40 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [m. 41 first desire was that her Majesty would marry, their second that she wouid use the opportunity of the session to allow some successor in default of heirs of her body ' to be determined by Act of Parliament ; ' while they, on their part, ' for the preservation and surety of her Majesty and her issue/ would devise ' the most penal, sharp, and terrible statutes to all who should practise against her safety.' By the nomination of a Protestant suc- cessor Elizabeth had everything to gain ; while, if Mary Stuart was acknowledged, her life would not be safe for a day. Her policy in every way was to acquiesce in the prayer of the Commons ; and yet she listened with ill- concealed impatience. She said briefly that on a matter of such moment she could give no answer without further consideration, and she then abruptly turned her back on the deputation and with- drew. 1 If de Quadra was rightly informed she had been half prevailed on to name the Earl of Huntingdon, with the condition that she herself should have Lord Robert. But Dudley had made no advances in the favour of the Peers, and Huntingdon was a Puritan and Dudley's brother-in-law ; Lord Arundel, with the Howards, still inclined to Lady Catherine Grey, of whom the Queen could not endure to hear ; and thus all parties were at issue. The Upper House followed the Lower with an ad- 1 'Con tun to Ifs volviu las espaldas y se entro en su aposento.' DC Quadra to Philip, February 6 : MS. Simancas.
