." The circumstances indeed again rendered a close alliance between England and France desirable either by marriage or otherwise. Catharine had managed to disarm Henry of Navarre, and the signing of the treaty of Nerac in February, 1579, had for a time brought harmony to France, and when France was united it was always necessary for Elizabeth to be in cordial agreement with that country or Spain. Her undisguised help to the revolted Flemings and her depredations on Spanish shipping had alienated her more and more from Philip, and now another circumstance had arisen which must drive both her and Catharine de Medici into more pronounced antagonism to Spain. The King of Portugal was old, ailing, and childless, and intrigues were ripe as to the succession of the crown. The strongest claimant was Philip himself, and it was felt that a further addition to his power and the acquisition of so fine a seaboard as that of Portugal would gravely prejudice the interest of France and England. Catharine had a shadowy claim to the crown herself for form's sake, but she and Elizabeth were quite agreed that, whoever got the prize, they would do their best to prevent Philip from gaining it, by stirring up war elsewhere and aiding the other pretenders.

Philip Sidney's bold and nobly-worded letter of remonstrance with the Queen against the match was accepted in a better spirit. The virtues and talents of the writer, coupled with the disinterested patriotism which evidently inspired his protest, secured him against the vituperation which Elizabeth lavished on Walsingham and other Protestant champions who timidly ventured to offer not a tithe of Sidney's outspoken opinions. "These" , said Sidney--"how will their hearts be galled, if not alienated, when they shall see you take a husband, a Frenchman and a papist, in whom, howsoever fine wits may find further dealings or painted excuses, the very common people well know this: that he is the son of a Jezebel of our age; that his brother made oblation of his sister's marriage, the easier to make massacres of our brethren in belief. That he himself, contrary to his promise and all gratefulness, having his liberty and principal estate by the Huguenot's means did sack La Charit? and utterly spoil them with fire and sword! This I say, even at first sight gives occasion to all truly religious to abhor such a master, and consequently to diminish much of the hopeful love they long held to you." The Queen wept over this, as well she might, but to her credit it may be said that she did not visit the writer with her displeasure as she would have done in the case of a less high-minded adviser.

Simier's departure with the draft agreement--The Queen suddenly cools towards the match--Her perplexity--Her efforts to temporise--Suggestions for an alliance with France-- Simier's letters pleading Alen?on's cause--Alen?on's plans in Flanders--Signature of the Peace of Fleix--Queen Margaret's intrigues against the Alen?on match--Simier's disgrace-- Catholic intrigues to gain Alen?on--Alen?on's new envoys to England--Clausse de Marchaumont's negotiations--His favour with the Queen--"La belle jarreti?re."

On the 9th of November, 1579, Simier came to the Queen and told her he could delay no longer going back to his master; and if a final decision was not at once adopted, he must return without it. He was closeted with her for several hours, and the next day she summoned the principal councillors to her chamber, and told them that she had made up her mind to marry, and they need say no more about it; their duty now was simply to devise the necessary means for carrying out her wishes. She then sent post-haste to bring back Stafford, who was on his way to Alen?on, and for a day her councillors thought the matter was settled. But the next day a cool gust of prudence passed over her passion, and she again sent to the councillors ordering them to give her individually their opinions in writing. This did not suit Simier, and he rushed off to the Queen and told her it was now unwise and unnecessary, as she had made up her mind. She haughtily asked who told him that, to which he replied that it was Cecil; whereupon she flew into one of her violent rages against councillors who could not keep their mouths shut, and flung out of the room, leaving Simier to meditate upon the inconstancy of woman. She then ordered the councillors to send a joint letter begging Alen?on to expedite his coming, but they refused to do so, and urged that before the Prince himself came a person of higher rank and more serious standing than Simier should come to settle the conditions. When Simier heard this he booted and spurred without more ado, and went in a huff to take leave of the Queen. She mollified him, however, with blandishments, and during the next few days the terms of settlement were hastily agreed upon and signed in draft, giving Alen?on and his household the right to attend the Catholic service in his own chapel. But when the protocol was handed to Simier for conveyance to France the Queen characteristically insisted upon his giving an undertaking which always left her a loophole of escape. The original document in Simier's handwriting is at Hatfield, and agrees that the articles shall remain in suspense for two months, "during which time her Majesty hopes to have brought her people to consent to the marriage." If before that time she did not write to the King and Alen?on consenting to receive ambassadors to sign the contract, the whole present conditions were to be absolutely null and void.

