At length, after many days of dallying, great Philip decided to sacrifice himself for Spain and marry his enigmatical sister-in-law.  She must, of course, renounce Protestantism and all the laws that made her legally a queen; which was absurd, as Feria soon saw, and frankly told his master.  So then Philip half-heartedly patronised the suit of his Austrian cousin, the Archduke Charles.  If the latter would be an obedient Spanish instrument he could have Philip’s support; but German Lutherans and English Protestants had also to be considered, and Elizabeth’s court was divided into those who feared any consort not wholly Protestant and those who were eager for any marriage that shielded England from Spanish attack.

Elizabeth thought she could avoid the latter danger without marriage at all, so she dexterously played with all her suitors, English and foreign, while strengthening her position and gaining popularity.  Sometimes she swore she would never marry, and the next day would grow sentimental over the archduke, or flirted with Dudley—­keeping them all in suspense and afraid of offending her.  The French, having no marriageable prince of their own, supported Dudley, or any other English candidate whom they could use against Spain; whilst Dudley himself pretended to favour the archduke, till matters looked serious, and then found means of frustrating him, often to Elizabeth’s rage, for she wished to play her own deep game unhampered.  She knew she could always choke off the Austrian when she wished by making fresh religious demands.  The English nobles were furious at Dudley’s selfish manoeuvres to keep the queen unwed till he was free, and they planned to marry the queen to Arran, the next heir of Scotland.  This looked promising for months, but Dudley and his sister, Lady Sidney, checked the plan.

II.—­The Nine Years’ Comedy

In September, 1559, Dudley and his sister warmly took up the archduke’s cause, and assured Quadra, the Spanish ambassador, that if the suitor would flatter the queen by coming to England on chance, she would marry him.  But Elizabeth and Cecil, though they hinted much, would not clearly confirm Dudley’s promise, and Philip and the emperor dared not expose the archduke to the risk of being repulsed.  The English nobles, in good faith, urged the archduke’s suit, and said that Dudley was plotting to kill his wife and marry the queen; but they and the Spanish ambassador were outwitted at every point by Elizabeth’s diplomacy, and through 1559 and 1560 all the rivals were kept between hope and fear.

Then, in September 1560, the long-predicted murder of Amy Robsart set Dudley free, and made the nobles and Cecil more anxious than ever that the archduke should be bold, take the risk, and come to England.  The queen, to weaken the new friendship between France and Spain, herself again pretended eagerness for the Austrian’s coming; but the trick was stale now, and neither Philip nor the emperor believed her.