BBHH]
 
 Of tins Edition of Whyte-Melville s 
 Works One Thousand and Fifty 
 Copies otily have been printed by 
 Morrison and Gibb Limited, Edin- 
 burgh, who have distributed the type
 
 THE WORKS OF 
 
 G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 SIR HERBERT MAXWELL, BART. 
 
 VOLUME XIX.
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES
 
 (frontitfitct.)
 
 THE 
 
 QUEEN'S MARIE^S 
 
 A ROMANCE OF HOLYROOD 
 
 *<V/ BV 
 
 G7 J. WHYTE-MELV1LLE 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY G. H. JALLAND 
 
 " Yestre'en the Queen had four Maries 
 
 The day she'll hae but three 
 There was Mary Beton, and Mary Seton, 
 And Maiy Carmtchael and me." 
 
 LONDON 
 W. TRACKER & CO., 2 CREED LANE, E.G. 
 
 CALCUTTA: THACKER, SPINK & CO. 
 1901 
 
 All rig/its reserved
 
 p/?
 
 TO 
 
 A LADY 
 
 WHOSE UNTIRING ENERGY AND HISTORICAL RESEARCH 
 HAVE ADDED LARGELY TO THE LITERATURE 
 
 OF OUR COUNTRY 
 
 AND WHOSE ELOQUENT DEFENCE OF A CALUMNIATED QUEEN HAS 
 IDENTIFIED WITH MARY STUART THE NAME OF 
 
 AGNES STRICKLAND 
 
 THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
 BARTRA.MS, HAMPSTEAD, 
 June 1862. 
 
 IX
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGK 
 
 I. FAREWELL, FRANCE ! ..... I 
 
 II. THE FOUR MARIES . . . . . .12 
 
 III. WALTER MAXWELL ...... 23 
 
 IV. A BRUSH ON THE BORDER ..... 33 
 
 V. THE QUEEN OF SCOTS ... .43 
 
 VI. AT HOLYROOD .... .50 
 
 VII. DICK-O'-THE-CLEUGH ..... 57 
 
 VIII. RICCIO ARRAN BOTHWELL . . . .68 
 
 IX. CHAUDMELLEY . . . . . -77 
 
 X. LAW AND ORDER ...... 92 
 
 XI. DICK IN CHAINS . . ... 99 
 
 XII. THE REFORMER . . . . . .103 
 
 XIII. A LISTENER HEARS NO GOOD . . . .114 
 
 XIV. A LOVE-SICK MINSTREL . . . . .126 
 
 XV. IN THE LISTS . . . . . . .136 
 
 XVI. THE REVELS ....... 146 
 
 XVII. CHASTELAR . . . . . . .158 
 
 XVIII. HIGH DISPUTATION ...... 169 
 
 XIX. UNEQUAL LOVE ... l8o 
 
 xi
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 XX. A HEARTLESS RUSE . . . . .189 
 
 XXI. THE MADNESS OF PASSION . . . .196 
 
 XXII. ACRIMONIA THEOLOGICA . . . . . 2OI 
 
 xxni. THE MAIDEN'S MISSION ... .214 
 
 xxiv. THE MINSTREL'S DOOM . . . . 225 
 
 XXV. THE DIPLOMAT AND THE SOLDIER . . .230 
 
 XXVI. TWELFTH-NIGHT . . . . . .241 
 
 XXVII. MYSTIFICATION ...... 255 
 
 xxvin. ON THE QUEEN'S SERVICE . . . .262 
 
 XXIX. HERMITAGE TOWER . . . . .271 
 
 XXX. FOUL PLAY ..... .283 
 
 XXXI. KIDNAPPED ...... 288 
 
 XXXII. DARNLEY . .... 296 
 
 XXXIII. OVERCAST ....... 309 
 
 XXXIV. EARL AGAINST EARL . . . . 315 
 
 XXXV. IN EDINBURGH . . . . . 323 
 
 XXXVI. THE ATTEMPT . . . . . -331 
 
 XXXVII. FREEDOM ... ... 342 
 
 XXXVIII. HYMEN . . . . . 350 
 
 XXXIX. ECLAIRCISSEMENT . . . . . 358 
 XL. EXEUNT OMNES ...... 366 
 
 X1J
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 " ' HOOD HER UP, DICK "' . . . Coloiired Frontispiece 
 
 "HE MANAGED TO REACH HER BRIDLE-REIN" . 29 
 
 "THE TROOP RETURNING WITH ITS BOOTY" . . .78 
 
 "FOLLOWING HER DEERHOUNDS" . . . . .114 
 
 "HIS HORSE FALLS" . . . . . ^143 
 
 "THE BLACK MARE SHIED AT A BEGGAR" . . .182 
 
 "WITH HIS WHOLE HEART AND SOUL" . . 206 
 
 "MAXWELL TURNF.D IN HIS SADDLE" . . . .293 
 
 "'HE SCENTS A FRESH FOOT 1 " . . . . -341 
 
 Xlll
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 H IRomance of 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 FAREWELL, FRANCE! 
 
 "Turn back, turn back, ye weel-fau'red May, 
 
 My heart will break in three ; 
 And sae did mine on yon bonny hill-side, 
 When ye wadna let me be ! " 
 
 'ANY a smiling plain, many a wooded 
 slope and sequestered valley adorns 
 the fair province of Picardy. 
 Nor is it without reason that her 
 Norman-looking sons and handsome 
 daughters are proud of their birth- 
 place ; but the most prejudiced of 
 them will hardly be found to 
 affirm that her seaboard is either 
 picturesque or interesting; and 
 perhaps the strictest search would 
 fail to discover a duller town than 
 Calais in the whole bounds of France. 
 With the gloom of night settling down upon the long low 
 line of white sand which stretches westward from the harbour, 
 and an angry surge rising on the adjacent shoal, while out to 
 seaward darkness is brooding over the face of the deep, an 
 unwilling traveller might, indeed, be induced to turn into the 
 narrow ill-paved streets of the town, on the seaman-like 
 principle of running for any port in a storm ; but it would be 
 from the sheer necessity of procuring food and lodging, not 
 from any delusive expectation of gaiety and amusement, 
 essential ingredients in a Frenchman's everyday life. And 
 yet Calais has been the scene of many a thrilling incident and 
 A I
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 stirring event. Could they speak, those old houses, with their 
 pointed gables, their overhanging roofs, and quaint diamond- 
 paned windows, they could tell some strange tales of love and 
 war, of French and English chivalry, of deeds of arms performed 
 for the sake of honour, and beauty, and ambition, and gold 
 the four strings on which most of the tunes are played that 
 speed the Dance of Death of failures and successes, hopes and 
 disappointments, the ups and downs, the ins and outs, the 
 cross-purposes, the hide-and-seek, that constitute the game of 
 life. In that very house, over the way yonder with its silent 
 courtyard, in which the grass shoots up vigorously between 
 the stones, and from which to-day nothing more unusual 
 issues than an old peasant woman in a clean cap, carrying a 
 young child with a dirty face slept, perhaps, the loveliest 
 woman the world ever saw, a widow, while yet a bride, a 
 queen while yet a child, on her way from one royal throne to 
 take possession of another. Yes, here she lay the night before 
 she quitted her dear France, never to see it again ; the bright, 
 the beautiful, the beloved, a very rose amongst all the flowers 
 of the garden, a very gem amongst all the gold and tinsel 
 that surrounded her, the link in a line of kings, the pride of 
 two countries, the fairest of God's creatures Mary, Queen of 
 Scots here she lay, with life and love and hope before her, 
 and slept, and dreamed not of Fotheringay. 
 
 It was a chill autumn night. Beyond the walls a rising 
 breeze moaned fitfully over the dreary flats. The ebbing tide 
 murmured as it receded, returning, and yet returning, as 
 though loth to leave that comfortless expanse of wet level 
 sand. A few drops of rain fell from time to time, and 
 though a star struggled out here and there, the sky became 
 momentarily more obscured. It was a gloomy night out at 
 sea yonder ; it was a gloomy night here on shore, dismal fore- 
 boding, and suggestive of farewell. But within the town, 
 bustle and hurry, and a certain amount of confusion, not 
 unmixed with revelry, imparted considerable life and animation 
 to the hours of darkness, scaring indeed some of the quiet 
 householders, and rousing the echoes in the narrow streets. 
 Horses, picketed in the market-place, stamped and snorted 
 and shook their bridles; spurs clanked on the pavement; 
 steel corselet and headpiece flashed in the light of torches held 
 by bearded men-at-arms, looking doubly martial in that red 
 glare. Here might be seen a dainty page in satin doublet, 
 with velvet cap and feather, elbowing some sturdy groom who 
 was bearing a cuirass home from the armourer's, or leading a 
 charger to its stall, and inquiring, with all a page's freedom, 
 
 2
 
 FAREWELL, FRANCE! 
 
 for the lodging of his lord, to receive, probably, an answer 
 neither respectful nor explanatory, but productive of a sting- 
 ing retort for in those days the pages of a great house 
 were masters of all weapons, but especially of the tongue. 
 There might be observed a group of peasant-women, in clean 
 hoods and aprons, with baskets on their heads, lingering 
 somewhat longer than was absolutely necessary to exchange 
 with harquebusiers or spearmen those compliments in which 
 the French imagination is so prolific, and which the French 
 language renders with such graceful facility. Anon, a lord of 
 high degree, easily recognised by the dignity of his bearing, 
 and the number of his retainers thronging round him with 
 arms and torches, passed along the streets, exciting the 
 curiosity of the vulgar and the admiration of the softer sex ; 
 while more than one churchman, threading his way quietly 
 homeward, dropped his benedicite with gentle impartiality 
 amongst the throng. The blessing was usually received with 
 gratitude, though an exception might occur in the person of 
 some stalwart man-at-arms, large of limb, fresh-coloured, and 
 fair-bearded, who returned the good man's greeting with 
 derision or contempt. These reprobates were invariably well- 
 armed, and extremely soldier-like in their bearing, to be dis- 
 tinguished, moreover, by their blue velvet surcoats, on which 
 St. Andrew's cross was embroidered in silver, and the pecu- 
 liar form of their steel-lined bonnets, which they wore with a 
 jaunty air on one side the head. Something, also, of more 
 than the usual assumption of a soldier might be traced in their 
 demeanour, as is apt to be the case with the members of a 
 corps d'elite, and such the Archers of the Scottish Body- 
 guard had indeed a right to be considered both by friend and 
 foe. Although in the service of His Most Catholic Majesty, 
 many of them, including their captain, the unfortunate Earl 
 of Arran, were staunch Protestants ; and at that rancorous 
 period, the supporters of the Reformed Church did by no 
 means confine themselves to a silent abnegation of the errors 
 they had renounced. 
 
 One archer, however, a young man with nothing peculiarly 
 striking either in face or figure, save an air of frankness and 
 quiet determination on his sunburnt brow, acknowledged 
 the benediction of a passing ecclesiastic with a humility that 
 excited the jeers of two or three comrades, to which he 
 replied with the quiet simplicity that seemed to be a part of 
 his character, " An old man's blessing, lads, can do neither 
 you nor me any harm," and proceeded on his way without 
 further remark or explanation ; while the manner in which his
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 rebuke was received by the scorners themselves, denoted that 
 he was at least a person of some consideration and standing 
 in the corps. Elbowing his way through a gaudy crowd, 
 consisting of the Marquis d'Elboeufs retainers, who were 
 accompanying their master in his attendance on his royal 
 niece, and certain satellites of the house of Guise, for the 
 duke and duchess, with Cardinal Lorraine, had already 
 escorted the Queen of Scotland thus far upon her journey, 
 our archer turned into an auberge, already filled with a 
 mixture of courtiers, soldiers, pages, men-at-arms, and other 
 officials, and seating himself at a small deal table, coarse and 
 clean, requested to be served, in a tone of impatience that 
 implied a vigorous appetite and a long fast. While the host, 
 quick, courteous, and smiling, bustled up to him, with nap- 
 kin, trencher, and some two feet of bread, the archer- removed 
 the bonnet from his brow, and, looking around him, nodded 
 to one or two acquaintances with an air of considerable pre- 
 occupation, ere he subsided into a profound fit of abstraction, 
 which, to judge by his countenance, proceeded from no agree- 
 able theme. 
 
 He was a man of less than thirty summers, sufficiently well- 
 built, and of ordinary stature, with no peculiar advantages of 
 person or bearing that should distinguish him from any other 
 gentleman-private of the Scottish Body-guard. His arms, 
 indeed, were scrupulously clean and of the best workmanship ; 
 for when a man's life depends daily on the quality of his blade, 
 such details become a matter of course ; and if his apparel 
 were a thought more carefully put on, and of a more precise 
 cut, than that of his fellows, this distinction seemed but to 
 arise from that habitual attention to trifles which is the usual 
 concomitant of energy and readiness for action. A sloven 
 may be a brave man, and a capable ; but if the machine is 
 to remain in good working order, every screw should fit 
 to a hair's-breadth, and a coat of varnish over the whole 
 will not detract from its efficiency. Our archer, then, was well 
 but not splendidly dressed ; nor would his face more than his 
 figure have attracted the attention of any casual observer. 
 Nine men out of ten would have passed him by unnoticed. A 
 woman would have been first puzzled, then interested, perhaps 
 eventually fascinated, by the quiet repose of that stern, calm 
 brow. It was a face of which the expression was many 
 years older than the features. A physiognomist would have 
 detected in it resolution, tenacity of purpose, strong* feeling, 
 repressed by habitual self-control above all, self-denial and 
 great power of suffering. For the rest, his complexion, where
 
 FAREWELL, FRANCE! 
 
 not tanned by the weather, was fair and fresh - coloured, 
 according well with the keen grey eye and light-brown hair of 
 his Scottish origin. 
 
 The archer's meditations, however, were soon put to 
 flight by the agreeable interruption of a well-served supper 
 (for, indeed, prior to those days, as old Froissart will bear 
 us witness, the French excelled in cookery) ; and after the 
 first cravings of appetite were appeased, he emptied a cup 
 of red wine with a sigh of considerable satisfaction, then 
 returned to his platter with renewed vigour, and filled his 
 goblet once more to the brim. 
 
 " Good wine drowns care," said a laughing voice behind 
 him ; " and Cupid himself cannot fly when his wings are 
 drenched. Ho ! drawer, quick ! Another flask of burgundy, 
 and place me a chair by my pearl of Scottish Archers, till he 
 tells me what brings him here eighty leagues from Paris, 
 unless it be to mingle his tears with the salt brine of the 
 accursed Channel that bears our White Queen l from the 
 shores of France." 
 
 An expression of pain shot rapidly over the archer's face as 
 he greeted the speaker with a cordial grasp of the hand ; but he 
 answered in the deep steady tones that were habitual to him. 
 
 " A man may have despatches to carry from the con- 
 stable to his son ; and d'Amville is not likely to overlook a 
 soldier's delay on such a road as this, where there are as 
 many horses as poplar trees. I could take the Montmor- 
 ency's orders yesterday at noon, and be here to supper to- 
 night, without borrowing the Pegasus you ride so recklessly, 
 my poetical friend." 
 
 The other laughed gaily ; and when he laughed, his dark 
 eyes flashed and sparkled like diamonds. 
 
 " My Pegasus," said he, " needs oftener the spur than the 
 rein ; but who could not write verses, and sing them too, with 
 such a theme before him ? Listen, my friend. I am to sail 
 to-morrow with them for Scotland. Heaven's blessing on 
 d'Amville that he has selected me to accompany him ! Nay, 
 we are appointed to the queen's galley ; and Mary will take 
 at least one heart along with her, as loyal and devoted as 
 any she can leave behind." 
 
 He checked himself suddenly, and a sad, wistful expres- 
 sion crossed his handsome brow, whilst the dark eyes dimmed, 
 and he set down untasted the burgundy he had lifted to his 
 lips. Something in his voice, too, -seemed to have enlisted 
 
 1 Mary was called La Reine Blanche, because she mourned in white for her 
 first husband, Francis II.
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 the archer's sympathy, and he also was silent for a moment 
 and averted his looks from his companion's face. 
 After a while he forced himself to speak. 
 " I must return," said he, " in two more days. Is it true 
 they embark without fail to-morrow? Is there no danger 
 from the ships of England ? Is her Majesty well accom- 
 panied? Doth the household sail with her? Ladies and 
 all ? " 
 
 "The Maries, of course," replied the other, answering 
 only the last question, which he reasonably considered the 
 most interesting to his listener ; " and right glad they seem 
 to be to quit this merry land of France for that cold bleak 
 country where I hear music is scarcely known, and dancing 
 interdicted as a sin ! I marvel much at their taste. To be 
 sure, they accompany one who would inspire the wildest 
 savages with chivalry, and make the veriest desert a para- 
 dise ! Ah ! when was such a garland of beauty ever trusted 
 to the waves ? The queen and her satellites ! One lovelier 
 than another, but all paling before her. A bumper, my friend ! 
 on your knees, a bumper a health to the letter M ! nay, 
 pledge me one for each of the four, and a fresh flask for the 
 queen for the queen ! " 
 
 Again the speaker's voice sank to a whisper, and the 
 archer, who had ere now recovered the usual indifference of 
 his demeanour, proceeded to do justice to a toast which could 
 not, according to the manners of the age, have been refused, 
 and which, in truth, for reasons of his own, he was by no 
 means loth to pledge. The table at which they sat, how- 
 ever, was by this time surrounded by the different frequenters 
 of the auberge, for the archer's companion, no other than 
 the poet Chastelar, was too well-known and popular an 
 individual in the gay circles of France to remain long 
 unnoticed, where so many of her nobility were congregated. 
 Young, handsome, and well-born, his romantic disposition 
 and undoubted talents had rendered him an especial favourite 
 with a people who, above all things, delight to be amused, 
 and with whom enthusiasm, whether real or affected, is 
 generally accepted as an equivalent for merit. To look on 
 Chastelar, with his long dark curls and his bright eyes, was 
 to behold the poet-type in its most attractive form ; and 
 when to beauty of feature and delicacy of mind were added 
 a graceful figure, skill in horsemanship, as in all knightly 
 exercises, great kindliness of disposition, and gentle birth, 
 what wonder that with the ladies of the French Court to be 
 in love with Chastelar, was as indispensable a fashion as to 
 
 6
 
 FAREWELL, FRANCE! 
 
 wear a pointed stomacher, or a delicate lace-edging to the 
 ruff? And Chastelar, with true poet-nature, sunned himself 
 in their smiles, and enjoyed life intensely, as only such 
 natures can, and bore about with him the while, unsuspected 
 and incurable, a sorrow near akin to madness in his 
 heart. 
 
 As gallant after gallant strode up to the table at which 
 the two friends sat, the conversation became general, turning, 
 as such conversations usually do, on the congenial themes of 
 love and war. Again and again was mine host summoned 
 for fresh supplies of wine, and the archer, whose recent arrival 
 from Paris made him an object of general interest, was plied 
 with questions as to the latest news and gossip of the capital. 
 Richly-mounted swords were laid aside on the coarse deal 
 table, cloaks of velvet and embroidery draped the uncouth 
 chairs, gilt spurs jingled on the humble floor, and voices 
 that had bandied opinions with kings in council, or shouted 
 " St. Denis ! " in the field, were now exchanging jest and 
 laugh and repartee under the homely roof of a common wine- 
 shop. Even the Marquis d'Elboeuf, the queen's uncle, a lord 
 of the princely house of Guise, and Admiral of France, joined 
 with a sailor's frankness in the gay revel, and taking a seat 
 between Chastelar and the archer, questioned the latter as to 
 his late interview with the constable, and the well-being of 
 that distinguished veteran, a soldier of whom every man in 
 France was proud. 
 
 " And you made sail with the despatches the moment you 
 were out of his sight," observed the marquis. "I'll warrant, 
 you made a fair wind of it all the way to Calais, for the 
 Montmorency brooks no delay in the execution of his orders. 
 How looked he, my friend ? and what said he ? Come, tell 
 us the exact words." 
 
 " He looked like an old lion, as he always does," answered 
 the archer simply ; " and he said to me in so many words, 
 1 These letters must be in my son's hands within eight-and- 
 forty hours. I can depend upon you Scots. May the bless- 
 ing of our Lady be upon you, my child. And now, Right 
 face ! and go to the devil ! ' " 
 
 The marquis laughed heartily. 
 
 " He loves your countrymen well," said he, " and with 
 reason. I have heard him swear the bravest man he ever 
 saw was a Scot." 
 
 A murmur of dissent, if not disapproval, rose around the 
 table, and many of the Frenchmen present bent their brows 
 in manifest impatience ; but the marquis, who had his own
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 reasons for wishing to be well with the Scottish nation, and 
 whose frank nature brooked no withdrawal or modification of 
 his opinions, struck his hand on the board, till the cups leaped 
 again, and repeated in loud tones 
 
 " A Scot ! yes, gentlemen a Scot. And I know why he 
 said so for I too was present at the boldest feat-of-arms 
 even the constable ever witnessed ; and so was my modest 
 friend here with the cross of St. Andrew on his breast only 
 he was but a stripling then, and had hardly strength to hold 
 his pike at the advance. A health, gentlemen ! Do me 
 reason. To the memory of Norman Leslie, Master of Rothes ! 
 one of your difficult Scotch names. Norman Leslie, the 
 bravest of the brave ! Will you hear the story ? " 
 
 " Tell it, marquis ! " was repeated on all sides, and cups 
 were set down empty on the board, as many an eager warlike 
 face turned towards the Admiral of France. 
 
 " It was at Rentz, then," proceeded d'Elbceuf, " where the 
 old emperor out-generalled us as completely as we out- 
 fought him, and the two armies were almost within bowshot 
 of each other. We resembled a couple of angry dogs that 
 are not permitted by their masters to fight. A clear slope 
 of some two or three hundred paces divided us, and the 
 German light-horsemen came galloping out to skirmish, 
 tossing their lances in the air and bantering us. There 
 must have been, at least, a hundred of them within a pistol- 
 shot of our lines. The blood of Frenchmen soon boils up, 
 gentlemen ; but we had no orders to engage, and I, for one, 
 kept my men-at-arms in hand, for the king was command- 
 ing in person, and Conde*, and the constable, and the Due 
 d'Anguien were present, and likely to visit any breach of 
 discipline with severe reproof. Ah ! they cannot thus interfere 
 with us at sea ; but I ground my teeth at intervals, and 
 thought, if the order would only come, what short work we 
 would make with the German dogs. 
 
 " Norman Leslie, however, had come up after the council 
 was over in the king's tent, and so, I suppose, fancied himself 
 free to act. He had but half a score men with him at most ; 
 but he formed them into line, and charged up the hill into 
 the thick of the enemy. It was a noble sight to see him, 
 gentlemen, in his coat of black velvet, with its broad white 
 crosses, and his burnished armour, with a red Scotch bonnet 
 on his head. How he drove that good grey horse of his a 
 dozen lances' lengths ahead of his following! He rode 
 through and through the Germans as if they were a troop of 
 children at play. We, in the lines, I tell you, counted five 
 
 8
 
 FAREWELL, FRANCE! 
 
 of them go down before his lance broke. Then he drew his 
 sword, and though they shot at him with musquetoons and 
 culverines, we could still see the red bonnet glancing to and 
 fro, like fire among ^the smoke. At last they detached a 
 company of spearmen to surround him, and then striking 
 spurs into his horse, he came galloping back to our lines, and 
 rode gallantly to salute the constable in the centre. As he 
 kissed his sword-hilt, the good grey fell dead at Montmor- 
 ency's feet. Alas ! his master followed him in less than a 
 fortnight, for though the king sent his own leech to dress his 
 wounds, brave Norman Leslie was hurt in so many places, 
 that it was out of the power of leech-craft to save him. 
 What say you, gentlemen? a bolder feat-of-arms than that 
 was never attempted by a soldier, and it was executed 
 by a Scot ! What say you of a man that would ride 
 through an armed host single-handed to fetch away a laurel 
 leaf?" 
 
 The archer smiled, and bowed low at this flattering tribute 
 to his nation. 
 
 " I might return your compliments, marquis," said he, " had 
 we not a Scotch proverb which implies ' Stroke me, and I 
 will stroke thee.' And yet it is but fair to say I have known 
 a rougher ride than even Norman Leslie's taken for a silk 
 handkerchief, and by a Frenchman." 
 
 "A silk handkerchief! a lady's of course," said one. "A 
 love-token!" exclaimed another. " Undertaken in deliverance 
 of a vow," suggested a third. " Done by an Englishman for 
 a wager," laughed a fourth. All had some remark to make 
 except Chastelar, whose colour rose visibly, and who looked 
 distressed and ill at ease. 
 
 " A handkerchief of the softest Cyprus silk," insisted the 
 archer in his quiet expressive voice, " and rescued by the very 
 man to whom I this day presented his father's letters. And 
 yet it is no wonder that the constable's son and a Marshal of 
 France should be a brave man. I tell you, gentlemen, that 
 I saw d'Amville at the head of a band of Huguenots sorely 
 pressed, and outnumbered by his countrymen of the Catholic 
 faith, so that he had but one chance of retreat in placing a 
 rapid stream betwixt himself and his pursuers. As he was 
 facing the enemy, whilst the last of his followers entered the 
 water, a handkerchief dropped unnoticed from beneath his 
 corselet. He discovered his loss, however, as soon as he 
 reached the opposite bank ; and dashing once more into the 
 stream, under a murderous fire, charged through the press of 
 men-at-arms to the spot where it lay, dismounted, picked it
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 up, and cut his way back again to his own troop. There 
 was blood on the handkerchief when his page unarmed him 
 that night ; but I think it was the blood of the bravest man 
 in France." 
 
 " And the handkerchief? " cried several voices. " Whose 
 was it?" "Who gave it to him?" " Happy the lady who 
 owned so true a knight!" 
 
 The archer smiled once more. 
 
 "Nay, gentlemen," said he, "it was no love-token after 
 all. But the marshal is the soul of loyalty as of honour. 
 There was an M and a crown-royal embroidered on the 
 margin. It belonged to the White Queen to her whom 
 France is to lose to-morrow for ever." 
 
 "What a theme for the minstrel!" exclaimed d'Elboeuf 
 gaily. "Chastelar! canst thou hear and be silent? Awake, 
 man ! drench thy brain with burgundy, and improvise us 
 some stanzas!" 
 
 The poet looked up with the air of one who shakes some 
 painful burden off his mind. He put his cup to his lips, and 
 answered gaily enough. 
 
 " Not on that theme, marquis, at least to-night. Is it not 
 the eve of our departure ? And can there be merriment for 
 France when she thinks of all she is to lose on the morrow? 
 Nay, gentlemen, if you must have a song, let it be a lament. 
 Let France mourn the absence of one whose like she may 
 never hope to see again." 
 
 Seats were drawn nearer the table ; the guests' faces as- 
 sumed an air of interest and expectation. Through the open 
 doorway might be seen the humbler servants of the household 
 crowding eagerly to listen. Chastelar looked around him 
 well-pleased, and sang, in a rich mellow voice, the following 
 stanzas, after the model of his old instructor, the celebrated 
 Ronsard : 
 
 'As an upland bare and sere, 
 In the waning of the year, 
 
 When the golden drops are wither'd off the broom 
 As a picture when the pride 
 Of its colouring hath died, 
 
 And faded like a phantom into gloom : 
 
 As a night without a star, 
 Or a ship without a spar, 
 
 Or a mist that broods and gathers o'er the sea ; 
 As a court without a throne, 
 Or a ring without a stone, 
 
 Seems the widow'd land of France bereft of thee. 
 
 10
 
 FAREWELL, FRANCE! 
 
 Our darling, pearl, and pride ! 
 Our blossom and our bride ! 
 
 Wilt thou never gladden eyes of ours again ? 
 Would the waves might rise and drown 
 Barren Scotland and her crown, 
 
 So thou wert back with us in fair Touraine ! " 
 
 Amidst the applause which followed the notes of their 
 favourite, cloaks and swords were assumed, reckonings were 
 discharged, farewells exchanged, and laughing, light-hearted 
 gallants streamed up the dark street in quest of their respect- 
 ive lodgings. Soon each was housed, and all was quiet 
 ere the first streaks of dawn rose upon the sleeping town, 
 and the cold bleak shore, and the dull waves of the brooding 
 Channel. 
 
 II
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE FOUR MARIES 
 
 " Farewell ! Farewell ! How soon 'tis said 
 
 The wind is off the bay, 
 The sweeps are out, the sail is spread, 
 The galley gathers way. 
 
 Farewell ! Farewell ! The words, how light ! 
 
 Yet what can words say more? 
 Sad hearts are on the sea to-night, 
 
 And sadder on the shore." 
 
 TWENTY-FOUR hours had elapsed since Chastelar sang 
 his farewell song in the little auberge at Calais. He 
 now stood on the deck of a large galley, manned by a sturdy 
 crew of rowers, whose efforts, however, were but little assisted 
 by the light airs that blew off the shore. The ample sail 
 would fill at intervals, and then flap idly against the mast. 
 The measured stroke of the oars seemed on that wide 
 expanse of water to have but little effect in propelling the 
 labouring craft, and the companionship of a corresponding 
 vessel at some quarter of a mile distance proceeding at the 
 same rate, and in the same direction, neutralised all appear- 
 ance of locomotion. A bright moon shone down upon the 
 Channel ; and the coast of France, still at no great distance, 
 was distinctly visible in her light. Comparatively little way 
 had been made since the galley's departure, nor did her 
 course bear her in a direct line from the shore. The rowers 
 also had flagged somewhat in their usual efforts. Rank 
 upon rank, these brawny ruffians chained to their heavy oars 
 were accustomed to labour doggedly, yet effectually, under 
 the stimulus of the whip. To-night, however, a gentle voice 
 had interceded even for the rude galley-slaves, and while 
 they enjoyed this rare respite from over-exertion, many a 
 foul lip, that had long forgotten to form anything but curses, 
 writhed itself into an unaccustomed blessing for the fair 
 widowed Queen of France. Yes, what a strange companion- 
 ship in that dark hull, having indeed nothing in common 
 but the thin plank that was equally the hope of all ! Down 
 
 12
 
 THE FOUR MARIES 
 
 below, forcing her through the water, men who had almost 
 lost the outward semblance of humanity, whose hearts were 
 as black with crime as their bodies were disfigured with the 
 hardships of their lot; men whom their fellows had been 
 forced to hunt like wild beasts out of the society of their 
 kind, and to keep chained and guarded at an enforced labour 
 worse than death ; and seated on deck within ten paces of 
 these convicts, a bevy of the fairest and gentlest of the 
 human race, a knot of lovely maidens chosen for their birth, 
 and beauty, and womanly accomplishments, to surround a 
 mistress who was herself the most fascinating of them all, 
 the very pearl of her sex, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. 
 
 Chastelar, leaning against the mast, gazed aft upon the 
 deck, and listened to the talk of Mary and her maidens as 
 they chatted together in the freedom of that unrestrained in- 
 tercourse which the Stuarts have ever encouraged with their 
 household. It was pleasant to hear the women's soft tones 
 mingling with the plash of the water, and the flap of the 
 empty sail ; but there was one voice of which every note 
 thrilled, even painfully, to the poet's heart. 
 
 Mary was reclining on a couch that had been prepared for 
 her against the taffrail of the vessel. Though the tears were 
 still wet upon her cheek, and a fresh burst was imminent 
 every time she looked upon the coast, she could yet force 
 herself to speak gaily, and strove to keep up the spirits of 
 her maidens with that charm of manner which never failed her 
 at the very worst. 
 
 " And where is our duenna ? " said the queen archly ; " I 
 have scarce seen her since the hour we embarked, when she 
 walked the deck with her head up and the port of an admiral. 
 D'Amville yonder, studying his charts as if he were in un- 
 known seas, instead of the ditch that divides France from 
 Britain, could scarce have looked more seamanlike." 
 
 The young lady she addressed, a provoking specimen of 
 the saucy style of beauty, with mischievous eyes, the whitest 
 of teeth, and an exquisite little foot that was always con- 
 spicuous, laughed most unfeelingly in reply. 
 
 " Your Majesty should see her now," she said. " I shall 
 never call her proud Mary Beton again. She is below, in the 
 darkest corner of the cabin. She has buried her head in the 
 cushions. She is ill. She is frightened, and her velvet dress is 
 creased and tumbled, and stained all over with sea-water ! " 
 
 " You cruel child," said the queen good - humouredly. 
 " Mary Seton, you are incorrigible. But we must send down 
 to succour her, poor thing ! Ah ! it is only a heartache like 
 
 13
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 mine that makes one insensible to all other sufferings. Mary 
 Hamilton is too susceptible she will be ill also; but you, 
 Mary Carmichael, you have a kind disposition and a ready 
 hand. You will not laugh in her face like this saucy girl here ; 
 go down and succour poor Beton. Give her our love tell 
 her she will yet be well enough to come and look her last with 
 us on the dear land of France." 
 
 The young lady whom she addressed rose at once from her 
 occupation, which, like that of her mistress, seemed to consist 
 in gazing steadfastly at the French coast, and with a graceful 
 reverence to the queen, departed on her errand of consolation. 
 As she passed Mary Seton, the latter's quick eye detected 
 a few drops, it might be of spray, upon her cheek. The 
 Maries could sympathise with their queen's regret in leaving 
 a country that had been to them a pleasant home ; and a 
 woman's sorrow, as we all know, while it is more easily cured, 
 is also more easily excited, than that of the sterner sex. 
 Mary Carmichael's was not a disposition to give way to 
 unavailing grief; above all, was one in which the instinct to 
 conceal strong emotion predominated. With much kindliness 
 of heart and real good-nature, she was yet somewhat intolerant 
 of weakness in herself and others. Brave and self-reliant, 
 she could make small allowance for timidity or vacillation 
 even in her own sex ; and had either mental or bodily pain 
 been able to extort one exclamation of suffering from her lips, 
 she would have been bitterly ashamed of it a moment after- 
 wards. To look on her clear .blue eyes, her finely-cut and 
 regular features, her smooth brow, and determined mouth 
 and chin, determined and uncompromising, despite of red lips, 
 white teeth, and dimples, you would have decided that the 
 one drawback to her attractions was the want of that yielding 
 softness which is a woman's greatest charm. On aime ce 
 qu'on protige ; and the haughty beauty who humbles while 
 she conquers, little guesses how a man's rude heart warms to 
 the gentler suppliant, who clings to him, and trusts in him, 
 and seems to say she has but him in the world. Masses of 
 soft brown hair, and a rounded outline of form, feminine 
 and symmetrical, somewhat redeemed Mary Carmichael's 
 appearance from the charge of hardness. Altogether she gave 
 the gallants of the French Court the impression of a woman 
 whom it would be difficult to like a little, and hazardous to 
 like much. So what with the danger of her charms, and her 
 own dignified and reserved demeanour, she had received less 
 admiration than was due to the undoubted beauty of her face 
 and figure. 
 
 14
 
 THE FOUR MARIES 
 
 While she goes below to succour her friend, who is suffering 
 from sea-sickness, we will give some account of the four ladies 
 of honour, commonly called the Maries, who waited on the 
 Queen of Scots. 
 
 Mary Stuart herself, with all her predilections in favour of 
 France, a country in which she spent the few tranquil years 
 of her disturbed and sorrowful life, never suffered her con- 
 nection with Scotland to be weakened or neglected. She kept 
 up an active correspondence with- her mother, Mary of Guise, 
 who held the reins of government with no inefficient hand 
 in that country, till her death. Many of her household were 
 Scots. She showed especial favour to the Archer-guard, all 
 of whom were of Scottish extraction favour which, over- 
 estimated and misunderstood by their captain, the heir of 
 the house of Hamilton, was, perhaps, the original cause that 
 turned weak Arran's brain. She gave such appointments 
 in her household, as were nearest her person, to the Scottish 
 nobility ; and she chose for her own immediate attendants, 
 four young ladies of ancient Scottish families, whose qualifi- 
 cations were birth, beauty, and the possession of her own 
 Christian name. " The Maries," as they were called, accord- 
 ingly occupy a prominent position in the court-history of the 
 time ; and as their number was always kept up to four, several 
 of the oldest families in Scotland, such as the Setons, the 
 Flemings, the Livingstones, etc., had the honour of furnishing 
 recruits to the lovely body-guard. At the time of her 
 embarkation for Leith, the queen was accompanied by a very 
 devoted quartette, as conspicuous for their personal attractions 
 as for their loyalty to their sovereign. It was even rumoured 
 that the faithful maidens had bound themselves by a vow not 
 to marry till their queen did. Be this, however, as it may, 
 not one of them but might have chosen from the flower of the 
 French Court, had she been so disposed. Nay, gossips were 
 found to affirm that many a warlike count and stately marquis 
 would have been happy to take any one of the four ; only too 
 blest in the possession of a Mary, be she Mary Beton, Mary 
 Seton, Mary Carmichael, or Mary Hamilton. 
 
 A short sketch of each, at the commencement of our 
 narrative, may serve, perhaps, to prevent confusion, and to 
 elucidate the actions of some of the humbler characters in our 
 drama. We are of honest Bottom's opinion that it is best " to 
 call forth the actors generally according to the scrip. First 
 say what the play treats on; then read the names of the 
 actors ; and so grow to a point." 
 
 We will begin, then, with the eldest of the four the lady 
 
 15
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 who, with her head buried in cushions, was groaning afresh 
 at every lurch of the creaking galley, and who suffered despond- 
 ently, refusing to be comforted. 
 
 To-day it is scarcely fair to bring her before the public. 
 Yesterday she might have been seen to the greatest advantage, 
 for Mary Beton was one of those people who seem to have 
 been placed in the world for the express purpose of wearing 
 full dress. The most romantic imagination could not have 
 associated her with homely duties, dfeliabille, or dishevelled 
 hair; and the queen used to observe, laughingly, that he 
 must be a bold man who could venture to ask her hand 
 for a galliard, and contemplate the possibility of disarranging 
 a fold of her robe, even in that stateliest of measures. And 
 yet she was handsome, too, in a cold, unfeeling, haughty 
 style. She had large handsome eyes, and a large handsome 
 figure, and large handsome hands, which she loved to 
 display. She was perfect in all matters of Court Etiquette, 
 in which it was impossible to find her tripping, and would 
 have died rather than 'bate one of the accustomed ceremonies 
 with which she delighted to glorify her mistress and herself. 
 When she stood behind the throne with the queen's gloves in 
 her hand, she was the admiration of all chamberlains, grand 
 carvers, seneschals, and such Court officials, so unmoved and 
 dignified was her bearing, so scrupulously rigid her demeanour, 
 so completely did she sink the woman in the maid-of-honour. 
 And her disposition corresponded with her lofty manners, and 
 her fine, well-dressed form. Less unfeeling than careless of 
 all matters that did not appertain directly or indirectly to the 
 Court, she neither seemed to seek nor to afford sympathy for 
 the petty vexations and annoyances which a little coterie of 
 women is pretty sure to find or create for itself. None of the 
 Maries ever went to her for advice and assistance, only for in- 
 structions and commands. Though but little their senior, she 
 was always considered and treated as a kind of lady-superior 
 by the other three, and even the queen used to call her jest- 
 ingly " the duenna," and vowed that she never felt so unlike a 
 Stuart as, when after some trifling breach of Court Etiquette, 
 she encountered the tacit rebuke of Mary Beton's grave, cold 
 eye. If she had a weakness, it was ambition. If there was any 
 one road that led to her heart, it must have been through the 
 portals of a palace, along tapestried passages, between lines 
 of bowing lackeys, with a gentleman-usher at each turning to 
 point out the way. She wrapped herself in the folds of a 
 majestic decorum, and paced along the journey of life gravely 
 and disposedly, as if it were a minuet. 
 
 16
 
 THE FOUR MARIES 
 
 What a contrast to laughing, roguish Mary Seton, that 
 Will-o'-the-wisp in petticoats, who flitted hither and thither 
 amongst the courtiers, and pervaded every apartment of the 
 palace with the air of a spoiled child whom nobody ventured 
 to thwart or to chide. White-headed statesmen, grave am- 
 bassadors, ponderous in the double weight of their sovereign's 
 dignity and their personal appearance, iron-handed warriors, 
 and haughty cardinals, all acknowledged the influence of the 
 bewitching little maid-of-honour ; and it seemed that the 
 most devoted of her slaves were those whose years and 
 station afforded the strongest contrast to her own. The 
 constable himself, the famous Montmorency, from whom 
 the faintest gesture of approval could have lured every brave 
 man in France willingly to death, would follow her about like 
 a tame dog, and Cardinal Lorraine, churchman though he 
 were, would have entrusted her with state secrets that he 
 scarcely ventured to whisper to his own pillow. She might 
 have done a deal of mischief if she had chosen, that lively, 
 laughing, little maiden. Fortunately she was thoroughly 
 good-natured so heedless that she forgot in the afternoon 
 everything that was told her in the morning, and had, 
 moreover, not the slightest taste for mystery or political 
 intrigue. It would be difficult to say what was the especial 
 charm people found in Mary Seton. Her features were 
 irregular, and her figure, though exquisitely shaped, of the 
 smallest. Dark eyes and eyelashes, with a profusion of light 
 hair, gave a singular expression to the upper part of her face, 
 whilst a mischievous smile, disclosing the pearliest of teeth, 
 completed all the personal attractions of which she could 
 boast. It was, indeed, one of those haunting faces, which, 
 once seen, make an unaccountable impression, and which, if 
 ever permitted to engrave themselves on the heart, do so in 
 lines that are not to be obliterated without considerable pain. 
 There was something piquante, too, in her continual restless- 
 ness. Even here, on shipboard, she could not be still for 
 five minutes together. She had already pervaded the whole 
 vessel from stem to stern, above and below, nor was her 
 curiosity satisfied till she had personally inspected the poor 
 galley-slaves, returning to the queen, brimful of the private 
 history of the two or three greatest criminals amongst them, 
 with which, according to custom, she had made herself 
 familiar, ere she had been an hour on board. Her mistress, 
 though in no merry mood, could not forbear being amused. 
 
 " I believe," said she, " that you would rather work, chained 
 to an oar, like these poor wretches, than sit still." 
 B 17
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 And Mary Seton replied demurely 
 
 " Indeed, madam, idleness is the parent of evil ; and, 
 doubtless, even at the galleys, my good behaviour would soon 
 raise me to be captain of the gang." 
 