Stafford found Alen?on no more yielding than his brother, and for a time matters looked unpromising, the "monkey" continuing to write gushing letters to the Queen, begging her not to be influenced by the "mile faulx bruis" of Walsingham and others, who are trying to render the affair abortive. At this juncture, doubtless, the Queen wrote the long letter without date to the Duke, pointing out to him the unpopularity of the match and the many difficulties of carrying it through, unless the terms taken by Simier, particularly with regard to religion and the pension, were relaxed. If this is impossible, she says, and the affair falls through, let us not worry any more about it, but remain faithful friends for ever. This did not at all please the Prince, who plainly told her that some people believed that she was only making use of the religious question as an excuse to break off the match, and that he is not at all astonished that she has requested that the departure of commissioners for the ratification should be stayed. He was probably right in his conjecture, for only a few days before the Queen tried to pick a quarrel about the rank of the ambassadors to be sent. She had roundly told the King, she said, that she did not think France was so short of princes that he must needs send her a child or a low-born person. A person of the very highest lineage must come or none at all: she would never have the chronicles record that any slight was offered to her honour on so great an occasion. The poor "monkey" might write his inflated letters to the Queen, deploring, and denouncing the enemies who were impeding the match, and pleading in heartbroken accents the cause of his lovelorn "frog"; but there can be no doubt that at the end of January, 1580, in London, the affair was looked upon as at an end. A long and instructive State paper exists at Hatfield in the writing of Sir Thomas Cecil, dated the 28th of January, addressed to the Queen, and setting forth that the Alen?on marriage, having fallen through, the Prince would probably seek revenge for his disappointment, and ally himself to the King of Spain, with the object of aiding a general Catholic assault on England and Ireland. Sir Thomas then lays down a certain course of action necessary to meet this danger. Alen?on is to be encouraged to push his ambitious projects in Flanders in order to keep him at issue with Spain; the Queen's forces by sea and land are to be put on a war footing, and German mercenaries are to be hired; English trade, as far as possible, is to be carried in foreign bottoms; the Irish are to be conciliated by large concessions to their national traditions; the Queen of Scots is to be more strictly held and her son subsidised; and the Netherlanders and the Huguenots are to be vigorously helped. This was a bold programme indeed, but was fully warranted by the circumstances as we now know them. The Guises were moving heaven and earth to prevent an understanding between Alen?on and the Huguenots; the Queen of Scots was in active negotiation with Philip, through Beaton and Guise, for a Spanish invasion of England in her interest; and the Spanish troops, under the Papal banner, were backing up the insurgent Irish.

The reason for Alen?on's tardy resistance to further surrender about his religion must be sought in the fact that the Catholic Flemings were still in active negotiations with him for his assuming the sovereignty of the States, and any wavering on his part in religion would at once have made him an impossible candidate for them. The fact of the Prince of Orange and the Huguenots being in his favour was already rather against his chances with the Walloons, and it was necessary for him to assume a devotion to Catholicism, the sincerity of which may well be doubted. It will thus be seen that the position was full of danger and uncertainty to Elizabeth, as she could never allow a Frenchman to be dominant in the Netherlands unless he was her humble servant. This, of course, was obvious to Alen?on as it was to her, and it was necessary for him to know upon which side he would have to depend for the promotion of his ambition, either the Queen of England and the Huguenots, or the Catholic Flemings and his brother. On the very day, therefore, that the two months stipulated with Simier expired, namely, the 24th of February, 1580, Castelnau, the French ambassador, went to the Queen and asked for a definite answer as to whether she would marry the Prince on the terms arranged or not. She replied that it was not a matter which could be settled in such a hurry, and she must consult her Council and her people. After a good deal of bickering the ambassador unmasked his batteries, and told her that if she did not carry out her agreement to marry him, the Prince, in his own justification and to show people that he had not come to England out of mere flightiness, would be obliged to publish all her letters. She replied, in her usual vein, that she was surprised that Alen?on should think of treating any lady in this way, much less a Queen, and with this she closed the colloquy in great anger and indignation.

The effect of this was that loving letters were at once sent to Alen?on, all difficulties were smoothed over, the commissioners should be cordially welcomed as soon as they liked to come, and what was of far more importance still, the Queen promised the French ambassador that when they arrived she would give Alen?on 200,000 crowns of Drake's plunder to help him in the Netherlands enterprise and subsidise Duke Casimir's mercenary army of Germans to cross the frontier and co-operate with him.

