had been proposed to him,
since, were she once in his hands, he had thought that war could no longer
be avoided. He now allowed Chapuys to try what he could do to get her out
of the country, and meanwhile to report more particularly on the landing
of an invading force.

The escape itself presented no great difficulty. The Princess was
generally at the Palace at Greenwich. Her friends would let her out at
night; an armed barge could be waiting off the walls, and a Flemish
man-of-war might be ready at the Nore, of size sufficient to beat off
boats that might be sent in pursuit. Should she be removed elsewhere the
enterprise would not be so easy. In the event of an insurrection while she
was still in the realm, Chapuys said the first step of the Lords would be
to get possession of her mother and Mary. If they failed, the King would
send them to the Tower: but in the Tower they would be out of danger, as
the Constable, Sir William Kingston, was their friend. In any case he did
not believe that hurt would be done them, the King feeling that, if war
did break out, they would be useful as mediators, like the wife and mother
of Coriolanus.

CHAPTER XVII.

Prospects of civil war--England and Spain--Illness of the Princess Mary--
Plans for her escape--Spirit of Queen Catherine--The Emperor unwilling to
interfere--Negotiations for a new treaty between Henry and Charles--Debate
in the Spanish Council of State--The rival alliances--Disappointment of
the confederate Peers--Advance of Lutheranism in England--Cromwell and
Chapuys--Catherine and Mary the obstacles to peace--Supposed designs on
Mary's life.

England, to all appearance, was now on the eve of a bloody and desperate
war. The conspirators were confident of success; but conspirators
associate exclusively with persons of their own opinions, and therefore
seldom judge accurately of the strength of their opponents. Chapuys and
his friends had been equally confident about Ireland. Fitzgerald was now a
fugitive, and the insurrection was burning down; yet the struggle before
Henry would have been at least as severe as had been encountered by his
grandfather Edward, and the country itself would have been torn to pieces;
one notable difference only there was in the situation--that the factions
of the Roses had begun the battle of themselves, without waiting for help
from abroad; the reactionaries under Henry VIII., confessedly, were afraid
to stir without the avowed supp