our distinct directions; and Henry summoned the ambassadors of Charles
and Francis to Windsor to tell them that, as war was so near him, he must
raise men for his defence, especially towards Scotland, but meant no
menace to either of the Continental powers. Chapuys had already been
assured that the comedy was only to blind the French, and cheerfully
acquiesced, but the Frenchmen took a more gloomy view and knew it meant
war. With Scotland and Henry it was a case of the lamb and the wolf. Henry
knew that he dared not send his army across the Channel to attack France
without first crushing his northern neighbour. The pretended negotiations
with, and allegations against, the unfortunate Stuart were never sincere.
James was surrounded by traitors: for English money and religious rancour
had profoundly divided the Scottish gentry; Cardinal Beaton, the Scots
King's principal minister, was hated; the powerful Douglas family were
disaffected and in English pay; and the forces with which James V. rashly
attempted to raid the English marches in reprisal for Henry's unprovoked
attacks upon him were wild and undisciplined. The battle of Solway Moss
(November 1542) was a disgraceful rout for the Scots, and James,
heart-broken, fled from the ruin of his cause to Tantallon and Edinburgh,
and thence to Falkland to die. Then, with Scotland rent in twain, with a
new-born baby for a Queen, and a foreign woman as regent, Henry could face
a war with France by the side of the Emperor, with assurance of safety on
his northern border, especially if he could force upon the rulers of
Scotland a marriage between his only son and the infant Mary Stuart, as he
intended to do.

[Illustration: _KATHARINE PARR_

_From a painting in the collection of the_ EARL OF ASHBURNHAM]

There was infinite haggling with Chapuys with regard to the style to be
given to Henry in the secret treaty, even after the heads of the treaty
itself had been agreed upon. He must be called sovereign head of the
English Church, said Gardiner, or there would be no alliance with the
Emperor at all, and the difficulty was only overcome by varying the style
in the two copies of the document, that signed by Chapuys bearing the
style of; "King of England, France, and Ireland, etc.," and that signed by
the English ministers adding the King's ecclesiastical claims. If the
territories of either monarch were invaded the other was bound to come to
his aid. The French King was to be sum