Alen?on accordingly wrote to Marchaumont on the 20th of May saying that he could not come until he had arranged for the relief of Cambrai at any cost. He was, he said, like a bird on a branch and might be able to fly off at any moment, and in the meanwhile sent the clothes he would need on his arrival. But events forced his hands. On the 17th of May the King issued a decree in Paris ordering the dispersion by force of arms of all the levies of Frenchmen being raised for the service of his brother in Flanders. Great pressure, bribes, persuasions and threats, were brought to bear upon Alen?on by his mother, to prevent him from again entering Flanders to relieve Cambrai, and so, perhaps, embroil France with Spain; but he plainly saw now that his ambition would never be served by the Catholic party and that he must frankly depend upon the Protestants and Elizabeth, so he hurriedly made preparations for a flying visit to England. When the Queen was satisfied that he was coming and that the King of France was quite determined not to offend Spain as a preliminary of the marriage, her tone towards the ambassadors immediately changed, and the clause in the draft treaty giving the bridegroom the right of exercising his religion in England was struck out. The envoys were naturally indignant, refused to accept the alteration, and said that as, under the circumstances, the marriage was an impossibility, they would depart at once. To preserve appearances it was decided that some sort of draft agreement, based on the marriage contract of Philip and Mary, should be agreed to, and after long bickering as to which party should sign first, the Queen insisted that the draft should be accompanied by a letter from her to the effect that the conditions did not bind her to marry at all, but should be adopted if at any future time she decided to do so. This appeared absurd to the envoys, and, whilst the subject was being discussed, the Queen learnt that Alen?on was on his way and would submit to her will in all things. She then turned round and said there was no need for any capitulations at all. She and Alen?on were the persons to be married and they understood each other perfectly well, so that his brother's intervention was unnecessary. This change of front completely puzzled the ambassadors, but they were not long in the dark as to the reason of it, for three days afterwards Leicester told them that an English merchant had just arrived in London who had seen Alen?on embark from Dieppe for England two days before, namely on the 28th of May. The envoys and the ambassador Castelnau were chagrined beyond measure at this new escapade of the King's brother, and obstinately shut themselves up to avoid seeing him. Such rigorous silence did they maintain as to this visit in their correspondence that even the most recent and best-informed French historian of the events does not credit its having taken place. The correspondence of Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador in London, which has passed through my hands, leaves me, however, little doubt upon the subject; although Philip, writing to his ambassador, says that the news he receives from France is incompatible with Alen?on's visit to England on this occasion.

On the 1st of June, 1581, Marchaumont visited Castelnau, the ambassador, who showed him a letter from a certain Cigogne, one of Alen?on's gentlemen, giving him intelligence of his master's movements. The Duke had embarked at Dieppe at six o'clock on the morning of the 28th of May, and after knocking about in the Channel for five hours very seasick, had to return to land. He had then ridden with all his suite to Evereux whence he had sent Cigogne to inform his brother of his going to England, and had then himself started on horseback with a very small company towards Boulogne. The faithful "monk" at once hastened to the Queen with the news, which she had already heard elsewhere. She appeared overjoyed at the coming of her suitor, and she was for sending Stafford at once to greet him. But de Bex was sent to Dover instead, bearing a written message from the Queen, couched in the most loving terms, and rooms were ordered secretly to be prepared for the Prince in Marchaumont's chambers. On the afternoon of the 2nd of June the visitor came up the Thames with the tide, evading the spies whom the King's envoys had posted everywhere, and was safely lodged in the apartments destined for him in the Queen's garden. Immediately afterwards one of his gentlemen entered the presence-chamber as if he had just come from France bringing letters from his master to the Queen, and Marchaumont sent to Leicester the agreed token of his coming, namely, a jet ring. This strange prank of the young Prince upset all calculations. He had come without his brother's prior knowledge or permission and without consultation with the ambassadors, the whole affair having been managed by Marchaumont over their heads. Says Mendoza, writing to Philip a day or two after his arrival: "No man, great or small, can believe that he has come to be married, nor can they imagine that she will marry him because he has come. It may be suspected that her having persuaded him to come with hopes that they two together would settle matters better than could be done by the intervention of his brother's ministers, had been the motive which brought him."

When at a subsequent stage the Queen found fault with some of Walsingham's proceedings, he wrote to her, recapitulating her private instructions to him on his mission, and we are therefore in possession of her real intentions at the time. He says: "The principal cause why I was sent over was to procure a straiter degree of amity between the King and you without marriage, and yet to carry myself in the procuring thereof, as might not altogether break off the marriage."

Walsingham's mission to France--His alarm of the consequences of the Queen's fickleness--Alen?on enters Flanders--Relief of Cambrai--Alen?on entreats Elizabeth's aid--Walsingham's remonstrance to the Queen for her penuriousness--Alen?on again visits England--Elizabeth's severity to the Catholics during his stay--Leicester's continued intrigues--The Queen's solemn pledge to marry Alen?on--Dismay of Leicester and his friends--The Queen's recantation--Arrival of Secretary Pinart--Elizabeth's plan to evade the marriage-- Her correspondence with Simier--He arrives in England again --Elizabeth's efforts to get rid of Alen?on--He refuses to leave unless she marries him--Simier's advice to the Queen.

