On  the  16th  I  wrote  what  had  passed  between  the  Queen  and
La  Mothe,  and  the  steps  the  Council  had  taken  to  detain  him  here.
In  consequence  of  a  despatch  he  had  from  France  he  saw  the
Queen  on  the  21st,  and  told  her  that  if  she  did  not  instantly  give
him  a  safe-conduct  to  Scotland  he  would  return  to  France  tiie
next  day,  and  the  King  would  send  another  personage  to  Scotland,
if,  indeed,  he  had  not  done  so  already.  The  Queen  was  much
disturbed  at  his  firmness,  and  in  the  course  of  many  rejoinders,
said  that  he  was  acting  in  obedience  to  the  intrigues  of  certain  of

*  The  Gregorian  calendar  bad  been  adopted  in  October  of  tbis  year.  The  letters
from  England,  of  course,  continued  to  be  dated  according  to  the  old  style,  10  days
earlier.  Tbis  must  be  taken  into  account  in  calculating  the  dates  of  letters  in  tbe
present  Calendar,


^Lli^ABETlt.  42d


1582.
