Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/23

THE DUKE OF NORFOLK. j whole affair from the beginning had been the Bishop's contrivance, he bore the examination without flinching. He pleaded his privilege as ambassador to keep secret whatever passed between himself and his mistress. He admitted that he had commissioned Eidolfi to sue for help to her party in Scotland. ' If there was any further matter in hand/ he said, ' no doubt it proceeded from the Pope himself, who was well known to desire ardently the recovery of England to the Church, and would use all means possible to that effect.' 1 The suspicions of Cecil were not removed ; he knew too much to be so easily deceived. The Bishop was not set at liberty, and was sent down to the Fens in charge of the Bishop of Ely ; but still nothing had been discovered on which resolute action was possible. Country gentlemen from all parts of England visited the Duke of Norfolk at Howard House, and went to and fro without interruption. The Duke himself was so slightly guarded, that ' at any time he could leap on horseback at his back door and ride away, and send word to the Queen that he was gone.' 2 His influence was supposed to be so great ' that the Queen's power was nothing by the side of his,' 3 and that alone and without Alva's assistance he would soon be able to dictate his pleasure to her. Thus the Spanish ambassador remained sanguine that all would still go well. The war with the Turks in 1 The Bishop of Ross before the Council at Hampton Court, August 8 : MS8. QUEEN OF SCOTS. MSS. Hatfield, August, 1571. 3 Ibid.