194 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [011.43. long, for tilings begin to grow to a ripeness, and there are great practisers who are like to set all aloft.' l 'The Lady Margaret and the young Earl are looked for soon after/ wrote Knox ; ' the Lord Bothwell will follow with power to put in execution whatever is de- manded, and Knox and his preaching will be pulled by the ears/ 2 This last contingency would not have deeply distressed Elizabeth ; but she knew Mary Stuart too well to trust her smooth speeches. The Queen of Scots had represented the return of Len- nox as a concession to the wishes of her dear sister, the Queen of England. The expressions of friendliness were somewhat overdone, and served chiefly to place Elizabeth on her guard. Randolph sent an earnest entreaty that Lennox should be detained in England ; and when the Earl applied for a passport to Scotland, a variety of pretexts were invented for delay or refusal. Mary Stuart wanted the self-control for successful diplomacy. She saw that she was suspected, and the suspicion was the more irritating because it was just. Her warmer temper for the moment broke loose. She sent for Randolph, bade him go to his mistress and tell her that there could be no interview in the summer : her council disapproved of it. She wrote violently to Elizabeth herself, and Maitland accompanied the letter with another to Cecil, in which he laid on England the 1 to Randolph, April 31 : Scotch MSS. Rolls House.
- Knox to Randolph, May 3 : Ibid.
