France, and Mary Stuart was a disgraced prisoner in the hands of her
enemies. In the nine years that Elizabeth had carried on the marriage
comedy she had kept the balance whilst England was growing stronger.
Now, in 1568, she could afford to rest from her labours until danger
from abroad again loomed.


_III.--Catholics and Heretics_


The peace of St. Germain in 1570 ended the long religious war in France,
and the Guises and Catholics there, free from the strife, planned the
rescue of the imprisoned Mary Stuart by force, and her marriage with the
Duke of Anjou, the heir and brother of Charles IX. This was a danger
both to Elizabeth and to the Huguenots, and was at once counteracted by
their bringing forward the suggestion that the Queen of England might
marry Anjou. He was, it is true, a fanatical Catholic, but the Huguenots
thought that with England as a bait, and the powerful mind of Elizabeth
to guide him, the youth might change his views. Leicester offered his
help--for he knew the match was unlikely--and soon Catherine de Medici's
agents were busy by Elizabeth's side. Elizabeth, as usual, was coy and
maidenly. She was too old, she said, the thought of marriage was
shocking to her; but, withal, the courtship went on actively. Anjou's
charms and rumoured gallantries were the staple gossip at her court, and
Elizabeth never tired of hearing praises of her young suitor.

But soon the Guises and the Catholic League took fright, and urged Anjou
not to be drawn into a match with a heretic too old for him. Better,
said they, win England by force and marry Mary. To England the marriage,
or a similar one, seemed really necessary. The Catholics at home and