But suddenly, before Elizabeth had made up her mind, the death of Francis the Second saved her from the necessity of giving a definite answer to the Scottish commissioners. This event, by which the Crowns of France and Scotland were once more separated, opened a new scene in the drama of international politics, and enabled her to escape from the dilemma in which she found herself. She thanked the Scottish Estates for the goodwill which they had displayed towards her; and she assured them that she regarded the offer of marriage as a token of their wish “to knit both theis kingdomes presently in Amytye, and hereafter to remaine in a perpetual Amytye.” But in the meantime, though she had a high opinion of the Lord Arran, she was not disposed to take a husband, and she thought that the friendship of the nations could be maintained without a marriage. With this unsatisfactory answer the commissioners were obliged to be content.[35] Then came the return of Mary to Scotland, her stubborn refusal to ratify that clause of the Treaty of Edinburgh by which she was to give up using the title of Queen of England, her quarrels with the reformers, and the long series of misfortunes and misdeeds which ended only with the tragedy of Fotheringay. The failure of the marriage negotiations was taken as an insult by the Scots; and doubtless this accounts, to some extent, for the cordial way in which Mary, in spite of her adherence to the Church of Rome, was welcomed on her return from France. The project of uniting the kingdoms by a royal marriage was not again renewed in so definite a form; but during the numerous intrigues spread over so many years, the purpose of which was to find a husband for the Queen of Scots, the effect which her marriage would have upon the relations of England and Scotland was never lost sight of. If the suitor for her hand was a Protestant, he was favoured by those who desired to see peace between the two nations; if he was a Catholic, by those who desired a renewal of the French alliance, or at least a rupture with England.[36] Protestant or Catholic? that was the great question for England and Scotland then, as for the rest of Europe. Everything turned upon that. During Mary’s short sojourn at Holyrood, and during the long years of her captivity in England, everything--conspiracies against Elizabeth; the rise and fall of Regents in Scotland; the civil wars with all their treachery and bloodshed; the assassinations; the beheadings--every episode and every scheme, however disguised, was a part of the contest between the old faith and the new. During these years of trouble the Protestants of the two countries drew gradually together; and in the year 1586 the kingdoms entered into a compact which lasted until the death of Elizabeth and the accession of James to the throne of England.