1564.] THE EMBASSY OF DE SILVA. 223 disposed with great affection towards her, as before God we wish her right to be next to us before all other. 3 1 Mary Stuart herself meanwhile was in close com- munication with Lady Lennox, and was receiving from her more and more assurances of the devotion of the English Catholics. Randolph, on his return to Edin- burgh from London, found Maitland open-mouthed at the suspension of the prosecution of Hales for his book on the succession. The Scotch Court had expected that he would have been ' put to death as a traitor/ Randolph protested against the word ' traitor ' inas- much as it implied ' the certainty of the Queen of Scots 7 claim/ ' which many in England did not believe to be certain at all.' ' Hales has not deserved death,' he said,
- and imprisonment was the worst which could be in-
flicted/ Maitland spoke menacingly of the disaffection among the Catholics. Randolph ' bade him not make too much account of conspirators ; ' ' the behaviour of the Scotch Court/ he said, ' was so strange that he could only sup- pose they meant to quarrel with England ; ' ' and with these words they grew both into further choler than wisdom led them/ 2 Mary's own language was still smooth, affectionate, and confiding; but Maitland and even Murray pro- tested beforehand that when the commission met they would agree to no conditions and accept no marriage 1 Elizabeth to Bedford and Randolph, October 7, 1564: /Scotch MSS Rolls House. 2 Randolph to Cecil, October 24 : Scotch MSS. Soils House.
