"—She hath," he continued, "lived ten years with the Prince——"
"They say in England that he doth not treat her kindly——"
"His Majesty hath done his best to put discord between them—when Her Highness discovered that her Chaplain and one of her women, Anne Trelawney, were working on His Majesty's orders to make mischief betwixt the Prince and herself, she dismissed them. I thought that looked ill for us."
Basilea shook her head, still smiling.
"An English princess will not be so soon subdued—I'll undertake to get assurances from Her Highness that she is ignorant of these tales of the designs of the Prince, and that she would never support them if she knew of them."
Basilea spoke with some animation; she felt sure of what she said, and was not ill pleased to be of service to her own and her adopted country in this, as she thought it, pleasant fashion.
She remembered Mary Stewart as a lively, laughing girl, who had detested and opposed her marriage with much spirit, and she had no fear that she would find that wilful gay Princess difficult to manage.
- D'Avaux was not so confident.
"You do not know the Prince," he remarked, and Basilea laughed.
"He is not so redoubtable where women are concerned, I think," she answered; "at least allow me to try."