At the same time the Bishop urged upon his master that the moment had now come for action: either this bargain must be struck with Dudley, or help must be given to the enemies of the existing _régime_ to revolutionise England. “To let these affairs drift at the mercy of chance neither secures England to us nor punishes evil, and must end in disadvantage to your Majesty.” Philip was just as sanctimonious in profession and as pliable in practice as his ambassador. “Our principal aim,” he wrote in reply, “is directed to the service of our Lord, the maintenance of religion, and the settlement and pacification of England, and, as we see that Sidney’s proposals tend to this, and further bearing in mind that God if He wills can extract good from evil, we have decided that the negotiation suggested by Sidney should be listened to.” Dudley was to be helped to marry the Queen, but “the bargain and its payment must be clearly set forth in writing signed by Elizabeth herself, and she must give some earnest of her sincerity by liberating the Catholics she has in prison, she must undertake to send Catholic bishops and ambassadors to the Council of the Church, and submit herself unconditionally to its decisions. And, besides all this, she must begin by giving full toleration to Catholic worship.” This, again, shows that Philip was utterly at sea as regards the real condition of England at the time, and was still ignorant of Elizabeth’s character and position. Such demands as those he formulated as a preliminary were utterly out of the question, even as a final concession. Before this letter was received in London the insincerity of Elizabeth in the matter began to appear. The Earl of Bedford was sent to France, ostensibly to condole with Catharine for the death of Francis II.; but also to suggest that the French bishops—and especially those of Huguenot leaning—should join her in sending representatives to the Council, but not at Trent, as had been agreed, but somewhere else on this side of the Alps. The cleverness of this move is apparent. Catharine and Elizabeth would in such case seem to be making common cause, which would paralyse Philip; and at the same time the Catholics in England would be tranquillised with the idea that a Council of the Church would settle matters to their liking. Catharine, however, did not jump at the bait, as just then in the first days of her Regency she did not wish to quarrel with her Spanish son-in-law, or to drive the Catholic Guises to desperation by seeming to join with Elizabeth against them.