mains was concluded, he assured
Charles and Catherine that their lives were in danger, as the Huguenots
were seeking to pull down the throne as well as the altar. He believed
that all intercourse with them was sinful, and that the sole remedy was
utter extermination by the sword. "I am convinced," he wrote, "that it
will come to this." "If they do the tenth part of what I have advised,
it will be well for them."[36] After an audience of two hours, at which
he had presented a letter from Pius V., prophesying the wrath of Heaven,
Salviati perceived that his exhortations made some impression. The King
and Queen whispered to him that they hoped to make the peace yield such
fruit that the end would more than countervail the badness of the
beginning; and the King added, in strict confidence, that his plan was
one which, once told, could never be executed.[37] This might have been
said to delude the Nuncio; but he was inclined on the whole to believe
that it was sincerely meant. The impression was confirmed by the
Archbishop of Sens, Cardinal Pelleve, who informed him that the Huguenot
leaders were caressed at Court in order to detach them from their party,
and that after the loss of their leaders it would not take more than
three days to deal with the rest.[38] Salviati on his return to France
was made aware that his long-deferred hopes were about to be fulfilled.
He shadowed it forth obscurely in his despatches. He reported that the
Queen allowed the Huguenots to pass into Flanders, believing that the
admiral would become more and more presumptuous until he gave her an
opportunity of retribution; for she excelled in that kind of intrigue.
Some days later he knew more, and wrote that he hoped soon to have good
news for his Holiness.[39] At the last moment his heart misgave him. On
the morning of the 21st of August the Duke of Montpensier and the
Cardinal of Bourbon spoke with so much unconcern, in his presence, of
what was then so near, that he thought it hardly possible the secret
could be kept.[40]

The foremost of the French prelates was the Cardinal of Lorraine. He had
held a prominent position at the council of Trent; and for many years he
had wielded the influence of the House of Guise over the Catholics of
France. In May 1572 he went to Rome; and he was still there when the
news came from Paris in September. He at once made it known that the
resolution had been taken before he left France, and that it was due to
himsel