half the cost of the war _before_ the marriage. It was of the utmost importance, she repeated, that the King should hand the money over _before the ceremony_, and she did not see how she could marry unless he did so. She urged the ambassador to impress upon the King how very straightforwardly she had acted in the matter, and to request him to send a person of sufficiently high rank fully empowered to settle; and she would then summon Alençon and marry him without further ado. Castelnau demurred at this. She had deceived him, he said, so often, that his master had reproved him for his credulity. How could he believe her word, he asked. “These are not words alone,” replied the Queen, “these are the solemn oaths of a Queen and a Christian woman,” and she called God’s vengeance down upon herself if she broke them. Then she began to hector. If the King did not accede to so reasonable a demand, she said, she would know that he had been tricking her all along, and she would be his and his brother’s mortal foe for life. Her last man and her last penny should be sacrificed, she swore, before she would permit the French to gain a footing in the Netherlands. She had plenty of powerful friends, the King of Spain was seeking her, and if the King of France did not make haste and consent to her terms, she should consider his action as a negative, and immediately throw him over and join the King of Spain.[159] [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XV. Elizabeth temporises with Alençon pending the King’s reply-- Alençon’s joy at the false news of his brother’s yielding-- Elizabeth throws upon Henry III. the blame for the failure of the match--Fall of Oudenarde--Alençon’s ultimatum to Elizabeth--Salcedo’s plot--Henry III. more pliable --Alençon again hopeful--New exigencies of Elizabeth-- She again declares she will marry Alençon--Is generally disbelieved--La Mothe’s interview with her--Alençon’s treacherous attempt to seize the garrisons--Elizabeth’s jealousy of the French in the Netherlands--Alençon’s flight to Vilvorde and Dunkirk--His flight to Calais---His interview with his mother--Reconciliation with Henry III.--Preparations for a new expedition--Elizabeth offers her co-operation too late--Death of Alençon--Disappearance of the last serious suitor for Elizabeth’s hand and end of the negotiations for her marriage. The Queen’s bold game of brag succeeded. Castelnau wrote to his King urging him to give way and not to drive Elizabeth into the arms of Spain on the one hand or of the Huguenots on the other.