 A pair of dark eyes, that had hitherto been fixed on some 
 object amidships, were raised in wonder to the laughing 
 speaker, reproachful, as it were, of her levity at such a time ; 
 and Mary Hamilton's beautiful face, paler and more beautiful 
 than ever in the moonlight, seemed to take a deeper shade of 
 sadness as she resumed the occupation in which she had been 
 interrupted with an unconscious sigh. Sitting at the queen's 
 feet, she was ready, as usual, at the shortest notice, to fulfil 
 her mistress's wishes ; but the latter remarked, with concern, 
 that her favourite maid-of-honour had been silent for hours, 
 and that the novelties incidental to their situation had failed 
 to rouse her from the abstraction in which, of late, she had 
 been habitually plunged. It grieved the queen's kind heart, 
 for, though she loved the others dearly, perhaps she loved 
 Mary Hamilton the best of all ; and it was no wonder. 
 Beautiful as she was, with her large solemn eyes and her 
 black hair, framing the oval of a perfect face, pale and serene 
 like an autumn evening, with her tall graceful figure and 
 womanly gestures, there was yet an undefinable charm about 
 Mary Hamilton that seemed independent of all outward 
 advantages ; as though she must still have been lovable, had 
 she been old, ugly, and deformed. 
 
 It is a melancholy, nay, a morbid sentiment which bids us 
 feel in all exceeding beauty something akin to sorrow and 
 yet, who will deny the uncomfortable fact ? Perhaps it arises 
 from the longing after perfection which appertains to our 
 immortality. Perhaps it is but the hopeless consciousness 
 that our ideal can never be attained. At least the feeling 
 exists ; and in Mary Hamilton's beauty, doubtless, the 
 melancholy element predominated. It did not make her the 
 less beloved, we may be sure ; and the black-eyed maid-of- 
 honour was worthy of the attachments she kindled wherever 
 she was known. A kinder heart than hers never beat beneath 
 a bodice. Wherever she heard of a sorrow, however trivial 
 the cause, she was there to soothe. Utterly unselfish, she was 
 ever ready to sacrifice her own will, her own amusements, 
 her own advantage, to the lightest wish of another. And 
 although the very sentinels at the palace-gate blessed her for 
 her beauty, as she passed through, she seemed the only person 
 about the Court who was insensible to her own attractions. 
 Gentle, yielding, trusting, and enthusiastic, here was a woman 
 
 18
 
 THE FOUR MARIES 
 
 ready prepared and bound, as it were, for the sacrifice. Need 
 we say the victim could not fail to be offered up ? 
 
 Meanwhile, the galley strained and laboured on. The 
 dripping oars fell with measured cadence on the water ; but 
 the land - breeze, dying away towards midnight, refused to 
 second the efforts of the rowers, so that the distance from the 
 French seaboard appeared scarcely to increase. The queen 
 evinced no intention of going to rest. Reclining on deck, she 
 kept her eyes fixed on the cherished land she was so loth to 
 leave, and inwardly longed for a storm, or any other con- 
 tingency, that should drive them back into port, and give her 
 a few more days' respite from her banishment. 
 
 Probably so unwilling a journey was never taken to claim 
 a crown ; and yet Mary was accompanied by many good 
 friends, and true affectionate relatives, and loyal subjects, all 
 anxious to see her securely established on the Scottish throne. 
 Another galley of like tonnage accompanied her with a portion 
 of her household, whilst two ships of war furnished an escort, 
 by no means unnecessary, for Elizabeth's friendship was little 
 to be relied on, and England, as usual, commanded the 
 Channel with her fleet. 
 
 On board the queen's own ship, d'Amville had taken the 
 personal command, and studiously refrained from indulgence 
 in the society of his charge, lest her fascinating conversa- 
 tion should have seduced him from his seamanlike duties. 
 D'Amville, too, had long since yielded to the charm of that 
 beautiful face, which only to look on was to love, and 
 worshipped the Queen of Scotland with a devotion as touch- 
 ing as it was chivalrous in its hopeless generosity d'Amville, 
 who sat now in the small dimly-lighted cabin, with his charts 
 before him, and pressed to his bosom the Cyprus silk handker- 
 chief of which we have already heard the one treasure prized 
 by that loyal, manly heart the guerdon for which he gave 
 up ambition, and comfort, and even hope. Truly there are 
 strange bargains driven in love, reminding us of our traffic in 
 beads, and brass, and tinsel, with naked savages a few inches 
 of silk, a half-worn glove, a thread of soft hair, in exchange 
 for the noblest efforts of body and mind, the best years of life, 
 perhaps the eternity of an immortal soul ! Not that the 
 coveted prize is reserved for such adoration. Alas ! that it 
 should be so. Rude hands pluck down the fruit that fond 
 eyes have gazed on for so many sunny hours in vain, and the 
 Sabine maiden loves her Roman bridegroom none the less 
 that he carried her off by sheer force of manhood, not, 
 perhaps, entirely so reluctant as she seemed. 
 
 19
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Chastelar had been standing motionless for a considerable 
 period, leaning against the mast, apparently wrapped in 
 meditation. At a signal from the queen, however, his whole 
 bearing altered, his face lighted up, and in an instant he was 
 at her side. Mary Hamilton changed her position somewhat 
 restlessly, and Mary Seton, rejoicing in the capture of a fresh 
 listener, immediately took upon herself to communicate the 
 commands of her mistress. 
 
 " Fair sir," said the laughing maid-of-honour, " although 
 you are certainly an ornamental object, measuring your 
 stature yonder against the mast, you will be more useful here, 
 at her Majesty's feet, to give us some information as to the 
 progress of our voyage. Doubtless you are in Monsieur 
 d'Amville's confidence, who seems to think himself relieved 
 of all care of us, now he has got his unprotected charge fairly 
 out to sea." 
 
 " Hush ! madcap," said the queen. " And do you, 
 Chastelar, go below and inquire of our courteous commander 
 whether by to-morrow at daybreak we shall, indeed, have lost 
 sight of our beloved France. Already the beacon off the 
 harbour is low down on the horizon, and the weather seems 
 thickening to windward. Ah ! the next lights we see will be 
 on the bleak shores of Scotland a dark, sad voyage, indeed, 
 with a dreary termination ! " 
 
 The poet bowed low and retired to fulfil the royal com- 
 mands, whilst the queen, leaning her white arms upon the 
 bulwark, gazed longingly towards the shore. Tears coursed 
 each other down her beautiful face, as she murmured forth 
 her unavailing sorrow in such broken sentences as these 
 
 " France ! France ! my own beloved France ! I shall 
 never see you again. Country of my adoption ! country of 
 my love ! Ah ! it is sad to step at once, like this, from youth 
 to age ; it is cruel to feel still young and hopeful and capable 
 of happiness, and to know that the bright days have departed 
 from us for evermore. Poor Dido ! you too gazed, in your 
 agony, upon the sea, as I look ever towards the land ; and 
 your fond heart ached as mine aches now, and broke at last, 
 as mine, I feel, will break ere long. My case is worse than 
 yours ; you had at least your home and country left, though 
 you lost your Trojan love that the sea gave you, and the sea 
 took back again ! " 
 
 Whilst she spoke, she felt Mary Hamilton's cold lips 
 pressed against her hand. The kind heart, alas ! itself not 
 wholly ignorant of sorrow, could not bear to witness the 
 sufferings of its mistress. Her other maid-of-honour, how- 
 
 20
 
 THE FOUR MARIES 
 
 ever, took a livelier view of their position, and was not slow 
 to express her dissent. 
 
 " Nay, madam," said she ; " Dido gave up a throne for a 
 bonfire, as I have heard your Majesty relate, whereas you 
 are but losing sight of that faint beacon over yonder for the 
 certainty of a crown. Besides, are there not Trojans in plenty 
 where we are bound? What say you, Mary Hamilton? we 
 need not look long for an vEneas apiece, without counting 
 those we take across with us. Listen, there is one of them 
 singing even now." 
 
 Mary Hamilton felt her face burning in the darkness, 
 though none could see her blush; and indeed, whilst her 
 companion spoke, the Calais light sank beneath the black 
 line of the horizon. As it disappeared, Chastelar's mellow 
 voice was heard, rising above the rush and ripple of the water 
 and the jerk of the massive oars. 
 
 " What need have we of beacon sheen 
 
 To warn us or to save, 
 
 With the star-bright eyes of our lovely queen 
 Guiding us o'er the wave? 
 
 What need have we of a following tide ? 
 
 What need of a smiling sky ? 
 'Tis sunshine ever at Mary's side, 
 
 And summer when she is by. 
 
 Her glances, like the day-god's light, 
 
 On each and all are thrown ; 
 Like him she shines, impartial, bright, 
 
 Unrivall'd, and alone. 
 
 Alone ! alone ! an ice-queen's lot, 
 
 Though dazzling on a throne ; 
 Ah ! better to love in the lowliest cot 
 
 Than pine in a palace alone ! " 
 
 As he concluded, the singer approached her Majesty 
 with the information she had sent him to seek. 
 
 Softened by her sorrows, influenced by the time, the 
 scene, the devotion of her follower, feeling now more than 
 ever the value of such kind adherents, what could Mary do 
 but reach him graciously the white hand that was not the 
 least attractive of her peerless charms? And if Chastelar 
 pressed it to his lips with a fervour that partook more of the 
 lover's worship than the subject's loyalty, what less was to 
 be expected from an over-wrought imagination, and a sus- 
 ceptible heart, thus brought in contact with the most fascinating 
 woman of the age? And the queen drew away her hand 
 hurriedly, rather than unkindly, with a consciousness not 
 
 21
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 wholly 'displeasing, and Mary Seton looked discreetly into 
 the far distance, as though there was something unusually 
 interesting in that dull expanse of sea. And Mary Hamilton, 
 clasping both hands tightly to her heart, leaned her head 
 against the bulwark, and said nothing ; but rose, as if intensely 
 relieved, when an increasing bustle on board the galley, and 
 a general movement amongst its inmates, denoted some fresh 
 alarm, and the necessity for increased watchfulness and 
 exertion. 
 
 It was even so. Their consort, holding a parallel course 
 at no great distance, had caught sight of the English cruisers, 
 who, whatever might be their orders from " good Queen Bess," 
 were as much mistrusted by d'Elbceuf in his command of the 
 Scottish queen's little squadron, as by d'Amville who took 
 her own galley under his especial charge. In those days the 
 sea and land services were not so distinct as now. 
 
 Signals were exchanged between the two galleys to make 
 all possible speed, and the slaves, grateful for Mary's inter- 
 position on their behalf, laid to their oars with a will, in a 
 manner that could never have been extorted from them by 
 the lash. As there was but little wind, they soon increased 
 their distance from the English men-of-war, who, however, 
 came up with and captured one of the French ships containing 
 the Earl of Eglinton and the queen's favourite saddle-horses. 
 Mary herself, nevertheless, escaped their vigilance, and an 
 increasing fog soon shrouded the little convoy from its 
 pursuers. 
 
 Thus in darkness and danger, too ominous, alas ! of her 
 subsequent career, Mary Stuart sped on towards the coast 
 of Scotland, leaving behind her the sunny plains of her 
 beloved France, as she left behind her the bright days of her 
 youth days that she seemed instinctively to feel were never 
 to dawn for her again through the storms and clouds that 
 brooded over the destinies of her future kingdom. 
 
 22
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 WALTER MAXWELL 
 
 "Oh ! 'gin I had a bonny ship, 
 
 And men to sail wi' me, 
 It's I would gang to my true love, 
 Sin' my love comes not to me." 
 
 ABOUT the same hour at which the galley bearing Mary 
 Stuart and her fortunes eluded, in the increasing dark- 
 ness, the vigilance of the English cruisers, an archer of the 
 Scottish Body-guard, with whom we have already made 
 acquaintance, might have been seen pacing to and fro on a 
 strip of white sand adjoining Calais harbour. After a long 
 day of labour and excitement, preparatory also to a ride of 
 some two hundred miles on the morrow, this midnight walk 
 was perhaps the least judicious method of passing the hours 
 sensible persons devote to repose. Our archer, nevertheless, 
 continued it with a perseverance that denoted considerable 
 preoccupation, pausing at intervals to gaze wistfully on the 
 scene, and anon resuming his exercise, as if goaded to bodily 
 effort by some acute mental conflict. In honest truth, like 
 Sinbad the Sailor, he was oppressed by a metaphorical Old 
 Man of the Sea, that he could not get rid of, although in his 
 case the unwelcome equestrian had assumed the form of a 
 prevailing idea, connected with a young woman instead of an 
 old man, and resembling Sinbad's encumbrance in no particular 
 except the tenacity with which it clung. 
 
 Reader, it is worth while to go to the Pampas to see a 
 Gaucho lasso and mount a hitherto unbroken horse. How 
 the animal, conscious of his degradation, fights and rears and 
 plunges, wincing from the cruel spurs to rise at the maddening 
 bit ! How his eye dilates and his nostril reddens, and his 
 whole form contracts with mingled fear and rage ! Shaking 
 his head wildly, he dashes ere long into a headlong gallop, 
 and becomes stupefied to discover that, even at his fiercest 
 speed, he bears his tormentor along with him. Subdued at 
 last, he bends his neck to the hand that has tamed him, and 
 
 23
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 experiences a new sensation of increased power and confidence 
 in submitting to the master-will. So is it with a manly, 
 resolute nature, when it first feels the influence of another's 
 existence on its own. There is a certain charm, indeed, in 
 the novelty of the sentiment, but there is also surprise, 
 apprehension, and a strong disposition to oppose and crush 
 the unaccustomed usurpation. After many an unavailing 
 struggle, the conquered must, however, submit to the conqueror; 
 and, like other slaves, he loses the desire for liberty with the 
 consciousness of incapacity to be free. Use in time renders 
 him perfectly docile and broken-in ; at last he is perfect in 
 all the paces of the manage, and carries one rider nearly as 
 pleasantly as another. He is a useful hack now, but the 
 mettle of the wild-horse has left him for evermore. 
 
 Our archer was in the first stages of his tuition. He was, 
 so to speak, only lately caught and mounted. We can but 
 wish him a merciful rider with a kind heart and a light hand ! 
 
 Walter Maxwell, for such was the name in which he stood 
 enrolled on the list of the Archer-guard, was the younger 
 son of an old Scottish family, possessed of an unblemished 
 pedigree, considerable territorial possessions, and a sad lack 
 of broad pieces. Then, as now, the upper classes in Scotland, 
 with many noble qualities, were cursed with a morbid desire 
 for the shadow rather than the substance of wealth. In Queen 
 Mary's days, the pound Scots represented in value the 
 shilling English. In Queen Victoria's, the laird on one side 
 the Tweed, with his few hundreds a year, would fain make 
 believe that his possessions equal those of the squire on the 
 other, who owns as many thousands. His difficulties, his 
 shortcomings, his meannesses originate in this, the paltriest 
 of all ambition, that would make his shilling look like half 
 a crown. Frugal and industrious as are her peasantry, 
 prosperous and enterprising as are her yeomen and traders, 
 probably the gentry of Scotland are at this moment more 
 oppressed with difficulties than the parallel class in any other 
 country under the sun. 
 
 In the time of which we write, the Scottish nobility were 
 afflicted with the same unfortunate tendencies. There was 
 then even more of display abroad and less of ease at home ; 
 whilst the unsettled state of the country, compelling every 
 baron to entertain as many feudal retainers as he could arm 
 and feed, helped to drain their resources to the very dregs. 
 Violence and intrigue, political as well as private, were 
 naturally resorted to by those who had no other means of 
 replenishing their empty purses ; and what with old feuds 
 
 24
 
 WALTER MAXWELL 
 
 strictly entailed, and new differences perpetually arising, 
 Scotland could only be likened to some huge cauldron, in 
 which a thousand different ingredients were boiling, and 
 the scum perpetually rising to the surface. 
 
 In such a state of things there was not much provision 
 for younger brothers ; and as the somewhat heathenish 
 doctrine, not yet eradicated, then prevailed of considering 
 individuals simply as links in a line, and postponing all 
 personal claims to those of that great myth the family it 
 may easily be imagined that the younger sons of a noble 
 Scottish house had small cause to congratulate themselves on 
 their aristocratic lineage. Walter Maxwell might consider 
 himself fortunate that he had the shelter of the old tower 
 at home until he had arrived at the strength and stature of 
 a man that he was permitted to feed at the same board, 
 and enjoy the same pastimes as his elder brother, the heir 
 that he might follow to her grave with a son's decorous grief 
 the mother who had doted on her youngest and that his 
 share of the family possessions was not limited to its name, 
 but included a right to breathe the moorland air round the 
 old place till he had attained his fifteenth year. Perhaps, 
 after all, he inherited his share of the patrimony. He gained 
 health and strength, and good manhood, on its broad acres. 
 He learned to back a horse in its meadows, and fly a hawk 
 on its hills, to swim in its dark loch, and to wield a blade 
 within its walls. Perhaps, in bequeathing him an iron 
 constitution, a vigorous frame, and a courageous heart, the 
 old lord had done enough for the golden-haired child who 
 used to come running to him after supper, and pull his 
 grey moustaches, and climb merrily upon one knee, whilst 
 the heir occupied the other. 
 
 At fifteen Walter Maxwell went out upon the world. A 
 year after, he was the youngest gentleman-private in the 
 French king's Archer-guard. Many a dame in Paris would 
 turn round to look again on the blooming youthful face 
 almost a child's still so pleasing in its contrast with that 
 manly form, clad in the showy armour of the guard. The 
 Duchess of Valentinois herself had desired to have the young 
 boy-archer presented to her ; and it is to be presumed that 
 Diane de Poitiers, a lady of mature experience, was no mean 
 judge of masculine attractions. A word from the woman he 
 so adored was sufficient to interest Henry II. in the Scottish 
 recruit, and Walter Maxwell was more than once selected for 
 duties demanding discretion as well as fidelity and courage. 
 All these qualities were, indeed, in constant request at such 
 
 25
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 a Court as that of the French king. At a more advanced 
 age, the young soldier had also distinguished himself in the 
 disastrous affairs of St. Quentin and Gravelines, where the 
 French suffered serious defeats ; and it was but the consistency 
 with which he remained steadfast to the Protestant religion 
 that stood in the way of his rapid promotion. He was a 
 favourite, too, with his comrades for his courage and soldier- 
 like bearing beyond his years, as well as for the indefinable 
 attraction of those buoyant spirits which, like the bloom of 
 youth on the cheek, seldom outlast maturity. 
 
 During the reign of Henry II., that chivalrous monarch, 
 notwithstanding his severity to the Protestants, and the pre- 
 valence of their religion amongst his Scottish Archers, placed 
 the most implicit confidence in his body-guard, riveting their 
 unshaken loyalty with many favours and immunities, till they 
 walked the streets of the capital objects of admiration and envy 
 to the very grandees themselves. Perhaps the warlike Henry 
 was of opinion that a soldier's religion need not interfere with 
 his obedience ; and, indeed, too many of the Archers might 
 have made the same answer, that some two centuries and a 
 half later the old grenadier of the Empire gave on a question 
 of doctrine to the Pope, Et de quelle religion es tu, mon fils ? 
 asked his Holiness of the grim sentry who kept the door that 
 led into the awful presence of Napoleon I. Je suis de la 
 religion de la Vieille Garde, replied the veteran, with an 
 astounding clatter of his musket, as he " carried arms " to the 
 Pontiff. We take leave to doubt if the Protestantism of the 
 Scots Guard often stood in the way of Henry's commands to 
 his favourites. 
 
 But the evil day dawned at last. In the pride of his manly 
 beauty, and the vigour of his warlike frame, the King of 
 France rode gallantly into the lists, to break a lance in sport 
 for the bright eyes of his ladye-love. On his helmet he wore 
 the colours of Diane de Poitiers. And the duchess herself, 
 looking down from the gallery, felt her heart leap with pride 
 in the noble appearance of her royal lover. What shall we 
 say of Henry's infatuation for this seductive woman, nearly 
 twenty years his senior, himself the husband of the most 
 accomplished lady in Europe, for Catherine of Medicis was 
 notoriously as wise as she was beautiful ? What, but that it 
 is folly to argue on the wilfulness of the human heart, and 
 that the most untoward and ill-advised attachments are apt 
 to prove the strongest and the most fatal. The king loved 
 her madly, and was not ashamed to avow his passion openly 
 in the sight of France. Walter Maxwell attended the 
 
 26
 
 WALTER MAXWELL 
 
 sovereign as one of his squires, and bore a knot of the same 
 coloured ribbons on his bonnet. 
 
 And now the trumpet sounds a flourish, and the king, 
 raising his visor, calls for a bowl of wine, and without dis- 
 mounting, quaffs it with an ill-concealed gesture of courtesy 
 to someone in the gallery then, a perfect horseman, he 
 backs his charger to his post. Opposite, like a statue sheathed 
 in steel, sits his antagonist, the captain of the Archer-guard. 
 A proud man to-day is Gabriel, Earl of Montgomery, for the 
 Scottish peer has been chosen to break a lance with the 
 French king, in presence of two royal brides and their bride- 
 grooms ! There is a hush of pleased expectation and interest 
 over the whole assembly ; only the Duchess of Valentinois 
 turns pale with ill-defined apprehension. She feels the value 
 of her last love, wildest and dearest of all, lawless though it 
 be. It was but this morning the king told her in jest, he 
 should not close his visor lest she might not recognise him ; 
 and she had chidden him, half playfully, half in earnest, for 
 the insinuation. She would know that warlike form she 
 thinks in any disguise and the colour mounts again to her 
 face as she catches his last glance, while he settles himself in 
 the saddle, and lays his lance in the rest. He has not closed 
 his helmet, after all ! She will chide him seriously, though, 
 to-night, for his selfish carelessness of danger. Again the 
 trumpet sounds, and the lances shiver fairly in mid-career. 
 Firm and erect, the king reaches the opposite extremity of the 
 lists ; then, swaying heavily in the saddle, falls in his ringing 
 harness to the ground. The queen and her ladies rushed 
 tumultuously into the lists. Catherine de Medicis has a right 
 to succour her husband. Diane de Poitiers, sick and faint, 
 loses her consciousness in a swoon. She is scarcely noticed, 
 for all are crowding round the king. 
 
 Alas for the gallant monarch ! Alas for the bold man-at- 
 arms ! A splinter from Montgomery's lance has entered the 
 eye through the unclosed helmet, and penetrated nearly to 
 the brain. Ere twelve days elapse, Catherine de Medicis is a 
 widow. Francis II. has succeeded to the throne, and Mary 
 Stuart is Queen of France. 
 
 The favour of the Duchess of Valentinois was no passport, 
 we may fairly suppose, to the good graces of the queen- 
 mother; and although Walter Maxwell retained his appoint- 
 ment in the guard, his hopes of advancement perished with 
 the death of his royal patron. Such disappointments, how- 
 ever, though they press heavily on an enthusiastic spirit, 
 are lightly borne by such a temperament as Maxwell's. His 
 
 27
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 disposition was naturally calm and unimpressionable beyond 
 the average. He possessed the rare quality of seeing things 
 as they were, and not as he wished them to be. Above 
 all, he had that quiet confidence in himself which could 
 wait patiently for an occasion, and seize it without hurry or 
 agitation when it arrived. Moreover, he had been brought 
 up in the stern school, that turns out the most finished pupils, 
 after all. Poverty and hardship give their lessons for nothing ; 
 but men remember them better than Latin and Greek. We 
 may be allowed to doubt whether all George Buchanan's 
 classic lore and pedantic periods were as well worth acquiring 
 as Maxwell's aptitude to saddle, shoe, and groom his own 
 horse, cook his own rations, burnish his own corselet, and keep 
 his head with his hand. 
 
 Changes also took place in the Scottish Guard. The Earl 
 of Arran, heir to the house of Hamilton, was appointed to its 
 command, and already that eccentricity began to manifest 
 itself which was fostered, at last, into madness, by the sunshine 
 of Mary's unconscious smiles. Arran chose to alter the dis- 
 cipline, the accoutrements, and the whole system of the corps, 
 and such interference with their old habits was by no means 
 relished by its members. During the short reign of Francis II., 
 Mary Stuart's sympathies with her countrymen, and knowledge 
 of their customs and prejudices, checked many a proposed 
 innovation that would have created open dissatisfaction; 
 but when she became a dowager queen, and Charles IX. suc- 
 ceeded to the throne, the Archers found themselves curtailed 
 of many of their privileges, and no longer looked upon as 
 what they considered themselves the Mite of the French 
 army. Seeing, however, that, like the famous gants glaces 
 of a later period, they had earned this position by constantly 
 volunteering for all dangerous duties, they might well be 
 uneasy at the prospect of forfeiting a distinction it had cost 
 so much hard righting to attain. 
 
 It was during the short eighteen months of Mary's reign 
 as Queen of France, that our archer, in virtue of his office, was 
 brought in contact with the fascinating sovereign and her 
 Court. That he became the devoted adherent of his royal 
 countrywoman is not to be wondered at ; but in Maxwell's 
 consistent loyalty to the Stuart there lurked a deeper feeling 
 of interest than he liked to allow even to himself; an interest 
 that he could not but connect with another Mary attached to 
 the person of her mistress. The queen, as is well known, was 
 a daring and skilful horsewoman ; a masculine accomplish- 
 ment, by the way, that many womanly natures acquire with 
 
 28

 
 WALTER MAXWELL 
 
 great ease. Perhaps, as its chief art consists in ruling by 
 judicious concession, they have learned half the lesson before 
 they get into the saddle. As a natural consequence, Mary 
 was passionately fond of the chase, and followed it with 
 a degree of recklessness somewhat discomfiting to her less 
 courageous or worse-mounted attendants. In fact, she sus- 
 tained more than one severe fall without its curing her in the 
 least of her galloping propensities. 
 
 It fell out on one occasion, near the castle of Chambord, 
 whither the Court had repaired for this princely recreation, 
 that our archer was in attendance on Mary and her suite at 
 the moment the stag was unharboured, and, with a burst of 
 inspiriting music, the hounds were laid on. The queen, as 
 was her custom, went off at a gallop, outstripping her attend- 
 ants, and followed, at unequal distances, by the whole caval- 
 cade. Walter Maxwell, on a clambering, Roman -nosed 
 French horse, was plying his spurs to keep within sight of the 
 chase, when a faint scream of distress, and a young lady 
 borne past him at a pace that showed she was run away with, 
 diverted his attention from the pleasures to the exigencies of 
 the moment. Though the animal beneath him was neither 
 speedy nor active, he managed, by a skilful turn, to reach her 
 bridle-rein, and so, guiding her impetuous horse into an alley 
 that diverged from the line of the chase, succeeded in stopping 
 him before his own was completely exhausted. While the 
 young lady did not, in the least, lose her presence of mind, 
 she was naturally a little discomposed and a good deal out 
 of breath. Nevertheless, she thanked her preserver with 
 frank and graceful courtesy, avowing, at the same time, in 
 very broken sentences, her inability to control the animal she 
 rode. 
 
 The confession was tantamount to a request that her new 
 friend would not leave her. The most determined Nimrod 
 could scarcely have abandoned a lady who thus placed her- 
 self under his charge, and Walter Maxwell, with his passion- 
 less exterior, had a good deal of that manly generosity in his 
 composition, which warms at once to the unprotected and the 
 weak. Instead of toiling after the whole company, then, on 
 a tired horse, behold him riding quietly through beautiful 
 woods, by the side of a young lady, whose peace of mind 
 seemed to depend on his keeping his hand on her bridle-rein. 
 People soon become acquainted when thus associated. 
 Mary Carmichael, with a colour much heightened from a 
 variety of causes, and her rich brown hair disordered by her 
 gallop, had never looked prettier in her life ; whilst a glance 
 
 29
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 or two shot at her protector from under her riding-hat satis- 
 fied her that he was a gentleman of good nature and lineage, 
 also that she had remarked him more than once before, when 
 fulfilling his duties as a guardsman about the Court. Before 
 they had ridden a mile, he had told her his name and all 
 about himself. 
 
 " A Maxwell ! " exclaimed the young lady, whose apprehen- 
 sions were by this time considerably soothed. " I ought to 
 have known you for a Maxwell at once. You've got the 
 frank brow, and the ready hand, and the silent tongue of the 
 Maxwells." 
 
 Here she checked herself with a laugh and blush, whereat 
 her companion laughed and coloured a little too. 
 
 " Why, we are kinsfolk at that rate," she added courteously. 
 " My mother's niece married a Maxwell of the Den, and they 
 are a branch of the Terregles Maxwells, and so are you." 
 
 " I have left home so long," answered Walter gravely, " I 
 cannot count my kin ; and yet I will take your word for it. 
 I should think the better of myself," he added with a smile, 
 " to have a right to call you cousin." 
 
 The archer rarely smiled ; when he did, his usually stern 
 features softened and lighted up almost into beauty. The 
 change was not unmarked by the maid-of-honour. 
 
 " A Carmichael never failed a kinsman," said she, and her 
 voice shook a little, while her soft eyes gleamed ; " or the 
 old tower would be looking down still upon Dumfries, and 
 there would be more than a blackened arch, and a few mounds 
 of grass standing by the hearthstone, where my father once 
 received King James. Well, Sir Archer, you have done a 
 cousinly deed for me at least to-day." 
 
 Perhaps she expected he would make some acknowledgment 
 of his good fortune in the opportunity, but Maxwell rode on 
 in silence. A French gallant would have overwhelmed her 
 with eloquence, and few men but would have hazarded a few 
 compliments, however trifling. She scarcely seemed offended, 
 nevertheless. Her mute companion was absorbed in a brown 
 study, thinking how well she looked in her riding-gear. It 
 may be that her woman's intuition told her as much. 
 
 Presently a burst of horns in the distance announced the 
 direction of the chase. Mary Carmichael's steed pricked his 
 ears, and showed symptoms of insubordination once more. 
 Walter's grasp was on the bridle in an instant, and the rider 
 thanked him with a grateful smile. 
 
 " The ready hand ! " she said, laughing. " Was I not right 
 in saying you inherited the gifts of your family ? " 
 
 30
 
 " It must excuse the silent tongue," he answered. " I am no 
 squire of dames, and you ladies of the Court must needs look 
 down on the unpolished soldier. And yet his silence may 
 offer more of respect and regard in its humility than the 
 loudest professions of admiration from those who have never 
 been taught to say less than they think, and think less than 
 they feel." 
 
 "And receive twice as much in return," she replied, in a very 
 low voice, and averting her face from her companion as she 
 spoke. Then she put her horse into a quicker pace, and 
 ere long they met and joined a party of the courtiers returning 
 from the chase. 
 
 After this, though they saw each other but seldom, and had 
 no more rides together, there was a sort of tacit understanding 
 between the two. Nobody remarked that if Walter Maxwell 
 was on guard, Mary Carmichael's manner displayed more 
 animation, and her dress was, if possible, more becomingly 
 arranged than usual. Nobody remarked that one of the 
 archers, more than any of his comrades, displayed unusual 
 readiness in volunteering for all duties that brought him near 
 the queen's person, and never seemed so contented as when 
 riding in her escort, or mounting guard at her door. Yet it 
 was true, notwithstanding; and, although not a word had 
 been exchanged by these young persons of a more explicit 
 tendency than those we have related, there had yet sprung up 
 between them one of those mysterious affinities, that in this 
 world of ours lead to such troublesome results. 
 
 It was not till Mary Carmichael had sailed for Scotland in 
 the suite of her royal mistress, that it occurred to Maxwell he 
 was losing time and opportunities by remaining in his present 
 service at the Court of France. He wondered it had never 
 before struck him so forcibly, that the Archer-guard no 
 longer occupied its proud position in the land of its adoption 
 that its privates were no longer so well born, its drill so 
 exact, nor its discipline so perfect as in the days of its old 
 commander, Montgomery that Arran was a weak-minded 
 enthusiast, who would finish by disgusting both officers and 
 men and that Charles IX. was already beginning to look 
 coldly upon them, and depriving them, one by one, of the 
 privileges by which they set such store. Then his patron, 
 Montmorency, was getting infirm and worn out; and with 
 the constable's demise, adieu to his hopes of advancement in 
 the service of France ! 
 
 Mary Stuart, too, in her new kingdom, would need all the 
 stout hands and loyal hearts that she could muster. It was 
 
 31
 
 clearly the duty of every Scotsman to rally round the fair 
 young queen. 
 
 Ere our archer had concluded his midnight walk, he had 
 made up his mind ; and as he posted back his long ride to 
 Paris, the following day, he resolved to claim his dismissal 
 from the French king, and to seek his fortune once more in 
 the land of his birth.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 A BRUSH ON THE BORDER 
 
 " We are the boys that can wrestle and ride, 
 
 Empty a saddle, and empty a can, 
 Keeping the rights of the border side, 
 
 Warden to warden, and man to man ; 
 Never another so welcome here 
 As the lads of the snaffle, spur, and spear." 
 
 T the time of which we write there 
 were few worse places wherein 
 to be benighted than that wild 
 district on the borders of England 
 and Scotland, appropriately called 
 the Debatable Land. Bleak and 
 barren, on a gusty evening late in 
 autumn, a less desirable locality for 
 the traveller could scarcely be 
 imagined; and he must have been 
 a hardy adventurer who would not 
 have preferred the dirtiest corner of 
 the smokiest hostelry to the uncertain 
 
 track that led through its morasses, especially on a tired horse. 
 Such was the reflection uppermost in Walter Maxwell's mind 
 as he marked the dusky horizon becoming more and more 
 indistinct, and calculated the diminishing chances of his 
 reaching the castle of Hermitage, where he had hoped to 
 find rest and refreshment with his kinsman, James Hepburn, 
 Earl of Bothwell, and, doubtless, in that country where horses 
 were so easily come by, a fresh mount to take him northward 
 on the morrow. No longer an archer of the Scottish Guard, 
 Maxwell was on his way to Edinburgh from the English 
 seaport at which he had landed in returning from France. 
 With his reputation as a soldier and his family connections, 
 he had little doubt but that he would be welcome at Holy- 
 rood ; and indeed, had it been otherwise, an indefinable 
 attraction, that he would not have confessed, seemed to draw 
 him irresistibly towards the Scottish capital. 
 
 C 33
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 During the whole of his journey, however, by land and sea, 
 his destination had never seemed so remote, nor the likelihood 
 of his reaching it so small, as at present. 
 
 " Hold up, you brute ! " said Maxwell, as he felt if the 
 straps of his corselet were secure and his sword loose in its 
 sheath, whilst his poor horse took that opportunity of flounder- 
 ing on its head. " Hold up ! If you fall you'll never get up 
 again ; and unless mine host's directions were inspired by 
 beer and brandy, we must be a good way off Hermitage yet. 
 Happily the moon is rising every minute. Well, you were 
 a good beast this morning, though you're not worth your four 
 shoes now ! " 
 
 While he spoke, he patted the poor animal on the neck, 
 and, as if encouraged by the caress, it pricked its ears and 
 mended its pace of its own accord. 
 
 Maxwell was too old a soldier not to be on the alert in 
 such a situation : it was with a feeling more of annoyance 
 than surprise that he heard the tramp of horses advancing 
 at a rapid pace over the sounder sward he had left behind 
 him ; and whilst he shortened his reins and hitched his sword- 
 belt to the front, it was but with a dogged consciousness that, 
 though he meant to fight to the last, he was sure to get the 
 worst of it, outnumbered, and on a tired horse. 
 
 He had, however, the caution to halt on the far side of 
 some broken and boggy ground ; so that the new-comers, 
 whom he now made out to be but two, must attack him at 
 a disadvantage, if they intended violence ; and he thought 
 how he could best separate them, that they might not both 
 set on him at once. The horsemen, however, halted immedi- 
 ately they caught sight of him, and the foremost called out 
 in a loud, frank voice, undoubtedly English in its tone 
 
 " Is it friend or foe ? A man must be one or other in the 
 Debatable Land ! " 
 
 " Friend ! " answered Maxwell confidently, adding, as an 
 earnest of his sincerity, " Keep near the big stone, or you'll 
 go in up to your girths ! " 
 
 Following his advice, the horseman and his attendant, 
 who appeared nothing more than a simple domestic, emerged 
 upon sound ground. The former was admirably mounted, 
 and although his dress denoted the gentleman rather than 
 the soldier, he sat his horse with the ease of a skilful 
 cavalier. Maxwell made out also in the moonlight that he 
 was perfectly armed, wearing both pistols and rapier, and 
 carried a small valise, with somewhat ostentatious care, on 
 the saddle in front of him. 
 
 34
 
 A BRUSH ON THE BORDER 
 
 " Friend ! " he repeated, bowing ceremoniously, as he 
 brought his horse alongside Maxwell's, " foes are more plenti- 
 ful in this district on a moonlight night. We may meet 
 some gentlemen hereabouts who would give us anything but 
 a Highland welcome. As we are going in the same direction, 
 by your good leave we will travel together. Union is strength; 
 although," he added, glancing at the other's tired horse, "haste 
 is not speed." 
 
 His manner was courtly, or rather courtier-like, in the ex- 
 treme, and Maxwell saw at a glance he had to do with one 
 of the porcelain vessels of the earth ; yet there was a conven- 
 tional tone of indifference, a something of covert sarcasm, and 
 implied superiority in his voice, that jarred upon the franker 
 nature of the soldier. They rode on, however, amicably to- 
 gether the attendant, a burly Southron, apparently by no 
 means easy either in mind or body, keeping close behind his 
 master. The latter was bound, he said, for Hermitage, which 
 he hoped to reach before midnight, and he seemed to treat 
 his new companion with a shade more deference when he 
 learned that Maxwell was a kinsman of the redoubted Earl 
 of Bothwell. 
 
 Some men have a knack of extracting information with- 
 out affording any in return, and this faculty appeared to be 
 largely possessed by the well-mounted traveller, who, while he 
 conversed with the ease and freedom of a thorough man of 
 the world, dropped every now and then a leading question 
 that denoted an insatiable and unscrupulous curiosity. The 
 Scots have generally an insurmountable dislike to being 
 " pumped," and Maxwell, whose shrewdness soon perceived 
 his new friend's intention of subjecting him to that process, 
 resented it by an increased reserve, which subsided ere long 
 into an almost unbroken silence. 
 
 They rode on for some time, accordingly, interchanging 
 only an occasional remark the stranger accommodating his 
 horse's pace to that of his new acquaintance, whilst his 
 servant jogged painfully along behind him, suffering obviously 
 from abrasion, the curse of unpractised riders, and seeking 
 relief, as well by sighs and groans, as by fruitless changes of 
 position in the saddle. The moon shone out brightly, and 
 its light enabled Maxwell to examine the face and figure 
 of his comrade. 
 
 He was a spare man, of less than middle age, with the 
 marks of good breeding apparent in his thin, sharp features, 
 and small feet and hands. His figure, though too angular, 
 was sufficiently graceful ; and his face, though pale, bore the 
 
 35
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 clear hue of a healthy and enduring constitution ; although 
 he would have been a well-looking man enough, but for the 
 restless expression of his small grey eyes, which peered from 
 under the straight thick eyebrows with a vigilance amounting 
 to suspicion, and the thin, firmly-compressed lips, a little 
 drawn in at the corners, as if by a habitual sneer. 
 
 Maxwell, accustomed, in his warlike life, to judge of men 
 at a glance, found himself vaguely speculating on an exterior 
 beyond which he could not penetrate. The shaven lip and 
 cheek denoted a man of peaceful profession ; but the finished 
 horsemanship, the hanging of the sword, the readiness with 
 which his hand sought his pistol-holsters, savoured of the 
 soldier. Again, his thoughtful brow and worn face might 
 well become some distinguished scholar or man of science ; 
 but the tone of his conversation, and the levity of his bearing, 
 contradicted the supposition that he could belong to the 
 wise ones of the earth. He seemed conscious, too, of his 
 new friend's observation, and more inclined to court than 
 shrink from it, as if priding himself on the impenetrable 
 reserve, with which he could combine an appearance of ex- 
 treme cordiality. The restless eyes, however, were not still 
 for an instant ; and the soldier, in the midst of his specula- 
 tions, was equally startled and shamed by the observation 
 which aroused him, and proved that the civilian's vigilance 
 had been far more active than his own. 
 
 " I thought so ! " said the latter, speaking in quiet, rapid 
 tones. " There are night-hawks abroad, as usual, in this 
 cursed wilderness. Did you not see the glitter of a headpiece 
 over the height yonder ? Now, if these are jackmen out on 
 their own account, you and I will have to trust to the speed 
 of our horses, which is doubtful, and our knowledge of the 
 locality, which is negative this poor devil will have his 
 throat cut to a certainty." 
 
 Even at this disagreeable juncture, the man spoke in a 
 bantering tone, as it were between jest and earnest. His 
 servant, a stout, able-bodied fellow enough, regarded his 
 master with a ludicrous expression of dismay. 
 
 " Your horse is fresh, and looks like a good one," answered 
 Maxwell, somewhat contemptuously ; " keep round the 
 shoulder of that hill, and you will find a beaten track that 
 leads to Hermitage. At least, so they directed me. Mine is 
 tired ; I can't run, so I must fight. If I arrive not by day- 
 break, you will know what, has become of me, and can tell 
 the warden he should keep better order on the marches." 
 
 The other laughed outright. 
 
 36
 
 A BRUSH ON THE BORDER 
 
 " A sharp pair of spurs are no bad weapons on occasion," 
 said he ; " but I am much afraid I must trust to other friends 
 to-night" He laid his hand on his holsters, and continued, 
 " Those fellows will come in again in front of us, and I had 
 rather face every outlaw in Britain, from Robin Hood down- 
 wards, than turn back into the wilderness. Let us halt for 
 a minute. I can hear the tramp of their horses even now." 
 
 As the three drew up under the shadow of some rising 
 ground, they could distinctly hear the gallop of horses and 
 the clatter of arms on the other side of the acclivity. 
 
 " There are half a score at least," observed Maxwell, with 
 increasing animation. "You are quite right they want to 
 intercept us in the pass yonder. What say you, sir ? Shall 
 we pay them in steel or silver? for metal they will have. 
 Can your servant fight ? " 
 
 " Like a devil," answered the other, " when it is impossible 
 to run away ; and, faith, he'll be between two fires to-night, 
 for I can hear a body of horse in our rear as well. What say 
 you, Jenkin? Had you not rather be lying drunk in the 
 filthiest gutter in Eastcheap than make your bed here on the 
 heather, with a rough-footed borderer to pull your boots off, 
 and an Armstrong's lance through your body to make you 
 sleep well ? " 
 
 The man gave a sulky grunt in answer. He was evidently 
 irritated at the heartless levity of his master, but he looked 
 all the more dogged and resolute, and seemed likely to fight 
 till the last. The night wind, too, bore on their ears the 
 tramp of a body of horse behind them ; and it was simply a 
 question whether it were not better to charge through those 
 in front, and take their chance. 
 
