d will see that she has suffered pain
and tribulation sufficient; the Dauphin will then demand her of the king
her father, and the king her father will not be able to refuse.

"The lady who was my informant heard, also, from the Princess, that her
governess, and the other attendants whom the queen had set to watch her,
had assured her that the Dauphin was married to the daughter of the
emperor; but she, the Princess, had answered it was not true--the
Dauphin could not have two wives, and they well knew that she was his
wife: they told her that story, she said, to make her despair, and agree
to give up her rights; but she would never part with her hopes.

"You may have heard of the storm that broke out between her and her
governess when we went to visit her little sister. She was carried off
by force to her room, that she might not speak with us; and they could
neither pacify her nor keep her still, till the gentleman who escorted
us told her he had the king's commands that she was not to show herself
while we were in the house. You remember the message the same gentleman
brought to you from her, and the charge which was given by the queen.

"Could the king be brought to consent to the marriage, it would be a
fair union of two realms, and to annex Britain to the crown of France
would be a great honour to our Sovereign; the English party desire
nothing better; the pope will be glad of it; the pope fears that, if war
break out again, France will draw closer to England on the terms which
the King of England desires; and he may thus lose the French tribute as
he has lost the English. He therefore will urge the emperor to agree,
and the emperor will assist gladly for the love which he bears to his
cousin.

"If the emperor be willing, the King of England can then be informed;
and he can be made to feel that, if he will avoid war, he must not
refuse his consent. The king, in fact, has no wish to disown the
Princess, and he knows well that the marriage with the Dauphin was once
agreed on.

"Should he be unwilling, and should his wife's persuasions still have
influence with him, he will hesitate before he will defy, for her sake,
the King of France and the emperor united. His regard for the queen is
less than it was, and diminishes every day. He has a new fancy,[205] as
you are aware."

* * * * *

The actual conspiracy, in the form which it had so far assumed, was
rather an appeal to fanatic