Never before did the hand of a woman and its possible bestowal in marriage play so important a part in the affairs of Europe as did that of Elizabeth. She contrived to delay and postpone giving an answer to Philip till his minister wrote home wrathfully, “The English queen is possessed of ten thousand devils,” but at the death of Philip’s third wife, ten years later, she was not at all displeased when the Spanish ambassador suggested pointedly that Philip was “still young enough to take a fourth wife.” When France was showing too much favor to Scotland to suit English notions, she was fully capable of discussing the possibility of a Scotch husband, and when there was a whisper that one foreign ruler meditated the rescue of the captive Mary and a marriage with her, Elizabeth at once sent an agent to him to suggest a marriage with herself. Whenever her fears of Spain increased, she began to think of a French alliance. There was always a French suitor ready, for Catherine de Medicis was trying her best to persuade Elizabeth to choose one of the French princes for a husband.
The English queen kept one suitor waiting in uncertainty for seven years, another for eleven. She had all sorts of absurd names for her admirers; one was her “lap-dog,” one her “tame cat,” one her “sheep,” another her “frog.” Occasionally she found a wooer who was not so ready as the others to await her royal pleasure. Three years after all negotiations with the Archduke Charles, brother of the German emperor, had been broken off, she was talking familiarly with some of the ladies of the bedchamber, and she said with some indignation:—
“The king of France is to marry one daughter of the emperor, and the king of Spain is to marry another.”
“There’s many a noble marriage, your Majesty,” said one of her ladies. “Would that there was one more,” she added slily.
“These royal brides have near of kin to promote their interests,” replied Elizabeth. “What can a woman alone do for herself, whether she is on a throne or on a wooden stool?”
“Your Grace has full many a faithful servant,” answered the lady, “who would be ready to give life and limb to do your will.”
“And yet with all these honorable marriages a-making, not one man in the council had the wit to remind the rest that the emperor has a brother,” said the queen and turned away abruptly. The lady understood what was expected of her, and she sent at once for the Earl of Leicester.
“Would you do aught to gratify her Majesty?” she asked.
“Is there aught that I would not do to gratify her Majesty—or yourself?” he added with a gallant bow. The lady repeated the conversation.
The next day a humble petition came from the council:—