Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/488

474 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 56. not face her own conclusion. She wrote to Catherine and she wrote to Anjou, not committing herself to any- thing positive, but repeating the general declaration? which she had made to La Mothe ; l but Burghley, who knew her thoroughly, saw where all was tending, and naturally dreaded the resentment which further trifling might provoke. ' Her Majesty/ he wrote to Walsingham, 'is not unwarned how dangerous it were, if in her default the matter taketh not success, and she seemeth to conceive thereof, and pretendeth that if the point of religion may be granted, there will be no other difficulty. But whether she is persuaded that therein the breach will be on that side, and so she to escape the reproof, I can- not tell. God direct the matter, for I have done my uttermost, and so hath other councillors. My Lord Keeper hath earnestly dealt in it, and so have others This amity was needful to us, but God hath determined to plague us. The hour is at hand. His will be done with mercy/ 2 Even Leicester had outwardly united with Burghley in recommending Elizabeth to yield ; 3 and as Burghley had ascertained that Leicester had been the person who had at first urged her to stand out so peremptorily about religion, he had been at a loss to understand his conduct. 4 In public Leicester had appeared to go with 1 Elizabeth to Catherine de Me- dici, June 6 ; Elizabeth to the Duke of Anjou, July 9 : 3fSS. France, Rolls House. 3 Burghley to Walsingham, July 9 : DIGGES. 3 Ibid. 4 ' It was strange that any one man should give comfort to the am-