re and Margaret of Valois was first talked of in earnest.
He married, on the 17th of September, 1570, Catharine of Cleves, widow of
Prince Porcien. ("_Hodie_ celebrantur Lutetiae Ducis Guisii, qui ducit in
uxorem viduam principis Portiani," etc. Languet, Sept. 17, 1570, Epist.
secr., i. 163.) It is not probable that Margaret would object to the
advantageous marriage with Henry of Navarre on account of her affection
for a former lover, who, at the time of her nuptials, had been for two
years married to another woman.

[862] Digges, 122.

[863] "La Reyna mi madre," said Anjou one day to a lady, "muestra tener
pena de que esta desbaratado mi casamiento, y yo estoy el mas contento
hombre del mundo de haber escapado de casar con una puta publica." Francis
de Alava to Philip, May 11, 1571, _apud_ Froude, Hist. of Eng., x. 224.

[864] She gravely proposed to her council to have a stipulation for the
restitution of Calais inserted in the articles of marriage, and Burleigh,
Sussex, and Leicester had some difficulty in persuading her to omit the
mention. Lord Burleigh, June 5, 1571, Digges, 104.

[865] Froude, Hist. of England, x. 230. This statement, in itself
sufficiently credible in view of Leicester's subsequent career, rests on a
passage in a MS. from Simancas, which Mr. Froude inserts in a foot-note.

[866] Despatch of March 22, 1572, Digges, 197.

[867] Unless by means of La Mothe Fenelon's arithmetic, who, in
conversation with Queen Elizabeth, maintained that, since her majesty was
at least _nine_ years younger in her _disposition_, and Alencon _eight_
years older _in manly vigor_, both parties were of precisely the same age,
namely, twenty-seven! Corresp. diplom., v. 91, etc.

[868] La Mothe Fenelon, vii. 289; Dumont, Corps diplomatique, v., 211-215.
It cannot but be regarded as a singular instance of Elizabeth's
irresolution and of that perversity with which she was wont to try the
patience of her council almost beyond endurance, that she gravely proposed
to include in the treaty an article providing for the _protection_ of the
King of Spain--a stipulation against which Walsingham earnestly protested
as the climax of folly, since it was certain "that the end of this league
is onely to bridle his greatness." Digges, 175.

[869] "The like hath not been seen in any man's memory," wrote Lord
Burleigh. Montmorency received "a Cupboard of Plate Gilt," "a great cup of
gold of 111 ounces," etc. Digges, 218; De Thou, iv.