 After a hurried consultation, they agreed to ride steadily 
 forward to the pass, at a good round pace, yet not fast enough 
 to convey the idea of flight. If their enemies were there before 
 them, they must charge without hesitation and try to cut their 
 way through, the Englishman remarking with grim sarcasm, 
 that " the warden was likely to have a good appetite if he 
 waited supper until his guests arrived." 
 
 As the three wayfarers neared the pass, the dusky forms 
 of their enemies were already drawn up in its shadow ; and a 
 shot, fired at Maxwell, which cut the ribbon from his sleeve, 
 sufficiently denoted their intentions. A voice, too, from the 
 midst of the little black mass was heard to exclaim, in more 
 polished language than might have been expected 
 
 " Dead or alive, Rough Rob ! take the man in the centre, 
 and let the others go free ! " 
 
 37
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " Thank you," observed the Englishman, who occupied 
 that position between his servant and Maxwell, adding, 
 through his set teeth, " I shall owe you one, whoever you are, 
 and pay it before I've done with you, or my name is not 
 Thomas Randolph ! " 
 
 Maxwell heard the promise, but had no time for astonish- 
 ment at thus finding himself the companion of Elizabeth's 
 ambassador to the Scottish Court under such uncomfortable 
 circumstances, inasmuch as a grim borderer, on a tall bay 
 horse, was already within lance's length of him, and in 
 another stride his own tired animal was rolling on the 
 heather, and he was defending himself as well as he could on 
 his feet. 
 
 Two or three shots were fired, the flashes from the pistols 
 and musquetoons lighting up the faces of the combatants, as 
 they rode to and fro through the skirmish. With the excep- 
 tion, however, of Mr. Randolph's first shot, which made 
 Rough Rob's good grey mare masterless, the firearms did 
 little damage, save rendering three or four of the horses 
 perfectly unmanageable. 
 
 As Maxwell shifted his ground, and traversed here and 
 there, parrying with his sword the thrusts of his adversary's 
 long lance, a tall man rode up to him, and shouting, " A 
 Carmichael ! " seemed about to cut him down ; then, as if 
 perceiving his mistake, he checked his raised arm, and turned 
 upon Mr. Randolph, whom he attacked with considerable 
 energy, shouting his war-cry, as though from the force of 
 habit, once more. The latter defended himself valiantly, but 
 notwithstanding the assistance of his servant, who fought with 
 the cool intrepidity of an Englishman in a difficulty, he had 
 too great odds to contend with, and must have fared badly, 
 had not assistance come from an unexpected quarter at the 
 very moment when honest Jenkin fell from the saddle with 
 an awkward knock on his pate from the back of a Jedwood 
 axe, running his assailant through the arm, however, as he 
 went down. 
 
 Mr. Randolph's bridle had already been seized, and the 
 valise torn from his saddle by the tall man who seemed to 
 command the party. Both Maxwell and the ambassador 
 were now surrounded and nearly overpowered, when two 
 more horsemen, followed by a numerous troop of cavalry, 
 came galloping up from the rear, and charged into the melee, 
 with a violence that made a clean breach through the out- 
 laws. One of them, a gigantic borderer, with a broad, good- 
 humoured face, rolled Maxwell's antagonist, horse and man, 
 
 38
 
 A BRUSH ON THE BORDER 
 
 to the ground, knocking the rider down again with the butt 
 end of his lance, when he strove to rise ; whilst the other, a 
 tall cavalier magnificently accoutred, turned Mr. Randolph's 
 horse courteously out of the press, dealing one of his assailants 
 a buffet, that must have cut him in two, had it not been 
 mercifully delivered with the flat of the sword, and rebuking 
 the others in a voice of authority that all seemed to recognise. 
 Indeed, a cry of "the warden! the warden!" was by this 
 time passed from lip to lip amongst the outlaws, and horses' 
 heads were already turned, and spurs plied to seek safety in 
 flight. For the third time, too, to-night, Maxwell heard the 
 name spoken which kindled so many recollections in his 
 breast. Disembarrassed of his enemies by the rescue that 
 arrived so opportunely, he noticed the warden ride rapidly 
 up to the leader of the band, and say in a low voice, " You 
 here, Carmichael ! for shame ! " after which, the other turned 
 rein, and galloped off at the utmost speed, accompanied by 
 all his followers save two, one of whom was dead, and the 
 other disabled. It struck him also that the pursuit was not 
 nearly so vigorous as might have been expected from the 
 rescue, and that the warden appeared far more anxious to 
 pay every attention to Mr. Randolph than to take vengeance 
 on those who had attacked him. The latter had never lost 
 his sangfroid during the encounter, and was, if possible, more 
 self-possessed than usual at its termination. 
 
 "Your Scottish welcomes, my lord earl," said he, "are 
 hearty, though rough. I never was more glad to see your 
 lordship. It is fortunate for us all, except this gentleman, 
 whose acquaintance I regret to have made so inopportunely, 
 that you came to-night somewhat farther than the drawbridge 
 to meet your guests." 
 
 As he spoke he pointed to the dead body of Rough Rob, 
 which was lying at his horse's feet. 
 
 " Who is it ? " asked Bothwell of his henchman anxiously, 
 ere he replied to the courtier ; and the gigantic horseman 
 who had rescued Maxwell, dismounting, turned the dead 
 man's face to the moonlight. 
 
 " It is but Rough Rob," replied he carelessly, after a brief 
 examination of the corpse. "A likely lad too, though he 
 was a kinsman of my ain. Ay, Rob, thou'rt out of the saddle 
 at last, man ; but I would like weel to ken wha's gotten the 
 gude grey mare." 
 
 " Secure the other rascal," said the warden, turning his 
 horse's head homeward. "Let Dick Rutherford and two 
 more jackmen bring him on in the rear. Help Mr. 
 
 39
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Maxwell to his horse, some of you, and leave that carrion to 
 the crows." 
 
 The cavalcade was now set in motion, Bothwell and Mr. 
 Randolph riding together in front ; the former, after a hasty 
 greeting to his kinsman, appearing to devote his whole 
 attention to the ambassador. Maxwell, whose relationship 
 to the warden made him an object of interest to the jack- 
 men, came on in the rear at a slower pace, for his horse was 
 now completely exhausted. He was, however, accompanied 
 by the borderer who had rescued him, and who seemed to 
 have taken a great fancy to him for his swordsmanship. 
 Dick Rutherford, or, as he was more commonly called, 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, set much store by that cool courage 
 which he himself possessed in no common degree ; and as 
 he looked on every hand-to-hand encounter in the light of a 
 pastime, at which he was himself a first-rate performer, so he 
 could never withhold a certain amount of facetious approba- 
 tion from any other skilful player at the game. He was, at 
 this period, the warden's henchman or principal man-at-arms, 
 and would have followed his chief to the death, for Bothwell 
 had the knack of winning the hearts of his retainers by a 
 rude cordiality and boisterous frankness akin to their own. 
 The warden could drain a deeper cup, back a wilder 
 horse, and couch a heavier spear than the rudest of his jack- 
 men ; his fine manly person, great strength, and soldier-like 
 bearing, fascinated while they controlled these savage natures ; 
 and whatever deep designs may have lurked beneath this 
 frank exterior, James Hepburn seemed to have no ambition 
 beyond the reputation of being the boldest borderer on 
 the marches. He would ride alone, or attended only by 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, through the worst of these lawless 
 districts, and the latter was never tired of detailing the 
 hand-to-hand encounters with freebooters, in which the 
 warden had come off victorious. Dick, too, was an adept 
 in all the intricacies of his profession. He could follow a 
 trail like a blood-hound, fight like a demon, and drink 
 and ride like a borderer. With all this, his great strong 
 body contained a soft heart, and an inexhaustible fund of 
 good-humour. 
 
 After looking at Maxwell in silent admiration for a space 
 of five minutes, he began 
 
 " I would ha' wagered a hundred merks now that there 
 wasna a man in Scotland could ha' kept little Jock Elliott at 
 half-sword like that ; and he on his white-footed gelding with 
 his long lance in his hand. Jock will no hear the last o' it 
 
 40
 
 A BRUSH ON THE BORDER 
 
 from me in a hurry. I trow he's found his match o' this side 
 Teviotdale, brag how he may ! " 
 
 "You know him, then?" asked Maxwell, somewhat 
 surprised to discover such an intimate acquaintance with an 
 outlaw on the part of the warden's henchman. 
 
 " Know him ? " repeated the other ; " he broke my head at 
 Bewcastle market only yesterday was three weeks ; but I'm 
 thinking, I'm even with ye now, Jock, my man ! All in good 
 part though," he added, " for little Jock Elliott's a canny lad, 
 and a far-off cousin o' my ain." 
 
 " Little Jock Elliott ! " observed Maxwell in return. " Why, 
 he looked to me nearly as big a man as yourself." 
 
 " It's a name he got when a boy," answered the borderer, 
 " to know him from his brother, big Jock Elliott, that's gone 
 to his rest. Ye see they were all Elliotts and Armstrongs 
 that were in the slack 1 the night, forbye Rough Rob, and he 
 was a Rutherford more shame till him that let himself get 
 guided that way by a Southron ! " 
 
 " I heard another name too," said Maxwell, whose curiosity 
 was thoroughly aroused. " Who was the tall man that 
 seemed to be the leader of the party ? the man that rode by 
 me just before you struck in so opportunely, and shouted ' a 
 Carmichael ! ' when he drew his sword." 
 
 " Oh ! it would be just one o' the Carmichaels that 
 happened there by chance," replied Dick, with an expression 
 of hopeless stolidity overspreading his broad countenance ; 
 and Maxwell, seeing it would be useless to question him 
 further on that subject, turned the conversation to the more 
 congenial topics of horses and weapons, and the advantages 
 and disadvantages of the new-fashioned musquetoon. 
 
 In this manner they journeyed on in rear of the party till 
 the dark towers of Hermitage loomed against the midnight 
 sky, and the clatter of the drawbridge, as it was lowered, 
 together with a considerable bustle inside the walls, announced 
 that preparations were being'made for their entrance. Both- 
 well and Randolph, who had been riding at the head of 
 the party, halted at the postern until the rest came up, 
 and the former proceeded to muster his troop once more 
 ere they crossed the bridge. Maxwell remarked that the 
 prisoner had escaped, but as no one else seemed to take 
 any notice of the circumstance, he discreetly held his 
 tongue. Whilst the gates were being opened, and the 
 drawbridge secured, operations which occupied a consider- 
 able time, Bothwell welcomed his guests formally to his 
 
 1 The pass. 
 41
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " poor tower," addressing himself, as before, more particularly 
 to Randolph. 
 
 " I regret much," said he to the latter, " that your duty 
 compels you to be in the saddle again to-morrow at daybreak ; 
 but he who serves a queen, as well I know, must never flag 
 for an hour in his zeal. It shall be my care to provide you 
 with a proper escort, and my own henchman shall accompany 
 you to Edinburgh." 
 
 Randolph thanked the warden courteously. 
 
 "Your kinsman," said he, "will perhaps accompany me. 
 He, too, as he tells me, has urgent affairs in the capital, and 
 I could not wish a stouter escort if I carried a king's ransom 
 along with me." 
 
 Maxwell accepted the offer eagerly, notwithstanding the 
 earl's hospitable objections ; and Bothwell, as they turned to 
 cross the drawbridge, once more expressed his sorrow that the 
 English ambassador should have been attacked within his 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 " I must take yet stricter order with these knaves," said 
 the warden ; " there are too many broken men still in the 
 Debatable Land who get their living by what they can lift. 
 Your valise is gone, but that we can easily replace. I fear, 
 however, that it contained something more valuable than wear- 
 ing apparel. Despatches probably for the queen, and and 
 Lord James, her Majesty's half-brother ? " 
 
 Mr Randolph could not repress a sneer. 
 
 " Certain letters," he answered, " indeed there were, of no 
 great value to those knaves, if, as your lordship seems satisfied, 
 they are illiterate freebooters who cannot read. I have a few 
 more here," he added, pointing to a packet that peeped from 
 his boot ; " and, indeed, the only one of importance is written 
 in a cipher with which I myself am unacquainted. Your lord- 
 ship need not, therefore, be uneasy about the safety of my 
 despatches." 
 
 Bothwell looked considerably put out, though he strove to 
 mask his annoyance under an affectation of great cordiality ; 
 and Randolph, as he followed him into the castle, seemed hugely 
 to enjoy the discomfiture of his host. 
 
 42
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE QUEEN OF SCOTS 
 
 " She could whisper, and smile, and sigh, 
 
 Pleading, flattering, ... so can the rest ; 
 But oh ! the light in her roving eye 
 
 Would have wiled the babe from its mother's breast." 
 
 THE Queen of Scotland was fairly settled in her own 
 palace of Holyrood. We must now shift the scene to 
 the royal presence-chamber in that picturesque old building. 
 It is a lofty and well-proportioned apartment, of which, however, 
 the small windows and thick walls denote that it was originally 
 constructed with a view to purposes of defence. It is hung 
 round with a quaint and elaborate tapestry, more curious, 
 perhaps, than tasteful, representing various incidents in the 
 heathenish history of Diana ; whereon the goddess bares her 
 knee and draws her bow, to the discomfiture of her rival's 
 children, with mythological effrontery. Beautiful oak carv- 
 ings adorn its massive chimney-piece, and its panelled roof 
 is richly emblazoned with the armorial bearings of a line of 
 kings. The floor, instead of being strewed with rushes, is 
 carefully waxed and polished, a foreign innovation which has 
 already excited some displeasure amongst the graver courtiers. 
 Such furniture as the room contains is heavily gilt and 
 decorated. The sovereign's chair of state seems to blaze with 
 embroidery and cloth of gold. It is a right royal apartment, 
 not unworthy of the company by which it is occupied. 
 
 To-night the queen holds one of her state-receptions, and 
 around her person are gathered the flower of the Scottish 
 aristocracy. Many a bold baron who spends half his life 
 sheathed in armour, walks none the less stately to-night that 
 he has donned satin doublet and silken hose, that his brow is 
 bare of its steel headpiece, and he carries his plumed bonnet 
 in his hand. Many a dame of clear blue eye and dazzling 
 fairness scans with critical glance every fold of the royal 
 drapery, and watches if she cannot catch and appropriate 
 another grace from her queen. They are thronging round her 
 
 43
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 now, for the dissensions which shall mar her unhappy reign 
 are as yet only in the bud. Each may expect some fresh 
 boon from a new sovereign, and the baron's ambition to 
 become an earl is just as eager, and probably twice as un- 
 principled, as the varlet's to become a page, or the page's 
 to become a squire. Even thoughtful Lord James, the 
 queen's half-brother, the lay-churchman, the soldier-statesman 
 the staff on which she leans, little dreaming it can ever 
 break in her hand and pierce her to the quick has forgotten 
 his sister in his sovereign, and wears on his calm sad face an 
 unusual expression of deference to-night, because of prospec- 
 tive advancement and his promised earldom of Mar, and the 
 broad lands and additional title of Moray, to which he hopes 
 it may lead. He has taken his stand on the right of the 
 queen's chair, and Mary whispers to him ever and anon as she 
 requires information concerning her new subjects ; although, 
 with the tact of her family and her own kindly acuteness, she 
 has already mastered the names of most of them, and has even 
 gained the goodwill of more than one rugged baron by a 
 happy question regarding his old grey tower or his favourite 
 horse. 
 
 But amongst many eager countenances, of which, with all 
 their different expressions, each wears a family likeness of 
 curiosity and expectation, it is touching to observe the 
 chivalrous face and the lofty bearing of the Marechal 
 d'Amville, who has come to bid farewell to his queen and 
 his ladye-love. With all the polish of a courtier, with all the 
 pride of a soldier, and with that dignity of manner which 
 noble natures, and these alone, acquire from a hopeless sorrow 
 bravely borne, d'Amville kneels before her who was Queen of 
 France in the sunny days that seem to have shone so long 
 ago. Many a weary year has he knelt in spirit before that 
 magic beauty which he now feels he looks on for the last time. 
 He never expected for a moment that his wild hopeless love 
 could win him anything but sorrow, yet he grudged it not, nor 
 strove to conquer the idolatry for which he was prepared to 
 pay its cruel penalty ; he is paying it even now. Kneeling 
 there to kiss the white hand that reaches him a letter for 
 her kinsfolk in France so gently and so gracefully, looking up 
 once more at the face that will haunt him to his grave, and 
 feeling that none but himself will ever know his folly or its 
 punishment; and that she, its object, smiling so frankly 
 upon him, little guesses how gladly he would give her his 
 blighted life, then and there, at her feet. But, gentleman and 
 soldier as he is, none can guess his heart by the unmoved 
 
 44
 
 THE QUEEN OF SCOTS 
 
 brow, the unshaken voice, and the scrupulous deference with 
 which he pays his homage. Gracefully he insists on the recep- 
 tion he will meet with in France, as bearing the latest news 
 from her who was the pleasure and the pride of the whole 
 kingdom, and his own good fortune in having been permitted 
 to accompany her and see her safely bestowed on her 
 Scottish throne. Mary can scarcely keep back her tears at 
 the allusion ; but, with so many jealous eyes around her, well 
 she knows she must play her part at any cost, and she gulps 
 them down with an effort. 
 
 " Farewell," she says, " my brave protector and pilot ; be 
 assured Mary Stuart never forgets a friend. You will advise 
 the Guises of my welfare and happiness. You will tell the 
 French Court and the French people," she added, drawing 
 herself up and speaking in a louder tone, so as to be heard by 
 all, " that you left me on a royal throne, surrounded by the 
 bravest and the most loyal nobility in Europe." 
 
 A murmur of applause went the round of the circle at this 
 spirited declaration, and Lord James gave the queen a glance 
 of mingled surprise and approval. 
 
 As d'Amville rose from his knee and retired, Chastelar, 
 who followed in the train of the marechal, passed before the 
 queen to make his farewell obeisance. The poet's face wore 
 an expression of determination foreign to its usual character ; 
 but it was observed by one who watched its every turn, that 
 he never lifted his eyes above the hem of Mary's robe. She 
 inclined her head graciously to him, nevertheless, and he 
 passed into the outer circle, and was soon conversing lightly 
 with the maids-of-honour and other of the courtiers. 
 
 It chanced, however, that the queen had forgotten some 
 additional message for her kinsfolk, with which she intended 
 to charge d'Amville, and ere he had reached the door, she 
 wished to call him back. The first person whose eye she 
 caught happened to be the Earl of Arran, who" had taken up 
 a position opposite her Majesty, and seemed to observe her 
 narrowly. Not unwilling to pay the house of Hamilton every 
 compliment in her power, Mary beckoned the earl to her side 
 and charged him with her commission. Arran's wild eye 
 flashed fire at the proposal ! 
 
 " I will obey your commands, madam," said he rudely, 
 1 though there be pages enough in the gallery to send after a 
 French adventurer. It seems that France had better come to 
 Holyrood and abide with your Majesty once for all." 
 
 His tone was so loud, and his bearing so excited, that the 
 bystanders gazed in astonishment on one another and on the 
 
 45
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 queen. Mary looked surprised, almost scared for a moment, 
 and then flushed with displeasure ; but her sweet temper soon 
 prevailed, and she answered gently 
 
 " Nay, cousin, you shall do my bidding yourself as you have 
 always done. Have not you and I reason to look back upon 
 the days we spent in France as the happiest of our lives? 
 Youth comes but once, my lord, and we shall neither of us 
 ever be so light-hearted again." 
 
 The unfortunate nobleman trembled from head to foot, 
 and turned deadly pale. He seemed about to indulge in 
 some frantic outbreak, which he repressed with an effort ; 
 then with writhing lip and dilated nostril, he strode towards 
 the doorway, the courtiers making way for him as he passed 
 with looks of astonishment and alarm. Lord James, glancing 
 at Morton, put his finger to his brow and shook his head 
 gravely. The grim Douglas laughed his ghastly laugh, and 
 with his hand on the halt of his dudgeon-dagger, muttered 
 something about "blood-letting" and " melancholy," that, had 
 he been the physician, would have boded no good to the 
 patient ; and Arran, rushing tumultuously through the gallery 
 to cool his brow in the night air, reappeared in the presence 
 no more that night. 
 
 It seems to us there is a strange, sad moral in the history 
 of this beautiful queen. Probably the gift that women most 
 desire, beyond riches, wisdom, even virtue itself, is a power of 
 fascination over the other sex ; and this dangerous charm 
 must have been possessed by Mary to a degree that in the 
 days of Greece and Rome would have been attributed to 
 supernatural influence. With all her advantages of rank, 
 talent, and education, this very quality, so far from adding to 
 her happiness, seems to have been the one engine which 
 worked her own destruction, and that of every kindly heart 
 that came within her sphere. Few of the other sex could look 
 upon Mary without an inclination, at least, to love her ; and 
 how many, like high-minded d'Amville and poor half-crazed 
 Arran, had cause to curse the day when first they felt the 
 spell of that sweet face, apparently so unconscious of its 
 power ! Of all the eminently beautiful women the world has 
 seen, Mary Stuart wrought the most of wreck and utter ruin 
 with the kindliest disposition and the best intentions. Dalilah, 
 we have never doubted, was a heartless sensualist, covetous 
 only of pleasure and gold. The Phrynes and Aspasias were, 
 probably, finished courtesans, with whom the affections were 
 but instruments necessary to a profession of which they were 
 thorough mistresses. Cleopatra, like a royal voluptuary, 
 
 46
 
 THE QUEEN OF SCOTS 
 
 grudged no price for her desire ; and in her love of conquest, 
 blazoned forth and made the most of her rich southern 
 charms. Marguerite de Valois knew and cultivated her 
 resplendent beauty with the diligence of a devotee and the 
 scientific aptitude of a Frenchwoman. But the Queen of 
 Scotland alone seems to have been half ignorant and wholly 
 careless of those advantages which women most prize and 
 cherish ; seems to have regarded her loveliness as little as the 
 flower its fragrance, and to have gone about frankly and freely 
 dispensing her dangerous notice with the innocence of an 
 involuntary and unconscious coquette. 
 
 It is notorious, that even the lower animals acknowledged 
 the influence of this captivating nature. Dogs attached 
 themselves to the queen with their brave fidelity, from the 
 instant they came into her presence. She loved to dress her 
 own hawks, and was pleased to boast that she could reclaim 
 the wild bird of the air with greater facility than the most 
 experienced of her falconers. Horses that fretted and chafed 
 under the boldest cavaliers, would bend at once to the gentle 
 hand of the royal equestrian, and carry her with safety and 
 docility. The brute yielded gladly, as though proud to 
 contribute to her happiness ; and man looked and longed 
 and grieved, and did his best to make both himself and her 
 miserable. 
 
 Of physical beauty there is no question that she possessed 
 an extraordinary share perhaps more than any woman of 
 that or any other age. Like her mother, she was of lofty 
 stature and peculiar dignity of bearing, whilst she inherited 
 from her father an exact symmetry and the most graceful 
 proportions. James V., though he made bad use of his 
 physical advantages, was one of the comeliest and best- 
 limbed men in his dominions. Mary's hand was a model for 
 a sculptor, whilst every gesture and every movement of her 
 body was at once womanly and dignified. But it was the 
 queen's face that riveted the attention, and fascinated both 
 sexes with its entrancing loveliness. Other women might be 
 beautiful ; other women might have had the same smooth, 
 open brow, the same chiseled features and pencilled eyebrows, 
 the same delicate chin and white full neck and bosom ay, 
 even the same long, soft hazel eyes, and rich dark chestnut 
 hair ; but where was the woman in Europe whose glance, like 
 hers, raised from under those sweeping eyelashes, found its 
 way straight to the heart ; whose smile seemed at once to 
 entreat and to command, to extort obedience and bestow 
 reward, like sunlight penetrating the coldest object and 
 
 47
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 warming and brightening all within its sphere? Yes, there 
 was many a beautiful woman in France and Scotland, not to 
 mention such fair dames at the English Court as did not fear 
 to provoke the displeasure of good Queen Bess by too engag- 
 ing a deportment or too becoming an attire ; but there was 
 only one Mary Stuart, as many an aching heart in steel-clad 
 bosom was fain to confess to its cost. 
 
 And yet on that fair face was often to be remarked an 
 expression of melancholy, as though produced by some vague 
 foreboding of evil, such as cast a shadow over the countenances 
 of so many of the Stuarts. Even James V., though he could 
 revel with the noisiest, and sing many a merry stave of his 
 own writing, amongst which 
 
 " We'll go no more a roving 
 By the light of the moon," 
 
 is not the least suggestive and poetical, bore on his brow this 
 mysterious presage of evil, although it was perhaps more 
 apparent, as well it might be, in the pensive lineaments of his 
 descendant, the first Charles, and the surpassing beauty of his 
 peerless daughter, Mary Queen of Scots. Was it this that 
 the soothsayer meant, when Mary of Guise took her beautiful 
 child, then a mere infant, to the famous Nostradamus, and 
 bade him cast her horoscope, and foretell her destinies ? The 
 sage looked on the blooming face, turned so artlessly towards 
 his own, and announced in his deep grave tones, " There is 
 blood on that fair young brow ! " 
 
 Through her happy childhood in the peaceful islet of 
 Inchmahome through her graceful youth, spent with the 
 daughters of France in the quiet retreats of Amboise and 
 Fontainebleau through her early wedded life and short 
 supremacy, as through her widowhood, when the Blanche 
 Reine was the darling and pride of the French Court, this 
 shadow of evil never left her. It pervaded her turbulent 
 reign in Scotland, her many reverses, her cruel injuries, her 
 disheartening defeats, her dreary captivity. Perhaps it never 
 faded from her brow till the glory of death shone over it, in 
 the hands of the headsman at Fotheringay. 
 
 Mary looked round her courtiers in dismay at Arran's 
 extraordinary conduct. The sad expression was more than 
 usually apparent on her fair forehead : she whispered a few 
 words to her brother, who seemed to be her refuge, as was 
 natural, in her difficulties, and Lord James, darting another 
 glance at Morton, quitted the apartment with his usual staid 
 impassive air. Then the queen, rising, broke up the circle 
 
 48
 
 THE QUEEN OF SCOTS 
 
 by which she was surrounded, and pacing through the room, 
 addressed herself by turns to the different nobles present, 
 and was observed to be more than usually condescending 
 to the Earl of Morton, as though some instinctive prescience 
 bade her deprecate, as early as possible, the hostility of that 
 fierce uncompromising nature. 
 
 The earl's grim countenance relaxed into a smile that 
 added to its natural ghastliness, as she passed ; and Secretary 
 Maitland whispered to Lord John Stuart that " the Douglas 
 was in a courtly mood to-night, and reminded him of the 
 lion in George Buchanan's elegy that was led by the lady in 
 a silken chain " ; to which the gay prior of Coldinghame, 
 contemplating a shapely leg he loved well to display in a 
 galliard, replied with a light laugh 
 
 " I never mistrust the lion so much as when he shows his 
 fangs," alluding to the prominent teeth and unshapely mouth 
 of the redoubted earl. 
 
 " Nor I the Douglas so much as when he hides his claws," 
 answered Secretary Maitland ; and the two passed gaily on 
 to take part in the amusements and revelry that once more 
 enlivened the walls of old Holyrood. 
 
 49
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 AT HOLYROOD 
 
 " She waited not for guard nor groom, 
 
 But stepp'd into the hall : 
 Around her were the four Maries, 
 Herself the rose of all." 
 
 IT is not always in the immediate presence of royalty that 
 there is the most enlivening conversation, or the greatest 
 amount of gaiety about a Court. Although the Queen of 
 Scotland was the essence of good - humour, and when in 
 comparative privacy encouraged to the utmost freedom of 
 intercourse and absence of formality amongst her attendants, 
 yet on an occasion like the present, in a gathering of the 
 great nobility of her kingdom, it may easily be imagined 
 that an unusual amount of decorum and restraint was 
 observed throughout the circle which actually surrounded 
 their sovereign. 
 
 At a short distance, however, from these graver seniors 
 were grouped the Maries, in the splendour of their courtly 
 dresses, and the bloom of their own intrinsic charms. The 
 young ladies seemed to have completely recovered whatever 
 ill effects may have been produced by the hardships of a sea 
 voyage, and their plumage, like that of certain tropical wild 
 birds, appeared the sleeker and more variegated for the storms 
 through which they had passed. We would fain possess the 
 pen of that eloquent writer who describes in our morning 
 journals the weekly recurring changes of Parisian fashion, 
 with a fidelity not to be surpassed by the superlative gossip- 
 ing powers of Brantome or Pepys, and a touching earnestness 
 that never stops short of enthusiasm, and often amounts to 
 poetry ; then would we detail the tasteful costumes of this 
 seductive quartette with an accuracy that should make the 
 ladies' mouths water, and every hair on the head of the 
 family stand on end. We would depict in glowing language 
 their several robes of orange and violet and courtly cramoisie 
 the stately fall of their folds, the delicate edging of their 
 
 50
 
 AT HOLYROOD 
 
 lace, the trim defences of the jealous ruff, and rich embroidery 
 on the shapely glove. We would not 'bate a pearl, nor a 
 tress, nor a flounce, till the dazzled reader should count every 
 stitch of needlework on the attire of these sumptuous damsels. 
 But we must leave such visions to younger and keener eye- 
 sights, satisfied to take for granted the radiance of the Maries 
 from the admiration they excited, and the compliments that 
 were paid them by all. 
 
 As Chastelar followed the marechal through the outer 
 circle, he lingered for a few minutes amongst the maids-of- 
 honour, to take his leave of the ladies with whom of late he 
 had been so closely associated. It would have been amusing 
 to mark the different effect his farewell produced on each 
 individual of the four. Mary Beton, half a head taller than 
 her companions, magnificent in dress and deportment, received 
 his salutation with the dignity of an empress accepting the 
 homage of a vassal. Mary Seton laughed in his face. 
 
 " Farewell ! " said she, with mischief gleaming from her 
 eyes : " Farewell ! our fellow-sufferer and Prince of Trouba- 
 dours. As you are never likely to cross the seas again, be 
 sure you take back with you to France nothing but what 
 belongs to you. None of the hearts of us unfortunate maids- 
 of-honour, for instance. They are prized in Scotland, I can 
 tell you ; and the Maries want at least as many as they have 
 got amongst the five of them, you may be sure ! " 
 
 " And suppose I leave my own instead," answered Chastelar, 
 laughing, yet at the same time colouring an embarrassment 
 not unmarked by Mary Hamilton, who shot one eager glance 
 at him, and turned her eyes away, blushing too ; " suppose 
 I must return to France, fair mistress, a loser by the ex- 
 change ? " 
 
 " We'll have the palace swept and searched for the missing 
 article," she answered gaily. " I think I can promise you that 
 the one who has got it won't keep it There, you needn't 
 look so shocked, Mistress Beton ! You can't guess which of 
 the Maries has robbed our poor poet so mercilessly. It's a 
 sweet name, Mary, is it not? But don't forget it rhymes to 
 ' vary.' And so, good luck to you, Chastelar ! and fare you 
 well ! " 
 
 Souvent femme varie, fol qui sy fie, answered the poet, 
 forcing a laugh, though a less acute observer than any one 
 of the four might have noted that he was distressed at the 
 turn their conversation had taken, and that the wilful girl's 
 shaft had been shot home. "Adieu, Mistress Carmichael," 
 he added, as she, too, in her turn frankly bade him farewell ; 
 
 5i
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 and then he passed on to Mary Hamilton, and paused for 
 an instant, irresolute, before the dark -eyed maid-of-honour. 
 
 She did not offer him her hand as the others had done. 
 She never lifted her looks to his face. Pale as she usually 
 was, she turned paler than ever, and her cold, distant bearing 
 would have almost seemed to infer that she was offended, 
 and that her greeting was extorted from her as a duty of 
 ceremony, rather than springing from the free impulse of 
 friendship. And yet he knew it was not so. Though 
 scarcely so quick-sighted on such matters as women, even 
 men have an intuitive perception that they are beloved. In 
 either sex the consciousness produces a kindly feeling towards 
 the worshipper, and it seems hard to deny a few gentle words 
 where so much is ungrudgingly bestowed. Mistaken com- 
 passion ! Perhaps the fiercest efforts of hate would be less 
 cruel than this ill-judged lenity. It is like hanging out the 
 beacon where it shall guide the barque on to the quicksand. It 
 is like Varney counterfeiting Leicester's whistle to lure Amy 
 Robsart to destruction. When people pass spurious money 
 in exchange for sterling gold, they find themselves ere long 
 in the felon's dock ; but there is no law to punish the coiner 
 who stamps a few false words with the royal die of truth, and 
 pays them away unblushingly, for all the happiness and all 
 the welfare of the poor fool he deceives. 
 
 "You are going back to France," said Mary Hamilton, 
 with a wonderfully composed countenance and steady lip. 
 " It is your home I wish you joy of your return." 
 
 " Nay," answered Chastelar, his voice softening while he 
 spoke. "You know how happy I have been in Scotland. 
 How devoted I must always be to this Court and this country. 
 I must follow d'Amville to Paris for the present, but the one 
 hope of my life will be that I shall soon return." 
 
 He spoke truly enough; he even hoped the royal lady 
 then employing all the fascinations of her manner on Morton 
 and his kindred, might hear his last words and give him one 
 responsive glance to carry with him into his banishment. In 
 this he was disappointed. The queen, seated at some distance 
 from the group, and surrounded by her barons, was for the 
 moment " every inch a queen," and Chastelar passed out of 
 Holyrood, with Mary Hamilton's farewell warmer and more 
 hopeful since his last words, to warn him (could, indeed, warn- 
 ing ever profit in such cases), that, in stretching for the rose 
 he would never reach, he was trampling the poor violet ruth- 
 lessly beneath his feet. She seemed in better spirits, too, 
 after he was gone, although silent and inattentive to the 
 
 52
 
 AT HOLYROOD 
 
 surrounding gaiety, a distraction not unnoticed by Mary 
 Beton, who believed herself officially answerable not only for 
 the dresses and deportment of her three companions, but for 
 the thoughts and sentiments of their inmost hearts. 
 
 " I have told you twice," she said at length with an 
 offended air, " that the queen rides out to - morrow for the 
 hawking after early mass, and that you and Mary Seton will 
 be in attendance. You will wear the sad - coloured riding 
 gear passemented with silver, and French hats but neither 
 of you seem to heed me." 
 
 " She is thinking of a French head, rather than a French 
 hat," laughed incorrigible Mary Seton ; " but indeed I have 
 listened to you even more attentively than usual. Ah ! 
 Mistress Beton, what would I not give to possess your careful 
 forethought and common sense? You never neglect any- 
 thing you never forget anything. The queen trusts you 
 with her state secrets, and when you carry her work to her in 
 the council-chamber, even Maitland and Morton look upon 
 you as if you were one of themselves. Why are you not 
 weak and giddy like me, or pensive and sad like Hamilton, 
 or absent and haughty like Mary Carmichael has grown of 
 late ? Look at her yonder holding the queen's train as if she 
 were the sovereign, and our beautiful mistress the maid-of- 
 honour ! " 
 
 Mary Beton smiled, not displeased at the adroit flattery of 
 her junior. She did indeed pride herself on two especial 
 qualities utter impassibility, and scrupulous attention to 
 details. 
 
 " I am somewhat older than the rest of you," she said, 
 bridling her handsome neck within her handsome ruff, " and 
 I have learned to avoid all pleasures and interests that take 
 my attention from my duty. I am always responsible and 
 always employed. I have no time for the follies that seem to 
 afford the rest of you so much amusement." 
 
 " And yet you would become them well," said the other 
 coaxingly. " Come, now, be persuaded to play Diana in the 
 next masque. I will dress your hair myself, and the gallants 
 all vow you are fitted for the part both in person and character. 
 Handsome and stately and cold." 
 
 " That is exactly why I do not care to join in it," replied 
 the elder lady, with increasing cordiality, for no daughter of 
 Eve was ever yet insensible to flattery, even when ugly and 
 repulsive and old, whereas Mary Beton could boast con- 
 siderable attractions. " I tell you, my dear, it is better to 
 keep out of temptation. You envy me my self-command, 
 
 53
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 you say, and I repeat to you it is a quality I possess because 
 I am heart-whole and free." 
 
 " But so am I," interposed the girl vehemently, " and so 
 are we all, I suppose, in reality, for the matter of that ; and 
 yet it is possible that our time may be coming too," she 
 added reflectively. " Ah ! Mistress Beton, I shall see you 
 some day with a lover as stately as yourself, perhaps. What 
 an imperial pair you will make ! " 
 
 Mary Beton looked by no means displeased. The smile 
 on her handsome face partook of a meaning expression not 
 devoid of triumph, as though the contingency were neither 
 very remote, nor wholly disagreeable ; but, of course, the less 
 she felt it to be unalterable, the more emphasis she laid on 
 her denial. 
 
 " Never ! " "she exclaimed strenuously. " I am surprised, 
 my dear, at your thinking for an instant of such an absurdity. 
 I never saw one yet, to my fancy, that I could like better 
 than another." 
 
 " Nor I neither," echoed Mary Seton eagerly ; adding, in 
 a voice of unusual gravity, and with a wistful expression on 
 her countenance rarely seen there, " I think if I did, it would 
 be an unlucky day both for him and for me ! " 
 
 Even while she spoke an unusual stir in the ante-room 
 heralded the approach of some distinguished stranger who 
 was to be received with more than ordinary ceremony. In 
 such cases the queen's ladies gathered round their mistress as 
 in duty bound, although at other times it was Mary's practice 
 to retain but one of them in the immediate vicinity of her 
 person, and to permit the rest to mingle in the general circle, 
 amusing themselves in their own way. 
 
 The duties devolving on the Maries were, indeed, much 
 to their liking, and might well be called a labour of love. 
 They vied with each other in passionate adoration of their 
 mistress, whose sweet temper and generous disposition never 
 failed to gain the hearts of all those who came about her 
 person. If there was a charm in all the Stuarts which won 
 blind devotion from their associates, what must have been the 
 fascination that surrounded the gentlest and loveliest scion of 
 that illustrious race ! 
 
 The Queen of Scots was a thorough gentlewoman, in the 
 noblest and fullest acceptation of the term. That she lacked 
 firmness where her affections were involved, and promptitude 
 of action where her safety was threatened, what is this but to 
 say that she was a woman and not a hero ? Courage, both 
 the masculine spirit that braves mortal peril, and the feminine 
 
 54
 
 AT HOLYROOD 
 
 fortitude that can sustain suffering and sorrow, she proved 
 that she possessed on more than one stricken field, in more 
 than one dreary house of humiliation and bondage. On both 
 these chivalrous qualities the last scene of her life drew largely, 
 and Bayard himself, the bravest of the brave, could not have 
 faced death more nobly than did Mary, the fairest of the fair. 
 Yet with all this she was exquisitely sensitive of the feelings 
 of others ; she could not bear to give pain ; she hesitated to 
 remonstrate, and could scarcely bring herself to chide. The 
 regulations of her household, to the carrying out of which the 
 queen herself attended with housewifely care, prove the re- 
 gard she entertained for the personal comfort of her domestics. 
 
 The allowance for the table of her ladies and maids-of- 
 honour was the same as that of their sovereign. If the reader 
 is curious to see the bill of fare for a royal dinner in the six- 
 teenth century, the following are its contents : " Four soups, 
 four entrees, a piece of ' beef-royal ' boiled, a loin of mutton, 
 and a capon ; of roast meat, one neck of mutton, one capon, 
 three pigeons, three hares, and two pieces of fat meat. For 
 the dessert, seven dishes of fruit, and one of chicory-paste, 
 one gallon of wine, one quart of white wine, and one of 
 claret ; eight rolls of bread." The latter item appears as if 
 this plentiful supply were a dinner for but eight people. 
 Probably, however, the remains of the feast furnished forth 
 the inferior tables. A characteristic memorandum appears 
 at the same time directing that the queen's ladies, including 
 the Maries, shall have the same diet as their mistress. 
 
 Mary Carmichael was in attendance on her Majesty, and 
 holding the royal train during the conversation we have 
 detailed. It was broken off abruptly by the stir in the ante- 
 room. 
 
 " This must be the English ambassador ! " exclaimed 
 Mary Beton, drawing herself up to her full height, and 
 assuming her most frigid air of etiquette, 
 
 "He has come back sooner than he was expected, and I 
 wish he had stayed away altogether," observed Mistress Seton, 
 on whom Randolph had made no favourable impression 
 during their previous acquaintance, for the latter had held 
 Elizabeth's credentials at the Court of Holyrood from the 
 Queen of Scotland's first arrival, and had been absent to 
 receive personal instructions from his own sovereign but for 
 a few weeks. 
 
 " What is the matter with Mary Carmichael ? " whispered 
 Mistress Hamilton anxiously, as the three young ladies 
 glided into their places behind the queen. She might have 
 
 55
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 spared herself the question, for almost ere it was spoken the 
 agitation which caused it had disappeared ; and although, 
 when Randolph entered the presence-chamber, Mary Car- 
 michael had started, turned very pale, and dropped the royal 
 robe from her hand, ere he had advanced three paces, her 
 colour had returned somewhat higher than before, and she 
 was fulfilling her duties more scrupulously than ever, with 
 an unusual expression of cold indifference on her fair and 
 haughty face.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 DICK-O'-THE-CLEUGH 
 
 For though I was rugged and wild and free, 
 
 I had a heart like another man ; 
 And oh ! had I known how the end would be, 
 
 I would it had broke ere the play began." 
 
 S Mary Stuart stood forward to 
 welcome Elizabeth's ambassador 
 to her Court, many an eye dwelt on 
 the face and figure of the Scottish 
 queen with enthusiastic admira- 
 tion. Though dressed in the 
 mourning which she still wore for 
 her first husband, the dark folds 
 of her robe did but enhance the 
 brilliancy of her complexion, and, 
 whilst even the spotless ruff did 
 not detract from the fairness of 
 her neck, the whitest hand in 
 Europe hung like a snowdrop against the black volume of 
 her draperies. Even Randolph, cynic though he were, could 
 not repress a thrill of delight as he approached so beautiful an 
 object, though the sentiment uppermost in his diplomatic 
 heart, had he put it into words, would probably have been 
 as follows : 
 
 " It is lucky my mistress cannot see you at this moment, 
 or she would hate you more cordially than ever, and my task 
 would be even more difficult than it is ! " 
 
 He made his obeisance, nevertheless, with the cool assur- 
 ance and easy grace of a practised courtier. The queen 
 received him with a cordiality that she seemed anxious 
 should not be lost on the bystanders. 
 