When Walsingham landed at Boulogne he found a message from Alen?on at Chateau-Thierry asking him to meet him and his mother at La F?re before going to see the King. This he did, where he was met by the Duke with complaints and reproaches at the indefinite postponement of the marriage by the Queen until a national alliance had been effected. He told Walsingham that he could never get the King to consent to an alliance unless the marriage took place first, as the King feared that when they had pledged him too far for him to draw back the Queen would slip out of it and leave France alone face to face with Spain. The efforts of Catharine and her adviser, Turenne, were directed to obtaining at least a money subsidy to Alen?on first, which would have pledged Elizabeth to some extent; but Walsingham was too discreet to be drawn, and tried to get an arrangement which should embark France in the business before England was compromised. Catharine said she was well aware of the need for concerted action, but she was afraid, as Elizabeth had apparently thrown over the marriage for fear of offending her subjects, she might afterwards throw over the alliance for the same reason.

It is easy to see that both sides were finessing with the same object, namely, to throw upon the other the burden and onus of curbing the power of Spain, which they both feared; and when Catharine saw she could make nothing of Walsingham or his mistress, she played her trump card, with which she had come to La F?re fully prepared. She promised Alen?on that if he would abandon his attempt, the Prince of Parma would retire from Cambrai, Alen?on should marry the infanta, gain the support and friendship of Spain, obtain a larger dotation from his brother, and receive the investure of the sovereign states of Saluzzo and Provence. But Alen?on could not trust Spain and the Guises, and refused the tempting bait. Cecil and Elizabeth mistrusted the presence of Catharine near her son, and fearing that he might at last cede to her influence, had sent a considerable sum of money by Walsingham, according to Mendoza, to help Alen?on to make masked war upon Spain, without pledging England or drawing the Queen into war through the marriage. Alen?on was angry at this suggestion, and said that he would take no such answer, which was quite at variance with the Queen's own words. He threatened and stormed until Walsingham almost lost his temper, and Sir James Crofts told Mendoza that when the Queen received the news of this "she wept like a child, saying that she did not know what to do, or into what trouble Leicester had drawn her." Walsingham also reported that the King of France was extremely offended that after so grand an embassy had been sent to England only Walsingham should be sent in return, "and that if he could manage to have him put out of the way he would attempt it." Lord Henry Howard was at once sent off with a loving message to Alen?on to mollify him, and urgent new instructions were despatched to Walsingham in Paris to bring the marriage forward again on any terms. But no sooner were Walsingham, Cobham, and the French ministers in conference to settle the terms of an alliance which was to accompany a marriage, than Alen?on sent, by de Vray, peremptorily refusing to have anything to do with an alliance. It must, he said, be a marriage pure and simple first, and after that they could make what leagues they pleased, but he was sure that if the endless negotiations for an alliance had to be settled first he should never be married at all. All things were therefore again brought to a standstill, and Walsingham and Cobham wrote a most serious, almost vehement, memorandum to the Queen warning her of the danger of her fickle course. They entreated her to make up her mind one way or the other. The French will think they are being played with and will be greatly exasperated. France, Spain, and Scotland will all be against us, and then God alone can help us. Surely they say the only question is one of expense, and it is "very hard that treasure should be preferred before safety. I beseech your Majesty that without offence I may tell you that your loathness to spend even when it concerns your safety is publicly delivered out here.... For the love of God, madame, look into your own estate, and think that there can grow no peril so great unto you as to have a war break out in your own realm, considering what a number of evil subjects you have; and you cannot redeem this peril at too high a price." In another letter to Cecil, Walsingham complains bitterly of the task that is set for him. I would rather, he says, be shut up in the Tower than be an English ambassador abroad. These constant variations discredit us and shock the King.

Suddenly, towards the middle of August, 1581, Alen?on crossed the frontier into Spanish Flanders with a fine army of 12,000 infantry and 5,000 Cavalry, in which were enrolled half the young nobility of France as volunteers, notwithstanding the King's anathemas. Parma at once raised the siege of Cambrai and stood on the defensive, and the whole position was changed in a moment. The King of France felt, or at least expressed, the utmost alarm at his brother's action, lest he should be drawn into the quarrel. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was no less apprehensive that the King, the Guises, and the Catholics might be after all behind the movement. She, however, was soon tranquillised on this score, and wrote a loving letter of congratulation. No sooner was Alen?on in Cambrai than he found himself without money. If the States will not aid me, he wrote to the Prince of Orange, I can go no further. But the attempt had been made without the open patronage of the Queen of England, and the Protestant States would do nothing. De Bex was sent off post-haste by Alen?on to take her the news, and to beg for 300,000 crowns, "as he had spent all his own money in the relief, and neither the States nor his brother would give him a penny. If she did not provide him with money he should be obliged to return with his army to France without going any further."

