This  the  Englishmen  consented  to,  and  the  Queen  was  to  write  a
letter  saying  that  when  they  thought  well  to  marry,  these  articles
should  be  the  ones  adopted,  but  that  at  present'it  was  not  desirable
to  effect  the  marriage,  pending  the  discussion  in  Parliament  of  the
question  of  the  coronation  and  the  alimony  to  be  given  to  the
consort  in  case  of  the  Queen's  death.  The  French  made  great
efforts  to  prevent  this  letter  from  being  written,  whilst  the  Queen,
herself  kept  delaying  their  departure.  In  view  of  this  they  said
they  wished  to  know  why  she  refused  to  sign  the  cai)itulations,
as,  if  the  reason  was  that  they  had  not  sufficient  authority  to
accept  them  on  behalf  of  the  King,  they  would  be  glad  to  be
told  so.