 " A messenger from my loving cousin," said she, " is always 
 welcome ; how much more when he comes in the person of 
 our old and esteemed friend Mr. Randolph." 
 
 The ambassador answered in a few well-chosen words for 
 
 57
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 his sovereign and himself, dropping once more on his knee, 
 and craving permission to present an autograph letter and a 
 costly ring from Elizabeth to the cousin whom she never saw. 
 Mary received them both with expressions of unbounded 
 delight, and the shrewd bearer, judging from his own experi- 
 ence and his own heart, argued that there must be no small 
 weakness concealed under so much affection, and that it was 
 unnatural for one woman to be so fond of another, unless she 
 felt herself uncomfortably in her power. 
 
 Mary questioned him of his journey. 
 
 " You have had a long ride," said the queen, " and we can 
 but give you a rude, though hearty, welcome. A long ride 
 and a dangerous, for indeed the borders of both countries are 
 not so quiet as we could wish, or as we hope to render them 
 before many months are past." 
 
 Randolph answered with ready tact 
 
 " It is to the Queen of Scotland's servants I owe my safe 
 arrival at Holyrood. Permit me to recall to your Majesty's 
 recollection an archer of your old Scottish Guard." 
 
 With these words he drew Maxwell forward and presented 
 him to the queen. Randolph was a good-natured man when 
 it cost nothing, and, moreover, it was a part of his profession 
 to make a friend wherever it could be done at a small outlay. 
 Mary received Walter Maxwell with the utmost condescen- 
 sion. Had she followed her own impulse, she would have 
 shaken him cordially by both hands and bidden him a hearty 
 welcome, for the sake of old times and the memory of her 
 dear France ; but monarchs must not give way to impulse, 
 and indeed are better without such weaknesses as affections 
 and associations. So he knelt low before her and kissed her 
 royal hand, the while Mary Carmichael seemed to have dis- 
 covered something so engrossing in the skirt of her mistress's 
 robe, that she never lifted her eyes from the embroidery with 
 which it was adorned. 
 
 " And how fared you in the wild border-land ? " resumed 
 the queen, " the land of moss and moor of jack and spear 
 a pleasant district if you want to breathe a horse or fly a 
 hawk ; but, as our loyal burghers say, bad to sleep in for 
 those who would pull their boots off when they retire to rest." 
 
 The queen spoke of the border as though it brought 
 agreeable associations to her mind, and indeed she dearly 
 loved the open plain and the free air of heaven. 
 
 " Had it not been for your warden, madam," answered the 
 courtier, " I might have slept in my boots till the day of 
 judgment. This gallant archer and myself would scarce have 
 
 58
 
 DICK-O'-THE-CLEUGH 
 
 had a tale to tell, if the Earl of Bothwell did not take to 
 spur and snaffle as kindly as the wildest freebooter on the 
 marches." 
 
 "How so? "inquired Mary, the colour mantling to her 
 cheek, and her eye sparkling with animated interest. The 
 queen was a Stuart to the marrow, and loved well to hear of 
 a gallant feat of arms. 
 
 " Why, thus, madam," replied the ambassador. " Ere the 
 moon had been up an hour, we saw ourselves beset by a party 
 of some ten or twelve horsemen, who occupied a pass in front 
 of us, and as we were but three, I leave your Majesty to judge 
 that my feelings as a man whose trade is rather peace than 
 war, were by no means agreeable. My companion, I may 
 observe, was all for fighting, without counting." 
 
 He spoke, as usual, in a tone that might be either jest or 
 earnest ; also, as usual, nothing within the range of his eye 
 escaped him. He noted the queen's interest. He observed 
 Mary Carmichael look up for an instant, and resume the 
 study of her embroidery with a heightened colour. He 
 caught Mistress Beton in the fact, examining his own person 
 with an air of dignified approval that amounted to admiration ; 
 and it was not lost upon him, that while Lord James looked 
 more anxious than common, others of the circle exchanged 
 glances of deeper meaning than his plain tale would at first 
 appear to warrant. All this he saw without seeming to see, 
 and made a note of his observations. 
 
 " And you charged them and cut your way through ! " ex- 
 claimed the queen, with head up and flashing eyes, like some 
 beautiful Amazon, clenching her slender hand the while as 
 though it held a sword. 
 
 " Charge them, your Majesty, we did perforce, for it was 
 more dangerous to go back than forward ; but the cutting 
 seemed more on their part than ours. The situation, too, was 
 ridiculous enough, had a man been in cue to laugh ! " resumed 
 Randolph, in the same dry sneering tones. " My comrade's 
 horse was rolling on the heather, and he defending himself, 
 like a second St. George, on foot. My servant, saving your 
 grace's presence, a beef-fed knave from Smithfield, roared and 
 plunged about like a baited bull, till he received a coup-de- 
 grdce that would have cracked any skull but a Londoner's, 
 from a useful instrument that my Lord Bothwell tells me is 
 called a Jedwood axe. Whilst I myself, vainly endeavouring 
 to protect person and property, was forced to abandon my 
 valise, and turn all my attention to the defence of my own 
 head." 
 
 59
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " And they robbed you of your despatches ! " exclaimed 
 Lord James, interrupting the narrator with ill -concealed 
 anxiety, while three or four nobles glanced at each other with 
 looks of covert triumph and amusement. " Indeed, madam," 
 added the future Regent, recovering himself with an effort, 
 "these outrages are insupportable; they must be promptly 
 punished and put down ! " 
 
 " And they shall be so," answered Mary, drawing herself 
 up proudly, " if I ride through the Debatable Land myself 
 in corselet and headpiece, as my fathers did before me. Alas ! 
 I fear steel harness is the most fitting attire for a Scottish 
 queen. But you have not told us how you escaped," pro- 
 ceeded she, turning to Randolph with marked courtesy, and a 
 softened manner. " You were rescued, were you not, at your 
 utmost need, by our warden ? " 
 
 " The Earl of Bothwell did, indeed, come riding in like a 
 whirlwind," replied Randolph, " at the very moment when I 
 had resolved that my last sleep must be that booted one to 
 which your Majesty's citizens have such a rational objection. 
 If the Warden of the Marches be chosen for his prowess in 
 single combat, there never was a better selection ! Man and 
 horse went down before his lance without a struggle, and his 
 very war-cry seemed to act upon the freebooters like the 
 shriek of a hawk on a wisp of wild-fowl. 'Faith they took to 
 their wings like wild-fowl too, where it was hopeless to follow 
 them, and I rode home to supper at Hermitage without the 
 slightest wish to cultivate a further acquaintance with that 
 portion of your Majesty's domains." 
 
 The queen laughed as he concluded. She had listened 
 with obvious interest to the Englishman's account of the 
 skirmish, and seemed in heightened spirits when it was 
 over. She beckoned to Mary Beton, and whispered in that 
 lady's ear, who retired from the circle, and presently returned, 
 followed by a page, bearing a small gold cup, richly chased 
 and decorated with precious stones. It was filled with wine, 
 and Mary put her own lips to it ere she offered it to 
 Randolph. 
 
 " You will pledge us," said the queen, with her sunny 
 smile ; " and when you drink to a lady, sir, not a drop must 
 remain in the cup. If you examine it, you will see that 
 its sides are ornamented with lance heads and trophies of 
 arms. Will you favour Mary Stuart by keeping it in re- 
 membrance of your rough ride and the dangers you affronted 
 in her service ? " 
 
 Randolph bowed to the ground. He knew and appreciated 
 
 60
 
 DICK-O'-THE-CLEUGH 
 
 the value of such a compliment, and whilst he saw in the 
 giver's frank countenance and cordial manner the sincerity 
 of her goodwill, his heart never smote him for the double 
 part he was expressly sent there to play. 
 
 The queen's curiosity did not yet seem, however, to be 
 thoroughly satisfied, and she questioned the ambassador 
 with considerable minuteness as to the appearance and 
 bearing of his foes. Randolph's answers were marked by 
 his usual tone of covert sarcasm ; but she elicited no more 
 from him than he had already detailed, save that the valise 
 which he had lost contained in reality no papers of import- 
 ance, or, indeed, any papers whatever, except a few private 
 memoranda of his own an announcement which seemed 
 to clear Lord James's brow from a load of care, while it 
 created obvious disappointment on two or three other anxious 
 faces. The truth was, that Randolph, faithful to his own 
 queen in the faithless part which he enacted to another, was 
 the bearer of certain instructions to Lord James, which were 
 very different in tenor from the cordial letter he was charged 
 by Elizabeth to deliver to her cousin. There was even yet 
 a strong Catholic party about the Court, to whom the 
 possession of these despatches would have been an inestimable 
 windfall ; no less, indeed, than a foundation for a charge of 
 treason against the queen's Protestant half-brother. The 
 attack, then, on Randolph and his companion was prompted 
 by nobler names than the Armstrongs and Elliotts, who 
 lived by rapine on the borders ; but their schemes had been 
 baffled by the wily Englishman, who fought like a demon 
 to preserve the valise, of which he was, in reality, utterly 
 careless, and by that means led his assailants to believe that, 
 in carrying it off, they had become possessed of a valuable 
 prize. 
 
 " I am charged by the Earl of Bothwell," said Randolph, 
 at the conclusion of his narrative, " to present his unalterable 
 duty to your Majesty. His lordship, not satisfied with 
 extricating me from the sloughs of the Debatable Land, has 
 sent his own henchman to conduct me safely to the capital." 
 
 Mary started perceptibly, and the colour she could not 
 entirely repress rose faintly to her cheek. Well did she 
 know that her warden was thoroughly devoted to her 
 interests, and that, in whatever intrigues he might be mixed, 
 Bothwell's loyalty was unshaken to his queen. Perhaps she 
 may have already asked herself whether it did not partake 
 of that devotion which shed a halo over the days of chivalry. 
 At all events, his sending his own henchman to the Court, 
 
 61
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 denoted some more than usual necessity for communicating 
 with his sovereign ; and Mary prepared to take her measures 
 accordingly. 
 
 At that unhappy period, when not a day passed without 
 the hatching of some plot, the development of some intrigue 
 when every man's hand was against his neighbour, and 
 noble preyed upon noble without scruple or remorse even 
 the queen was obliged to remember that jealous eyes were 
 on the watch for her every movement, and to practise dis- 
 simulation where dissimulation was alike unsafe and unworthy. 
 She turned to Mary Seton, who had been listening with an 
 appearance of great amusement, and gave her some directions 
 in a low voice, that even Randolph's quick ear could not 
 overhear. The young lady curtseyed and withdrew, first 
 casting a glance of considerable meaning at Mary Carmichael, 
 who replied to it, by assuming as unconscious an air as was 
 compatible with the red spot that burned in either cheek. 
 
 Walter Maxwell now found himself in the presence of 
 the lady whom he had been determining so many long weeks 
 that he would forget, and to see whom once more he had 
 consistently abandoned his profession, and undertaken a 
 long journey by sea and land. As is usually the case, the 
 moment he had looked forward to, hardly repaid the anxiety 
 of expectation. The maid-of-honour's greeting was formal 
 in the extreme, betraying a degree of coldness that seemed 
 almost to argue aversion ; and he was, of course, fool enough 
 to be hurt and angry, instead of pleased and triumphant. 
 Whoever saw a woman accost the man she loves with half 
 the cordiality she displays to the merest acquaintance ? On 
 the contrary, she receives his greeting with a reserve that 
 to anyone else would be positive rudeness ; and even when 
 alone with him, preserves, for a space, a certain embarrassment 
 in her womanly shame and fear, lest she should betray the 
 tenth part of all she feels. Mary Carmichael was no exception 
 to the rule of her sex. In fact, she possessed more than her 
 due share of that pride which, when brought in contact with 
 a kind nature, produces so much sorrow, and with a proud 
 one so much dissension. Although the queen, who was 
 again seated, had dismissed her from her duty as train-bearer, 
 and she was at liberty to converse with all the freedom a 
 crowded assembly permits, she could think of no more 
 pertinent remark to make to her admirer than the following : 
 
 "You have brought us news from the French Court, 
 Master Maxwell ? Is it as gay as it used to be ? I wonder 
 you had the heart to leave it." 
 
 62
 
 DICK-O'-THE-CLEUGH 
 
 There was something in her manner that repelled and 
 irritated him. 
 
 " I came to serve my queen," he replied stiffly, and in a 
 tone as cold as her own. " Our sovereign knows how to 
 appreciate loyalty, and does not forget her old adherents in 
 the short space of a few months." 
 
 " Our sovereign would welcome a lapdog if it came from 
 France, I think," replied the other indifferently, utterly dis- 
 regarding the future suffering her insincerity would cause 
 herself. " Our sovereign has already expressed her satisfaction 
 at seeing you, and would probably give you a yet heartier 
 greeting if you could inform her of the latest fashions in 
 headtire and farthingale. We are far behindhand here, you 
 see, in these barbarous regions ! " 
 
 She spoke with an assumption of levity so unlike herself, 
 that he was disgusted as well as angry ; and, indeed, it was 
 somewhat unjust that the maid-of-honour should thus revenge 
 upon him her own confusion at his appearance. 
 
 " I am no silk-mercer," he answered rudely ; " nor have 
 I travelled so far to bring a lady the colour of a ribbon." 
 
 And with a swelling heart and a feeling of pain he could 
 not have believed possible without experiencing it, Walter 
 Maxwell turned away, and lost himself amongst the crowd of 
 surrounding courtiers. 
 
 Far different was the conversation carried on at the same 
 moment by that courtly pair, the diplomatic Mr. Thomas 
 Randolph and the stately Mistress Mary Beton. The former, 
 with his keen political foresight, had lately been reflecting 
 that a close intimacy with at least one of the household, 
 would open a fertile channel for information regarding the 
 queen's private thoughts and doings, such as would be 
 invaluable to him in his present capacity as confidential agent 
 to Elizabeth. He had also observed the admiration which 
 his late appearance had obviously elicited from the senior 
 maid-of-honour ; and he had no more scruple in deliberately 
 proceeding to make love to that austere damsel than he 
 would have had in putting her to the torture, had the latter 
 process, rather than the former, been the most effectual way 
 of gaining her confidence. 
 
 Mary Beton was not insensible to admiration. She was 
 a woman, and, with all her magnificence of deportment, 
 consequently inherited the propensities of her sex ; but she 
 would not have appreciated indiscriminate homage ; and the 
 dish to please her palate, if we may so speak, required to be 
 elaborately dressed and seasoned, and sent up on a silver 
 
 63
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 trencher at least. To have won Mr. Randolph's good opinion, 
 however, was a conquest of which any lady might be proud. 
 The ambassador's high position, his invariable assurance 
 and self-reliance, his thorough knowledge of the world, and 
 sarcastic readiness of tongue, had rendered him an object 
 of considerable interest to the dames of the Scottish Court. 
 They exaggerated, as women will, his influence, his talents, 
 his successes diplomatic as well as social and the favour 
 with which he was regarded by the English queen. They 
 quoted him, they talked about him above all, they were a 
 little afraid of him ; and the latter sensation possesses an 
 indefinable charm for the venturous tendencies of the female 
 character. 
 
 Mary Beton was startled to find how gratifying to her 
 self-love were the attentions of the English courtier. It was 
 difficult to say by what subtle process he led her to infer that 
 he took pleasure in her society. Every word he said might 
 have been proclaimed unblushingly by the Lyon-King-of- 
 Arms. And yet before Randolph had spoken a dozen 
 sentences to Mary Beton, he had dexterously led her to 
 infer that she was the only woman in that crowded assemblage 
 whom he considered worthy of his notice; that their ideas 
 were sympathetic, their tastes similar, and that a mutual 
 alliance must necessarily be established between them. To- 
 night he confined himself to a few adroit questions respecting 
 the costumes in a proposed masque ; and Mary Beton answered 
 them with a freedom far different from her usual reticence. 
 All he wanted was to pave the way to her confidence ; and 
 he was the last man to scare the steed by showing the halter 
 while he proffered the corn. So he took his leave as soon as 
 he saw he had made a favourable impression, and went his 
 way cheerfully to sup with Morton and Maitland, leaving 
 Mistress Beton in a most agreeable frame of mind, with her 
 head, at least, an inch higher than usual. 
 
 We must now follow Mary Seton as she glided stealthily 
 away from the presence to fulfil the queen's whispered com- 
 mand. With an expression of more than usual intelligence 
 on her saucy features, that active damsel hurried through the 
 ante - rooms and galleries, and along certain dark stone 
 passages, which she threaded with the confidence of one to 
 whom these intricacies were familiar, till she reached a small 
 vaulted apartment, from which emanated a prevailing odour 
 of beef and ale, denoting it to be the buttery. Spur and steel 
 scabbard clattered on the stone floor of this resort, and rough 
 voices might be heard jeering and pledging each other with a 
 
 64
 
 DICK-O'-THE-CLE UGH 
 
 rude cordiality proportioned to the extent in which, as the 
 Scotch say " the malt got above the meal." 
 
 A grave individual in black, however, presided over these 
 festivities, and could always keep order by the summary pro- 
 cess of refusing to draw more ale. This official started to 
 behold the white figure of the maid-of-honour standing in the 
 doorway; but Mary Seton, with a finger on her lip, simply 
 said, " Lord Bothwell's henchman " ; and the seneschal, inter- 
 rupting that personage with the black-jack of ale at his lips, 
 brought him into the dark stone passage, and confided him to 
 the radiant messenger before he was aware. 
 
 Dick Rutherford, though his faculties were of the keenest 
 on a moonless night in Liddesdale, was somewhat confused 
 on this his first visit to Holyrood ; nor were his intellects 
 necessarily brightened by a huge repast of beef, washed down 
 with strong ale, after a long ride and a fourteen hours' fast. 
 Once in the passage, he thought he was dreaming. A vision 
 of loveliness in shining array, whose head reached to about 
 the middle of his corselet, accosted him with hasty frankness. 
 
 " You left Hermitage this morning ? " said she laconically. 
 
 " At daybreak," answered the borderer, scarcely reassured 
 by this accurate knowledge of his movements. 
 
 " You have a letter from the warden for the queen ? " 
 proceeded the damsel. 
 
 "A letter!" repeated Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, his Scottish 
 caution coming rapidly to the rescue. " I'll no say but there 
 might be a bit parcel, or such like. If I've no lost it by the 
 way," he added doubtfully, and feeling the while under his 
 corselet for the safety of the packet. 
 
 Mary Seton's little foot stamped impatiently, whereat the 
 giant started in his boots. She turned upon him quite 
 fiercely. 
 
 " A jackman does not lose a queen's packet," said she. 
 "If he does, he may chance to lose his own head. Follow 
 me!" 
 
 And she flitted on through the dark passages, turning 
 at intervals to see that she was followed by the astonished 
 borderer. Presently they climbed a narrow, winding stair. 
 After ascending several steps, the maid-of-honour stopped, 
 opened a door, and pushing aside some heavy folds of 
 tapestry, bade her follower enter, warning him not to strike 
 his head against the low doorway. 
 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, dazzled and confused, found himself 
 in a very small and brilliantly-lighted apartment. The roof 
 was high ; but the room itself was scarcely large enough to 
 E 65
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 contain six or eight persons. A table prepared for supper, 
 and laid for two, occupied the whole space between the 
 window and the ample hearth, on which a wood fire blazed 
 and crackled cheerfully. The borderer's gaze was riveted at 
 once by the gold plate on the supper-table, richly chased, and 
 bearing the crown-royal on its burnished surface. 
 
 Mary Seton could not forbear a smile at his astonishment. 
 
 "This is somewhat different from the head of a glen in 
 Liddesdale," said she, with a ringing laugh. " Thanks to my 
 good-nature, you have now seen a queen's chamber. Give me 
 your packet, and get you gone ! " 
 
 While she spoke, she ran her eye over the athletic figure of 
 the borderer, magnificent in its size and strength when seen 
 in that small apartment, and well set off by his warlike gear. 
 
 " What a fine man ! " thought Mary Seton, as she scanned 
 him. " And oh ! what a good face, and how unlike a courtier ! " 
 
 But on Dick-o'-the-Cleugh's honest countenance might be 
 seen an expression of great perplexity. In the first place, he 
 was a good deal charmed, and not a little stupefied, by the 
 beauty of his guide ; in the next, he was extremely apprehen- 
 sive of an immediate apparition of royalty ; and, lastly, he was 
 embarrassed how to refuse anything to the most fascinating 
 young lady he had ever yet set eyes on. Nevertheless he 
 answered stoutly, though deferentially 
 
 " My packet must be delivered into the queen's ain hand. 
 You're no the queen hersel', I'm thinking, though well you 
 might be, my bonny lady, for I never saw the like o' ye." 
 
 The tone of admiration in which he spoke was so obviously 
 involuntary as to be flattering in the extreme. Mary Seton 
 looked pleased, and continued more graciously 
 
 " I spoke to prove you. You can be faithful to a trust, 
 can you? What is your name?" 
 
 " They call me Dick Rutherford," he answered ; " but in 
 Liddesdale I'm Dick-o'-the-Cleugh. Ask the Liddesdale lads 
 if I'm to be trusted ! But I'm havering. The like o' you 
 will never set your bonny foot in Liddesdale, nor ask tidings 
 o' the like o' me." 
 
 Dick spoke almost despondently for a moment. He 
 brightened up though at her reply. 
 
 " A brave man and an honest is the noblest of God's 
 creatures. I believe you to be both. Although," she added 
 mischievously, " they're scarce enough at Holyrood, there are 
 a good many more brave men than honest on your side the 
 country, or I've been misinformed." 
 
 Dick was on the eve of entering into an elaborate defence 
 
 66
 
 DICK-O'-THE-CLEUGH 
 
 of his kindred, and an explanation of border probity, which 
 could not but have been edifying, when he was interrupted 
 by the entrance of the queen herself, about to sup, after the 
 fatigues of the day, private and quietly, with her kinswoman 
 the Countess of Argyle. The borderer was now completely 
 overwhelmed. Nevertheless, he delivered his packet with an 
 honest simplicity, in favourable contrast to the manners of 
 most of her ambassadors ; and Mary Stuart acknowledged its 
 receipt with a few gold pieces, and dismissed him with her 
 pleasantest smile. His previous conductor guided him back 
 till she landed him in the court of the palace ; and although 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh possessed to the full the loyalty of his 
 countrymen, and a borderer's devoted admiration for womanly 
 beauty, he had no distinct recollection of the sovereign's 
 countenance, so completely was it effaced from his memory 
 by her bewitching maid-of-honour. 
 
 Poor Dick ! Many a long day afterwards his honest heart 
 ached when he thought of that memorable night, recalling the 
 merry eyes and the sunny hair and the dazzling figure of his 
 fascinating guide. Brave, simple Dick-o'-the-Cleugh ! He 
 had better have been up to his neck in the softest moss in all 
 Liddesdale. 
 
 67
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 RICCIO ARRAN BOTHWELL 
 
 ' ' But had I wist, before I kist, 
 
 That love had been sae hard to win, 
 I'd have lock'd my heart in a case of gowd, 
 An' pinn'd it wi' a siller pin." 
 
 IT was the anniversary of the death of Francis n., and Mary, 
 whose attachment to her youthful husband evinced itself 
 by a scrupulous respect for his memory, had ordered a dirge 
 to be performed in the Royal Chapel at Holyrood for the 
 repose of his soul. The sacred edifice had been appropriately 
 hung with black ; nor was any accessory neglected that could 
 enhance the gloom of the scene. Carpenters had been 
 employed for some days previously in preparing the mourn- 
 ful display; and a good deal of murmuring and discontent 
 had arisen both in the Court and city at the proposed 
 ordinance. The " Godly," as the Protestant party somewhat 
 presumptuously termed themselves, mistrusted this return to 
 papal ceremonials, and made no secret of their dissatisfaction. 
 Mary, however, tolerant as she was of opposite opinions, 
 always remained staunch to the ritual in which she had been 
 brought up, and spared no pains to carry out with due pomp 
 a solemnity which she esteemed essential to the occasion. 
 
 The morning broke gloomily, when the queen, attired in 
 deep mourning, and attended only by Lady Hamilton, entered 
 the chapel for early mass. Her lovely face looked paler than 
 usual under the veil of crape which shaded it, and there was 
 an expression of something more than sorrow, of annoyance 
 and apprehension, on its lineaments. Perhaps she was think- 
 ing of her brief reign in France, not long enough for a 
 sovereign to discover the many troubles and anxieties that 
 line a crown. Perhaps she was recalling the adoration she 
 had been used to receive from the excitable French people, 
 and contrasting it with the gloomy brows and ominous 
 mutterings she had already encountered amongst her new 
 subjects. Mary had been but a few weeks on the Scottish 
 
 68
 
 RICCIO ARRAN BOTHWELL 
 
 throne, ere she became aware that even her beauty and her 
 bereavement were not sufficient to cover the odium of her 
 religion in the eyes of these northern zealots, and that 
 Protestantism might esteem it a duty both to God and 
 man to insult a helpless woman because she was a Catholic 
 queen. 
 
 As she passed slowly up the aisle with weary step and 
 downcast air, followed by her maid-of-honour, it may be that 
 both the women were longing wearily for that rest which 
 they came here to seek glad to be relieved, if but for an 
 hour, of the burden which at some future time they should 
 cast down at once and for ever almost wishing that the time 
 was come, and the journey over, and the resting-place at 
 hand. 
 
 And now the anthem swells and sinks and fills the echoing 
 aisle ; and the crimson light streams through the deep-stained 
 windows on chiseled font and sculptured cross and monu- 
 mental marble, while the tones of the choristers rise and fall 
 like the song of angels speaking of hope and peace and 
 pardon for the penitent wailing in their celestial sorrow for 
 the loved that yet are lost for evermore. In that flood of 
 harmony the queen bathed her wounded spirit, bidding it 
 contemn the reefs and rocks that beset its earthly course as it 
 floated, if but for an instant, towards the eternal shore ; and 
 Mary Hamilton, joining in the tide of prayer and praise, 
 forgot her hopes and fears, her tottering happiness and 
 earthly misgivings, while she felt that there was yet in store 
 for her a home of endless welcome, a joy that no uncertainty 
 could poison, a love no falsehood could take away. 
 
 Prosperity goes to church, as well it may, to return thanks 
 for the benefits it has received ; to fulfil, as it were, its own 
 part of the compact by which it flourishes ; to acknowledge 
 its advantages and to entreat their continuance ; then it walks 
 back into the sunshine in its purple and fine linen, with a 
 pleasant consciousness of debts discharged and duties well 
 fulfilled. Not so its ailing brother, gaunt Adversity. For the 
 latter the temple of God is the temple of refuge, the temple 
 of healing, the temple of consolation ; thither it may bring 
 its sores and its sackcloth, without misgivings and without 
 shame ; there it is on a level with the proudest, and in unison 
 with the happiest ; it drinks from the same stream, and out 
 of the same cup; it returns to its labour and its sorrow, 
 strengthened and refreshed. Though the heart be aching, it 
 is sound and unbroken still ; and the storms may pelt their 
 fiercest, it only longs the more to come again. 
 
 69
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 As the anthem proceeded the Scottish queen became 
 aware that another voice had been added to her choir, of 
 considerable depth and volume, thereby completing its 
 harmony and greatly enhancing its effect. This organ was 
 the property of an individual whose unfortunate destiny it 
 was to make a far greater stir at the Court of Holyrood than 
 became either his talents or his station, and to meet with a 
 fate which his antecedents did not deserve. In the train of 
 the Count de Moretta, ambassador from the Court of Savoy, 
 the duke of which principality was another unsuccessful 
 suitor for the hand of the Scottish queen, came a good- 
 humoured little Italian, David Riccio byname, whose especial 
 gifts at this period seem to have been a knack of mimicry, not 
 unusual among his countrymen, and a fine bass voice of 
 great power and sweetness. These were the qualities that 
 first recommended him to the notice of Mary ; and when, in 
 addition to his musical acquirements, she found him quick- 
 witted, ready and obliging, fluent with the pen, and a perfect 
 master of the French language, she promoted the good- 
 humoured, deformed, and diminutive foreigner to the post of 
 private secretary, little dreaming of the construction which 
 would hereafter be put upon so harmless an appointment. 
 
 In the meantime Riccio revelled in the exercise of his 
 delightful talent filling the crape-hung building with his 
 notes of mournful melody and Mary listened entranced, and 
 forgot for the moment her troubles, her widowhood, and her 
 crown. 
 
 But the charms of music, and even the consolations of 
 religion, can but stave off earthly cares for a brief period of 
 repose, after which they are prone to thrust themselves on our 
 notice with a vigour all the more imperative for such tem- 
 porary respite. When mass was concluded, and Mary, with 
 her maid-of-honour, was about to quit the chapel, she could 
 not but observe how none, save her immediate attendants and 
 personal household, had assisted to form the congregation ; 
 how the nobility of her Court, with but few exceptions, had 
 remained outside, with a certain ostentatious assumption of 
 dissent from the religion of their queen. She could not help 
 remarking as much to her attendant. 
 
 " Do you'not see, my dear," said she bitterly, " how the new 
 religion is disposed to charity and toleration ? My Protestant 
 lords will not even join in the devotions of their sovereign, 
 when she prays for the welfare of her husband's soul. They 
 will not weep with those who weep, nor rejoice with those 
 who rejoice, unless it be by Master Knox's permission, and 
 
 70
 
 RICCIO ARRAN BOTHWELL 
 
 in black cassock and Geneva band. Verily, Mary Hamilton, 
 it is a weary lot to be a woman, but it is a daily humiliation 
 to be a queen ! " 
 
 " I know not what a queen's trials may be, madam," 
 answered the other, on whose sweet face the halo of devotion 
 had not yet faded away ; " but a woman's sorrows, I fancy, 
 may be too hard for a woman to bear, unless she brings them 
 with her unreservedly and lays them all down here." 
 
 While she spoke she stood near the chapel-door, and the 
 December sun, shedding its rays through the deep red cross 
 of the stained window above, streamed full upon her fair and 
 gentle face. It seemed to her mistress, even then, that she 
 looked like some patient saint, purified by suffering, and bear- 
 ing the cross of her Master in the red glory of martyrdom. 
 
 But such holy thoughts as these were soon driven from 
 Mary's mind by fresh annoyances. On leaving her chapel, 
 and emerging into the courtyard of her palace, the queen 
 found it crowded by an assemblage of her nobility, whose 
 motley apparel, of the gayest and gaudiest hues, contrasted 
 offensively with her own sad mourning garb. Not one of 
 them had shown sufficient sympathy with her feelings to wear 
 so much as a black ribbon on his doublet, or to doff the 
 plume that flaunted from his rich velvet bonnet. Stung to 
 the quick by such disrespect, Mary determined to meet it by 
 an insult as injudicious as it was unworthy. Halting on the 
 threshold of her chapel, she took not the slightest notice of the 
 salutations offered her by the proudest lords in Scotland, but 
 beckoned to the new singer, whose voice had recently so 
 much delighted her, and giving him her missal to- carry, 
 complimented him with marked familiarity on his per- 
 formance ; and so, holding the astonished Italian in conversa- 
 tion at the chapel-door, kept everyone else waiting uncovered 
 until she had done with him. Many a haughty brow was 
 already bent on the unknown stranger. Grey moustaches, 
 that had bristled in the teeth of the English archers at 
 Flodden, were pulled in mingled astonishment and anger; 
 while hands, always too prompt to shed blood, gripped dagger 
 and sword-hilt, as though neither the sacred locality nor the 
 presence of the sovereign would long restrain them from open 
 violence. The first impulse of the Scottish noble was to resent 
 an insult or avenge an injury on the spot. Morton alone, of 
 all the crowd, seemed to experience neither indignation nor 
 surprise. The smile that gave his face so fiendish an ex- 
 pression only deepened and hardened round his mouth. He 
 glanced from the queen to her ill-chosen favourite with looks 
 
 71
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 rather of amused malignity than offended pride. Morton's 
 will was strong in proportion to his passions, and these, with 
 all their abiding energy, were thoroughly under the control of 
 his hard unfeeling nature. The Douglas was, indeed, one of 
 those who would " strike sooner than speak, and drink sooner 
 than pray " ; yet he only glared on the singer with a kind 
 of comic ferocity, and the poor little Italian shrank nearer 
 his protectress with a prophetic horror of the hard-featured 
 earl. 
 
 Bidding Riccio follow in her train, the queen passed on 
 through the cloisters of the palace towards her own apart- 
 ments, returning with cold courtesy the salutations of her 
 nobility. The courtiers looked meaningly at each other, and 
 then at the new favourite, who slunk along behind his mistress, 
 bearing her gorgeous missal, in ludicrous dismay. Secretary 
 Maitland, a man whose wits were always at hand, and who 
 could transact more business in ten minutes than the rest of 
 the Privy Council in as many days, approached her Majesty 
 with a huge bundle of papers under his arm, and the queen, 
 taking them from him without remark, handed the whole at 
 once to Riccio. The secretary ventured on an expostulation. 
 
 "They are for your Majesty's private information," said he 
 deferentially, but in a tone of marked disapproval. 
 
 " And I have given them to my private secretary," replied 
 Mary haughtily; thus hastily and injudiciously confirming 
 the appointment that led to such disastrous results. 
 
 "Shall I attend your grace to explain their contents?" 
 asked Maitland, as coolly as if nothing unusual had taken 
 place. 
 
 " When I send for you, sir," answered the queen ; and 
 even Maitland's assurance was compelled to give way. He 
 could but bow and fall back amongst the crowd. 
 
 Some of the nobles were so offended that they quitted the 
 Court on the spot; others thought it a bad opportunity to 
 press their respective suits with the sovereign, and lounged 
 off, as it were inadvertently, to their different amusements 
 and occupations one to fly a hawk, another to try a horse, 
 not a few to break their fast on rich food and strong potations ; 
 the while they discussed the gossip of the Court, which had 
 received no inconsiderable fillip from the events of the morn- 
 ing. Lord James walked gravely away to Mr. Randolph's 
 lodging. His brother, the gay lay-prior of Coldinghame, 
 mounted his horse to join a merry-making on Leith Sands. 
 The Earl of Huntly and the Earl Mareschal departed to 
 prepare an ordinance for the council, discussing, to all 
 
 72
 
 RICCIO ARRAN BOTHWELL 
 
 appearance, weighty matters of state ; yet, perhaps, could 
 their dialogue have been overheard, it related to far less 
 important topics. The courtyard of the palace was almost 
 deserted, and Mary, dismissing her maid-of-honour and the 
 Italian, prepared to take a solitary turn up and down the 
 cloisters, to soothe her temper and compose her troubled 
 mind. 
 
 The queen thought she was alone. It was not so, how- 
 ever; for, from the moment of her leaving the chapel, her 
 movements had been watched by a man concealed behind one 
 of the arches ; and no sooner had her attendants quitted her 
 than he emerged from his hiding-place. Mary started, and 
 almost screamed, as this unexpected figure stepped forth and 
 stood in front of her. Indeed, a bolder nature might have 
 been alarmed at its wild appearance and the vehemence of its 
 gestures. Pale and haggard, all unbraced, and with disordered 
 dress but unarmed, even to his sword the Earl of Arran 
 confronted Mary Stuart with none of the ceremony observed 
 by a subject in the presence of his queen. 
 
 " At last ! " he shouted, with passionate vehemence, and 
 placing himself so that she could not pass by him, " at last 
 I see thee once more. After weary hours of watching by 
 night and day, after danger and difficulty and longing, I see 
 thee once more. No longer the Queen of Scotland, surrounded 
 by her Court, and haughty in all the panoply of royalty, but 
 Mary Stuart, the flower of womanhood, the darling of France, 
 and the idol of Arran's heart." 
 
 " What mean you, my lord ? " exclaimed the queen, utterly 
 aghast at this unheard-of proceeding, and hardly knowing, 
 in her astonishment, whether to stand or fly. "Are you 
 mad or dreaming? I am, indeed, Mary Stuart, and it is not 
 thus I should be accosted by the Earl of Arran." 
 
 " Mad ! " returned the unfortunate nobleman, the wild 
 cunning of insanity gleaming from his eye, and pointing 
 with his wasted hand to the palace windows as he spoke. 
 " Hark ye, madam ; they are mad up yonder. Mad from 
 vaults to roof of this accursed building, this stronghold of 
 superstition and Papacy. The Lord James is mad, who 
 would deliver his sister into the hands of the ungodly ; the 
 priests are mad, who would withhold her, by main force, from 
 the tidings of salvation ; the choristers are mad, singing their 
 unholy dirges for the souls that are gone to perdition. Mary ! 
 Mary ! " he changed to accents of wild affection and entreaty 
 " I alone am devoted to you. The house of Hamilton is the 
 only refuge for the Stuart."
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Mary was constitutionally brave. Her courage began to 
 return as she reflected she was within call of her household 
 and retainers. She had a natural regard, too, for her kinsman ; 
 and a woman's pity for the wreck that something within, too 
 truly, told her she herself had made. She tried to quiet the 
 poor maniac with soothing, gentle words. 
 
 " Nay, cousin," said the queen, " when have I doubted your 
 loyalty or your honour? Why come to assure me of it at 
 this unbecoming hour, and in this unbecoming guise? You 
 are afflicted, Arran, and ill at ease. Retire into the palace ; 
 our own physician shall attend you ; the best of lodging and 
 the best of care shall not be grudged to my kinsman." 
 
 For a moment Arran seemed calmer, and once or twice he 
 passed his hand across his brow, as though waking from some 
 troubled sleep, or trying to recall some lost recollection. And, 
 indeed, whilst the queen kept her eye on him, though he tried 
 hard to avoid her glance, it held him in a certain subjection. 
 No sooner, however, was it withdrawn, than his madness 
 blazed forth once more. 
 
 " It is the plot ! " he shouted again, as though addressing 
 some imaginary audience, " the accursed, traitorous plot, that 
 I alone have power to prevent. Papist and Protestant, rebel 
 and renegade, from the four winds of heaven, they are banded 
 together to carry off my queen. Listen, madam ; on my 
 knees, I implore you to listen." 
 
 He knelt, and clasped Mary's hand in both his own. 
 
 " I have discovered a conspiracy to seize your royal person, 
 and to carry you into bondage. Lord James has consented 
 to join in it. The Earls of Seton and Livingstone have 
 signed the bond drawn up by smooth and crafty Lethington, 
 with every name attached in characters of blood, except his 
 own. Morton has promised his assistance ; for when was the 
 Douglas out of any scheme of violence and crime? And 
 Bothwell, with his border reprobates, is to put it in execu- 
 tion ; but Arran will save his queen." 
 
 " How say you ? Morton ? my brother ? trusty Seton ? and 
 Bothwell, loyal and true? Impossible! You are raving," 
 said the queen, now thoroughly alarmed. " Where shall I 
 turn to? What shall I do?" 
 
 " The Hamiltons will rally round the Stuart ! " exclaimed 
 the maniac, rising from his knees, and making as though he 
 would seize Mary in his arms. 
 
 Before she could call for help, however, he suddenly de- 
 sisted from his purpose, and placing his finger on his lip with a 
 gesture of caution and a glance at the queen, in which cunning 
 
 74
 
 RICCIO ARRAN BOTHWELL 
 
 and imbecility were strangely mingled, moved swiftly and 
 stealthily away. With the quick perceptions of insanity, he 
 had caught the sound of an armed step approaching through 
 the cloisters ; and ere Mary had recovered from her dismay, 
 a tall, warlike figure bowed to its very sword-hilt before her, 
 and she found herself face to face with the Warden of the 
 Marches. 
 
 He had been riding all night to reach Holyrood. He had 
 galloped on ahead of the best-mounted of his troop, who were 
 even now rounding the base of Arthur's Seat, as they neared 
 the Scottish capital. In those troubled times there was no 
 lack of excuses for the warden to seek personal instructions 
 from his sovereign, and Bothwell had availed himself of some 
 late misunderstanding with Lord Scrope, the warden on the 
 English side, to obtain an audience of the queen. With a 
 wild feverish longing for the sweet face, to behold which was 
 fast becoming a necessity of his existence, he had hurried to 
 the presence of his sovereign. And now, when the moment 
 had at last arrived, the colour faded in his bronzed cheek, and 
 he trembled, that strong man-at-arms, like a girl. Agitated 
 and frightened as she was, Mary recovered herself sufficiently 
 to receive him with becoming dignity. As his stalwart figure 
 bent in homage, and the upturned face, with its manly features 
 and fair short - curling beard, softened visibly beneath her 
 glance, the queen might well leave her hand in her subject's 
 for an instant longer than the customs of a Court required. 
 He looked like a man who had both strength and will to 
 help a woman at her need ; and the bold border chief kissed 
 the white hand that lay so gently in his own, with all the 
 devotion of a worshipper kneeling before a saint. 
 
 "You are welcome, Bothwell," said Mary, "though you 
 come, doubtless, to tell me of fresh disturbances on the border 
 fresh troubles to harass and perplex the queen. The true 
 heart and ready hand grow rare at Holyrood, and more and 
 more welcome to Mary Stuart day by day." 
 
 " I am but a plain soldier, madam," answered Bothwell. 
 " Your Majesty's need of me is at once my pride and my 
 reward. It is nothing new to tell you that every drop of 
 James Hepburn's blood belongs to his queen." 
 
 "I believe it," answered Mary, smiling sadly; "and yet 
 even Bothwell's loyalty has this very morning been questioned. 
 Nay," she added, as the earl started indignantly to his feet, 
 " I, at least, never doubted you for an instant." 
 
 " I have but one answer to my accusers, madam," replied 
 the warden, pointing significantly to his sword. " If a sub- 
 
 75
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 ject questions my loyalty, I can demand the ordeal. If my 
 sovereign suspects it," he added, with a slight trembling in 
 his voice, " I can but give her my life to vindicate my 
 honour." 
 
 " Oh, Bothwell ! " exclaimed Mary, " would that all were 
 like you ! I have none to counsel me ; none in whom I 
 can trust; none to sympathise with me in my loneliness, a 
 widow, and a queen. To-day, in my bereavement and my 
 affliction," she added, reverting to the conduct of her courtiers, 
 which had so hurt and irritated her best feelings, " not one 
 of them had the decency to share in the mourning of their 
 sovereign. Even my warden comes before me in his ordinary 
 attire, but that is fairly excusable when it consists of corselet 
 and headpiece hacked and dinted in my service." 
 