In the meanwhile Walsingham was making no progress in Paris, and the Queen as usual was reproaching in no measured terms. Walsingham, who knew his mistress well, gave her on this occasion at least as good as she sent. He told her bluntly that if she was sincere about the marriage she was losing time she could ill spare; whilst, if otherwise, it "is the worst remedy you can use." "Sometimes when your Majesty doth behold in what doubtful terms you stand with foreign princes, then you do wish with great affection that opportunities offered had not been overslipped; but when they are offered to you, accompanied with charges, they are altogether neglected. The respect of charges hath lost Scotland, and I would to God I had no cause to think it might put your Highness in peril of the loss of England." He reproaches her almost rudely for her niggardliness, which he compares with the wise liberality of her predecessors where expenditure was needful for the safety of the realm. "If this sparing and provident course be held on still, the mischiefs approaching being so apparent as they are, there is no one that serveth in place of councillor ... who would not wish himself rather in the farthest part of Ethiopia than enjoy the fairest palace in England." On his way back to England Walsingham saw Alen?on at Abbeville, in Picardy, and rather encouraged the Duke in his desire to come to England again. It is evident that, much as Walsingham was attached to Leicester, he was in grave alarm that the Protestant religion, to which he was devoted, might be overborne by the threatened union against England of the Catholic powers, and at this time would have gladly welcomed the marriage of the Queen and Alen?on, which would have prevented France from joining the coalition and have banished the danger. When Walsingham arrived in London at the end of September, however, he found the Queen very strongly opposed to her suitor's proposed visit, not wishing to have her hands forced in this way. She told Marchaumont that his master must not come on any account, or a rising of the people might be feared, so angry were they at the idea of the match. On the other hand, both Marchaumont and Castelnau, the ambassador, took care to spread broadcast the intelligence that the Duke would soon be here; and when no open discontent ensued they pointed out that the Queen's fears were groundless. Leicester, as usual, tried to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, to retain French bribes and yet to stand in the way of French objects. Mendoza says that he took good care to turn the Queen against Alen?on's coming, but as soon as he was sure that his efforts were effectual he went out of town and hypocritically professed to the French that Hatton and Walsingham alone were to blame for the opposition.

But by the end of October the Queen's apprehensions seem to have been dissipated. Walsingham must have made it clear to her that unless the marriage were again taken up with some show of sincerity she had no chance of getting the close understanding with France which was necessary to her plans. She had, moreover, spent large sums of money in Flanders, which she could never get back unless the States could be enabled to hold their own, and she accordingly decided to make the best of Alen?on's coming in the assurance that, if the worst came to the worst, she could avoid a marriage by supplying funds for his maintenance in Flanders.

Shortly before the Duke's arrival the "monk" wrote to de Bex saying that every one, from the Queen downwards, was expecting his Highness's arrival with pleasure, but he hints that he had better make haste as the Spanish ambassador was making certain proposals to the Queen; which we now know to be true. He says that even Leicester had now been won over, his only fear being that if the marriage took place his bitter enemy, Simier, might come, who, he was sure, would plot his ruin. This state of things had not been brought about without a good deal of friction. Several sums of money had been sent by the Queen with the hope of staving off the visit, but with no effect. The Queen had a great row with Walsingham in consequence of mischief-making of Sussex, who had shown Marchaumont a letter written by Walsingham from France, containing some slighting expressions towards Alen?on which had been repeated to the Queen; "although," says Mendoza, "some people think that it is all put on, and that she herself ordered Walsingham to write this so as to hinder the marriage, as she is a woman very fond of adopting such tricks. At all events Walsingham takes very little notice of her anger, and Alen?on turns a deaf ear to everything, and only asks for money, whilst Marchaumont keeps the negotiation alive by pressing for a decision with regard to the marriage."

The Queen had lent Marchaumont a small house attached to her own palace at Richmond, to which entrance could be gained through it by means of a connecting gallery. Two chambers were refurnished and warmed in this house for the Prince's use, the Earl of Arundel and his uncle, Lord Harry Howard, were charged by the Queen to make all arrangements for his comfort; and her Majesty herself superintended the installation in one of the rooms of a crimson bed, which she told Marchaumont archly that his master would recognise. A day or so before the Duke was expected Marchaumont wrote to de Bex, who was with his master on his journey hither, that he learnt by a message the Queen had sent him "that every hour seemed a month to her so anxious was she to see her lover, for whose reception great preparations had been made, although the Queen will pretend that nothing special had been done."

