that she
begins to be displeased at it; and though she has not positively given
her promise, she has said enough to encourage him to come over; the
King showed this letter to the Duke of Nemours, who instead of speaking
seriously as he had done at the beginning of this affair, only laughed
and trifled, and made a jest of Lignerol's expectations: He said, 'The
whole world would censure his imprudence, if he ventured to go to
England, with the pretensions of marrying the Queen, without being
secure of success; I think,' added he, 'I should time my business very
ill to go to England now, when the King of Spain uses such pressing
instances to obtain the Queen in marriage; the Spanish King perhaps
would not be a very formidable rival in matters of gallantry, but in a
treaty of marriage I believe your Majesty would not advise me to be his
competitor.' 'I would advise you to it upon this occasion,' replied the
King; 'but however you will have no competitor in him; I know he has
quite other thoughts; and though he had not, Queen Mary found herself
so uneasy under the weight of the Spanish Crown, that I can't believe
her sister will be very desirous of it.' 'If she should not,' replied
the Duke of Nemours, 'it is probable she will seek her happiness in
love; she has been in love with my Lord Courtenay for several years;
Queen Mary too was in love with him, and would have married him with
consent of the states of her kingdom, had not she known that the youth
and beauty of her sister Elizabeth had more charms for him than her
crown; your Majesty knows, that the violence of her jealousy carried
her so far, as to imprison them both, and afterwards to banish my Lord
Courtenay, and at last determined her to marry the King of Spain; I
believe Queen Elizabeth will soon recall that Lord, and make choice of
a man whom she loves, who deserves her love, and who has suffered so
much for her, in preference to another whom she never saw.' 'I should
be of that opinion,' replied the King, 'if my Lord Courtenay were
living, but I received advice some days ago, that he died at Padua,
whither he was banished: I plainly see,' added the King, as he left the
Duke, 'that your marriage must be concluded the same way the Dauphin's
was, and that ambassadors must be sent to marry the Queen of England
for you.'

"Monsieur d'Anville and the Viscount, who were with the King when he
spoke to the Duke of Nemours, are persuaded that it is the passion he
is