 " Say not so, madam," answered Bothwell, pointing to a 
 sprig of willow worn in his basnet. " I gathered yon sprig 
 from the sallows that skirt its bank as I rode the water of 
 Roslin in the misty dawn. I could not forget the day of my 
 queen's bereavement ; and it shall never be told that Bothwell 
 forbore to share the dangers or the sorrows of his sovereign." 
 
 The angry colour that had brightened it all the morning 
 died out on Mary's cheek. She looked at the earl steadfastly 
 while one might have counted ten, then her lip quivered. 
 She turned her face away, and burst into tears.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 CHAUDMELLEY 
 
 "'To arms!' the citizens bellow 'Alack! 
 
 These riders are loose in the town once more ! ' 
 But a good steel jack, and a friend to my back, 
 
 The Causeway I'll keep in the teeth of a score. 
 For never another can ruffle it here, 
 Like the lads of the snaffle, spur, and spear." 
 
 WE have seen Bothwell in his harness the loyal noble- 
 man, the true knight, the Warden of the Marches, 
 and Lieutenant of the Borders in the service of his queen. 1 
 A different personage, in truth, from wild James Hepburn, 
 with his father's hot blood rioting in his veins, and his own 
 propensities for evil, encouraged by a strong will and vigorous 
 temperament, acting on a bad education, a weak brain, and a 
 heart with just enough of good in it to make him lonely and 
 unhappy. Like his father, the profligate Earl Patrick, he 
 was disposed by nature to take a leading part in all scenes of 
 turbulence and strife; unlike that father, his better feelings 
 would sometimes be permitted to influence his policy, and 
 weaken his determination. Earl Patrick seems to have had 
 a happy facility of ignoring all promises, bonds, and even 
 oaths, when their observance became inconvenient, and would 
 have scorned to allow his patriotism to stand for an hour in 
 the way of his advancement. His son, with all his faults, was 
 a Scotsman at heart ; and, perhaps, like many another whose 
 fate has served " to point a moral or adorn a tale," it wanted 
 but the difference of a hair's-breadth, at the right moment, to 
 have made him as good as he turned out evil. Perhaps 
 Bothwell's real sphere was riding his war-horse in mail and 
 plate amongst the wild morasses of the marches. Perhaps he 
 was never so happy as when engaged in hand-to-hand conflict 
 with some daring marauder, a stalwart man-at-arms like him- 
 
 1 The author has assumed some license in dealing with history. Bothwell 
 never was Warden of either the East, the Middle, or the West March, neither 
 was he the queen's lieutenant on the Border, but only keeper of Liddesdale. ED. 
 
 77
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 self lance-thrust and sword-stroke freely dealt and stoutly 
 received with but little ill-will on either side. Whilst his foe 
 was in the saddle he would close with him gallantly, striking 
 fiercely, and shouting, " Queen Mary ! " but, down upon the 
 heather, the adversary of a moment ago became the helpless 
 friend, to be set upon a horse and borne gently to Hermitage, 
 there to be tended carefully till his wounds were cured, when 
 he should be set free at a trifling ransom, to meet and fight it 
 out again. 
 
 'Twas a wild adventurous life that of a southern Scottish 
 nobleman in the days of the beautiful Stuart ; yet not with- 
 out its pleasures and its charm. He lived in his old keep, a 
 petty monarch within his bounds, surrounded by adherents 
 who would not scruple to shed every drop of their blood in 
 the service of their chief. Bold, athletic, and self-reliant, he 
 held his sway by the charter of his sword ; he gained his 
 revenues by the unfailing influence of snaffle, spur, and spear. 
 For his relaxation, he leapt on a good horse, and cast his 
 hawk into the air, by the side of many a green nook and 
 fresh brawling stream, or hallooed his hounds on the slot of 
 the flying deer, scouring over the moorland, and bruising the 
 fragrant heather beneath its hoofs. For the business of life, 
 the same good horse came round to the door, champing under 
 his steel frontlet, and the men-at-arms mustered on their 
 bonny bay geldings with laugh and jest, and loud anticipa- 
 tions of plunder. The moon glinted coldly on steel jack and 
 burnished headpiece as they clattered off, and the morning 
 sun rose on the troop returning with its booty driving jaded 
 cattle before them with their long lances encumbered with 
 panting, footsore sheep household plenishing on some of the 
 saddles armour hacked and besmirched two or three bloody 
 sconces beneath draggled plumes and here and there a led 
 horse, coming masterless home. But the life was at least one 
 of manhood and adventure ; a good training for a soldier, and 
 an invigorating substitute for the debaucheries in which, under 
 other circumstances, these bold spirits would have been prone 
 to indulge. When a border noble, with his train, rode into 
 Edinburgh, the vintner hugged himself in his snow-white 
 apron, and the canny burgher made his doors fast ere it was 
 yet twilight, and resolved that no shouts for help on the 
 causeway should lure him at night from his chimney corner 
 into the troubled street. 
 
 Walter Maxwell, proceeding quietly up the High Street, 
 and ruminating, not too pleasantly, on his prospects, found 
 himself accosted by his new friend, Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, as 
 
 78
 
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 ' . ri rl L~ t ^ M <- W,- .> "
 
 CHAUDMELLEY 
 
 he was about to turn into his solitary lodging, and get 
 through the evening as well as he could, reflecting on two 
 unpleasant subjects the continued coyness of his ladye-love 
 and his own diminished fortunes, for his employment at the 
 Scottish Court was more honourable than lucrative. To be 
 in love usually makes a man unsociable ; to be in debt often 
 has a reverse effect. Maxwell, at all events, felt little dis- 
 posed for an evening spent in his own company. 
 
 " I've been the length of Holyrood to seek for you ! " ex- 
 claimed the borderer with a boisterous welcome, " and here I 
 happen on you like a deer that's ta'en the double when the 
 bloodhound is off the slot. Come away, man, come away; 
 the warden's gotten a grand spread the night, an' I was bid 
 to fetch ye, 'gin ye were in the queen's presence ! And noo, 
 ye'll just gang in wi' me; ye ken we've an awfu' grip, we 
 Liddesdale lads ! an' I would like fine to see if ye can drink, 
 man, as well as ye can fight. I'm thinkin' little Jock Elliott's 
 no forgotten ye, Mr. Maxwell ! " 
 
 And Dick laughed heartily at the recollection of his first 
 acquaintance with his present companion. Maxwell pro- 
 fessed his readiness to accept the earl's invitation, and linking 
 his arm in that of the stalwart henchman, proceeded in the 
 direction of Bothwell's lodging, the pair provoking no little 
 ill-will from divers armed retainers in the street, who re- 
 cognised the cognisance of the Hepburn, and some admiration 
 from the maids and matrons of the old town, the latter 
 especially approving of Dick's stalwart proportions and 
 comely, good-natured face. 
 
 " Yon's a proper man ! " observed a stout dame witn her 
 arms akimbo, to a dishevelled and dirty lady, emptying a pail 
 of water scarcely more dirty than herself. 
 
 " He's no that ill," replied the other, desisting from her 
 operations to push back her tangled locks, that she might 
 have a good look. " Lass ! " she added in shrill, impressive 
 tones, "he's a godless borderer. I ken them fine by their 
 'spauld-pieces. 1 He'll get his licks the night, I'm thinkin', 
 an' muckle guid may they do till him ! It's no sae saft lyin' 
 on the causeway as doun amang the moss-hags at hame ! " 
 
 After which ill-omened sentiment, she retired abruptly, 
 shutting her door with a bang. Honest Dick, however, took 
 no notice of these and other less unpleasant remarks, but 
 strode boldly on, discoursing, between bursts of merriment, 
 on the encounter with little Jock Elliott, an assault of which 
 he seemed to entertain a highly facetious remembrance. 
 1 Plates of steel that defended the arm and shoulder. 
 
 79
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " In here, man," said he, turning up one of those offshoots 
 from the main street, which is termed to this day " a close," 
 and dragging Maxwell after him with obvious glee. " I ken 
 the place fine by the weather-marks forenent the wa'. It's 
 an awfu' toon this, for a body to lose theirsel' ! There's 
 runnin' water too to guide a man," pointing to a sluggish 
 stream of filth that trickled under their feet; "but it's no 
 that clear that it is in Liddesdale. Up the stair, man ; ye're 
 welcome, nae fears ! " 
 
 As Maxwell entered the apartment, a long low room, 
 plainly furnished and crowded with armed men, he was 
 cordially greeted by the earl's retainers, who had mustered 
 in great force. They had seen his hand keep his head, 
 against heavy odds, and they warmed to him at once as a 
 kindred nature. Their meal seemed to be concluded, but the 
 serious part of the entertainment was yet to commence ; and 
 large jacks of strong ale, with flasks of wine, standing at no 
 great intervals on the board, denoted ample means of quench- 
 ing the thirst engendered by a long ride. The warden rose 
 to greet his new guest with frank courtesy, and bade him to 
 the upper end of the room, where he himself sat at a cross 
 table surrounded by the most distinguished of his guests. 
 
 Bothwell had doffed his usual attire of steel jack and 
 headpiece; he was now dressed in close-fitting doublet and 
 hose, which set off the strong proportions of his figure to 
 great advantage. Without pretensions to strict personal 
 beauty, the warden had fine features, and a bold, frank 
 bearing, not unpleasing. Though he had lost one of his 
 eyes in a skirmish, the defect was scarcely observable, and 
 the slight scar, left by the wound on his cheek and eyebrow, 
 rather added to the characteristic expression of his face. It 
 was that of a daring, perhaps a reckless man, one who was 
 inured to danger and used to strife ; yet was there something 
 soft and even tender in his smile. Flushed with wine, and 
 exchanging broad jests of the coarsest with his laughing 
 guests, he looked a fitting leader in a revel or a charge ; and 
 yet a close observer would have detected a hollow ring in the 
 loud laugh, a false note in the jovial strain, a capability for 
 better things than feasting and fighting, and a self-accusing 
 consciousness that it was lost and thrown away. 
 
 The mirth was at its highest. If Bothwell was splendidly 
 dressed, his costume was but sombre when compared with 
 that of his princely guest, the Marquis d'Elboeuf, who shone 
 with satin and jewellery in all the florid brilliancy of French 
 decoration. If the warden's draughts were deep, and his 
 
 80
 
 CHAUDMELLEY 
 
 toasts objectionable, the Lords John and Robert Stuart, the 
 queen's half-brothers, pledged him freely and out-talked him 
 shamelessly, with a happy mixture of juvenile thirst and 
 royal audacity. When Maxwell took his seat at the upper 
 table, amidst these and two or three more of the wilder 
 gallants of the Court, the wine had circulated freely, and the 
 spirits of the party had risen to that point at which discretion 
 ceases to interfere, and reason begins to discover that she has 
 been all day in the wrong. D'Elbceuf flung himself into the 
 spirit of the scene with the keen zest of his nation. The 
 Admiral of France was the last man to refuse a challenge 
 from friend or foe. 
 
 " You shall pledge me in turn, Bothwell," said he, rilling a 
 large silver measure with wine. " Every man of you shall do 
 me reason. These wild lads, who ought to be nephews of my 
 own, and who drink as if they were grandsons of Charlemagne ; 
 Mr. Maxwell, there, who has just come in, and must be suffo- 
 cated with thirst ; your huge squire of the body, who might 
 hold a cask ; and all your gentlemen riders, rovers on land, as 
 their chief used to be at sea. What, Count Bothwell ! We 
 have not forgotten the breeze off shore, and the bold Norwegian 
 coast." 
 
 " Nay, marquis," answered Bothwell, filling himself a 
 bumper, " my Liddesdale lads will drink any toast you please, 
 if they like the liquor. But down on the marches we have 
 a saying that ' he who rides in the dark should dismount 
 before daylight,' and faith, now that I am on shore, I have 
 forgotten all about the coast of Norway and the wild North 
 Sea, once for all." 
 
 " The toast ! the toast ! " exclaimed Lord John Stuart. 
 " Let us have the drink first, marquis, and the tale of the 
 warden's wicked doings afterwards. There's something in 
 this wine that makes a man marvellously thirsty." 
 
 " Waifs and strays ! " replied the marquis, holding his 
 beaker above his head. " Count Bothwell first taught me the 
 rights of an admiral on neutral seas. Pledge me, gentle- 
 men ; the toast is quite in your own line." And d'Elbceuf, 
 laughing heartily, set his cup on the board empty. 
 
 A dark flush swept over Bothwell's brow. A man does 
 not always like to be reminded of his past exploits, but the 
 company were clamorous for an explanation of the French- 
 man's toast, and d'Elbceuf had drunk too much wine to dis- 
 appoint them. 
 
 " We were lying off the coast of Norway," said the admiral, 
 "and our host here in his armed galliot, with the lion of 
 F 81
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Scotland at the main, was never tired of cruising about in 
 search of adventures. He was Admiral of Scotland, as I of 
 France ; but whilst I waited for fortune, I think he followed 
 the jade and grasped her by the hair. Some pirates had 
 fired a village and were carrying off the inhabitants, when 
 your warden here caught the knaves, red-handed, in the bay ; 
 we make short work with these gentry at sea, where ropes 
 are so convenient, and he strung them up to the yardarm 
 by dozens, like Normandy apples on a tree. The poor 
 captives were too rejoiced to go back to the ashes of their 
 dwellings; but a breeze springing up from the land, our 
 friend here was obliged to make sail, carrying off, inadvert- 
 ently, two or three trifles belonging to the village ; amongst 
 others, a fair girl with blue eyes and golden hair, who had 
 once inhabited the principal house. I was on board the 
 galliot some six weeks afterwards at an entertainment given 
 by our host, where we drank nearly as much wine as we 
 are like to do to-night, and this fair lass filled my cup and 
 emptied her own, nothing loth, as though she relished her 
 wine and her company. ' But shall you not send her back ? ' 
 said I to my host, seeing that she had been already six weeks 
 on board. ' Shall you not send her back before her friends 
 lose patience and a complaint is made at Court, and a coil, 
 all for a pair of merry eyes and a wisp of yellow hair ? ' ' Not 
 yet,' answered your warden. 'Not yet. Do you not know 
 that waifs and strays belong to the admiral ? ' " 
 
 A loud laugh followed d'Elboeufs explanation. The 
 sentiment was quite in accordance with the company, and 
 the point of his narrative, turning as it did on an act of 
 illegal appropriation, was hugely enjoyed by the carousing 
 borderers. 
 
 There were two exceptions, however, to the general merri- 
 ment. Bothwell looked grave, more sorrowful, perhaps, than 
 displeased ; and honest Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, smiting a sledge- 
 hammer fist on the table that made the beakers leap again, 
 burst out 
 
 " Puir lassie ! It's ill liftin' a bairn from the ingle, or a 
 lamb from the fauld ! " 
 
 The wine was, by this time, producing its effect on the 
 company. The men-at-arms were beginning to flush and 
 talk thick, descanting, without much regard for listeners, on 
 the merits of their horses and their own prowess, both in 
 fighting and carrying off the property of their neighbours; 
 the latter branch of their profession being obviously esteemed 
 equally honourable with, and the natural prelude to, or 
 
 82
 
 CHAUDMELLEY 
 
 consequence of, the former. Even Maxwell's brain was 
 somewhat heated ; albeit, he was naturally of a temperament 
 on which wine is slow to take effect, and his late arrival had 
 spared him some of the pledges of the borderers ; although, 
 to do them justice, they evinced a most hospitable desire to 
 make up for lost time. Bothwell, too, who had been plunged 
 in gloomy fits of abstraction, and who seemed to rouse 
 himself with difficulty from some engrossing subject of medi- 
 tation, was now getting as hilarious as the rest. D'Elbceuf 
 was full of smiles and spirits, and scraps of French songs, 
 somewhat wasted on his audience ; whilst Lord John, whose 
 ruling passion was of course in the ascendant, proposed 
 gravely to dance a measure amongst the jugs and drinking- 
 cups on the table, and actually mounted a chair as the first 
 step towards that difficult performance. At this juncture, 
 a ray of moonlight streaming through the narrow windows, 
 athwart the glare of lamps and torches, gave a new turn to 
 the impulses of the merry-makers. 
 
 " It'll be a bra' night this in Liddesdale," observed Dick- 
 o'-the-Cleugh, who was given to sentiment in his cups. 
 
 " A rare night for a foray ! " exclaimed Lord Robert, 
 producing from the interior of his bonnet two or three black 
 velvet masks, such as were then frequently worn in cities by 
 both sexes. 
 
 " Shall we have a cruise, admiral ? " said Bothwell. " I 
 doubt not I can find you in vizards, for you and I are both 
 well enough known in Edinburgh to meet fewer friends than 
 foes." 
 
 D'Elbceuf agreed cordially to the proposal. Like his 
 countrymen in general, he was averse to continuous hard 
 drinking, and a night of adventure in the town was more to 
 his taste than a steady carouse with these inexhaustible 
 borderers. His host, too, appeared in the restless mood of 
 a man who has some secret pain goading him to action. 
 The more he drank, the fiercer seemed to grow the impulse 
 to be doing. When the arch-tempter wants a tool that shall 
 be at once keen and strong, he takes a bold vigorous nature ; 
 he humbles it in its own eyes ; he wounds it in its best affec- 
 tions ; he whispers, " do to others as they have done unto you "; 
 then he tempers it in the furnace of memory, and sharpens 
 it carefully on the grindstone of remorse ; finally, he steeps 
 it in rough strong wine ; after that, it is fit for anything, and 
 will cut through steel harness and muslin fold with vindictive 
 impartiality. 
 
 Masks for the party were soon produced in sufficient 
 
 83
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 number, and these, with their cloaks or plaids, would be 
 disguise enough in the event of the night's amusement 
 growing to a breach of the laws, such being by no means 
 an unlikely result. The warden desired his retainers to sit 
 still and continue drinking till his return directions with 
 which they showed no unwillingness to comply ; but as the 
 masked party, brandishing their torches, shouting, singing, and 
 laughing, descended the stair into the close, Dick-o'-the-Cleugh 
 whispered to Maxwell to get his sword and accompany him. 
 
 " There'll be mair pows than ane crackit the night, or 
 all's done," remarked the borderer. " The warden's no canny 
 when he's crossit. Aince the whingars be oot, I'm no thinkin' 
 muckle o' yon Frenchman, an' thae wild lads is clean wud 
 wi' drink. We'll be nane the waur o' a decent body like 
 yoursel', Mr. Maxwell, just to strike in an' see fair play." 
 
 With the exception of a slight delay in the close, to 
 witness Lord John's performance of his promised hornpipe, 
 the effect of which was somewhat marred by the gutter 
 traversing the pavement, nothing occurred to check the 
 progress of the rioters. Save for themselves, the street lay 
 utterly quiet and deserted in the cold moonlight. The party, 
 linking arms, reeled and swaggered on, followed, at no long 
 interval, by Dick-o'-the-Cleugh and Maxwell, both tolerably 
 sober. 
 
 Presently, Bothwell halted at the door of the only house 
 from which lights were shining. 
 
 " What say you, gentlemen ? " laughed the warden. " I 
 know Master Craig, the mercer, well. It seems that he is 
 expecting us. Shall we go in and take our rere-supper with 
 pretty Mistress Alison, his daughter ? " 
 
 " By all means ! " exclaimed d'Elbceuf. " The best dressed 
 damsel that walks the High Street on Sundays. I should 
 know her anywhere by the orange stripes on her farthingale." 
 
 " And the bonniest lass on Leith Sands at the merry- 
 making to-day," added Lord Robert. " I little thought when 
 I gave her her fairings this morning, I should sup with her 
 to-night ! " 
 
 "The neatest foot and the tightest stocking in the old 
 town," said Lord John, " and the best dancer to boot. Knock 
 at the door, Bothwell, and bid them let us in, in the devil's 
 name ! " 
 
 Concealing themselves under the wall of the house, the 
 party waited, with much stifled merriment, the result of 
 Bothwell's application for admittance. His cautious knock 
 was at first unanswered, but on repetition, the light was 
 
 84
 
 CHAUDMELLEY 
 
 observed to be obscured at one of the windows, and a female 
 head, scarcely so well arranged as that of Mistress Alison 
 herself, was thrust into the moonlight, the owner demanding, 
 in a guarded whisper, " What's your wull ? " 
 
 " Go down and unbar the door," answered Bothwell, in 
 like tones of secrecy, and pulling his mask carefully over 
 his face. " We have come to sup with your mistress." 
 
 " It's the earl ! " the girl was heard to say, turning round 
 obviously to hold parley with someone in the room ; and 
 then another voice whispered in softer tones, " Is it you, my 
 lord?" 
 
 " Why, of course it is ! " answered Bothwell, somewhat 
 surprised, nevertheless, that he should be so easily recognised. 
 
 " I have expected you this hour and more," was the 
 reply, as the two figures moved at once from the window. 
 
 " The devil you have ! " observed the warden, now com- 
 pletely puzzled ; " then why don't you come down and open 
 the door?" 
 
 Presently bars were heard to be withdrawn, and the party 
 of rioters, if we may so term them, marshalled themselves in 
 close order, prepared, if necessary, to go in with a rush. The 
 door, however, was only partially unclosed, and the figure 
 of a strapping serving-wench guarded the narrow interstice. 
 She seemed less satisfied than her mistress, and inclined to 
 hold further parley. 
 
 " Hoo will I ken it's you ? " said she, shading the candle 
 with her large coarse hand. 
 
 But the caution was too late. Lord John's shoulder was 
 by this time applied to the door. Lord Robert blew out 
 the candle, and the Admiral of France, with characteristic 
 gallantry and national politeness, stifled the outcry of the 
 astonished damsel in the dark. 
 
 The assailants had now gained the body of the place, 
 still keeping their masks on, and with noiseless footsteps they 
 ascended the stair; Maxwell and Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, who 
 had neither of them much stomach for the adventure, remain- 
 ing at the door to keep watch. The others turned into a 
 comfortable parlour in which fire and lights were burning, as 
 if to make them thoroughly at home. A delicate little supper, 
 with a flask or two of wine, stood on the table, and a very 
 smartly dressed lady, not without beauty of a bold, imposing 
 style, rose to welcome them. As Bothwell entered, this 
 gaudy-looking dame seemed about to rush into his arms, but 
 observing that he did not remove his mask, and was accom- 
 panied by three or four others, she checked herself, and 
 
 85
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 remained standing in the middle of the room as if not 
 altogether mistress of the position. The warden, bowing 
 low, advanced to take her hand, and Mistress Alison suffered 
 him to do so, with an expression of ludicrous uncertainty on 
 her handsome face. 
 
 " Will you not unmask, my lord ? " said she ; " though 
 late, you are welcome, and so are your friends. Why did you 
 bring them with you ? " she added, in a troubled whisper. 
 
 It was impossible to carry on the deception any longer; 
 and by this time the laughter of the party had been so long 
 smothered as to defy further restraint. With many apologies 
 and courtly compliments and honeyed phrases, interrupted 
 by bursts of merriment, one and all unmasked, disclosing to 
 the bewildered Mistress Alison the features of quite another 
 earl from her expected guest, and of three or four of the 
 wildest gallants at Holyrood, with whom, nevertheless, she 
 was not entirely unacquainted. 
 
 One of the most beautiful qualities in woman is her pliant 
 nature, her tendency to adapt herself to circumstances, the 
 readiness with which, in the absence of white bread, she 
 contents herself with brown. Of this amiable facility the 
 mercer's daughter now afforded a striking instance. Bidden 
 or unbidden, Jiere were the gallants, good-looking, amusing, 
 and well dressed ; and there was the supper. Mistress Alison 
 did not hesitate long. 
 
 " You will not depart without breaking bread," said she, 
 pointing to the well-covered table, with courteous hospitality. 
 
 Lord Robert filled himself a bumper on the spot. 
 
 " Pledge us, fair Mistress Alison ! " said he ; "a cup of 
 wine will restore the bloom to that damask cheek, paled with 
 the alarm of our sudden arrival." 
 
 The lady drank and smiled. It is but fair to observe that, 
 notwithstanding his lordship's polite fiction, the " damask 
 cheek " had never paled, nor Mistress Alison lost her presence 
 of mind for an instant. Perhaps she was not entirely unused 
 to these impromptu supper-parties. Merrily they sat down, 
 heaping their cloaks and swords and masks in the corner 
 of the room, their hostess only stipulating against too much 
 noise, and insisting that her guests should not disturb the 
 repose of the honest mercer who slept above. 
 
 Mistress Alison seemed tolerably familiar with the private 
 history of her company, and the general gossip of the Court. 
 As she displayed the turn of her round arm, and close-fitting 
 bodice, while filling plates and drinking-cups, she had a 
 jeer, or a sarcasm, or a compliment for each. She con- 
 
 86
 
 CHAUDMELLEY 
 
 gratulated d'Elboeuf on the conquest he had made of her 
 serving-woman, who, never having seen a live Frenchman 
 before, gazed at the admiral open-mouthed. She twitted the 
 two Stuarts with their approaching bondage that should put 
 an end to all such midnight pranks. 
 
 " For," said Mistress Alison, " in less than a week, ye'll 
 both be dancing in fetters to the tune of ' Wooed and married 
 an' a',' and the bonny brides will have gotten the two most 
 graceless gallants in Scotland for their grooms ; and as sure 
 as death, I'll see the wedding, if I creep into the palace 
 through the buttery window ! Ay, my Lord Bothwell ! you're 
 bold riders, you Hepburns ; but the bonny lass that thinks 
 to tame wild John Stuart, is the boldest amongst you all. 
 Well, well ! it's a good steed that'll gallop till dawn. Once 
 she gets into the saddle, she'll daunton l him, never fear ! " 
 
 A loud laugh rewarded this sally at the expense of the 
 young noblemen, who were indeed making the most of their 
 remaining hours of freedom ; and Lord John, who was about 
 to marry Bothwell's sister, was so delighted with the conversa- 
 tion, that he took Mistress Alison's hand and proposed that 
 they should dance a measure together on the spot. 
 
 But the lady had no intention that her agreeable visitors 
 should remain for too long a period. In the midst of her 
 mirth she had never entirely got rid of a certain air of appre- 
 hension, and twice or thrice she had stopped in the middle of 
 a sentence as if to listen. All at once she turned pale, really 
 pale this time, and set her goblet down untasted. 
 
 " For any sake ! my lord," she exclaimed, with an imploring 
 look at Bothwell, " go your ways now. I can let you down 
 the back stair. Go your ways, gentlemen, I entreat you, or 
 there will be blood spilt before all's done ! " 
 
 Already the tramp of feet and altercation of voices had 
 been heard in the street ; now the clink of steel fell familiarly 
 on the ears of the guests upstairs. They rose to their feet, 
 and commenced buckling on their swords simultaneously. 
 
 " We are, indeed, fortunate," observed d'Elbceuf in high 
 glee ; " a jovial carouse, a delightful supper-party, and a mid- 
 night fray, all without the slightest trouble or inconvenience." 
 
 " For the love of mercy, begone ! " pleaded Mistress Alison, 
 pushing them, one after another, to the door. " For my sake 
 for any sake for all our sakes ! They're breaking in the 
 door ! They're coming up the stair ! It's the earl ; as sure 
 as death, it's the earl ! " 
 
 " What earl ? " laughed Bothwell carelessly, and yet 
 1 Daunton, to tame ; or familiarly, to cow from the French dompter, 
 
 87
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 curious to know the name of the favoured nobleman, for 
 whom the supper they had just eaten was prepared. 
 
 " The Earl of Arran, of course ! " replied Mistress Alison, 
 blushing through her tears. " It's too late now, for their 
 swords are out and their blood up, and the street full of 
 the red-handed Hamiltons ! What will I do? What will 
 I do?" 
 
 Pending further measures, Mistress Alison covered her 
 head with her mantle and cried piteously. 
 
 Bothwell smiled grimly in his beard when he heard the 
 name of Arran. They were none of the best of friends, the 
 Hepburns and the Hamiltons, at any time. To-night, the 
 warden's heart thrilled with a fierce pleasure at the thought 
 of crossing swords with their chieftain's son. 
 
 " Draw, gentlemen," exclaimed Bothwell, putting himself 
 at the head of the party. " A Hepburn ! a Hepburn to the 
 rescue ! draw, and follow me ! " 
 
 Thus shouting, he rushed to the stair-head, followed by his 
 friends, who appeared, one and all, as ready for the fray as 
 they had proved themselves for the feast. 
 
 The door had, indeed, been broken open, but the narrow 
 entrance was still filled, and stoutly defended by the stalwart 
 figure of the warden's henchman. Though the odds were 
 fearfully against him, his great strength and familiarity with 
 his weapon had enabled him to make a gallant defence against 
 the assailants, who were closing round him. At the first alarm 
 (and the borderer's quick ear had caught the step of armed 
 men approaching, long before they came in sight) he had 
 entreated Maxwell to return for the assistance of his com- 
 rades, who were sure to be found still carousing in Bothwell's 
 lodging. That gentleman used his own discretion in preferring 
 to turn out the city-guard ; but of this intention the other was 
 ignorant. Dick-o'-the-Cleugh never doubted he could keep 
 the door single-handed till assistance should arrive. Thrust 
 and blow and parry succeeded each other with fearful rapidity. 
 The borderer was long of limb and in capital wind ; more- 
 over, his heart was as true as the steel in his hand ; but three 
 or four to one will beat the best of swordsmen, and he was 
 overpowered at last, and driven back towards the stair. 
 
 At this crisis a desperate charge of fresh combatants, led 
 by Bothwell from above, came opportunely to the rescue. It 
 cleared the hall and the door, which was instantaneously 
 closed and barred by the ready-witted serving-woman. As- 
 sailants and assailed now found themselves carrying on the 
 combat in the street.
 
 CHAUDMELLEY 
 
 The skirmish became general. The Hamiltons mustered 
 in force, and came swarming to the assistance of their kins- 
 men. Bothwell's riders, too, disturbed from their carouse, 
 arrived by twos and threes, and the superiority of their 
 arms and training made them formidable partisans. Inured, 
 as all Scotsmen were in those days, to blows and bloodshed, 
 strife was the natural element of the borderer, and, drunk 
 or sober, he was always ready for a fight. 
 
 The old town was soon disturbed from its repose peace- 
 ful citizens leaped from their beds, and ran to the windows ; 
 night-capped heads were thrust out into the moonlight, to 
 watch the tumult in the street below, as it waved backwards 
 and forwards in the vicissitudes of the struggle. There was 
 but little outcry ; for men's passions were thoroughly aroused, 
 and they were fighting to the death. Sometimes a hollow 
 groan, or a heavy fall on the stones, contrasted dully with 
 the scuffle of feet and the clash of steel. Sometimes a fierce 
 oath accompanied a shrewder blow than common, or a deadly 
 thrust that had been driven desperately home ; but there 
 were few shots exchanged, and in the hand-to-hand conflict 
 the Hamiltons were gradually losing ground. Once Both- 
 well succeeded in reaching his enemy, and exchanged a 
 couple of passes with Arran ; but the Hamiltons rallied 
 round their chieftain's son, and the warden, grinding his 
 teeth with rage, was compelled to forego his revenge. 
 
 Several wounded, and more than one corpse, encumbered 
 the street ; the fray was getting serious, and even Dick-o'-the- 
 Cleugh seemed to think it was an affair more of business 
 than pleasure, when the common bell began to toll loudly, 
 and the city-guard, guided by Walter Maxwell, and com- 
 manded by no less a personage than Lord James Stuart 
 himself, made its appearance on the scene. These hardy 
 burghers, well-armed, and confident in the sympathies, and, 
 if necessary, the assistance of the townsfolk, thrust themselves 
 boldly between the combatants ; Lord James, on whose 
 thoughtful brow could be traced no more excitement than 
 ordinary, himself striking up the weapons of either party, as 
 he bade them lay down their arms in the queen's name. 
 
 Bothwell had just reached Arran for the second time. 
 The warden's eye glared wickedly and the froth was white 
 on his moustache. Arran, pale as death, and with mad- 
 ness flaring in his looks, struggled to meet his enemy, 
 shouting wildly and incoherently in a paroxysm of insanity. 
 Their swords had actually crossed when Lord James struck 
 in between. His face was calm and unmoved ; nay, there 
 
 89
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 was a lurking satisfaction in his eye, for, to the plotting dip- 
 lomatist, there is always gain in the differences of the power- 
 ful ; but to-night it was Lord James's cue rather to stifle 
 than foment such dissensions, and he wished also to stand 
 well with the citizens by quelling a disturbance that had 
 alarmed the town. 
 
 "For shame, gentlemen," said he, beating down their 
 weapons with the sheathed sword. " For shame ! you, 
 Arran, her near kinsman ; and you, Bothwell, in whom she 
 trusts. What will the queen say when she hears of it ? " 
 
 The red blood faded from the warden's angry brow at 
 Mary Stuart's name, and sinking the point of his sword, he 
 fell back with a look of deep shame and contrition. In his 
 fiercest moments that spell was sufficient to make him docile 
 as a child. Not so Arran. With a wild shriek of rage, he 
 darted a savage thrust at the peace-maker, that, had it taken 
 effect, might have spared Scotland much bloodshed and Mary 
 Stuart many a tear, for her wily bastard-brother l would never 
 have moved again. It was not fated, however, to reach its 
 object ; for Dick-o'-the-Cleugh's quick eye caught the move- 
 ment, and he parried it with a force and rapidity that shivered 
 Arran's blade in pieces, and beat it from his hand. His 
 retainers now gathered round their leader, and forced him 
 from the ground, the unfortunate maniac raving and writhing 
 in their grasp. Bothwell, too, got his men in order, and 
 withdrew them, submitting patiently to the rebukes of Lord 
 James. It is needless to observe, that on the first appearance 
 of their grave brother, the Lords John and Robert had taken 
 to flight, closely followed by d'Elbceuf, who did not wish to 
 figure as a brawler at his niece's court. The warden alone 
 remained to bear the blame, and, now that the excitement had 
 cooled, he bitterly regretted what he had done. 
 
 As he was followed by his henchman, Lord James called 
 the latter back. 
 
 " Let me look in your face, good fellow," said he ; " you 
 have saved my life to-night." 
 
 " The redder's lick 2 is aye the warst in the fray," answered 
 the other good-humouredly ; " and doubtless your honour 
 was no takin' notice, and it must have gone clean through ye," 
 he added dogmatically. 
 
 " You have saved my life," repeated Lord James. " I 
 
 1 Opinions about the character of him who was afterwards Regent Moray are 
 as contradictory and will remain as irreconcilable as those about Queen Mary 
 herself. ED. 
 
 2 The queller's wound. 
 
 90
 
 CHAUDMELLEY 
 
 leave no scores unpaid for, good or evil, and if ever the time 
 should come, I shall not forget the debt I owe you." 
 
 But Dick-o'-the-Cleugh shook his head doubtfully. 
 
 " I'm no sae dooms sure o' that," said he, as he strode on 
 after his chief. " An' I wad like ill to be beholden to a man 
 that could part sic a bonny fray. Oh, man ! " he added to 
 Maxwell, who had now joined him, " what garred ye bring in 
 the burgher-guard ? The drink was just dyin' out in our lads, 
 and we wad ha' gotten the grandest ploy I've seen sin' I cam' 
 out of Carlisle jail."
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 LAW AND ORDER 
 
 " Away ! away ! thou traitor strang ! 
 
 Out of my sicht soon mayst thou be ! 
 I granted never a traitor grace, 
 
 And now I'll not begin with thee." 
 
 T was with no agreeable feelings 
 that Maxwell received a summons 
 to attend the council at Holyrood 
 the morning after the fray. Ere he 
 had well slept off the fatigues and 
 dissipation of the previous night, he 
 was disturbed by a pursuivant in 
 the royal livery, with the lion em- 
 blazoned on his surcoat, who required 
 his immediate presence at the palace, 
 and from whose rigid sense of duty 
 he found it difficult to extort per- 
 mission to summon Dick-o'-the- 
 Cleugh as a witness in his favour. Maxwell reflected that the 
 borderer's straightforward testimony would serve to exonerate 
 him from any share in the disturbance, except the measures 
 which put a stop to it ; and by dint of argument, remonstrance, 
 and a bonnet -piece or two, he succeeded in sending a 
 message to Bothwell himself, who, for reasons of his own, was 
 only too ready to despatch his henchman in reply. 
 
 As they proceeded together towards the palace, attended 
 by the pursuivant and four stout men-at-arms, Dick-o'-the- 
 Cleugh could by no means be brought to consider their past 
 broil in the light of a breach of the peace. On the contrary, 
 he esteemed it from beginning to end as the simple and 
 natural consequence of a jaunt to the capital, and was fully 
 persuaded that their present expedition must result in a vote 
 of praise to all concerned. 
 
 Yet the borderer's iron nerves seemed affected as they 
 entered the precincts of the Abbey. He was unusually rest- 
 
 92
 
 LAW AND ORDER 
 
 less, and glanced hither and thither, as though in expectation. 
 Certain female tones in the garden by no means restored his 
 composure ; and while Maxwell, with a thrill of offended pride, 
 that was yet longing to forgive, recognised Mary Carmichael's 
 well-known voice, Dick nudged him vigorously with his elbow, 
 and whispered 
 
 " Ye'll hae to speak up for the twae o' us, Mr. Maxwell. 
 I was aye dashed wi' the women-folk ; an' it's like they'll no 
 let us away the day without gettin' a sight o' the queen and 
 her leddies. Man, I would like fine to see them in their 
 braws ! " 
 
 Ere Walter could reply, a gentleman-usher beckoned him 
 silently to advance, while two stout men-at-arms, crossing 
 their axes in front of his follower, gave Dick-o'-the-Cleugh 
 to understand he must wait till he was sent for. Unusual 
 vigilance seemed to pervade the palace. The guard was 
 doubled on the staircase and in the galleries, whilst a strong 
 body of cavalry occupied the court. 
 
 As Maxwell's conductors halted at the door of the council- 
 chamber, the former felt his wonted composure sadly disturbed 
 by the appearance of Mary Carmichael, who was crossing 
 from the garden towards the queen's apartments. She started 
 and blushed vividly when she met his eye, and then, observing 
 him to be under escort, turned pale with obvious apprehension. 
 She stopped, too, as if she would fain speak with him ; but 
 after an imploring glance that seemed to entreat his 
 forgiveness, and assure him of her sympathy, hurried away. 
 So strangely constituted is the human mind, even in those 
 who most pride themselves on their philosophy, that Maxwell 
 felt his heart lighter than it had been for a week, and entered 
 the awful presence of the council without the slightest 
 appearance of dismay ; and yet he had not exchanged a 
 syllable with her, had only caught her eye for an instant, 
 and heard the rustle of her garments as she passed. Surely 
 there is some strange magic in our nature that works below 
 the surface, and encircles the bravest and the strongest in its 
 spells. 
 
 In the centre of the room, which Maxwell now entered, 
 stood a massive oak table, covered with papers and parch- 
 ments, prepared for the sign-manual of Mary Stuart. Around 
 it were seated those Scottish noblemen whose turn it was to 
 assist the deliberations of their sovereign, thwarting indeed 
 the free-will, and impeding her resolutions, yet constituting 
 and considering themselves the trusty advisers of the Crown. 
 The Duke of Chatelherault, in right of his high rank and 
 
 93
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 royal lineage, acted as president ; and on his noble brow might 
 be traced an expression of puzzled vexation as he followed in 
 vain Secretary Maitland's rapid and masterly explanation of 
 the business in hand. That astute diplomatist, carrying his 
 colleagues triumphantly with him, was furnishing a brilliant 
 display of rhetorical fireworks, to prove that the measure he 
 now advocated (which had indeed for its object the placing of 
 additional power in Lord James Stuart's hands) was the only 
 possibility of saving the country; and the haughty Hamilton, 
 dazzled rather than enlightened by his eloquence, looked as 
 dissatisfied as a man generally does who is convinced against 
 his will. 
 
 The queen's brother had assumed a modest and deprecating 
 air, as who should say, " I seek not authority, but only wish 
 rigidly to fulfil the duties that are thrust upon me " a senti- 
 ment he had already expressed to the council when they sat 
 down. The others listened in different attitudes of attention 
 or approval, according as their interests or their convictions 
 led them to agree with the speaker ; whilst Mary herself, 
 whose chair was drawn a little apart from the table, looked 
 up from her embroidery ever and anon in the face of her 
 half-brother, with an expression of perfect confidence and 
 affection. Though her noble intellect might detect many a 
 flaw in her secretary's arguments, she was too thoroughly 
 a woman not to be a dishonest reasoner; and of all the 
 intriguers who backed Lord James in his efforts at supreme 
 power, none supported him so fearlessly and confidingly as 
 the queen. 
 
 David Riccio sat, so to speak, under her Majesty's wing. 
 His evident favour with his mistress extorted for him a certain 
 outward deference and cold civility from the nobles ; but he 
 was already inclined to put himself too forward, without 
 reflecting that the key of a lady's escritoire is but a frail 
 weapon to meet a two-handed sword, and a velvet doublet 
 a poor defence against the blow of a dudgeon-dagger. 
 
 When Maxwell was admitted, the State Secretary had just 
 concluded his peroration, and was shuffling his papers together 
 on the table with an air of business-like satisfaction. He 
 looked up at this new arrival, however, with calm indifference 
 and spreading a blank sheet of paper before him, appeared 
 ready to enter at once upon a new affair with fresh energy 
 and attention. Lord Ruthven, whose temper was none of the 
 sweetest, and whose liking for the warden was of that kind 
 which would fain have had a yard and a half of green turf, 
 and the same measure of cold steel, between them, scowled 
 
 94
 
 LAW AND ORDER 
 
 upon Bothwell's kinsman with all the ferocity of which his 
 stern features were capable a compliment returned by 
 Maxwell with a stare of undaunted defiance. Morton stole 
 a rapid and sinister glance at the queen, while his beard 
 curled with his habitual sneering smile. Huntly, Argyle, 
 and the rest, settled themselves into comfortable attitudes, 
 as though the more important business of the morning were 
 now disposed of. 
 
 The Duke of Chatelherault, as the aggrieved person, was 
 the first to speak. With a haughty affectation of indifference, 
 he asked 
 
 " Who is this witness ? Is he of gentle birth ? " 
 
 And being informed by Maitland that he was a kinsman 
 of Earl Bothwell, his grace replied indignantly 
 
 " An impartial witness ye have brought before the council ! 
 Why not examine the earl himself? if, indeed, he acknow- 
 ledges any authority but border-law. It is well that the 
 Hamiltons can right themselves with their own good swords." 
 