When Walsingham had seen the Prince in France the latter had expressed a desire to rest a day and a night in Walsingham's house in London before going to see the Queen at Richmond, but when the time approached for the visit Walsingham managed to avoid the trouble of entertaining the guest by saying that the plague was raging round the house, and it was settled that he should be lodged for the night in the house of Sir Edward Stafford, the son of Elizabeth's friend and Mistress of the Robes. "But I need not tell you," says Marchaumont to de Bex, "to keep strict secrecy as to the Prince's movements, for if Lady Stafford knows anything it will be easier to stem a torrent than to stop the woman's tongue."

Alen?on embarked from Calais at the end of October, 1581, having met the Portuguese pretender, Don Antonio, before going on board, and promised him to plead his cause with the English Queen. The heavy weather necessitated his anchoring in the Downs instead of entering Dover, and it was only at the cost of some risk and trouble that he landed. Leaving the Prince Dauphin and most of his suite of gentlemen to follow him, he pressed on in disguise with de Bex to London, where he arrived and slept at Stafford's house on the night of the 1st of November. The next morning he started off to see the Queen privately at Richmond, the first public reception being fixed for the 3rd of November, when the Prince Dauphin and the rest of the suite were fetched from London in the Queen's state coaches. It was, in truth, high time the Prince came, for the Queen was very much out of temper with him and every one else. She complained to Castelnau that the Prince had acted in Flanders without her permission, that the King of France was intriguing with Spain for her ruin, that the States were a lot of drunkards, who only thought of borrowing money and not paying it back. She was too old, she said, to be played with, and would let them all see it. But when her young lover came she was full of smiles and blandishments. Fortunately he had plenty of money with him--money, however, brought to him by St. Aldegonde, at Calais, collected by the sorely pressed Flemings for the support of his army, and not to be squandered in England; but he bribed the ladies and the councillors liberally with it. At first all went as merrily as a marriage-bell. The Queen again took to calling Alen?on her little Moor, her little Italian, her little frog, and so on; whilst she, as before, was to him all the orbs of the firmament. Leicester was radiant, however, which was a bad sign, and Sussex was in the sulks, which was equally so; but the French, and Alen?on himself, grew more and more confident of success. The Queen was playing her usual game, and Leicester understood it perfectly, but she could not help having her fling at Walsingham when he tried clumsily to humour her. He was praising the good parts and understanding of Alen?on one day to the Queen, and said that the only thing against him was his ugly face. "Why, you knave," she replied, "you were for ever speaking ill of him before: you veer round like a weathercock." At the same time all sorts of scandalous tittle-tattle began to arise. Every morning little love-letters signed "your prince frog," were sent from Alen?on to the Queen, and Lippomano, the Venetian ambassador, assures the Doge and Senate that the Queen entered his chamber every morning before he was out of bed, and brought him a cup of broth. He was with her, says Mendoza, all day and every day, no one being present but Sussex and Stafford, and even they were not allowed to hear their conversation. In order to allay the fears of her Protestant subjects, some of whom were grumbling because Alen?on heard mass daily, unwonted severity was used towards the Catholics during Alen?on's visit, and the Jesuit priests Campion, Sherwin, and Briant, were executed at Tyburn under circumstances of the most heartrending cruelty. The Spanish ambassador at last got somewhat anxious, and by Philip's orders began to approach Cecil with suggestions of the falsity of Frenchmen and the advisability of a close union between England and Spain, all injuries on each side being forgiven and forgotten. He went to the length, indeed, of hinting that the French were intriguing with Mary of Scotland under cover of the marriage negotiations, although he himself at the time was plotting with and for her. But Cecil was a match for him, and let him understand that the friendship proposed was more necessary for Spain than it was for England. The position at the time of Alen?on's visit is well summarised by Mendoza in a letter to King Philip as follows: "As soon as the Queen learnt that Alen?on had arrived, she said to certain of the councillors separately that they must consider what would have to be done with him; to which they replied that they could hardly do that unless she made her own intentions upon the subject clear. To this she answered that she was quite satisfied with the person of Alen?on. When he arrived here he told those who he knew were in his favour that he would not go out in public nor undertake any other affairs until he had settled with the Queen the subject about which he came. If this be so, present indications prove that he has got an affirmative answer, as he now shows himself almost publicly, and appears to be in high spirits, all the principal people at Court being allowed to see him at dinner and supper. Leicester leaves nothing undone, and in the absence of the Prince Dauphin, always hands Alen?on the napkin, publicly declaring that there seems to be no other way for the Queen to secure the tranquillity of England but for her to marry Alen?on; and Walsingham says the same. The Frenchmen who came with him, and the ambassadors who were here before, look upon the marriage as an accomplished fact, but the English in general scoff at it, saying that he is only after money, and that he has already begged the Queen to give him ?100,000 and 4,000 men to aid your Majesty's rebels. The principal Englishmen indeed are saying that if he wanted a regular pension they would grant him ?20,000 a year, so there are more indications of money being given him than anything else. It is certain that the Queen will do her best to avoid offending him, and to pledge him in the affairs of the Netherlands, in order to drive his brother into a rupture with your Majesty, which is her great object, whilst she keeps her hands free, and can stand by looking on at the war." Few men were better informed than Mendoza; part of the Privy Council was in his pay, and the most secret information was conveyed to him at once by his spies, who were everywhere. He was, moreover, one of the most keen-sighted statesmen of his time, and we may accept his opinion therefore, confirmed as it is by much other evidence, that up to this time Elizabeth was once more playing her old trick, and befooling Alen?on and the French.

