ij3 3 .J THE JESUITS IN SCOTLAND. 305 to the service of the Queen of England, that he was ready to put her in possession of the secret plots of the Duke of Guise, and that if she distrusted him he would send his son to her as a pledge of his good faith. ' The King of Scots,' Lennox said, ' was a deep dissembler. The King had many times requested him to transport him into France, and but the other day had written to him to return as quietly as he might and all things should come to pass to his desire.' By the same mes- senger Lennox begged Cobham ' to bestow a Bible on him,' and sent a declaration in writing that ' his religion being the same with the Queen's Majesty's, the zeal which he had for the same might command him further than any worldly interest.' 1 The ambassador knew not what to think. The Bishop of Ross had been seen at Lennox's house. Guise and Guise's adherents were there continually. Lady Len- nox had been closeted with the Queen-mother, and it was not to be supposed that such persons would trust him with their confidence unless they were certain of his devotion. His overtures, the religious cant espe- cially, tallied exactly with his declarations to Men- doza; but his next message seemed to indicate that Mendoza was right about his character, and that he contemplated genuine treachery. He did not mean to give his services gratuitously. The Queen, he said, must make a distinct agreement with him. ' If she refused, he would in religion and always run the course of 1 Cobham to Walsingham, March 21 : MSS. France. VOL. xi. 20