 Maitland cut short his further objections by desiring Max- 
 well to proceed with his account of the fray, while the queen 
 looked up from her work as if about to expostulate, but 
 checked herself with a half-smothered sigh. 
 
 Maxwell told his tale simply and frankly. It was obvious 
 that the fray had originated in a brawl begun by the Hamil- 
 tons, who had insisted on forcing their way into Mistress 
 Alison's house. Seeing that bloodshed was unavoidable, he 
 had hurried off to alarm the civic guard, leaving the earl's 
 henchman at the door. When he returned, the skirmish, as 
 Lord James could corroborate, was at its height. The hench- 
 man could speak to what took place during the narrator's 
 absence ; he had craved permission to bring him to Holyrood 
 for that purpose. His manly, straightforward evidence seemed 
 to make a favourable impression on the council. Maitland 
 looked up from his notes, and, glancing at the duke for 
 approval, desired the borderer to be summoned. 
 
 Honest Dick entered the council - chamber with an 
 undaunted front, till he caught sight of the queen, when he 
 blushed up to his ears, and made a profound and exceedingly 
 awkward obeisance. Then he looked about as if in search of 
 something, and finally stood bolt upright, like a man prepared 
 to be shot at. 
 
 " Your name ? " said the duke haughtily. 
 
 Dick reflected a few moments, and then answered, with the 
 air of one who makes an admission under protest 
 
 " Dick-o'-the-Cleugh." 
 
 95
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " Your calling ? " added the president severely. 
 
 " Just a rider," answered Dick, after another pause. 
 
 The nobles glanced significantly at each other, and Huntly 
 observed, with a smile 
 
 " That is another word for thief in your country, is it not ? " 
 
 Dick looked extremely demure and unconscious, as he 
 replied 
 
 " Na, it's broken men they ca' thieves on the border just 
 like catherans an' Gordons an' that in the North." 
 
 The council could not forbear a laugh, and even the queen 
 bent over her work to conceal her amusement. 
 
 " Faith, Huntly, he shivered his lance fairly against thy 
 breastplate this time," said Lord Seton; and Huntly, 
 throwing his portly person back in his chair, vowed good- 
 humouredly that the definition was a sufficiently precise one 
 at either extremity of the kingdom. The borderer's examina- 
 tion then proceeded. 
 
 " Was it by your chiefs orders that you defended the door 
 in the High Street last night?" 
 
 " I took nae orders yestre'en frae the warden," replied Dick, 
 " forbye to see to the naigs about our back-coming." 
 
 "Would you have ventured to draw upon the Earl of 
 Arran upon my son," asked the duke, " without your chief's 
 express commands to slay him if you came across him ? " 
 
 " I ken your grace fine," answered the borderer, not very 
 directly, " seein' you're the grandest nobleman in Scotland ; 
 but if yon was the Earl of Arran, an' a' your grace's blood 
 fight like yon camsteary chiel, I wad like ill to keep the 
 causeway anither nicht frae the Hamiltons." 
 
 " What was the origin of the disturbance ? " here interposed 
 Secretary Maitland, seeing that the discussion produced no 
 obvious results. " Who began the brawl, man, and first bared 
 steel?" 
 
 " I could not say," replied Dick, looking profoundly ignor- 
 ant. " I'm thinkin' the stramash was a' in gude-fellowship, 
 till his honour here, the Lord James, an' the city-guard struck 
 in an' spoilt all." 
 
 "Why, you yourself were at half-sword with a score of 
 them when I came up," said Lord James, laughing, in spite of 
 himself, at the borderer's coolness. 
 
 "Oo! that was just a ploy!" answered Dick, with a grin 
 of delight at the recollection. " I've seen waur licks than 
 yon gi'en an' ta'en in Bewcastle Markit, just for gude-will ye 
 ken, an' a tass or twa o' brandy." 
 
 " Let him go," said the duke, " till we send for him again. 
 
 96
 
 LAW AND ORDER 
 
 It is not against this faithful knave, your Majesty and my 
 lords, that I appeal for justice, but against the Earl of 
 Bothwell." 
 
 Again Morton shot a lurid glance at the queen, whose 
 white fingers were travelling fast to and fro through her 
 embroidery. 
 
 " The earl had entered the house peacefully enough when 
 I left," began Maxwell, but he was sternly and peremptorily 
 commanded to hold his peace, whilst a whispered consultation 
 was carried on by the chief nobility present, in which Lord 
 James alone took no part. The queen, with an angry spot 
 on each cheek, continued to work very fast. 
 
 " It is but a part of the plot against her Majesty's person," 
 said the duke, after a while, "a plot which my son himself 
 has discovered, and which on his recovery he will prove on the 
 Earl of Bothwell's body with his blade. Meantime, there lies 
 my glove ; if the Hepburn has a friend, let him take it up ! " 
 Maxwell interposed eagerly. 
 
 "To anyone of my own degree," he began but an 
 imploring glance from the queen at her brother had roused 
 that statesman from his apathy, and he interfered. 
 
 " Take back your glove, my lord duke ! " said he. " This 
 is no affair of private brawl, but a matter in which the safety 
 of the crown is involved. My lords, I move for a committee 
 of inquiry on the spot." 
 
 The duke bit his glove through, ere he replaced it on his 
 hand, and then, with moody brow and angry eye, listened in 
 silence to the conference. 
 
 " I move that James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, be com- 
 mitted to ward till such time as he can purge himself from 
 the charges brought against him by the Earl of Arran," said 
 Lord Ruthven, after another brief consultation, with a smile 
 of triumph on his pale, gaunt face. 
 
 With the exception of Seton and Argyle, who seemed to 
 think the warden was receiving scant justice, and a weak 
 remonstrance from Lord James, which yielded gracefully to 
 the urgency of the case, the council agreed upon this pre- 
 cautionary measure, and it was carried accordingly. Secretary 
 Maitland made out the warrant for the earl's committal ; it 
 wanted but the queen's signature to become valid. Mary 
 rose from her chair and drew up her majestic figure. 
 
 " Nay, my lords," said she ; " it is surely unjust to con- 
 demn the absent without proof. Let the warden return to 
 his charge on the border. He may render himself at any 
 time, in less than twenty-four hours from Hermitage." 
 G 97
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " You cannot refuse to ratify the deed of your council ! " 
 urged Ruthven fiercely. " Nay, madam, you dare not," he 
 added, with growing insolence ; and would have said more ; 
 but Mary shot a glance at him, before which even his rugged 
 nature quailed. 
 
 " Your Majesty's confidence in the earl is greater than that 
 of your advisers," observed Morton, not deigning to conceal a 
 sneer. " Already he boasts of his influence over the queen, 
 and vows that steel gauntlet shall not wrest him from Holy- 
 rood, though a white glove can lure him from Hermitage." 
 
 The colour rose on Mary's brow, and her bosom heaved 
 quickly. It was evident the queen was wavering. 
 
 " It is but a measure of precaution," argued Maitland, in his 
 plausible off-hand tones, spreading at the same time the 
 warrant before his sovereign. " After all," he added, " it may 
 be but a mere brawl about a wench ! The Earl of Bothwell 
 has ever been given to such follies overmuch." 
 
 The queen signed the paper hastily ; then threw the pen 
 on the table, and walked in silence from the council-chamber. 
 
 98
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 DICK IN CHAINS 
 
 "Oh ! better for me that a blind-born child 
 
 Never a line I had learn'd to trace, 
 Than thus by a look and a laugh beguiled, 
 To have read my doom in fair Alice's face. 
 
 And better for me to have made my bed 
 Under the yews where my fathers sleep, 
 
 Calm and quiet, at rest with the dead, 
 
 Than have given my heart to fair Alice to keep." 
 
 SO Bothwell was committed to ward in Edinburgh Castle, 
 yet was his durance but of a temporary nature, and devoid 
 of the customary rigours that accompany imprisonment. The 
 warden made no effort to escape, although he had a strong 
 party of friends about the Court, and might at any time have 
 created considerable disturbance had he chosen to resist the 
 royal authority; but he bowed his head to the blast with 
 unexpected humility, and a submission, the result of mixed 
 motives. He lived in daily expectation of release by the 
 queen's own authority. His appointment on the border had 
 not yet been filled up, and Hermitage was still occupied by 
 a staunch garrison who acknowledged no law but their chiefs 
 behests. Day by day the warlike earl, pining, as well he 
 might, for the free breeze on his brow and the swinging gallop 
 of his steed, reflected on the effect which such devotion as his 
 could not fail to produce on the queen. Danger he had 
 always faced readily for her sake ; fatigue he had cheerfully 
 endured ; and now he submitted patiently to captivity, 
 because it was Mary Stuart's will. Day by day he expected 
 a pardon, a release, an acknowledgment, a communication, 
 and day by day he was disappointed. " Hope deferred 
 maketh the heart sick " ; but this proverb applies rather to weak 
 natures ; in strong, it is apt to make the heart savage. Stung 
 by what he conceived to be ingratitude, irritated by neglect, 
 sore from conflicting feelings, such as rend an ill-disciplined 
 character with pangs to which mere physical suffering is 
 
 99
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 comparative relief, those weeks spent in Edinburgh Castle 
 produced an effect on Bothwell's disposition that after years 
 could never eradicate. Even Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, who re- 
 mained in attendance on his master, and who was free to 
 come and go at his pleasure, shook his head gravely, and 
 averred that " confinement was just destruction baith to 
 man an' beast! He would like fine to see the warden 
 ridin' the marches again wi' the Liddesdale lads at his 
 back." 
 
 But though Dick thus expressed himself, and doubtless 
 meant what he said, he was conscious in his heart that the 
 banks of the Esk and the braes of Teviotdale would never 
 be the same to him again. The brawny borderer had a new 
 interest in life now, strange to say, unconnected with hawk or 
 hound, with morning chase or midnight foray, with axe or 
 lance, or mighty stoups of ale. 
 
 Once in the week it was Mary Seton's custom to visit the 
 town of Edinburgh on foot, to make purchases for her mistress 
 and her comrades, of those odds and ends which ladies con- 
 sume in such wonderful quantities. The wilful little damsel 
 had taken a great fancy to the borderer, as you may see 
 a child sometimes pleased with a huge Newfoundland dog. 
 Such attachments are not remarkable for reciprocity. The 
 biped, half-pitiful, half-amused, entertains a feeble liking for 
 so faithful an attendant ; the quadruped wishes no better lot 
 than to serve its little idol slavishly all its life, and die licking 
 its hand. How the child cuffs it and teases it, and makes the 
 noble animal ridiculous, pulling its ears and tail ! 
 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh had but one day now in his week 
 instead of seven. He observed, not without inward gratula- 
 tion, that his attendance on these saints' days, so to speak, 
 was by no means unwelcome ; and Mary Seton, on her return 
 to the palace, never omitted to inform the queen that she 
 had seen Earl Bothwell's henchman, neither did her mistress 
 take her to task herself, nor suffer Mary Beton to do so, for 
 these interviews. So the strangely matched pair moved along 
 the High Street, and the lady, who, in addition to his 
 other good qualities, had discovered the borderer to be a 
 capital listener, told him the Court news, for the edification of 
 his chief, with considerable volubility. 
 
 " We're all in confusion now," said she, one bright winter's 
 day, as she tripped along the cleaner portion of the pavement 
 with a light basket in her hand, which sometimes as a great 
 favour she permitted her Newfoundland to carry, while that 
 faithful animal stamped contentedly alongside in the gutter. 
 
 100
 
 DICK IN CHAINS 
 
 " The palace is turned inside out. We have got the ' new 
 acquaintance ' at Holyrood." 
 
 Dick looked as if he didn't understand, and yet did not 
 quite like the information. Something that would have been 
 jealousy in a more presumptuous admirer, shot through his 
 great frame. Had he been physically a retriever, he would 
 have put his tail between his legs. 
 
 " I dinna like acquaintances," said he, looking down at her 
 bodily a foot or so ; looking up at her metaphorically any 
 number of yards. " Give me friends, Mistress Seton, auld 
 friends, an' no too mony o' them." 
 
 " You wouldn't like this acquaintance ! " laughed the young 
 lady merrily, whereat her companion looked on her admiringly, 
 as one who listens to sweet music. " He's an acquaintance 
 that would put you on your back readily, for as strong as you 
 think yourself; he has overcome the queen and the house- 
 hold and Mr. Randolph and Mary Beton, and all of them 
 but me." 
 
 " No," replied the borderer. He did not the least under- 
 stand what she meant, but admired her intensely, neverthe- 
 less. 
 
 " It's the sickness," l at last she condescended to explain, 
 between bursts of laughter at her companion's puzzled 
 countenance. " There are but two of the queen's ladies fit for 
 duty at all Mary Carmichael and me ; and she is so occupied 
 with your chiefs kinsman, Mr. Maxwell, that she couldn't be 
 more useless if she was ill in bed. The Court is as dull as 
 ditch-water, and I shall have to walk up this weary hill to do 
 everybody's business twice a week instead of once ; that is the 
 upshot of it." 
 
 A ray of intense pleasure gleamed on her listener's face 
 at this announcement; but it clouded over a minute after- 
 wards, and he asked with undisguised anxiety, "If there 
 was no danger for herself?" The girl could not but feel 
 gratified at his obvious interest in her safety ; but she laughed 
 again, and answered merrily 
 
 " Do you think nobody can be bold who is not six foot 
 high ? I fear sickness, I tell you, as little as you fear Lord 
 Scrope, and hate it perhaps more ; and yet you have the 
 best of it too. I had rather face death on an open moor than 
 in closed bed-curtains. I wonder if anybody would miss 
 me much?" she added, more to herself than him, for the 
 
 1 An epidemic that prevailed at the Court, answering to the indisposition 
 which we now term influenza, and mentioned by Randolph in his letters to 
 Cecil. 
 
 101
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 grave chord had somehow been struck in her thoughtless 
 character. 
 
 He did not answer, and when she looked at him, his face 
 was turned away. 
 
 " Do you think they would ? " she proceeded, with the per- 
 tinacity of a spoiled child. "Stranger things have come to 
 pass. You might be riding merrily in Liddesdale, whilst 
 Mary Seton was lying stark and cold under the Abbey 
 stones." 
 
 " It would be a dark day in Liddesdale," was all the 
 answer he made ; but he would not let her see his face, and 
 his voice sounded as it had never done before. 
 
 A tinge of remorse, such as that which the urchin feels 
 when he takes a bird's-nest, smote almost unconsciously at 
 the girl's heart ; yet was the sensation, though pathetic, by no 
 means unpleasant. She laughed and bantered him more than 
 usual during their walk ; but on that day, and indeed every 
 day afterwards till he returned to the border, she suffered him 
 to carry her basket ; and the honest retriever, proud of his 
 degradation, followed at her heel, with ever-increasing fidelity 
 and devotion. The bird's-nest was taken now, and it is no use 
 attempting to put such articles back again ; moreover, it had 
 been thoroughly harried, emptied clean of its treasures, and 
 all the eggs were in that one basket. 
 
 1 02
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE REFORMER 
 
 " Oh ! is my basnet a widow's curch, 
 
 Or my lance a wand of the willow tree, 
 Or my arm a lady's lily hand, 
 
 That an English lord should lightly me?" 
 
 T T NUSUAL silence prevailed in the lofty hall of Hermitage, 
 \^J and the dinner -hour, commonly one of mirth and 
 festivity, arrived with a solemn gravity, by no means welcome 
 to the light-hearted borderers. It was in vain that large joints 
 of beef and mutton steamed on the long tables, and ample 
 baskets, piled to the edge with coarse oaten bread, stood side 
 by side with deep measures of foaming ale below the salt, 
 while a modest display of plate, in which one or two church 
 ornaments were conspicuous, decked the upper end of the 
 board. The preparations, indeed, smacked of good cheer, 
 but the hilarity which promotes digestion was wanting. The 
 master-spirit, gloomy, morose, and preoccupied, walked to 
 and fro under the stag's antlers, at the extremity of the hall, 
 and no man dared to question or interrupt his meditations. 
 
 Bothwell was indeed chafing to the verge of madness. In 
 vain he had submitted patiently to a mock imprisonment at 
 the queen's pleasure ; in vain he had waited till days grew to 
 weeks and weeks to months for some acknowledgment from 
 Mary of the injustice she had done him some expression of 
 sorrow or sympathy for the loyal soldier and devoted vassal. 
 No acquittal came, no reprieve, no message. Desperate and 
 goaded he had escaped from his confinement at last, and fled 
 to Hermitage, where he now found himself, as autumn waned, 
 in the anomalous attitude of an attainted subject holding 
 a royal fortress, and a Warden of the Marches, without the 
 privilege of communicating with his sovereign. It has been 
 truly said that no position is so false as that which entails 
 responsibility without conferring authority, and of this he 
 found himself too keenly conscious. Neither was Bothwell's 
 a nature to submit patiently to a slight. Hot-headed and 
 
 103
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 irascible, with strong feelings and a sad want of foresight, he 
 could act, but he could not endure. At this period he had 
 indeed sufficient reason to feel aggrieved, and he fretted like 
 some wild animal in a cage. It was noon ; the guard was 
 being relieved in the outer court. Bustle reigned in the 
 kitchen ; two or three old hounds, with wistful faces, licked 
 their lips as they nosed the savoury preparations that emanated 
 from that department ; hawks screamed and flapped their wings 
 on the perch; everything denoted the arrival of the most 
 important hour in the twenty-four. 
 
 By twos and threes brawny men-at-arms lounged into the 
 hall and took their places at the board. A year ago, shout 
 and jest and schoolboy prank would have been rife at such a 
 moment ; the earl's laugh would have been the loudest and 
 his voice the gayest amongst them all ; now they watched 
 him pacing silently to and fro, with looks askance. Taking 
 their cue from their chief, the boisterous riders were gloomy 
 as mutes. Bothwell turned suddenly and summoned his 
 henchman. 
 
 " Is the holy man not ready yet ? " said he, with something 
 of irony in his tone. " Ho ! bid the knaves bring in the food. 
 Cowl or cassock, rochet and stole, or black Geneva gown, not 
 one of them but comes to corn as kindly as the longest-legged 
 borderer that ever lifted a spear. Bid them serve, Dick, in 
 the devil's name." 
 
 " Nay, James Hepburn," said a deep, stern voice at the 
 earl's elbow, " not in the name of the evil one, but in His 
 from whom cometh all good. Bless the food," he added, 
 stretching both hands over the board which was now spread, 
 and shutting his eyes reverently while he prayed : " Bless 
 those good things which are the product of thrift and honest 
 industry, and may every morsel turn to gall on the lip, and 
 poison in the breast, that is wrested by violence and bloodshed 
 from the store of the widow and the fatherless ! " 
 
 " Amen ! " ejaculated Bothwell, without pretending to 
 conceal the sneer on his lip, as he took his seat ; whilst his 
 retainers, glancing with a comical mixture of respect and 
 astonishment at a man who dared to address their formidable 
 chief in accents of reproach, seemed uncertain how to receive 
 a blessing of such doubtful import on the border. The 
 obvious course was to fall to without further ceremony ; and 
 soon the clatter of knives and drinking-horns drowned all 
 qualms of conscience, if indeed such were experienced ; Dick- 
 o'-the-Cleugh merely remarking, as he filled his trencher, " that 
 if all the beef in the larder that was lifted behoved to turn 
 
 104
 
 THE REFORMER 
 
 to gall, there would be no want o' mustard for a whiley in 
 Liddesdale." 
 
 Evidently putting a strong constraint on himself, the earl 
 proceeded to entertain his guest with marked distinction 
 and courtesy. Indeed, after a time, the stately bearing and 
 obvious sincerity of the man could not fail to produce a 
 favourable effect ; and though Bothwell, for political reasons, 
 was disposed to court his good opinion, he could not but 
 confess to himself that under that black robe and grave 
 exterior lurked a spirit equal in point of courage, and far 
 superior in energy, perseverance, and force of character, to 
 his own. Even the rude borderers felt the influence of his 
 presence. Although the name of John Knox was ere this 
 familiar in all men's mouths, through the length and breadth 
 of Scotland, these lawless soldiers, while professing, for the 
 most part, the Reformed religion, which combined in their 
 eyes the intrinsic advantages of freedom, liberality, and 
 cheapness, were at heart wofully indifferent to its tenets, or 
 its obligations. They had thrown off with small compunction 
 the shackles of the Roman Catholic Church ; they were not 
 quite so ready, however, to submit themselves to the discipline 
 of that faith which had supplanted it. In all violent and 
 fundamental changes of opinion, the teachers of a new 
 doctrine have to contend with two serious difficulties : the 
 ill-judged warmth of their more zealous disciples, and the 
 convenient indifference of a large proportion of converts, who 
 cannot be brought to see the advantage of dissent, if it is to 
 substitute one form of government for another. 
 
 Physically, the great Scottish Reformer appeared scarcely 
 equal to the work he had engaged to perform. His spare 
 frame was indeed sufficiently ascetic to command respect; 
 and his dignified bearing, well set off by the close black 
 gown, with its loose sleeves, which he chose to wear, was 
 not unworthy of the holy profession of which he was so 
 zealous a member ; but his stature was low, and his bodily 
 strength proportionate. Nevertheless in his high grave brow, 
 only partially covered by a close black skull-cap, there was 
 rectitude, pitiless, indeed, of others' weakness, but equally 
 stern and uncompromising towards its own. The bold 
 features and pale colouring of the face, more remarkable 
 than comely, denoted energy with force of will ; and though 
 the mouth was somewhat large and coarse, its expression 
 was firm and daring in the highest degree. His dark eyes, 
 which it was his habit to fix intently on those with whom 
 he conversed, were brilliantly piercing, and in the heat of 
 
 105
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 argument or declamation shone and sparkled with an inward 
 flame. A flowing beard descended to his girdle, somewhat 
 softening the harshness of his features, and imparting a 
 patriarchal dignity to his whole person. There was but 
 little appearance of versatility on his immovable face, and yet 
 John Knox, driven by his zeal into the political stream, had 
 been forced to trim his barque more than once to suit the 
 exigencies of the storm ; and it may be that this very 
 consciousness added to the stern defiance of his bearing. 
 Without attempting to be all things to all men, the reformer 
 never forgot for an instant the one end and aim of his unceasing 
 efforts, the destruction of Papacy in his native land ; and if ever 
 he did turn aside for an advantage, or halt for a breathing- 
 space, it was but to gather fresh energies for the great work, 
 and devote himself more unreservedly to its accomplishment. 
 If he was prejudiced, bigoted, and illiberal, he was at least an 
 honest man thoroughly in earnest. The latter quality invari- 
 ably wins respect in the rudest, as in the most civilised 
 societies, and even Earl Bothwell's wild jackmen could not with- 
 hold an in voluntary homage from one whose peaceful profession, 
 while it did not affect his insensibility to physical danger, or 
 his coolness under trying circumstances, was followed out 
 with an energy and perseverance of which their own lawless 
 pursuits afforded no example. The reformer, too, for all his 
 infirmities, could back a horse and fly a hawk with the best 
 of them. His stirring life had given him habits of activity 
 and daring, whilst the energy of action was not wanting, 
 which is so useful an accessory to a keen intellect. 
 
 Though he ate sparingly, the preacher's cup was filled and 
 emptied with grave good-fellowship, and he did not disdain 
 to mingle in such mirth as was restrained within the bounds 
 of decorum. There was a spice of quaint humour in his con- 
 versation that insensibly excited the attention of the most 
 careless listeners ; and though he never so far forgot his sacred 
 office as to descend into buffoonery, he was no contemner of 
 a ludicrous illustration or a harmless jest. The dinner, never- 
 theless, progressed wearily. The churchman's presence re- 
 strained that wild ribaldry which had been, of late, Bothwell's 
 only attempt at gaiety ; and when the jackmen had eaten 
 their fill, and satisfied their thirst, a gloomy silence once more 
 pervaded the old hall. 
 
 It was the practice at Hermitage to conclude every meal 
 with the standing toast of " Snaffle, spur, and spear " ; but 
 to-day cups were emptied less cordially than usual to the 
 accustomed pledge, and a long grace from Mr. Knox im- 
 
 106
 
 THE REFORMER 
 
 mediately succeeding, it was received by the listeners with 
 more respect than attention. It was a relief to all when 
 the earl, calling for a basin and ewer, dipped his hands, 
 wiped his beard, and rose from table, summoning the 
 reformer to attend him for a stroll upon the rampart, and 
 whispering a few words to Dick-o'-the-Cleugh as he passed 
 out of the hall. That worthy received his master's com- 
 mands with an appearance of intense gratification, which 
 communicated itself, as if by electricity, to the majority of his 
 comrades. Bustle and activity seemed all at once to pervade 
 the castle, and the merriment hitherto stifled and repressed 
 broke forth with renewed violence. The tramp of horses and 
 the clank of steel smote gratefully on ears in which such 
 sounds made the sweetest of music; and when the church- 
 man crossed the courtyard in search of his host, he found it 
 filled by some two score of well-mounted men-at-arms, drawn 
 up in disciplined array, with Dick-o'-the-Cleugh at their head. 
 The earl was giving his final orders to this leader with con- 
 siderable energy. He was in a towering passion, none the 
 less unbridled that he was not going to command the ex- 
 pedition himself. 
 
 " Were he ten times warden," the reformer heard him say, 
 " he should not drive horses, with impunity, from my side the 
 march. Does my Lord Scrope think that James Hepburn 
 has been superseded at Hermitage? or that I am a likely 
 man to submit to the slight he has endeavoured to put upon 
 me ? Faith, not while this arm of mine can lay lance in the 
 rest. If you come across the English warden, Dick Ruther- 
 ford, you shall cast James Hepburn's defiance in his teeth. 
 Within twenty-one days, alone, or with his following, on foot 
 or on horseback, with spear, sword, or axe, and not more than 
 three English miles from the border, I challenge him to meet 
 me, if he be a man, and ' God defend the right ! ' Have you 
 picked the horses ? " he added abruptly, and turning with a 
 soldier's eye to scan the troop. 
 
 " I cast the twa four-year-aulds," answered Dick, " an' I 
 waled the soar l and the three bays, forbye the white-footed 
 yane, an' I'm ridin' Wanton Willie mysel'. Gin I track the 
 drove to Peel-fell, will I follow them into Cumberland ? " 
 
 " Follow them to hell ! " answered Bothwell. " I will have 
 that grey gelding back if he is stabled in Carlisle. I'll have 
 him from under Lord Scrope himself, if the Englishman never 
 gets across a horse again. What ! there is peace between the 
 two countries, more's the pity, or I had been at his castle-gate 
 1 Sorrel or chestnut next to bay, the favourite colour of the borderers. 
 
 107
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 by this time with all Teviotdale at my back ; and so you may 
 tell him, if you can meet with him under steel." 
 
 " They might ha' been ta'en by the Langholm lads," 
 interposed Dick, whose spirits were rising considerably with 
 the prospect of a foray, but who looked upon the whole 
 affair, nevertheless, as a matter of business combined with 
 wholesome recreation. "They lifted a score o' runts frae 
 daft Davie, in Lammas time, an' took the vara' coverlet aff 
 his wife's bed. He saw it himsel' at Dumfries, puir fallow ! " 
 
 " Nay, nay," answered Bothwell, " the Langholm riders do 
 not come down by the score, with dags, and petronels, and 
 St. George's cross on their basnets. If it's not a warden-raid, 
 as, indeed, it can hardly be, it has been done by the warden's 
 orders ; and he shall answer it to me as sure as I serve Queen 
 Mary ! At least, with all her pride, she shall know that 
 Bothwell never suffered it to be lowered an inch," he muttered 
 between his teeth as he turned away. 
 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh put the men in motion and himself at 
 their head. As they emerged upon the open ground from 
 the grey walls of the square old keep, the slanting beams of 
 an autumn sun gilded the brown heather, and shed a soft 
 lustre over the undulating moorland ere it flashed from the 
 steel armour of the troop. The riders were in high spirits at 
 the prospect of a change from their long period of inaction. 
 The horses snorted and shook their bridles gaily. It was a 
 party of pleasure and adventurous excitement to all concerned, 
 and even now they were anticipating their plunder and jesting 
 about their profits. Only one heart felt more softened than 
 usual under its steel breastplate. Dick-o'-the-Cleugh acknow- 
 ledged the influence of the mellow sunlight and the balmy 
 breeze. Somehow the very earth and sky seemed to connect 
 themselves with a pair of laughing eyes and a shower of 
 bright hair, with a fairy figure tripping up the High Street, 
 a basket on its arm ; or, as he had seen it first, shining like a 
 vision of light in the dark passages of Holyrood, with a voice 
 that used to thrill so sweetly once, that he never heard now 
 but in his dreams. The henchman would have fought like 
 a lion, and yet he felt tenderly disposed towards all living 
 things. He would have met death more cheerfully than 
 ever, yet he seemed only to have learned the value of life 
 within the last few months ; another contradiction but is it 
 not full of contradictions, that engrossing folly in which the 
 true believer is as sure to suffer martyrdom as the false 
 worshipper is to obtain his reward? 
 
 The earl and his visitor watched the troop defiling round 
 
 1 08
 
 THE REFORMER 
 
 the base of a low acclivity that soon hid them from sight. 
 As they disappeared, Bothwell turned away with a bitter 
 curse. He scarcely felt as if he had a right to order an 
 expedition on the border in the name of his sovereign ; and 
 again Mary's injustice and neglect rankled like a poisoned 
 shaft in his breast But the earl was in no mood for 
 balancing probabilities or counting cost. The horses that 
 had been driven were his own, and he had reason to believe 
 that Lord Scrope was not ignorant of the theft. This was 
 sufficient to rouse his ire to the utmost, and he had despatched 
 a force to follow and retake them, strong enough to preclude 
 the possibility of failure. It was maddening, though, to be 
 compelled to stay within the four walls of Hermitage, when 
 his retainers were in the field ; maddening, all the more that 
 his present false position, as he argued, was owing to a 
 queen's injustice and a woman's ingratitude. A few short 
 turns upon the rampart, with the soft west wind fanning his 
 brow, restored his composure, and addressing his companion, 
 he professed his readiness to enter at once upon the business 
 which had brought the latter to Hermitage. 
 
 The preacher pointed to the surrounding scenery, the 
 waving tracts of moorland bathed in the lustre of an after- 
 noon sun, the cattle feeding securely in the green nooks and 
 pasturage which broke the uniformity of the undulating waste, 
 the yellow patch of cultivation under the very shadow of the 
 keep, and the clear, autumnal heaven above all, pale and 
 serene, and dappled here and there by flaky clouds edged 
 with gold. " It is not my business," said the preacher, " nor 
 is it thine, Lord Warden, that hath brought me here, but the 
 will of Him who holdeth this glorious universe in the hollow 
 of His hand. It is to do His work that I have ridden through 
 these wastes from dawn till midday, and that I must depart 
 again ere set of sun. I charge thee to aid me, heart and hand, 
 in the service of my Master ! " 
 
 It is the misfortune of earnest men that, in this self- 
 seeking world of ours, they seldom obtain the credit they 
 deserve for sincerity and singleness of heart. Bothwell 
 listened with outward respect, yet unworthy suspicions would 
 not be kept down. 
 
 " Now for some double-dyed intrigue," was his inmost 
 thought, " some plot set on foot by impenetrable Moray, not 
 satisfied with his new earldom, and turbulent Morton, with 
 his own craft added to the recklessness of all his Douglas 
 ancestors, and Maitland, the skilful penman, the subtle 
 diplomatist, wise as the serpent and plausible as the father 
 
 109
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 of lies himself. They would fain make a cat's-paw of rude 
 James Hepburn, for, doubtless, they want a bold heart and a 
 ready hand to aid their schemes, and they send this godly 
 man, half-fanatic, half-hypocrite, to feel if the tool be heated 
 the right temper. I wot they may burn their fingers, one 
 and all of them, yet ! " But he only answered abruptly 
 
 " I believe you are the friend of my house. You will 
 counsel nothing that can prejudice my honour, or my loyalty 
 to the queen." 
 
 " My great-grandfather, my gude-sire, and my father have 
 served your family, James Hepburn, for three generations. 
 Ay ! served them when their banner was waving in the 
 fore-front of the battle, and the arrows of the English archers 
 were hailing against their harness like a storm from hell. 
 Do you think their blood is not boiling in my veins because 
 I wear a Geneva cassock for a steel breastplate? Do you 
 think if my forebears shrank not to ride through fire and 
 water for the Hepburn, I would fear to encounter death in 
 his defence, much less would tempt him to danger or dis- 
 grace? Nay, my lord earl, though the commands of my 
 Master are imperative, they will but lead to your aggrandise- 
 ment in this world, and your salvation in the next" 
 
 John Knox paused and turned a scrutinising look on his 
 companion's face. The latter plucked a morsel of grass from 
 the rampart, and flung it on the breeze. 
 
 " Let us see how the wind blows," he replied, with a scorn- 
 ful laugh ; " fair or foul, ye can trim your sails to it, all of 
 ye, and I can ride through a storm with the best ! " 
 
 " Nay ! " exclaimed the reformer ; " the labourer is worthy 
 of his hire ; know ye not that the great trial is approaching 
 between the powers of darkness and the children of light ? 
 In France, the sovereign and his ministers are determined to 
 stifle the good cause with the strong hand, and even now the 
 blood of saints and martyrs crieth aloud from the very stones 
 in the streets of Paris. The scarlet woman who spreadeth 
 her mantle over the Seven Hills, and waveth her white arms 
 abroad to lure souls to perdition, seducing some with indul- 
 gences and driving others to despair with her curse, is 
 battling for her very existence, and that of the reptiles she 
 hath spawned, and who crawl around her feet. Here in 
 Scotland ay, at Holyrood itself hath not an image been 
 erected unto Baal ? and is not the idolatry of the mass raised 
 weekly by Mary Stuart, whom men call Queen of Scotland, 
 and who is herself a daughter of perdition ? " 
 
 " Hold ! " exclaimed Bothwell, in a voice of thunder, and 
 
 HO
 
 THE REFORMER 
 
 advancing a step towards the speaker, as though about to 
 hurl him from the rampart. He restrained himself, however, 
 with an obvious effort, and proceeded in a calmer voice, " It 
 was not to malign his queen that you sought an interview 
 with the most devoted of her servants ? " 
 
 Knox saw his zeal had carried him too far. The re- 
 former, like those whose persuasion he reprobated, was some- 
 what prone to allow that the end justified the means. He 
 retraced his steps, therefore, as it were, and resumed more 
 calmly 
 
 " Her Majesty must be saved from the influence of evil 
 advisers. Why are her communications with the bloody 
 Guises so frequent? Why is popish Riccio all powerful at 
 Holyrood ? Why is Bothwell virtually banished, and well- 
 nigh attainted for a traitor ? But because there is a schism 
 in the camp of the faithful, and a house divided against itself 
 shall not stand." 
 
 " The queen has, indeed, dealt me scant justice," answered 
 the earl musingly. " What would your employers have 
 me do?" 
 
 " I speak for myself," replied the other, " or rather I speak 
 the words that are borne in unto me by Him whose servant 
 I am. W T hat shall ye say of a family in which brother is at 
 variance with brother ? of an army in which troop falls away 
 from troop, for some petty feud, when the enemy is drawn up 
 over against them in battle array ? The nobles of Scotland 
 are gathering to the front for the defence of their souls' 
 liberties, and the boldest spirit amongst them all keeps aloof 
 here at Hermitage because of a foolish brawl with a weak 
 enthusiast who bore him no real ill-will." 
 
 " I will never return to Holyrood," answered Bothwell, 
 looking wistfully towards the north while he spoke, " till the 
 queen sends for me herself and acknowledges her injustice. 
 I will never stretch the hand of reconciliation to Arran till I 
 have dealt him a buffet with a steel gauntlet and a Jedwood 
 axe in its grasp." 
 
 ' Xay, nay," expostulated the reformer ; "shall the edifice 
 that such as you might rear on the goodly foundation of re- 
 ligious zeal, with the barons of Scotland for your fellow-work- 
 men, crumble away for want of one stone in its right place ? 
 Once reconciled with Arran, the house of Hamilton might 
 easily be secured in your interest I can take upon myself 
 to promise so much, or why am I here to-day? With 
 Moray's goodwill, Morton's friendship, the duke's aid, and 
 the favour of the godly throughout the kingdom, who so 
 
 ill
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 powerful at Court as the Earl of Bothwell ? Would it not 
 be well to teach the queen (for her own welfare) the indis- 
 pensable lesson that a woman can only rule through the 
 influence of men by the brain of the wise and the arm of 
 the strong? Would it not be well that Mary Stuart should 
 learn, once for all, that she must look to James Hepburn as 
 her champion and her trust ? " 
 
 The picture was painted in glowing colours, and set in a 
 vivid light. The temptation to such a nature as Bothwell's 
 was indeed of the strongest. It thrilled through heart and 
 brain, that imaginary victory which should place in his power 
 the option of humbling her to the dust, by whom he felt so 
 aggrieved, or, better still, of foregoing his revenge and enjoy- 
 ing the nobler yet more complete triumph of forgiveness to 
 his queen. Nevertheless, the feudal feeling of resentment 
 for an aspersion was still strong within him. 
 
 " But he accused me of treason," urged the earl, lashing 
 himself once more into anger, " would have attainted me 
 before the council as a traitor to Queen Mary, as a rebel 
 who meditated violence on her sacred person ! " 
 
 " The dream of a madman ! " answered Knox. " You know 
 well that the earl's health has long been failing, that he is of 
 those who are scourged and tormented in the body for the 
 discipline of their souls. In his paroxysms of insanity he is 
 as one possessed, but they leave him like the poor maniac 
 from whom devils were cast out, clothed and in his right 
 mind. Nay, he did but accuse you of that which he had 
 himself meditated in his madness. The Earl of Arran did 
 indeed entertain a wild project to carry off the person of 
 Mary Stuart, and immure her in some stronghold at his 
 pleasure. The scheme was that of a madman, and yet might 
 it have been feasible, nevertheless." 
 
 Bothwell started, and turned pale. He could not trust 
 himself to speak. At that moment, wild phantom shapes, 
 that had vaguely haunted him for long, seemed suddenly to 
 assume a distinct aspect of reality. Dropped by an uncon- 
 scious hand, the seed now struck root, that was hereafter 
 destined to bear such appalling fruit. The offspring of a 
 chance word, a wild and maddening vision took possession of 
 his brain. He looked around at the solid dimensions of his 
 fortress ; he counted the gallant hearts within its walls, for 
 whom his will was law ; he thought of his friends and follow- 
 ing, his resources and his influence, his own daring and 
 his father's brilliant crimes. One desperate cast for the 
 great stake ; one bold swoop for the shrinking quarry ; a few 
 
 112
 
 THE REFORMER 
 
 shots, a thrust or two, a white form borne swiftly away at a 
 gallop, and the sweet face that had been a dream to him all 
 his life might become a reality at last ! Why, even crazed 
 Arran had been man enough to entertain such a scheme, 
 whilst he, Bothwell, was eating his own heart here at Hermit- 
 age. Well, stranger things had come to pass. He must 
 watch and bide his time ; must be wary, vigilant ; above all, 
 must be patient. It was a stirring season. For a bold man 
 nothing was impossible. 
 
 He replied at last, but cautiously and with reservations. 
 If he joined the Protestant party, agreeing to act with Moray, 
 Morton, and the rest, it must be under certain conditions ; if 
 he consented to a reconciliation with Arran, it must be 
 accompanied with sundry stipulations which should be com- 
 municated hereafter at greater length. Even Maitland could 
 not have been more mysterious, and the reformer found 
 himself wondering at the rapidity of a transformation which 
 had changed the wild, reckless, border noble into a cold and 
 scheming diplomatist. He had attained his object, however, 
 and that was enough for him. With a firm persuasion that 
 he was furthering the good work, he took his leave of the 
 earl, well satisfied, resisting all hospitable importunities to 
 remain, and even declining the offer of an escort to conduct 
 him in safety through that lawless district 
 
 " My Master will care for me," said the preacher, as he 
 prepared to leave the castle on horseback when the shades of 
 night were closing in. " He who has sent me on my mission 
 will provide for the safety of His servant ! " And so departed 
 unarmed and alone. 
 
 Well might Morton hereafter pronounce over this daunt- 
 less nature its well-known epitaph, " There lies one that never 
 feared the face of man." 
 
 H 113
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A LISTENER HEARS NO GOOD 
 
 Bonny Kilmeny gaed up the glen, 
 
 But it was na to meet wi' Dunira's men, 
 
 Nor the rosy monk of the isle to see, 
 
 For Kilmeny was pure as maiden could be." 
 
 ALTER MAXWELL was ere 
 this domiciled at Holyrood. 
 Attached to the queen's house- 
 hold, and devoted to her person, 
 Mary esteemed him not the 
 least trustworthy of those ser- 
 vants in whom she placed 
 implicit confidence. He had 
 accompanied his sovereign on 
 those roving expeditions in 
 which she took so much 
 pleasure, when the beautiful 
 Stuart, worthy to reign over a 
 nation of warriors, would pass 
 entire days in the saddle, 
 
 traversing her dominions, and making acquaintance with 
 her subjects ; or flying her hawk and following her 
 deerhounds over the wild moorlands, and amongst the 
 romantic passes of her new kingdom. He had attended her 
 in her progress to Aberdeen, that ill-advised journey which, 
 commencing with merriment and festivity, the huntsman's 
 holloa and the cheering notes of the horn, ended in strife 
 and bloodshed and the wild wailing of the coronach, cried 
 by the widows of the Gordon over the flower of their clan. 
 
 Maxwell had done good service on that sad day when 
 the waters of Corrichie ran crimson with the Highlandman's 
 blood, and had turned with a brave man's pity from the 
 sickening sight of Sir John Gordon's execution at Aberdeen, 
 performed before the very eyes of the weeping queen. 
 Gallant, handsome John Gordon ! the victim of a political 
 intrigue, who walked to the block with the jaunty step of a 
 
 114
 
 ner deer nounds
 
 A LISTENER HEARS NO GOOD 
 
 bridegroom in holiday attire, and waved his dying homage 
 to his sovereign, a brave soldier and a loyal gentleman to 
 the last. It is said that Mary fainted at the sight; and, 
 indeed, she never attained the necessary hardness of heart to 
 rule such a turbulent and distracted country as that in which 
 it was her lot to reign. 
 