When Leicester thought that matters were going a little too far he persuaded the Queen to urge her lover to start at once for Flanders, for which purpose she would give him three ships and ?30,000, in order to receive the oath of allegiance which the States were offering him, and then to return and marry her; but Sussex saw through the device, and privately warned Alen?on that whatever pledges might be made to him now, he might be convinced that if once he went away without being married the marriage would never take place. He entreated him on no account to be driven out of England, and as Alen?on well knew that Sussex at least was honest in his desire to see the Queen married and freed from the baleful influence of Leicester, he put his back to the wall and plainly told the Queen that not only would he refuse to leave England, but he would not ever vacate the rooms in her palace until she had given him a definite answer as to whether she would marry him or not. Crofts, the privy councillor in Philip's pay, told Mendoza that "when the Queen and Alen?on were alone together she pledges herself to him to his heart's content, and as much as any woman could to a man, but she will not have anything said publicly."

On November 21, 1581, the Queen and Court moved to Whitehall, where Alen?on was lodged in the garden-house, and on the following morning --coronation day--he and the Queen were walking in the gallery, Walsingham and Leicester being present, when Castelnau, the French ambassador, entered, and said that he had been commanded by his master to learn from her own lips what her intentions were with regard to her marrying the King's brother. Either because she was driven into a corner from which there was no other escape, or because once more her passions overcame her, she unhesitatingly replied to Castelnau, "You may write this to the King: that the Duke of Alen?on shall be my husband, and at the same moment she turned to Alen?on and kissed him on the mouth, drawing a ring from her own hand and giving it to him as a pledge. Alen?on gave her a ring of his in return, and shortly afterwards the Queen summoned the ladies and gentlemen from the presence-chamber to the gallery, repeating to them in a loud voice in Alen?on's presence what she had previously said."

The next day there was a meeting of the Council, where it was proposed to settle matters by granting to Alen?on a pension of 10,000 marks a year, the King of France a subsidy of ?100,000, and the States ?80,000 on condition of a similar amount being contributed by the King for the purpose of making war upon Spain in the Netherlands under the leadership of Alen?on. If the King of France refused this it was proposed to make an immediate grant of ?200,000 to Alen?on, in consideration of the relief of Cambrai, and that the marriage negotiations be dropped. This was Leicester's plan, who undertook to answer for Alen?on's acquiescence and the raising of the money by privy-seal loans and exchequer bills, but when they sent the proposal to the Queen as the result of their deliberation she was furious. Her plans were working as she intended them to work, and she could throw the whole blame for the failure of her marriage upon the King of France, whilst raising enmity between him and his brother, and pledging Alen?on to her hard and fast without marriage. And yet these dense councillors of hers, and jealous, shallow Leicester, would keep thwarting her with their officious interference. Cecil was the only one who refused to do so, and always had a diplomatic attack of gout at critical times. Crofts gave an account to Mendoza of the way in which the Queen received the proposal of her Council. "She made, he says, a great show of anger and annoyance, saying that her councillors only thought of their own profit, wasting the substance of the country without reflection, and buying, under cover of her authority, that which suited them best. As Alen?on thought fit to forget her in exchange for her money, she would neither marry him nor give him any money, and he might do the best he could." Then she sent for Alen?on and angrily told him the same, and a quarrel between them ensued. When she had thus upset the results of her Council's officiousness, she began her own game again. Pinart had made clear to her that her demands for the restitution of Calais, a rupture with Spain, and the cessation of the old alliance between France and Scotland were unreasonable, and that if the marriage were broken off in consequence of such preposterous conditions the responsibility would be cast upon her and not upon his master. So she harked back to somewhat more moderate-sounding claims, which she knew would be also refused. She said that she had given the ring and pledge to Alen?on on condition that he should make war on Spain in the Netherlands at the expense of the King of France, whilst she sent assistance from England in form of men. She said she had distinctly understood that this was to be the condition of the marriage; but of course if the French King could not fulfil it, there was the end of the matter. She was extremely sorry, but it was not her fault if there was a misunderstanding, or the French failed to carry out the condition, and she urged that Marchaumont, her devoted "monk," whose letters are only a degree less loving than those of Simier, should be sent to Paris to urge this view upon the King and his mother.

