Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/541

I57I-] THE RIDOLFI CONSPIRACY. 527 consistent policy. He despised her and played upon her weakness. When he received Drury's message, and heard of the preparations at Berwick, he wrote to re- mind her ' how often she had urged him to remain faith- ful to his own Queen, how at times she had reproached him for his seeming want of duty, how incredible it ap- peared to him that she should now take his fidelity to his mistress unkindly. He could not and would not ac- knowledge the Regency of Lennox. His property had been confiscated. He and many other noblemen had been declared outlaws. The King, when he took on him the administration, would find no kingdom apt for rule, but a confused chaos, where within short time there would start up two or three hundred resembling Shan O'Neil, whereof every one would be king in his own bounds or within ten miles' compass. Neither he nor his friends would permit five or six earls and lords, not of the greatest degree, to make slaves of all who would not serve their turn; and for himself, he had not been accustomed to misery, and would find it strange to be driven to live on other men's charity. This however he was ready to do. He would use his credit to procure a reasonable union of all the states of the realm to main- tain peace with England. He would procure that her Majesty should be put in trust to make a final end of all controversies and be moderatrix in all their debates ; this point only reserved, that she would so deal with the Queen of Scots that he and his friends might not be condemned of having dealt undutifully with their Sove- reign, to whom he for his own part was particularly