 On more than one occasion Maxwell had proved himself 
 the possessor of a shrewd brain, a silent tongue, and a ready 
 hand. His was that least courtier-like of characters, which 
 yet perhaps thrives best at a Court. When all around are 
 selfish and intriguing, each feels well-disposed towards the 
 frank, single-hearted comrade who wishes but to serve his 
 sovereign loyally, and entertains cordial goodwill towards 
 his fellows. Monarchs, too, even the haughtiest and most 
 exacting, are disposed to appreciate a blunt honesty that 
 does not shrink from encountering the royal displeasure for 
 the royal advantage, and doubtless find it refreshing from its 
 contrast with the servility to which they are accustomed. 
 It must be like the change from the sickly air of a hothouse 
 to the fresh mountain breeze. Besides, it is so easy to forgive 
 even insolence in those who are wholly in their power ; and 
 there is a delicate flattery after all to the lion's forbearance, 
 in the man's temerity, who puts his head in the lion's mouth. 
 The Queen of Scotland, however, was one of those who, 
 while they attach to themselves irresistibly all who come 
 within their sphere, are, from their own feelings, disposed to 
 think kindly of their immediate retainers, and to reward 
 fidelity and affection as they deserve. Maxwell found him- 
 self in high favour with Mary, and it is not strange that he 
 should have been devoted heart and soul to her interests. 
 He persuaded himself that he was loyal to his sovereign for 
 her own sake, and ignored with considerable determination 
 that Mistress Carmichael had any influence whatever over 
 his sentiments. 
 
 That young lady's behaviour at this juncture was of a 
 nature to make an admirer sufficiently uncomfortable. We 
 remember to have heard that there are female dispositions 
 on which the exercise of the affections has an irritating 
 tendency, and to whom the dawning possibility of eventual 
 thraldom is as agitating as it is inviting. These wild birds, 
 albeit they become when tamed the gentlest of domestic 
 fowls, are sadly prone at first to beat their breasts against 
 the cage, also to peck viciously at the caressing hand that 
 would smooth their ruffled plumes. Whether it be that they 
 entertain a feminine delight in any state of sentiment, argu-
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 ment, or fact involving a contradiction, or whether they 
 indemnify themselves, whilst they can, for future docility, we 
 profess ourselves incompetent to state ; but the axiom seems 
 to be sufficiently established, that the process of taming is 
 often uncomfortable and hazardous, the result not always to 
 be depended upon when complete. 
 
 Mary Carmichael, in addition to her other qualifications, 
 was a devoted Papist ; Maxwell, it is needless to observe, a 
 staunch Reformer. Religious feeling ran high at Holyrood. 
 The Romish Church, a zealous advocate for proselytism at all 
 times, has ever been most intolerant when losing ground ; 
 and perhaps no bigotry is so blind as a woman's adherence to 
 a sinking faith. Maxwell could not conscientiously look with 
 approval on Mistress Carmichael's rigid attendance at mass 
 in the Chapel Royal. The maid-of-honour concealed neither 
 her dislike nor her contempt for those who had abandoned 
 the religion of their fathers, and the ritual of their sovereign. 
 This alone was a fruitful source of irritation and ill-feeling 
 between the lovers, if so they can be called ; and when we 
 add that the gentleman was of a haughty and reserved 
 disposition, the soul of honesty and frankness, without the 
 slightest experience in the ways of woman, and the lady as 
 wilful, unjust, and self-tormenting as those reasonable beings 
 usually become when thoroughly in earnest, it is superfluous 
 to dwell upon the feelings likely to exist between such a pair, 
 continually brooding over imaginary wrongs, and never for a 
 moment out of each other's minds. 
 
 One scene, amongst many, may afford a specimen of the 
 terms on which they stood. Maxwell was proceeding to the 
 royal apartments with certain papers which had been sub- 
 mitted to Mr. Randolph's inspection ere they were returned 
 to the queen for signature so anxious was Mary, at this 
 period, to keep well with her cousin of England. Elizabeth's 
 ambassador had taken rather a fancy, in his own selfish, easy 
 way, to his former travelling companion, and though, of course, 
 he would have sacrificed him without scruple, he probably 
 liked him none the less that he could not fashion him into 
 a tool. As Maxwell traversed the long gallery, Mistress 
 Carmichael was proceeding in the same direction with a 
 basket of winter roses gathered in the Abbey garden, and 
 could not forbear blushing as deep as the reddest of them 
 when she encountered him. Of course she was angry with 
 herself for doing so, and naturally visited the fault on him, 
 arguing, plausibly enough, that if he had not been there it 
 would not have happened ; therefore she turned her head 
 
 116
 
 A LISTENER HEARS NO GOOD 
 
 steadfastly away and marched on without speaking. Hurt 
 and irritated, he drew aside to let her pass, thus meeting her, 
 as it were, half-way in her desire to avoid recognition. So far 
 nothing could be simpler. If the lady did not wish to be 
 delayed she had only to pass on without further stoppage. She 
 did so accordingly, but by the merest accident, and the most 
 provoking awkwardness, tilted her basket and dropped half her 
 flowers on the floor. Of course he was compelled to assist 
 her in picking them up ; for these two were the only occu- 
 pants of the gallery ; so he knelt down and refilled the basket 
 gravely without a word. 
 
 "Thank you," said Mary Carmichael, with the slightest 
 possible tremor in her voice. " How deftly you have done it, 
 and how much beholden to you I am ! and and thank 
 you, Mr. Maxwell." 
 
 Here was an opportunity that would have been seized by 
 any other gallant about the Court to ask, at least, for one of 
 the roses in reward ; and perhaps even Maxwell, though 
 somewhat impatient of such follies, would have been less re- 
 served with any other of the Maries than the one who now 
 stood before him, still arranging her basket, and obviously 
 in no immediate hurry to go away. He waited, however, for 
 her to speak first. After a little hesitation, she pointed to 
 the papers he was carrying. 
 
 " Shall I take them for you to the queen ? " said she, and 
 her hand trembled as she extended it towards him. 
 
 He took the pretty hand in his own, and she did not 
 withdraw it. 
 
 " Mistress Carmichael," said he, " I am a plain man, and I 
 hope an honest one. I have not so many friends that I can 
 afford to lose any for lack of courage to ask an explanation. 
 How have I offended you of late ? Tell me as frankly as I 
 ask you, and I will take care not to transgress again." 
 
 Her bosom heaved, and her colour went and came. 
 
 " Offended ? " she replied ; " and me ? oh no ! What have 
 I done to make you think so ? " 
 
 He was still very grave, and a shade paler than before, 
 but his countenance was immovable, and indeed stern. It 
 was a peculiarity of Walter Maxwell that, under strong 
 excitement, his exterior became unusually cold and composed. 
 
 " I have thought so for long," he resumed. " Perhaps it 
 has distressed me more than you would think possible. I 
 trust I have done my duty as thoroughly as if you and I 
 had been friends ; but I have felt that difficulties appeared 
 greater, and hardships less endurable than if our differences 
 
 117
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 had not existed. The breach has widened day by day ; ere 
 long, you and I will have learned to hate each other." 
 
 " Oh no, no ! " she murmured, scarce above her breath, but 
 she kept her head bent down, and the tears were dropping 
 fast among the winter-roses in her basket. 
 
 He had never let go her hand ; he folded it in both his 
 own, and pressed it to his lips. 
 
 " Mary Carmichael," said he, " since the day we first met 
 in the forest of Chambord, I have wished to be worthy of 
 you, and you alone. I am no woman-worshipper, no smooth- 
 tongued silken gallant, and yet I think there are few things 
 I could not do to please you; nothing, save my honour, I 
 would not sacrifice for your sake." 
 
 A gleam of intense pride and pleasure shone for an instant 
 in her eyes ; the next, her face contracted as if with pain, and 
 she looked up scared and wild, through her tears. 
 
 " You must not say so you must not say so," she exclaimed, 
 drawing her hand away hurriedly, and with a frightened, half- 
 distracted air. " Let me go now let me go ; I hear the others 
 coming." 
 
 " Is that your answer? " said he, very slowly and distinctly, 
 but with a pale face, and something in his voice that it was 
 better not to trifle with. 
 
 She looked here and there, like some graceful wild animal 
 caught in the toils. Footsteps were indeed approaching, and 
 half the flowers were again scattered on the floor. 
 
 " You must not say so," she repeated ; but for an instant 
 she placed her hand once more in his with a lightning 
 glance of unspeakable tenderness ; " at least not yet ! " she 
 added, and sped hurriedly away. 
 
 When she was gone, Walter Maxwell stooped down, picked 
 up one of the roses, and hid it carefully within his doublet. 
 Then he proceeded to his business with a lighter heart and a 
 brighter face than he had carried since he came to Holyrood. 
 We will follow the young lady to the apartment in which 
 the Maries were accustomed to congregate when off duty, ply- 
 ing their needles with industrious rapidity, and lightening their 
 labours, we may be sure, with the pleasures of conversation. 
 It was a pretty room, high up in one of the turrets of the 
 palace, overlooking the Abbey garden, and was full of the 
 little elegancies and comforts which women gather about 
 them, or which seem to grow up around, in the most unlikely 
 places, as a natural consequence of their presence. Quaint 
 tapestry adorned its walls, less hideous than are usually those 
 grotesque efforts of industry, and representing pastoral scenes 
 
 118
 
 A LISTENER HEARS NO GOOD 
 
 of love-making and simplicity, not devoid of browsing sheep, 
 limpid streams, and fat little cupids flying about in the air. 
 Scarfs, fans, gloves, and needlework were scattered over the 
 room ; and Mary Hamilton's rosary of fragrant wooden beads, 
 inlaid with gold, hung from the back of a carved oak chair, 
 of which the cushions were triumphs of embroidery wrought 
 by the maids-of-honour themselves. A portrait of the queen, 
 in her well-known velvet head-dress and voluminous ruff, 
 smiled above the chimney-piece ; and immediately under it was 
 placed an elaborate crystal timepiece, of French workmanship, 
 presented by her mistress to Mary Beton, and reverenced 
 equally as a token of the royal goodwill and a marvel of 
 mechanical art. The last-named lady glanced at it with the 
 conscious pride of possession. 
 
 " It will be dark in less than an hour," said she, folding 
 away the corner of a large square piece of embroidery on 
 which herself and two of her companions were engaged ; " we 
 have done enough for one day, and these small stitches are 
 very trying to the eyes. I expect the queen's summons, too, 
 every minute, for one or other of us." 
 
 " She is writing letters in her cabinet," answered Mary 
 Carmichael, who had her own reasons for knowing how large 
 a packet had just gone in. " I could see her beautiful head 
 bending over her table as I came down the terrace steps in 
 the Abbey garden when I brought you in these roses." 
 
 " You haven't half-filled the basket after all ! " exclaimed 
 Mary Seton, who was busy arranging the flowers about the 
 room ; " and like your sex, my dear, you have taken care to 
 gather plenty of thorns. If I wear a garland of them at the 
 masque to-morrow, as I intended, I shall be a veritable Scotch 
 thistle, not to be touched with impunity ; a fitting partner 
 for that masterful border-thief, little Jock Elliott, who cocks his 
 bonnet and sings ' Wha dare meddle wi' me ? ' ' 
 
 " You have become half a borderer yourself, I think, ever 
 since Bothwell was banished the Court," answered the other, 
 not quite relishing this allusion to the half-filled basket, of 
 which the spoils were scattered in the gallery. 
 
 " Poor Bothwell ! " answered Mary Seton, with a sigh ; 
 " now that is what I call a man \ When he walks through 
 the court in his armour, he looks like a tower amongst the 
 other lords. There is not a taller or a more stalwart figure 
 amongst all his riders, proper men though they be, except 
 perhaps that gigantic henchman of his." 
 
 And again the damsel sighed, and looked grave for an 
 instant, though she was laughing merrily again the next. 
 
 119
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " Is he not coming back soon ? " asked Mary Hamilton, 
 waking up from one of her fits of abstraction, and fixing her 
 large mournful black eyes on Mary Seton's saucy blue ones. 
 
 " Who ? which ? " asked the latter mischievously. 
 
 " Why, d'Amville ! " answered Mary Hamilton absently ; 
 " were you not talking of him ? He has been more than a 
 year away." 
 
 " D'Amville ! " exclaimed the other, with her ringing laugh ; 
 " I hope not ! At least if he brings that mad poet in his 
 train, to turn all our heads with rhymes and flattery. Nothing 
 interests you but what comes from France ! No, we were 
 talking of Bothwell, stout Earl Bothwell, who is worth a dozen 
 of him. I am sure the queen thinks so." 
 
 Mary Beton looked up reprovingly, but in vain ; the 
 flippant speaker was in her swing, and not to be disappointed 
 of her say. 
 
 " I'm sure we've all been dull enough at Court ever since 
 Bothwell got into disgrace. And after all, I don't believe he 
 bared steel till the others drew on him first. I know the 
 Hamiltons outnumbered his people two to one ; and nobody 
 disputes that Arran is quite mad now, or that the duke was 
 always an old goose. I think it very hard that Bothwell 
 should have been made the scapegoat, that I do ! and I've 
 always said he hadn't fair play from first to last." 
 
 " Hush ! " interposed Mary Beton gravely ; " the matter 
 was tried in her Majesty's own presence, before the council." 
 
 " The council were a parcel of intriguers ! " vociferated the 
 little partisan, now getting positively vehement. " The 
 council wanted to get rid of him, because he was the most 
 loyal amongst them all, and they made the skirmish an 
 excuse. Why, I'm sure Ruthven is ready enough with his 
 dagger, and my own dear father cleared the High Street from 
 end to end with his own good sword and half a dozen jackmen 
 before I was born, and the king swore he was quite right. 
 I've heard him say so a score of times. No, no ! the council 
 had their own reasons; and I'll never believe but that 
 Englishman was at the bottom of it, though he pretended to 
 be the warden's friend ! " 
 
 " If you mean Mr. Randolph," said Mary Beton, bridling 
 within her ruff in high disdain, "you only expose your 
 ignorance of state affairs. What could he have to do with it ? 
 or how could the turbulence of a wild border noble affect the 
 Queen of England's confidential minister?" 
 
 " Only that I am convinced his red-haired mistress is at 
 the bottom of all the mischief that goes on here," answered 
 
 120
 
 A LISTENER HEARS NO GOOD 
 
 the other, determined not to be put down. " I believe she 
 hates our dear beautiful angel of a queen, partly because she's 
 her cousin, and partly because she's been married, and partly 
 because there is nobody like her in this world. I won't abuse 
 Randolph, Mistress Beton, because he admires you hugely, 
 and that shows the man has good taste ; but I may say what 
 I like of Elizabeth Tudor, who is no more my queen than I 
 am hers." 
 
 The elder damsel looked mollified, though she feebly 
 deprecated the implied compliment. 
 
 "These are dangerous topics," said she, gathering her 
 draperies around her, and rising from her chair. " It is 
 enough for us to occupy ourselves with our own office, and 
 I cannot conceive why we have not yet heard her Majesty's 
 summons." 
 
 This lady was of a methodical disposition, and loved to 
 perform her regular duties at their stated times without 
 interruption. 
 
 " Those endless letters ! " exclaimed Mary Seton ; " and 
 all about treaties and alliances, and the most uninteresting 
 subjects. I declare I wouldn't change places with the queen 
 to have her beauty and her throne. She is harassed and 
 wearied to death. Dear me ! how I wish she would marry, 
 and take some stout-hearted lord to share her troubles and 
 anxieties with her once for all ! " 
 
 " I'm surprised at you ! " exclaimed Mary Beton, now 
 completely shocked. " It is most indiscreet to talk on such 
 matters, and scarce maidenly even to think of them. Is it 
 that you might follow her example ? " she added, in a tone of 
 severe reproof. 
 
 " I am not sure but what I should," sighed the other, and 
 relapsed into silence, which, strange to say, was not broken 
 for the space of full five minutes. 
 
 Perhaps the last suggestion thrown out had awakened 
 matter for reflection in the minds of each of the four Maries. 
 At the expiration of that period, however, Mary Beton 
 remarked that it was getting very dark ; and Mary Seton at 
 the same moment proposed that James Geddes, the queen's 
 fool, should be summoned to make sport for them during the 
 hour of idleness preceding supper. 
 
 " I will go for him," said Mary Carmichael, and, wrapping 
 a plaid round her head and shoulders, hurried out of the 
 room. 
 
 James Geddes, who filled the honourable and somewhat 
 lucrative office of royal fool or jester in the palace of Holy- 
 
 121
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 rood, was one of those half-witted unfortunates of whom so 
 many may be met with even in the present day in Scotland, 
 and who occupy the intermediate space between sanity and 
 positive imbecility. They cannot be termed lunatics, for 
 they are usually harmless, and even amiable in disposition, 
 showing kindly feelings towards animals, infants, and such 
 helpless objects, and even school-children, if not tormented 
 by the urchins beyond all endurance. They are not idiots, 
 for, although their perceptions may be warped, they are in 
 vigorous possession of their faculties, and indulge, indeed, in 
 a shrewd caustic humour of their own with which few rational 
 beings can compete. Neither can they be called actually in 
 their right mind. Perhaps the Scottish peasant best describes 
 the mental state of such a one when he says, in an explana- 
 tory tone, " Ou ! he's just a natural ! " 
 
 James Geddes, accordingly, was "just a natural," and 
 earned his wages, consisting of meat, and fee, a parti-coloured 
 suit of clothes, and a cap and bells which he could not be 
 persuaded to wear, by furnishing unlimited mirth to the royal 
 household, and occasionally a jest that diverted the grave 
 lords in council, and reached the ears of the gentle queen 
 herself. Such was the wiseacre, in search of whom Mary 
 Carmichael sped down the winding stairs that led from the 
 Maidens' Tower into the devious passages of the palace. 
 Obviously the most likely place in which to find him would 
 have been the buttery, for it is a kind compensation of nature 
 that weakness of brain should be accompanied by great power 
 of the digestive organs, and James Geddes could eat as much 
 at one meal as would last a philosopher for a week. The 
 maid-of-honour, nevertheless, passed that well-stored apart- 
 ment without stopping, and proceeded with a light step and 
 a heaving bosom into the Abbey garden, over which the dew 
 was falling, and the shades of evening gathering fast. Passing 
 through the flower-beds she had despoiled in the afternoon, 
 and which doubtless failed not to call up tender recollections, 
 the young lady glided like a phantom into the shade of an 
 adjoining orchard, through the branches of which an early 
 star or two were already beginning to twinkle down. Here 
 she halted, and, removing the shawl from her head, peered 
 into the darkness, and listened attentively, though for a few 
 minutes 
 
 " The beating of her own heart 
 Was all the sound she heard." 
 
 Now, by one of those coincidences which do occasionally 
 
 122
 
 A LISTENER HEARS NO GOOD 
 
 happen in real life, especially where certain mysterious affinities 
 combine to produce improbable results, Walter Maxwell was 
 returning from Secretary Maitland's office to his own lodging 
 at the same twilight hour, and although it involved a con- 
 siderable detour, had chosen to proceed through the Abbey 
 garden, and along the corner of the orchard, from which in 
 the daytime he could see the windows of the queen's apart- 
 ments and those of her ladies. Walter was no romantic 
 enthusiast, to derive intense pleasure from a mere association 
 of ideas, and yet he paused under the shadow of an old apple- 
 tree, and gazing on the dark mass of building opposite, recalled, 
 with an intoxicating thrill, his interview with his mistress 
 in the gallery. We have, most of us, experienced certain 
 moments in life when we are satisfied to enjoy present bliss, 
 without taking into account the insufficiency of its cause, or 
 the shortness of its duration. We know we are happier than 
 we have any right to be, and we wilfully ignore the conscious- 
 ness, and refrain from asking ourselves the reason why. Like 
 pride, this state of self-gratulation usually "goeth before a 
 fall." 
 
 Maxwell's quick ear could not fail to detect the light 
 footstep of his ladye-love as she, too, entered the orchard, 
 and he recognised her, muffled as she was, and in the dark- 
 ness, as we recognise intuitively those whom we have 
 trusted with our happiness. He sprang forward to meet 
 her. Undemonstrative and calm as was his character, he 
 would have caught her to his heart, and vowed never to part 
 with her from that moment ; but ere he had made one step 
 in advance, a tall cloaked figure, which seemed to come out 
 of the very stem of an adjoining tree, anticipated his move- 
 ments, and Maxwell, scarce believing his eyes, saw the 
 woman he loved caught in its arms, and disappearing in 
 the folds of that close and familiar embrace. 
 
 He had nerve, temper, and, above all, self-command. 
 Though the cold drops stood on his forehead, and a deadly 
 sickness crept about his heart, he had presence of mind to 
 reflect on what he ought to do. In a dozen seconds he had 
 argued the point, for and against, in his own mind, and had 
 come to the conclusion that he was justified in undeceiving 
 himself, at such a crisis, by the evidence of his senses. He 
 remained under the shadow of the old tree and listened, with 
 every organ painfully acute, and every nerve strung to its 
 utmost pitch. 
 
 " My darling," said the stranger, smoothing back the hair 
 from the face, which looked fondly up into his own, " how late 
 
 123
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 you are this evening ! I should have gone without seeing you 
 in five minutes more ; but I knew you would not fail me, if 
 you could help it, at our trysting-place." 
 
 "You might be sure of that," she answered, clinging to 
 him with both hands clasped upon his shoulder. "Last 
 week, and the week before, I came to the moment. I cannot 
 bear to keep you waiting, or to think of you watching and 
 hiding here like a thief you that I am so proud of, and so 
 fond of; you on whose arm I would like to hang before the 
 queen and the whole Court, and I dare not even mention your 
 name, except in my prayers. You are cold," she added, 
 wrapping his cloak across his throat and chest with sedulous 
 affection, " cold and wet with dew already, and perhaps tired 
 and hungry too, and I may not bring you into the palace, and 
 warm you, and take care of you. Oh ! what a life it is ! " 
 
 He laughed cheerfully, though with caution. 
 
 " Always the same," he said ; " always unselfish and con- 
 siderate, and thinking of me ! Why, you little witch, do you 
 never reflect on what a scolding you would get if you were 
 caught running about like this, in the gloaming, to meet a 
 cavalier under a tree ? What would Mistress Beton say for- 
 sooth ? Strict Mistress Beton ! She would vow not a dove 
 would be left in the dove-cote after a while, if such doings 
 were passed over. Do I look like a hawk to harry a bird's- 
 nest, Mary? Am I such a terrible wild young gallant, my 
 pretty one ? " 
 
 She put her white hand over his mouth. Maxwell saw it 
 in the starlight. 
 
 " Do not speak so loud," she said. " I am sure you are as 
 incautious as a boy. Indeed, I wish you would harry the 
 nest, as you say, and carry me off with you, for I am tired of 
 never seeing you, except by stealth ; and then it makes me so 
 anxious and so fretful not to know where you are, or when 
 we shall meet, for weeks and months together." 
 
 " My dear," he answered gravely, " it is in the queen's 
 service and that of our religion. It must triumph at last, as 
 sure as those stars are shining above our heads. You and I 
 have vowed to devote our lives, if need be, to the good 
 cause. If worst should come to worst, we shall not be 
 separated for long. There are no partings up there, Mary." 
 
 He pressed her tenderly to his side, and pointed to 
 the sky, in which star after star was now glimmering forth. 
 She drew her hand across her eyes, and kissed him fervently 
 once more. 
 
 " I shall be missed," she said. " I must stay no longer. It 
 
 124
 
 A LISTENER HEARS NO GOOD 
 
 is very hard not to see you again for such a time ! Well, 
 well, duty before all. And now, have you the packet from 
 the cardinal? What say the Guises to the last communi- 
 cation ? " 
 
 " They dare not even write," he answered. " Though I 
 acted my part well, and looked such a masterful beggar, that 
 even you, Mary, would have flung me an alms, they searched 
 me when I landed at the port of Leith, scrip, wallet, and all ; 
 nay, they broke my staff across, lest it should be hollow, and 
 filled with papers I would I might have done it myself over 
 the knave's pate that could be so wary. No ; the despatches 
 must travel by word of mouth ; and that is a better trick than 
 even Randolph has learned yet, with all his cunning. Listen, 
 Mary. They trust you, my pretty one, because you belong 
 to me this is for the queen's private ear alone." 
 
 Maxwell was a man of honour. He would stay to hear no 
 more. It was enough that his dearest hopes had withered in 
 a breath. That the edifice he had been building insensibly 
 for so long, decking it with all his fancies, and furnishing it, 
 so to speak, with the most precious gifts of his affections, and 
 the warmest feelings of the heart, had crumbled into dust at 
 a moment's notice. He would not, for that, intrude upon 
 another's secrets ; and although the delay of a few moments 
 might have placed him in possession of matters that would 
 have ensured his own aggrandisement, and enabled him to 
 take a fearful revenge on the two by whom he felt so cruelly 
 injured, yet he stole noiselessly away, placing his hands upon 
 his ears, that he might not, inadvertently, hear another word 
 of their communications. Where is the man who can con- 
 sistently shape his conduct upon a train of reasoning inde- 
 pendent of his feelings, at least where those feelings are vitally 
 concerned ? It never occurred to him that he had no right 
 to listen at all. The question was one of life and death to 
 him, and he felt justified in arriving by any means at a cer- 
 tainty. Such is human nature in the best of us. Principle 
 is principle, and honour is honour, only so long as circum- 
 stances are not too overwhelming, or necessity too urgent. 
 Conscience is the only guide who never yet lost his way. 
 
 We will not follow Walter Maxwell as he left the Abbey 
 garden for the solitude of his own chamber, never utterly 
 dreary and forlorn till to-night. He had a brave, stout heart, 
 that could strive against any odds, and scorned to flinch from 
 any amount of pain. Perhaps these suffer most in proportion 
 to their strength. 
 
 125
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 A LOVE-SICK MINSTREL 
 
 " And some said this, and some said that, 
 
 And our bonnie Queen, she laughed loud and free, 
 But down on his knees the poor fool sat, 
 
 Says, ' Never a fool is there here but three ! ' " 
 
 AFTER taking a tender farewell of the cloaked stranger, 
 more touching and affectionate, if possible, than her 
 greeting, Mary Carmichael fled back to the palace like a 
 lapwing. There was no time to lose in securing James 
 Geddes, if she would not have the length of her absence re- 
 marked, and she found him, as she expected, drinking a warm 
 posset in the buttery. Like the rest of his class, the fool 
 could at times be sufficiently self-willed and captious, rating 
 his own society at no trifling value, more especially if he saw 
 that it was sought after ; and it required no small amount of 
 management to wheedle him into merriment if not so dis- 
 posed. On the present occasion he refused point-blank to 
 stir from the chimney corner, and it was only by dint of 
 much coaxing, and the promised bribe of a box of French 
 comfits, that Mary Carmichael prevailed on him to accom- 
 pany her, and bore him off in triumph to the turret-chamber, 
 there to make sport for the queen's maids-of-honour. His 
 entrance was greeted by acclamations, which he received 
 with complete indifference. He brightened up, however, 
 when the comfits were produced, and sat down to munch 
 them with an expression of the most perfect satisfaction and 
 vacuity. 
 
 He was a stout, middle-sized man, with a long, heavy face, 
 a large mouth, and hanging under-jaw. When he lolled his 
 tongue out, and half-shut his meaningless grey eyes, he 
 looked a being devoid of the slightest spark of intellect ; at 
 such times, nevertheless, he was most apt to produce those 
 simple witticisms which served to amuse the Court. 
 
 Not a word was to be got from him till he had finished 
 the comfits. At length, the last and largest disappeared down 
 
 126
 
 A LOVE-SICK MINSTREL 
 
 that capacious maw ; then he yawned, stretched himself, and 
 condescended to observe 
 
 " He would have to bid the ladies farewell, as to-morrow 
 he should take his leave of Holyrood." 
 
 " What shall we do without you ? " exclaimed Mary Seton, 
 who took James Geddes under her special protection, and 
 vowed, in her pert way, that he was infinitely more sane than 
 half the queen's advisers. "We cannot let you go you are 
 the only amusement we have ! " 
 
 " There'll be no lack of fules the morn," answered James, 
 with a look of comical disgust ; " 'deed they may call it 
 Follyrood now, with gude cause. Have ye no heard tell of 
 the braw doings in the Queen's Park ? Troth, ye'll be able 
 to wale your joes l the morn ! Every lass her lad ! And they 
 riding mother-naked every man o' them. Na, na ; they're no 
 wanting fules at Court i' the noo, an' I'll just tak' my foot in 
 my hand, an' turn wiselike mysel'." 
 
 " Why, the masque will only be six against six as usual," 
 answered Mary Beton, characteristically disposed to take a 
 matter-of-fact view of the proceedings, " six savages and six 
 amazons. I have seen the dresses ; and very complete they 
 are. What is there in that to displease you, James? I 
 thought you dearly loved a festival or a frolic." 
 
 " I'll no gang till I've had my denner," answered James ; 
 " but I'll no bide at Holyrood, once the trade is overstocked, 
 as it is like to be. I'll just gang my ways to the border, 
 an' take up with stout Earl Bothwell and muckle Dick. 
 He'll like fine to get word o' Mistress Seton. Troth, if they 
 measure fules by the foot, ye've gotten a grand yane, my 
 bonny doo, to your share ; for ye've clean bewitched Dick." 
 
 That young lady laughed and blushed, then frowned and 
 looked cross, lastly peeped into the box of comfits for some- 
 thing to stop James's mouth withal. The latter put on his 
 densest look, and proceeded 
 
 " Ay, the time's no what it was. I mind when me and 
 Jenny Colquhoun was the only fules in Holyrood ; forbyethe 
 French lassie, that was no worth speaking of, and Robin 
 Hamilton the porter. Set him up ! to shut the wicket in 
 my very face last St. Andrew's day, and swear he would 
 break my sconce across, if it wasna as toom as a borderer's 
 bonnet. Awbody kens he's a Hamilton, an' the Hamiltons 
 have aye mair hide than horns. Nae offence to the bonny 
 leddy here, that's no mindin' the like o' me. Aweel there's 
 mair fules than three at Holyrood i' the noo ; an' it's time 
 
 1 Choose your sweethearts. 
 127
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 for James Geddes to be packing, when he's the only wiselike 
 body about the place." 
 
 " Then you think we are all losing our wits," remarked 
 Mary Carmichael, as she made up the wood-fire, lit the silver 
 lamp that stood on the table, and set the room in order, 
 according to her wont. 
 
 "Ye'll no find yours in the Abbey garden, I'm thinkin'," 
 replied James, whereat the questioner looked extremely angry 
 and confused. " I mind a bonny sang that plays 
 
 'I'll wager, I'll wager, I'll wager wi' you, 
 Five hundred merks and ten.' 
 
 I'll no tell ye the wager, Mistress Carmichael; I'm only a 
 fule, ye ken ; but ' I'll wager, I'll wager, I'll wager wi' you,' 
 that ye dinna gang oot like a ghaist in the gloamin' just to 
 pu' an apple frae a tree. There's a canny lad wad like ill to 
 jalouse ye kept tryst wi' anither ; that's just one mair to the 
 count. I doubt I maun be flittin' frae Holyrood, or we a' 
 gang daft thegither." 
 
 " What does he mean ? " exclaimed Mary Beton, all the 
 duenna aroused within her as she marked the fool's cunning 
 looks, and her comrade's obvious discomfiture. 
 
 " Hooly an' fairly, Mistress Beton ! " exclaimed Geddes, 
 with whom the queen's principal lady was no great favourite. 
 " Keep your ain breath to cool your ain brose. Will you 
 grudge the lasses their bit ploy, an' keep back all the joes 
 to yersel' ? 
 
 ' She wad na hae a Lowland laird, 
 Nor be an English lady.' 
 
 They'll no threep that on you, Mistress Beton. Na, na ; ye're 
 a true Scotswoman ; an' it's just a spoilin' o' the Egyptians, 
 as godly John Knox wad call it. Troth, ye've made a fule 
 o' a wiser body than yoursel', I'm thinkin'. I'll no grudge 
 Maister Randolph the cap an' bells, but he'll get the fee an' 
 bountith a' gate the like o' him gangs, I ken fine. Aweel ! 
 ten fingers an' ten taes, I canna number the fules at Holy- 
 rood ; for I'm no gude at the countin', and I canna tell mair 
 than a score ; but I'll gang my ways to the border the morn, 
 for the trade is just over-stockit." 
 
 "You give your tongue too much liberty," said Mary 
 Beton, who was considerably displeased at James Geddes's 
 indiscreet allusions, and not disposed to conceal her dis- 
 approval. " You presume on the queen's good-nature. Have 
 a care; if I mention your conduct to the master of the 
 
 128
 
 A LOVE-SICK MINSTREL 
 
 household, you will be taken to the porter's lodge to taste 
 of Robin Hamilton's discipline once again ! " 
 
 The fool's face grew livid, and an ugly gleam shot from 
 his heavy eye. There was evidently some rancour brooding 
 in his heart against the tall porter, who, it may be, in virtue 
 of his office, had been ordered ere now to inflict corporal 
 punishment on the jester. He fell to cursing the Hamiltons 
 with the unmeaning malevolence of insanity. From the 
 proud duke and his unfortunate son, whose state of mind 
 should indeed have obtained immunity from a fellow-sufferer, 
 to the stalwart gatekeeper, he called down upon all who 
 owned the name every evil that madness could imagine, or 
 hatred suggest, and then, stopping suddenly in his curses, 
 he moved awkwardly across the room to where Mary 
 Hamilton, buried in thought, sat somewhat apart from the 
 rest, and seizing the hem of her garment, began mouthing 
 and kissing it, and wetting it with his tears, in a reaction of 
 feeling which, sustained by one so imbecile, it was pitiful to 
 behold. 
 
 As they are given to unaccountable and deep-rooted 
 aversions, to gratify which they have been known to display 
 incredible sagacity and cunning, so these unfortunates are 
 capable of strong attachments, cherished with a morbid 
 vehemence peculiar to their malady. A madman's affection 
 and a madman's hatred are alike to be avoided, since the 
 former is as inconvenient as the latter is dangerous. James 
 Geddes entertained a devotion for Mary Hamilton which 
 amounted to idolatry, and was never so well satisfied with 
 himself, or so nearly rational, as when employed in some 
 trifling commission for the beautiful maid-of-honour. Also 
 he watched her as you may see a dumb animal watch every 
 look of its owner, and was especially jealous and irritated if 
 he fancied she bestowed too much notice or favour on any- 
 one else. 
 
 " What is he driving at ? " exclaimed Mary Seton, observ- 
 ing that the fool, although with an expression of deep con- 
 trition, was now indulging in a series of mysterious winks 
 and signs. " Ask him, Mary Hamilton. He seems to have 
 some secret understanding with you. Ask him, for pity's 
 sake, my dear ; he'll have a fit if he goes on like that." 
 
 But her curiosity was not destined to be satisfied ; for at 
 this juncture a page entered the apartment with a summons 
 for Mistress Hamilton to attend the queen ; and that lady de- 
 parted accordingly, leaving her half-witted adorer in a state 
 of woful penitence and discomfiture. Crouching among the 
 I 129
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 embers in the hearth, he hid his face in his hands, rocking 
 himself to and fro, and " crooning," in a sing-song voice, a 
 succession of broken unintelligible sentences. From these 
 fits of dejection the ladies knew it was impossible to arouse 
 him. 
 
 The queen was seated at a massive oaken writing-table, 
 on which she was heaping together a quantity of letters and 
 papers when Mary Hamilton entered. A single lamp shed 
 its light upon her fair brow, which seemed to-night heavy 
 with an unusual load of care. Her features wore the languor 
 of mental fatigue, and even her attitude denoted the listless- 
 ness of one who is wearied by too much thought and study. 
 She had been writing to her cousin of England ; and if it was 
 a difficult matter to be well with Elizabeth at best, how much 
 more so now when her suspicions were excited and her 
 jealousy kept continually awake by the question of succession ! 
 The maiden queen was not without that strange weakness 
 of humanity, which so disquiets itself as to what shall become 
 of its earthly possessions when it is gone an anxiety no 
 stronger in the monarch who has a kingdom to bequeath 
 than in the old woman who has hoarded her forty shillings 
 in a stocking. Will it affect them so much in that spirit- 
 world, even if they learn it, to know that the dynasty has 
 been changed, or the funded property squandered, or the 
 entail cut off? There is many a man now living who would 
 rather lose an arm or a leg than think that the old avenue 
 will be cut down when he is gone to a land where the trees 
 of life and knowledge flourish in perennial verdure, and all 
 the while young Graceless, his heir, is scanning their girth 
 and substance with a wistful consciousness that the Jews 
 must be paid at last. Horace has told us something about 
 those " dreaded cypresses," which we would fain ignore. 
 They will wave over our dwelling when the oaks in the 
 park have been disposed of at so much per foot, and the 
 family tree itself is withered and forgotten. Do you think 
 it matters much to Smith deceased, the tenth of his illustrious 
 line, that Brown should have succeeded to his place and 
 property, or that B. should cede in turn to Jones and 
 Robinson? "A plague o' both your houses!" All this, 
 however, has nothing to do with the house of Tudor. 
 
 Independent of the natural aversion entertained by every 
 right-minded woman for another of her own sex who is 
 sought after by a multitude of suitors, Elizabeth had a 
 variety of excellent reasons for disliking the Queen of Scots. 
 The latter was considerably her junior, unquestionably more 
 
 130
 
 A LOVE-SICK MINSTREL 
 
 beautiful and accomplished, gifted with that mysterious 
 fascination which makes women angry and men foolish, and, 
 in addition to these offences, was indubitably the next heir 
 to the English crown. Under such circumstances, it is not 
 surprising that the maiden queen should have delighted in 
 heaping difficulties across the path of her widowed cousin, and 
 this was done the more effectually, by keeping well with her 
 to all outward appearance, and interchanging a constant 
 succession of rings, precious stones, letters of courtesy, and 
 the like insidious compliments. 
 
 Nor was Mary deceived by these artifices. It is probable 
 that she clearly perceived the hollow nature of her kins- 
 woman's friendship, and returned it in kind, so far as her 
 open generous character would permit. But it was not in 
 this queen's nature to cherish lasting feelings of ill-will, and 
 she had also doubtless the good sense to see that in her 
 precarious position Elizabeth's favour was essential to her 
 security and support. So she corresponded with her regularly 
 in a vein of cordial affection, amounting even to familiarity, 
 and it is no wonder that Mary rose from the composition of 
 one of these letters with an air of unusual exhaustion on her 
 lovely face. 
 
 " Help me to seal these packets, my dear," said she to 
 the maid-of-honour, as the latter approached her table ; " my 
 fingers are perfectly stiff with holding a pen. No wonder 
 my forefathers esteemed the art of writing a disgrace, and 
 swore that the grasp of a noble hand should never close on 
 anything lighter than a lance. I often wish I was a man, 
 to wear steel on my breast and at my side ! " 
 
 While she spoke she stretched her beautiful fingers, which 
 did indeed look far too delicate to wield any weapon heavier 
 than a needle, and pushing the state seal across to her maid- 
 of-honour, threw herself back in her chair, as if thoroughly 
 tired with her day's work. 
 
 Mary Hamilton occupied herself at once about her task, 
 affixing the seal of Scotland, with its lion rampant and its 
 crown-royal, to document after document, in a graceful, 
 womanly way that attracted the queen's notice, and caused 
 her to regard her favourite maid-of-honour with more 
 attention than common. The latter was always pale, and 
 unusually quiet in her demeanour, but of late she had become 
 paler than ever, and her customary repose of manner had 
 subsided into dejection. Without obvious ailment, she 
 looked listless and out of spirits, languid in her movements, 
 and far too grave for one so young. Herself wearied and
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 harassed, it struck the queen particularly to-night, and she 
 could not forbear noticing it. 
 
 " You are ill, Mary," said she, " and worse than that, you 
 are unhappy. What is it ? there is something the matter ! " 
 
 " Nothing, madam," answered the other, looking up with a 
 transparent effort at cheerfulness. " How can I be unhappy 
 when I am at Holyrood, and near your Majesty ? " 
 
 She did not say it in the complacent tone of a courtier, 
 but with a warmth and sincerity that could not have been 
 assumed, her large dark eyes moistening and shining in the 
 lamplight. She thought she loved the queen better than 
 anything on earth, and so she did save one. 
 
 " I know you are fond of me, child," answered the queen 
 affectionately; "that does not make me the less anxious about 
 you. I think of all my Maries you are the most dependent 
 upon me. Have a care, my dear ! there seems to be a fatality 
 about Mary Stuart. Those who love me best seem ever to 
 be the most unfortunate." 
 
 She spoke mournfully, and in an abstracted tone. Was 
 she thinking of her dead bridegroom who had worshipped 
 her ? of the mother who had doated on her ? of the loyal and 
 brave and the true already proscribed, banished, or disgraced ? 
 was it memory or foreboding, the sorrows of the past or fears 
 for the future, that thus so often cast a gloom over her spirit, 
 and damped her royal courage at her need ? 
 
 " Do you think that would not make me love you ten times 
 more ? " exclaimed the other, with a flash from her glorious 
 eyes that lighted up her whole face. " Can there be love 
 without sacrifice, madam ? Nay," she added in a sadder 
 voice, " can there even be love without suffering ? " 
 
 " You are very young to say so," answered the queen, " two 
 years younger than I am ; and I remember how I used to 
 think that sorrow was the especial heritage of the old. I 
 have learnt otherwise now ; but you, Mary Hamilton, you 
 whom I've always watched and sheltered as a bird shelters 
 its nestling under its wing, what can you know of suffering?" 
 
 The maid-of-honour looked wistfully at her mistress while 
 she replied 
 
 " I never can know real sorrow, madam," she said, " nor 
 real suffering ; because I have a refuge more secure than even 
 a queen's favours, and to that refuge I betake me whenever 
 grief becomes too heavy to endure. Ah ! madam, they may 
 take everything from us here, but they cannot rob us of that ; 
 this world is sometimes very dark and sad, but the light is 
 always shining just the same, far away at home." 
 