Marchaumont had long been tiring of his task in England, and had not ceased to entreat his master to give him active employment, and especially to bestow a stray abbey or two upon him instead of giving everything to Fervaques and de Quincy. He assures Elizabeth that he has received nothing in consequence of his attachment to her, which had aroused the jealousy of his fellows, and he left England breathing vows and protestations of his eternal devotion to her.

On the 20th of December all was ready for the Duke's departure. The vessels were awaiting him, and some of his baggage and household had started; a grand farewell supper was laid for him and the Queen at Cobham House, near Gravesend, where he was to take leave of her, and he was about to embark in the barges which were to convey him from Greenwich, when a strong north-east gale sprang up and blew continuously for many days, and prevented his departure.

Mendoza says that although she displayed publicly great grief at his going, in the privacy of her own chamber she danced for very joy at getting rid of him. One day during his detention he reproached her for letting him go so easily. He saw now, he said, that she did not love him much, and that she was tired of him, as she was sending him away openly discarded. She protested with an abundance of sounding oaths that she had only been induced to let him go for his own gratification and not for hers, and that she was sorry he was going so soon. She did not mean it, of course, but it was enough for Alen?on, who seized the opportunity at once. "No! no! Madame," said he, "you are mine, as I can prove by letters and words you have written to me, confirmed by the gift of the ring, of which I sent intelligence to my brother, my mother, and the princes of France, and all those who were present at our interviews are ready to bear testimony. If I cannot get you for my wife by fair means and affection I must do so by force, for I will not leave this country without you." The Queen was much perturbed at this, and exclaimed that she had never written anything which she could not justify. She did not care, she said, what interpretation people chose to put upon her letters, as she knew her own intentions better than any one else could; and as for the ring, it was only a pledge of perpetual friendship and of a conditional contract, dependent upon his brother the King acceding to her conditions, which she was quite sure he never would do. She repeated her repugnance to entering the married state, but softened the blow by saying that there was nothing she desired more than that he should stay in England as her brother, friend, and good companion, but not as her husband. Alen?on was deeply grieved at all this, but it ended in a promise that after the new year's holidays she would see what help she could give him in his enterprise, and with this he was perforce to appear content. But withal, Alen?on's fresh talk of remaining in England disturbed her, especially as Cobham in Paris sent her news that the King was anxious to prolong negotiations in order to keep him there and prevent his going to Flanders. So she instructed Cecil to inflame his ambition for the great career there open to him, and at the same time sent for Simier to contrive with him how she best might get him gone. Simier had told her that if she really wished to avoid the marriage she need only stand fast to the conditions she had demanded from the King of France as a preliminary. She repeated to him her last demands, and said she was sure the King would not consent to break with Spain and bear the whole cost of the war without any contribution from her, and this would furnish her with the excuse she sought after, while she might make a show of approaching Spain, and this would ensure Alen?on's recall and the cessation of the marriage negotiations. Simier, after all, said he was not so sure of this. Alen?on was such an evil weed that his brother might consent to anything to get rid of him from France. "Well," replied the Queen, "I do not believe the King will grant such terms, but even if he do I shall find a way out of it." And then she and Simier began to make merry at the fine gallant who would so readily give up his lady-love in consideration of a money payment. I offered him, she said, so much a month, and it has brightened him up to such an extent that you would not know him. But as soon as he is once across the sea I will tell him my Council will not agree to the arrangement, on the ground that my country cannot without unduly weakening itself provide so large a sum, and that the people would not allow it. Both Elizabeth and Cecil were strongly of opinion that whilst she held large sums of money she would remain mistress of the situation, and whatever promises were held out to Alen?on to induce him to embark in the enterprise, the intention always was to dole out the subsidies to him as sparingly as possible.

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