 132
 
 A LOVE-SICK MINSTREL 
 
 The queen looked at her with concern and surprise. What 
 could it be, this engrossing sorrow which cast its shadow over 
 a young life that ought to have shone so hopeful and so 
 bright ? The girl must be very unhappy, she argued, to be so 
 devout. Alas ! that it should be so ; that religion, instead of 
 the pride of the strong, should so often prove but the refuge 
 for the weak. And yet it is but one more instance of 
 that mercy which knows no limit. The happy and the pious, 
 too, enjoy indeed a favoured lot, but human nature is so 
 warped, that in the majority continuous prosperity produces 
 hardness of heart, and for these it " is good to be in trouble." 
 When they have lost all (it matters not what constitutes it, 
 fame, wealth, or affection) they run for consolation, like a 
 child in distress to a parent, where it never is denied ; and 
 which of us is there who does not know how unspeakably 
 precious is the balm of kindness to a bruised and empty 
 heart? A few there are on whom adversity has a contrary 
 effect rebellious spirits, not without force of character and 
 capacities for happiness, who become froward and desperate 
 under the rod. Woe be to them ! What shall bring such as 
 these back to the fold ? Human forbearance would say " let 
 them go in their wilfulness to destruction ! " but it is well for 
 us that it is not with human forbearance we have to do. 
 
 The Queen of Scots herself was of a gay and hopeful 
 disposition, one which perhaps it required many reverses to 
 steady and sober down. Plenty of them she sustained ere 
 all was done ! In the meantime her kind heart was moved 
 to think that her maid-of-honour should have some secret 
 grief she herself could not alleviate. 
 
 "Tell me, dear," said she, "what it is that thus weighs 
 upon your spirits, and takes the colour out of your cheek. I 
 have seen it for long. Confide in me, not as your queen, Mary 
 Hamilton, but as your mother or your elder sister. I too am 
 a woman, a failing, weak-hearted woman like the rest. I can 
 only imagine one cause for such deep-rooted sorrow, and yet 
 I cannot think my beautiful Hamilton should be in such a 
 plight. Is it," and the queen too looked confused while she 
 asked the question, " is it some unfortunate some unrequited 
 attachment ? " 
 
 The maid-of-honour blushed to her very temples, and the 
 lustrous eyes that had been gazing fondly into the queen's 
 face were lowered for an instant ; but she raised them with 
 an effort, and drawing herself up, with her colour deepening 
 every moment, answered proudly 
 
 " Nay, madam ; we Hamiltons have your own princely 
 
 133
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 blood in our veins, and do not give our love unasked or 
 unreturned. The Maries, too, follow their queen's example, 
 and would deem it worse than unmaidenly to entertain a 
 secret or unacknowledged preference. We hold our heads 
 high, you know, madam, like our mistress." 
 
 The queen looked as if she did not quite agree with her, 
 and was about to answer, when a soft strain of music rose 
 from the Abbey garden, and arrested the attention of each 
 lady as if by a charm. The casement was thrown open, and 
 the night wind stole in, bearing with it the melodious tones of 
 a lute struck by no unpractised hand, and the notes of a rich 
 voice that each seemed to recognise simultaneously with 
 mingled embarrassment and delight. 
 
 There was then a proverb current in Scotland, which the 
 poet seemed to have embodied in the verses he now poured 
 forth on a flood of harmony 
 
 "The brightest gems in heaven that glow 
 
 Shine out from the midmost sky ; 
 The whitest pearls of the sea below 
 
 In its darkest caverns lie. 
 He must stretch afar, who would reach a star, 
 
 Dive deep for the pearl, I trow : 
 And the fairest rose that in Scotland blows 
 
 Hangs high on the topmost bough. 
 
 The stream of the strath runs broad and strong, 
 
 But sweeter the mountain rill ; 
 And those who would drink with the fairy throng, 
 
 Must climb to the crest of the hill. 
 For the moon-lit ring of the Elfin-king 
 
 Is danced on the steepest knowe, 
 And the bonniest rose that in Scotland blows 
 
 Hangs high on the topmost bough. 
 
 The violet peeps from its sheltering brake, 
 
 The lily lies low on the lea, 
 While the bloom is on ye may touch and take, 
 
 For the humble are frank and free ; 
 But the garden's pride wears a thorn at her side, 
 
 It has prick'd to the bone ere now, 
 And the noblest rose that in Scotland blows 
 
 Hangs high on the topmost bough. 
 
 'Twere a glorious gain to have barter'd all 
 
 For the bonniest branch in the bower, 
 And a man might well be content to fall 
 
 In a leap for its queenliest flower ! 
 To win her, indeed, were too princely a meed, 
 
 To serve her is guerdon enow, 
 And the loveliest rose that in Scotland blows 
 
 Hangs high on the topmost bough." 
 
 134
 
 A LOVE-SICK MINSTREL 
 
 Mary Stuart and Mary Hamilton looked at each other in 
 amazement The former laughed sweetly. 
 
 " It is our minstrel come back again," said she, " and as 
 welcome as he is unexpected. He has not forgotten the art 
 in his absence from the inspiration." 
 
 While she spoke she shifted the lamp from the writing- 
 table to the window shelf, where its flame was sheltered from 
 the breeze by the unopened half of the casement. The maid- 
 of-honour answered nothing ; but the queen could not help 
 remarking she became very restless and preoccupied, accept- 
 ing her dismissal for the night in silence, but with more alacrity 
 than usual. 
 
 Chastelar in the garden saw the light shifted from its place 
 in the queen's apartment, and interpreted it into an encourage- 
 ment of his own wild hopes. His heart leaped, his brain 
 glowed, his blood ran fire. Long absence, rational considera- 
 tions, obvious impossibility, had not quenched his folly. He 
 had left d'Amville, had wandered to and fro, had returned to 
 Scotland with no definite object but to look on the face that 
 haunted him night and day. He was love-mad ; it mattered 
 not what became of him : to live or die he cared not ; but it 
 must be at the Queen of Scotland's feet. 
 
 And Mary Hamilton, in her solitary chamber, fell on her 
 knees and thanked Heaven that she should see him once 
 again. 
 
 135
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 IN THE LISTS 
 
 " Four-and-twenty nobles sit in the king's ha'; 
 Bonnie Glenlogie is the flower amang them a' ; 
 In cam' Lady Jean, skipping on the floor, 
 And she has chosen Glenlogie 'mang a' that was there. 
 
 Glenlogie ! Glenlogie ! an' you will prove kind, 
 My love is laid on you ; I'm telling you my mind : 
 He turned about lightly, as the Gordons does a' 
 I thank ye, Lady Jean, my love's promised awa'." 
 
 r I CHOUGH it was mid-winter, the sun shone brightly as in 
 X June. The bold outline of Arthur's Seat cut against a 
 cloudless sky ; and a light air from the opposite coast of Fife 
 cleared the Firth of its accustomed vapours, and brought out 
 in fair relief the smiling bays and noble headlands of its 
 romantic shores. Far to the eastward, where a white sail 
 glistened in the sun, loomed the bluff island of the Bass, 
 poised, as it seemed, in mid-air by the magician's art, so 
 imperceptibly were sea and sky blended together in the 
 distant horizon ; while beyond it, Northberwick Law reared 
 its cone above the undulating line of coast that stretched 
 away to the southward till it faded from the sight. To the 
 west, the wooded shores, the jutting promontories, and the 
 sparkling water, combined to form a scene such as men 
 imagine in their dreams, shut in by the dark glades of 
 Hopetoun and Dalmeny, dim, rich, and beautiful, like a 
 glimpse of fairy - land. With the castle of her strength 
 crowning her comely brow, the old town sunned her terraced 
 streets and high fantastic buildings in the warmth of noon, 
 looking down, as it were, with proud protection on the 
 smooth lawns and dainty gardens that adorned the palace of 
 her kings. Like some rare jewel, carved, rich, and massive, 
 resting on a velvet cushion, lay the square edifice of Holy- 
 rood on its green and level site. Though the stately towers 
 and delicate pinnacles of the Abbey were in deep shadow, 
 the sun shone gaily on the Queen's Park beyond, crowded as 
 
 136
 
 IN THE LISTS 
 
 it was with masses of spectators and glittering with the 
 brightest and fairest of the Scottish nobility. Barriers had 
 been placed in this well-selected spot, lists for the exercise of 
 chivalry carefully laid out, and galleries erected for the fairer 
 portion of the assembly, whose applause was destined to 
 encourage the competitors and reward the successful. 
 
 The queen and her maidens occupied the most prominent 
 of these stages ; but Mary Stuart, true to the warlike predi- 
 lections of her blood, descended from her position of advan- 
 tage, and, followed by her train, proceeded in person to 
 examine the arrangements for the pastimes, and the dress 
 and horses of those engaged. Loud acclamations greeted 
 her as she passed through the crowd. Though habited in 
 mourning, as was her custom, that bewitching face did not 
 fail to produce its usual effect, even on the strictest of the 
 Reformers. Here and there, indeed, some severer dame might 
 shake her head and purse up her lips in obvious disapproval 
 of her sovereign, but such demonstrations were confined to 
 the female sex, and only to the oldest and ugliest of them. 
 
 The tournament of the Middle Ages had ere this period 
 fallen into disuse. Gunpowder had already taught the warrior 
 that his cumbersome array of mail and plate was no secure 
 defence, and although he had not yet discarded corselet and 
 headpiece, he was already beginning to learn the lesson of 
 modern warfare that sagacity is as important a gift as 
 courage, and agility a more effective quality than strength. 
 Perhaps also the untoward accident that, within a few years, 
 had deprived France of her monarch, served to bring the 
 tournament into disrepute ; and the Scots, who, beside their 
 tendency to imitate French manners, were then, as now, 
 somewhat of utilitarians, need not have been long in arriving 
 at the conclusion that such conflicts were a waste of strength, 
 courage, and mettle, both in man and horse. Riding at the 
 ring, however an exercise requiring perfect horsemanship 
 and great dexterity in the use of the lance long remained a 
 favourite amusement amongst the young Scots lords. It was 
 no easy task to carry off, on the point of a spear, a ring scarce 
 two inches in diameter, suspended from a slackened cord, 
 whilst moving at a gallop ; and the cavalier. whose hand, eye, 
 and seat were alike perfect enough to accomplish this feat, 
 would have been a formidable antagonist in the crash of a 
 real encounter man to man and horse to horse, armed 
 cap-a-pie in steel. 
 
 On the present occasion the amusement partook some- 
 what of the character of a masque. The two Lords Stuart, 
 
 137
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 in defiance of Mistress Alison Craig's prophecy, had not 
 found themselves so tamed and spirit-broken by marriage 
 as to give up their favourite occupations, and had been 
 instrumental in setting on foot the pageant which had now 
 collected so motley a concourse in the Queen's Park. Six 
 gallants disguised as amazons, had resolved to hold the lists 
 against other six disguised as savages, the victory to be 
 decided by success in carrying off the ring. The queen 
 herself had given the prize to be contended for a gold heart 
 of exquisite workmanship, and a purse filled with broad 
 pieces. To add to the interest, a dozen of ladies chosen by 
 lot, amongst whom were the queen and the Maries, had been 
 entreated to select each one a champion, and it was partly 
 for this purpose that the train of female beauty, with Mary 
 Stuart at its head, now wound in and out amongst the barriers 
 which enclosed the lists, together with the domestics and 
 horses of those who were about to ride. 
 
 As she approached one of the savages, who was already 
 in the saddle, and poising his lance in his hand, the queen 
 started and turned pale in obvious distress. She would have 
 passed him without notice, but the rider, whose wandering 
 eye and excited gestures denoted that he ought not to be at 
 large, reined his horse across her Majesty so as to oppose her 
 progress, and casting his lance at her feet, demanded to be 
 chosen her champion and her true knight. 
 
 The queen drew herself up and looked really angry. 
 
 " This is too much ! " said she. " How far has the Earl of 
 Arran's loyalty and good conduct been so pre-eminent that 
 he can dare to claim this proud distinction ? By the laws of 
 chivalry every lady has the right to her own choice, and here 
 is mine." 
 
 The queen pointed to the nearest horseman as she spoke. 
 He was richly dressed as an amazon, and his glowing com- 
 plexion and regular features would have done no discredit 
 even to one of those female warriors. She had selected him 
 at random as a proper rebuke to Arran's insane presumption, 
 but, like many another act of her life, it was as untoward as 
 it was hasty. Chastelar, for it was none other, sprang from 
 his horse, and knelt in acknowledgment at the queen's feet, 
 laying his lance down at the same time before her in an atti- 
 tude expressive of humility and adoration. 
 
 " To the death ! " exclaimed the poet, literally kissing the 
 hem of the queen's garment ere he sprang once more into the 
 saddle and forced his horse in a series of managed bounds to 
 the farther extremity of the enclosure. 
 
 138
 
 IN THE LISTS 
 
 One of the maids-of-honour looked disappointed and dis- 
 tressed. Mary Hamilton would fain have selected the French- 
 man for her champion during the day, a distinction which 
 would probably make him her partner also in the ball at 
 night. 
 
 As the ladies passed on, the queen's half-brothers, both 
 habited as amazons, approached her Majesty, dragging be- 
 tween them, with shouts and laughter, a lad of some sixteen 
 summers, whose fair, beardless face was indeed blushing like 
 a girl's. 
 
 " Choose him, madam ! " exclaimed the merry lords, in 
 a breath, while the younger, with a comical affectation of 
 womanly reserve, spread his gilded buckler before the lad's 
 crimson cheeks. " George Douglas has never lifted spear 
 before ; he is indeed a redoubtable champion for a queen." 
 
 Tears of shame and vexation started to the boy's eyes, yet 
 he looked pleadingly at his sovereign, as if with a confused 
 hope that the great ambition of his life might be realised. 
 Mary was always gentle and considerate. She smiled on him 
 encouragingly. 
 
 "It is mettle that makes the man-at-arms," said she. " I 
 would have chosen you, indeed, young sir, had these merry 
 gossips of yours brought you to me sooner. Never mind, you 
 shall ride to-day for Mary Hamilton." 
 
 The young eyes glistened with pride and happiness ; the 
 young heart swelled. Those few kind words had riveted it 
 for ever to the cause of Queen Mary. 
 
 The English ambassador, who, in compliance with the 
 directions of his Court, mingled in all the amusements at 
 Holyrood, and who was as skilled in arms as in policy, now 
 presented himself before the ladies. Mr. Randolph's costume, 
 as one of the six savages, was remarkably well-chosen and 
 appropriate. A bear-skin hung from his shoulders, and he 
 had decked himself and his horse with wreaths of holly, of 
 which the red berries were strung and looped together as 
 savages wear their beads. He dropped on one knee to 
 Mistress Beton, craving permission to carry her good wishes 
 with him in the ensuing courses ; and Alexander Ogilvy, in 
 the dress of the opposite party, looked on and wished he was 
 an ambassador too, or at least might woo that haughty dame 
 so frankly without fear of a rebuff. The lace on Mary 
 Beton's collar vibrated with pleasure as she bowed a gracious 
 affirmative. In truth the stately lady was insensibly 
 beginning to take no small pleasure in the attentions of her 
 diplomatic admirer. 
 
 139
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Mary Seton, in the meantime, had been inspecting with 
 sarcastic scrutiny the persons and accoutrements of all the 
 competitors. With a stinging jest or biting retort she had 
 refused to accept the homage of one after another, and 
 finally took as her knight one John Sempill, an Englishman, 
 who had sought refuge at the Court of Holyrood, a plain, 
 silent man, who appeared somewhat surprised to find himself 
 in a scene of merry-making, and whose only recommendation 
 in the eyes of the maid-of-honour must have been that he was 
 the direct opposite of herself. 
 
 There was yet one of the Maries who had not chosen her 
 champion. All unconscious that there could have been a 
 witness to her rendezvous in the Abbey garden, Mary Car- 
 michael rejected candidate after candidate, in hopes the right 
 one would apply at last. With a brighter eye and a deeper 
 colour than usual she followed in the train of her mistress, 
 and more than one gallant observed that he had never seen 
 Mistress Carmichael to such advantage, and were it not for 
 the queen, she would carry off the palm of beauty from all 
 upon the ground. But the eye grew dim by degrees and 
 the colour faded, as Walter Maxwell, habited like a savage, 
 remained aloof, standing apart, busy with the caparison of his 
 horse, and obviously anxious to avoid notice and conversation. 
 A sleepless night had somewhat paled his cheek, but other- 
 wise his look was as composed and reserved as usual. A 
 manly nature is as much ashamed of disclosing mental 
 suffering as physical pain. 
 
 The girl was puzzled ; she could not understand him : 
 yesterday, so kind and loyal and frank ; to-day, so distant 
 and calm and cold. Had he been the most experienced 
 carpet-knight that ever made war upon the sex, instead of an 
 honest, true-hearted soldier, he could not have adopted a 
 better method of aggression. She had never felt so much 
 engrossed with him in her life. It is hardly fair to fight a 
 woman with her own weapons ; but we imagine it discomfits 
 them exceedingly, the more so that they are well aware a 
 man's coldness, unlike their own, is the result of real dis- 
 pleasure, and the forerunner of a rupture. 
 
 Eventually all the ladies had chosen but Mary Carmichael ; 
 all the horsemen were selected but Walter Maxwell. She 
 detached herself from the rest, and walked to where he was 
 standing apart, still fastening his bridle and caressing his good 
 horse. She tried to speak in an easy, off-hand manner ; but 
 a duller ear than his might have detected the forced tone of 
 her voice. 
 
 140
 
 IN THE LISTS 
 
 " They are mounting," said she ; " you will be left out. 
 Will you not be my knight ? " 
 
 " For to-day," he answered, bowing low, and with a 
 strained courtesy more galling than actual rudeness. 
 
 Then he too sprang into the saddle and galloped off to 
 join his comrades. The girl bit her lip till the blood came ; 
 tears of shame and vexation rose to her eyes ; and yet she 
 had never liked him so well as at this moment. 
 
 The queen with her ladies now returned to the gallery, 
 from which she could have a good view of the sports, dis- 
 pensing once more amongst the crowd that good-humoured 
 notice which is so fascinating from a sovereign. Many a 
 reflective Scottish face smoothed its rugged brows as she 
 passed ; many a stern Protestant who followed weekly the 
 vigorous discourses of John Knox with approval in pro- 
 portion to the strength of their doctrine, and attention 
 never diverted for a moment from the profound casuistry 
 of their arguments, looked after her with a wistful, pitying 
 admiration, as though loth to believe such a creature of 
 light could be a chosen tool of the arch-enemy, and a 
 vessel of wrath doomed to everlasting perdition. The 
 younger members of the crowd blessed her audibly, while 
 here and there some godless jackman, ruffling it in all the 
 audacious freedom of inebriety, swore loudly that it was his 
 profession and his pastime to die for the queen. 
 
 The Earl of Moray and his bride occupied the next seats 
 to the royal household. Matrimony had not altered the 
 composure of the deep-scheming earl. His own attire and 
 that of his lady were of the gravest and most sombre, rebuk- 
 ing by their austere simplicity the bravery of the queen's 
 immediate attendants. Moray, while he kept well with the 
 Court, was careful not to offend the prejudices of the strict 
 Protestant party, in whose ranks he felt lay his chief strength, 
 and while he smiled with a melancholy forbearance on the 
 gaieties of his brothers and his royal half-sister, he never 
 forgot for an instant the character he had assumed, of the 
 rigid guardian and upholder of religion ; the man in whom 
 the country might have confidence, the prop and stay of " the 
 godly" through the length and breadth of Scotland. His 
 bride, a comely, laughing lass when she married him, was 
 obviously taming down, day by day, to the required pattern of 
 decorum. Like some flower denied the sunlight, she was fading 
 from her youthful colour and brightness, into that premature 
 old age which is so pitiful to witness the waning of the heart 
 and feelings before the face is wrinkled or the locks are grey. 
 
 141
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 And now the crowd are driven from the enclosure by a 
 score of men-at-arms wearing the royal livery. As these 
 push their well-trained horses amongst the foot-people, much 
 elbowing and squeezing is the result. The lads, as Scotsmen 
 are termed up to the most advanced period of life, bear 
 the jostling good-humouredly enough ; the lasses laugh and 
 shriek, and display extraordinary unsteadiness, and an un- 
 usual craving for protection and support. But the lists are 
 cleared at last, and the troop of mounted masquers come 
 down like a whirlwind, in line, till they reach the queen's 
 gallery, when they wheel to right and left from their centre, 
 and sweeping round at the same pace, take up their respective 
 positions at either extremity of the lists. 
 
 In her Majesty's gallery eager eyes are watching their 
 movements. The queen and her ladies criticise both steeds 
 and horsemanship pretty freely, wagering gloves and trinkets 
 on the result, but Mary Carmichael sits pale and silent, and 
 sees everything in a mist, because she cannot keep back her 
 tears. 
 
 The ring is up, and borne off fairly by several of the 
 cavaliers. All acquit themselves with knightly prowess, but 
 some of the horses are unsteady, and Lord John Stuart 
 shooting at a gallop past the object, of which he has only 
 struck the outer edge, encounters amongst the spectators the 
 laughing face of Mistress Alison Craig. 
 
 " Fie on ye ! " exclaims that unabashed dame, loud enough 
 for the discomfited nobleman to hear ; " an' ye ride no better 
 than that, ye'll never wear the orange and black in your 
 bonnet again on Leith Sands ! " 
 
 He cannot choose but laugh as he recalls his prowess the 
 year before among the citizens while carrying the colours of 
 the mercer's daughter, and Mistress Alison with becoming 
 modesty puts down her wimple to hide the cheek that has 
 long since forgotten how to blush. 
 
 At last Mr. Randolph, young George Douglas, Walter 
 Maxwell, and Chastelar, alone remain to contest the prize. 
 One failure withdraws the competitor, and but these four have 
 borne away the little circlet at each attempt with graceful 
 skill. The excitement amongst the ladies increases visibly, 
 and there is an obvious feeling in favour of the handsome 
 child, for he is scarcely more, who wears on his amazonian 
 helmet the bleeding heart of the house of Douglas. The 
 crowd, too, cheer the boy lustily. The people have alternately 
 loved and feared the Douglas since the days of "good Sir 
 James," but their Scottish hearts warm to that grand old line, 
 
 142
 
 IN THE LISTS 
 
 and the lad's youth and beauty are sure to tell on such an 
 assemblage as the present. He flushes to the eyes and casts 
 a look at the queen's gallery, then couches his lance and 
 drives his horse furiously to his course. 
 
 Hand and seat and eye, all are true enough, but he is 
 going a little too fast, and the glittering object is missed by 
 a hair's-breadth. As he leaps from the saddle at the end of 
 his career, the boy bursts into tears, and withdraws to hide 
 his face amongst the crowd. Mr. Randolph also fails, but 
 with a grace and dignity that in Mary Beton's opinion are 
 more creditable than success itself. Chastelar, who, to the 
 natural dexterity of a Frenchman, has added the skill 
 acquired by constant practice, once more carries off the ring, 
 and glances proudly at the queen as he brandishes it aloft on 
 the point of his lance. 
 
 Again it is Maxwell's turn to try his fortune. Mary 
 Carmichael's heart beats painfully. If he wins the prize, how 
 will he act ? By all the laws of chivalry he must lay the 
 ring at her feet, and she must deliver him the costly trophy. 
 Already she anticipates the moment of triumph. Shall she 
 enjoy it coldly and with dignified displeasure, making him as 
 unhappy as she has been herself? No ; she longs to forgive 
 him, and be friends. All these disquietudes are wholly un- 
 necessary ; as he arrives within a stride of the object, his horse 
 falls, rolls over him, and both disappear in a cloud of dust. 
 Mary Carmichael utters a faint shriek, and then sits cold and 
 rigid like a statue. At this moment the queen discovers the 
 secret of her maid-of-honour. 
 
 Chastelar then turns his horse round, carries off the ring 
 once more, and lays it at the queen's feet, his dark eyes 
 flashing with excitement. With the graceful courtesy that 
 becomes her so well, Mary presents the prize to the successful 
 competitor. 
 
 " One more trophy," says the queen, " to the troubadour, 
 who wins all hearts by the sweetness of his songs, and who 
 wields the lance as successfully as the pen." 
 
 Chastelar strives to speak in reply, but his voice fails him 
 and he turns ashy white. Mary Hamilton watching him from 
 behind her mistress almost expects him to fall from his horse. 
 He recovers himself after a short interval, and mutters a few 
 unintelligible sentences ; then opening the purse, scatters its 
 contents amongst the multitude, and dismounting, falls upon 
 his knees, and replaces the heart in the queen's hands. 
 
 " Will you not keep it, madam," says the poet, in a hoarse 
 broken voice, " a tribute from the humblest and most devoted 
 
 H3
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 of your worshippers ; fitting emblem of all Chastelar has to 
 give ? A pure heart of sterling gold is the most appropriate 
 offering that can be presented to the Queen of Grace and 
 Beauty." 
 
 Somewhat unprepared for the compliment, Mary accepts 
 it with a little confusion, and the crowd, shouting loudly, 
 testify their approval of the generosity as well as the prowess 
 displayed by the Frenchman. Some discontent has indeed 
 been manifested at the success of a foreigner, but the freedom 
 with which the broad pieces have been scattered about has 
 rapidly converted all invidious demonstrations into cordial 
 applause. On such terms they would gladly see him win 
 hearts and purses every day. 
 
 Though stunned and shaken for the moment, Maxwell 
 was not seriously hurt. After changing his costume for his 
 ordinary attire, he rejoined the party of gallants and ladies 
 that had congregated round the queen. A fall with a horse 
 is no very serious affair to an accomplished cavalier in the 
 pride of youth and strength ; his bearing was as composed as 
 usual, and save a mischievous glance from Mary Seton, and a 
 little short speech of condolence in which good-nature and 
 sarcasm were strangly mingled, little notice was taken of his 
 mishap. While the queen, however, whose French education 
 had not destroyed her predilection for pedestrian exercise, 
 made her way back to the palace on foot, followed by her 
 train, Mistress Carmichael lingered behind the others till she 
 found herself next to the fallen cavalier : and as he walked 
 on for a time without speaking, she summoned up courage at 
 last to take the initiative. 
 
 " I must condole with my knight," said she ; " he did his 
 part well, and had his horse not failed him I think we should 
 have carried off the prize." 
 
 She spoke with a constrained effort at playfulness, and was 
 conscious that her heart beat very fast the while. Whence 
 came this new feeling of subjection ? She never used to be 
 afraid of him like this. 
 
 " I should like to have won it for your sake," he answered, 
 but very coldly and gravely. " You and I will have but little 
 in common, Mistress Carmichael, after to-day." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " she gasped, thoroughly frightened 
 now, and too anxious to be indignant ; but ere he could reply 
 the train of courtiers had already dropped back to them, and 
 Mary Carmichael was compelled to join her companions with 
 a weight of grievous apprehension at her heart. 
 
 Another sentence might perhaps have cleared up every - 
 
 144
 
 IN THE LISTS 
 
 thing, or at least put an end to doubts and misgivings ; but 
 how could he speak it with a score of the sharpest ears at 
 Court ready to catch every syllable as it fell ? Perhaps an ex- 
 planation might never arrive, or if it did would come too late ; 
 perhaps pride might rise up to prevent it, or the opportunity 
 never occur at all. And thus originate half the misunder- 
 standings and estrangements that embitter the whole existence 
 of those who, could they but speak three words to each other 
 alone, would never doubt or mistrust in their lives again. 
 
 K 145
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE REVELS 
 
 " Knights were dancing by three and three, 
 
 There was revel, game, and play ; 
 Lovely ladies, fair and free, 
 Dancing with them in rich array." 
 
 LOODS of light were again streaming 
 through the lofty halls of Holyrood. 
 Music was pealing loud and harmoni- 
 ous above the ringing of wine-cups, 
 the clatter of a banquet, and the 
 merry din of voices. Massive plate, 
 emblazoned with the royal arms of 
 Scotland, glittered on the board; silks, 
 satins, and jewels shone and sparkled 
 around it. In goblets of gold the red 
 wine bubbled to the brim, and stately 
 heads were bent, and bright eyes glis- 
 tened while gallants laughed and 
 whispered, and ladies blushed and 
 smiled. All that luxury could lavish, all that refinement could 
 require, enhanced the splendour of the feast. Tall, elaborate 
 devices of architecture, mythology, and fancy, peering from 
 amongst winter plants and flowers, decked the tables ; whilst 
 the very claws of the pheasants and moor-fowl were gilt ere 
 they were served ; the peacock roasted, yet not despoiled of 
 his sleek plumage, offered a lordly delicacy ; and the boar's 
 head, garnished with rosemary, grinned its fierce welcome with 
 the customary apple in its mouth. 
 
 At a cross-table, behind a huge candelabra, shedding a 
 refulgent light on her features, and in front of a sideboard 
 piled with rich plate and burnished trenchers, till she seemed 
 literally enshrined in gold, sat the queen, with the most 
 distinguished of her nobility on either hand. Her face was 
 radiant with animation, for pomp and pleasure were not 
 without their charms to her impressible nature; and her 
 
 146
 
 THE REVELS 
 
 manner, as her guests could not but observe, combined 
 inimitably the cordiality of the hostess with the dignity of 
 the sovereign. Her Maries were placed at the adjoining tables, 
 and more fortunate than their mistress, had at least the 
 chance of sitting next those individuals in whose conversation 
 they took especial pleasure. These lotteries, however, are 
 very apt to turn up an unreasonable proportion of blanks, 
 and while Mary Carmichael could not even see where Walter 
 Maxwell was supping, and Mistress Beton, to her dismay, 
 found herself placed three seats off from the English 
 ambassador, Mary Hamilton alone saw the seat next her 
 occupied by the person whose society she liked best in the 
 world, and none but herself knew how she trembled when 
 her cup was filled by the poet Chastelar. 
 
 Is it not always so? We take incalculable pains to 
 prepare for our festivities ; how anxious we are that they 
 should go off well ; how engrossed is the butler with his 
 plate-basket and his ice-pail ; how concerned the host that 
 my lord's venison should not be overdone. Every plait must 
 be laid to a hair's-breadth in the glistening tresses of the lady 
 of the house. Two mirrors satisfy her, at last, that folds and 
 flounces and flowers are still adjusted to a nicety, but still 
 there weighs on her mind the list of precedence, and the prob- 
 able contingency that the most important guest may not turn 
 up at all. Perhaps it may come across even her conventional 
 mind that there are games for which it is scarce worth while 
 to purchase such expensive candles, and that a two o'clock 
 dinner with the children is a more agreeable repast, after all. 
 Ay ! even at the best, there is a speck on the epergne, an 
 earwig in the flower-basket, a flavour of wormwood in the 
 liquid amber called champagne. Surgit amari over and over 
 again ! Perhaps it was not so in that banquet of which the 
 halt and the maimed and the blind were invited to partake. 
 Perhaps there are no insects in a dinner of herbs ; no heart- 
 burnings in the crust we share with hunger ; no bitter drop 
 in that cup, though it be but cold water, wherewith we 
 pledge celestial charity, and entertain an angel unawares. 
 
 Chastelar was flushed and preoccupied ; thus much was 
 apparent to the eyes that watched him with such eager inter- 
 est. Ever and anon he glanced uneasily towards the royal 
 table, but ere long something he noticed there seemed to 
 give him intense satisfaction, and filling his goblet to the brim, 
 he devoted himself, like an accomplished gallant, to his fair 
 neighbour. Such is the nature of his sex, A woman always 
 feels a little humbled when she thinks she has been too graci- 
 
 147
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 ous, even towards a favourite ; a man, on the contrary, though 
 his affections may be fixed elsewhere, considers it due to him- 
 self to be as captivating as he can. And then they talk of 
 female vanity and female love of admiration. 
 
 " I was sorry for my young knight to-day," said Mary 
 Hamilton, not, it must be confessed, very truthfully, and with- 
 out raising her eyes to her companion's face. " Poor boy ! he 
 would have been so pleased to win. I wish he had carried off 
 the prize." 
 
 Chastelar could not forbear giving her a meaning look. 
 
 "And yet you did not choose him," he said. "He was given 
 you by the queen. Did he really carry your good wishes 
 with him, Mistress Hamilton ? I marvel his lance could fail ; 
 if I had thought that, mine would hardly have been so steady." 
 
 He scarce knew what he was saying. Flushed with 
 success ; intoxicated with his own wild happiness ; excited 
 as such imaginative natures are by music, lights, wine, and 
 beauty, he was in that reckless mood which drains pleasure 
 eagerly from every cup, and thinks not of to-morrow. 
 
 " You are jesting with me," she answered, in a low, trem- 
 bling voice. 
 
 Oh ! had he known how these light words of his thrilled 
 to that kind, unsuspecting heart, he would have spared her 
 for very pity's sake. 
 
 " Nay, fair mistress," he replied gaily, " I do not jest with 
 you ; there are some with whom to break jests is like break- 
 ing lances, sharp-pointed ones, too, and ending in a combat 
 d outrance. I am afraid of you, Mistress Hamilton." 
 
 " Why so ? " she asked, looking up at him with her clear, 
 guileless eyes. " Am I so very formidable ? You do not 
 seem much afraid of anything to-night." 
 
 A gleam of triumph shot from his eyes, and once more he 
 glanced towards the upper end of the hall, then lowering his 
 voice, he whispered 
 
 " There are contests in which to win is as perilous as to 
 lose. There are lists in which the true knight fights unarmed 
 whilst his adversary is clothed in steel. Give me my coup-de- 
 gr&ce, Mistress Hamilton," he added, with a bright smile, " I 
 must depart now to prepare for the masque. Before I go I 
 yield me rescue or no rescue." 
 
 " You have a merciful jailer," was all she could trust herself 
 to reply ; but as he rose from his seat and left the hall, Mary 
 Hamilton's eyes followed him with a wistful, longing gaze, 
 and Mary Hamilton's heart thrilled in her bosom, with a keen 
 sense of pleasure that was not far removed from pain. 
 
 148
 
 THE REVELS 
 
 Meanwhile the banquet progressed merrily, not uncheered 
 by those lively strains that have made Scottish music, from 
 time immemorial, so appropriate to all scenes of merry- 
 making or excitement. Wine, too, flowed freely, for the 
 stalwart barons would, indeed, have deemed themselves 
 wanting in respect to their sovereign had they stinted their 
 accustomed measure because they sat at a queen's table. 
 Thirsty souls they were, some of those iron old paladins, and 
 quaffed such mighty draughts as their degenerate descendants 
 would scarce believe ; but it was observed that those among 
 them who were most liberal in their potations, became also 
 graver, more dignified and sententious, in proportion to the 
 quantity they imbibed. Here and there a vacant seat might 
 be perceived, as several gallants quitted the feast by stealth to 
 prepare for the coming pageant, which was tacitly conceded 
 to be a surprise. Ere long the lower tables, at the extremity of 
 the hall, were drawn, and their occupants, gathering round the 
 royal circle, began to display that flutter of expectation which 
 pervades all assemblies when there is anything to be seen. 
 
 Presently two grave ushers with white wands threw open 
 the folding-doors, and, amidst peals of laughter from the men, 
 and exclamations of astonishment, not without a shriek or 
 two, from the ladies, in rushed a troop of satyrs, and com- 
 menced clearing a space in the middle of the hall for the 
 further exhibition of the performances. These masquers 
 were in uncouth and fantastic disguise : their flesh-coloured 
 coverings were adorned with wreaths of oak-leaf and ivy ; 
 horns sprouted from their brows ; goat-skins covered their 
 nether limbs, which terminated in cloven feet ; and long 
 tails depended from their backs, which they brandished 
 in their hands, and used as whips to clear a passage in 
 the throng. The queen clapped her hands, and laughed 
 aloud. 
 
 " None but Sebastian could have plotted this," she 
 exclaimed. " Come hither, 'Bastian, that we may thank thee 
 for thine ingenious device." 
 
 The satyr thus summoned, who seemed indeed the leader 
 of the rest, and no mean representative of the god Pan, 
 approached the royal presence with quaint reverence, beating 
 a measured dance with his cloven feet, and brandishing his 
 tail the while. James Geddes, the fool, in an irrepressible 
 state of excitement, could not forbear imitating his gestures 
 with a grotesque fidelity that provoked shouts of laughter. 
 Sebastian, somewhat irritated, and taking advantage of his 
 position, struck at him viciously with his tail ; but the fool, 
 
 149
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 familiar with such salutes, dodged it adroitly, and the blow 
 fell across the shapely leg of the English ambassador, who 
 winced, and turned crimson with the pain. Mr. Randolph, 
 however, had far too much self-command to betray his anger, 
 which was little alleviated by the laughter that the queen 
 could not repress. 
 
 " How now ? " quoth the statesman, trying hard to force a 
 smile ; " is Pan like Atropos, that he spares neither Wisdom 
 nor Folly, but smites down all alike? " 
 
 "It's the knave aye gets the fule's arles," 1 remarked 
 James; "or he wadna be siccan a knave; an' it's the fule 
 aye tines 2 them, or he wadna be siccan a fool ! " 
 
 And so speaking, he sat composedly down at the queen's 
 feet, pulling a grimace at the same time that was too much 
 even for the Earl of Moray's gravity. 
 
 The satyrs then proceeded to enclose a space for the 
 coming masque. So thorough was their disguise as to baffle 
 even the keen eyes of those who were most interested in their 
 identity ; and as the sylvan monsters ranged themselves on 
 each side the hall, soft voices behind them whispered " Are 
 you Sholto? " or, " It must be Archibald ! " to receive no more 
 satisfactory answer than a stifled laugh. 
 
 A flourish of music now announced the continuation of 
 the pageant, and the three planets, Mercury, Mars, and 
 Venus, made their appearance, habited in robes of silver gauze 
 and spangles : the first, winged strictly according to mythology 
 at head and heel; the God of War, armed with glittering 
 helmet, flashing buckler, and greaves of burnished gold ; and 
 the Queen of Beauty, represented by young George Douglas, 
 extremely embarrassed with her draperies, and blushing as 
 Venus surely, save on one memorable occasion, never blushed 
 in her life. These representations of the starry host were 
 then succeeded by the Nine Muses, all in different colours, 
 and, notwithstanding their beardless faces and classical folds, 
 displaying legs unusually muscular for Muses, and also a 
 good deal more limb than is customary with that sex to which 
 the tuneful Nine are supposed to belong. Melpomene, too, 
 could not forbear laughing outright ; Clio, albeit the daughter 
 of memory, forgot whether she was herself or Urania ; and 
 Terpsichore, somewhat flushed with sack, caught her feet in 
 her petticoats, and narrowly escaped the indignity of entering 
 the royal presence on her head. They trooped off, however, 
 after making their obeisance to the queen, and ranged them- 
 selves in front of the satyrs on either side the hall. 
 1 Wages. - Losses. 
 
 150
 
 THE REVELS 
 
 After them a score of cavaliers, mounted on the well- 
 known hobby-horse, of which the sweeping housings con- 
 cealed its rider's real legs, whilst his false ones dangled 
 outside in ludicrous union with its gambols, plunged and 
 frolicked into the apartment. Half were represented as 
 huntsmen, half as heathen Turks, and they blew their horns, 
 or brandished their scimitars, with an energetic gravity edifying 
 to behold. One truculent-looking Saracen earned immortal 
 honour by the lifelike manner in which he backed his 
 hobby-horse the whole length of the hall, and then caused 
 it to rear straight on end ere he took up his position, counter- 
 feiting inimitably the coquetry of the practised rider, and the 
 repressed mettle of the unwilling yet obedient steed. Some 
 of the courtiers whispered that it was Lord John Stuart ; 
 others, the Grand Falconer ; not a few believed it to be the 
 Warden of the Marches in disguise ; but the better informed 
 were all the time aware that it was no less a personage than 
 her Majesty's head cook. 
 
 Then came pilgrims decked with sandals and scalloped 
 shell, leading with them bears, wolves, tigers, and an 
 occasional uniform ; all these quadrupeds presenting alike 
 the anomaly of a pair of hind-legs jointed the wrong way, but 
 performing their parts in other'' respects with decorous fidelity, 
 and an obvious difficulty in keeping up with their leaders. 
 These were succeeded by musicians bearing lutes, harps, wind 
 instruments, and guitars, dumb indeed in reality, but going 
 through all the motions of a lively measure, which the queen's 
 real musicians were playing for their encouragement. 
 
 Next came two little cupids armed with silver bows and 
 baldricks, their rosy limbs uncovered, and their golden curls 
 mingling with the wings of gauze that stood from their 
 shoulders. Pretty urchins they were, but somewhat too 
 young for their task, and already rubbing their sleepy eyes 
 with dimpled little fists. Hand in hand, they trotted into 
 the hall boldly enough, but ere half the distance was accom- 
 plished their hearts failed them ; they stopped, looked about 
 them, and one began to cry. This was too much for his 
 little companion's philosophy, who incontinently followed his 
 example, but both were immediately caught up by some of 
 the ladies, and quickly caressed into composure. The queen, 
 too, had them brought to her forthwith, and soothing them 
 with kind words and sweetmeats, sent them to bed happy 
 and consoled. 
 
 During this unexpected interlude, the principal feature of 
 the pageant, and one which had tasked to the utmost the
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 ingenuity of its contrivers, now entered the hall. It consisted 
 of a fleet of ships constructed of light wicker-work, and moved 
 upon wheels, which were worked unseen from within. The 
 sides of these galleys were formed of cloth, coloured to 
 represent beams of cedar, fastened and inlaid with gold ; the 
 masts and spars were gilt, the tackle of silver tissue, and the 
 sails of gauze. A murmur of admiration greeted the pageant 
 as it glided up the hall with the stately motion of ships sailing 
 over a smooth sea. On the deck of each barque stood an un- 
 known lord, dressed with the utmost magnificence, and closely 
 masked. So resolved were these silken pirates not to be 
 identified, that their doublets, their hose, and even their 
 gloves, were padded so as to conceal the shape of their 
 figures, their limbs, and their very hands. They were known 
 to be gallants of the Court, but that was all. The nobles 
 laughed and applauded, their dames whispered and speculated, 
 when, with a burst of music rising into loud, triumphant tones, 
 the ships increased their speed, and the leading galley, closely 
 followed by the rest, bore swiftly down upon the circle which 
 contained the queen and her ladies, with obvious intention of 
 a capture. Each masquer took a partner by the hand, and 
 courteously entreated her in dumb show to enter his gorgeous 
 barque. The queen first set the example of compliance, and 
 amidst shouts of admiration the barques veered round, and, 
 doubly freighted, floated once more proudly down the hall. 
 Then the squadron divided, the sails were furled, the voyagers 
 disembarked, and each gallant kneeling low as he gave his 
 hand to his companion and helped her to alight, unmasked 
 at the same instant, while the music changing to a merry lilt, 
 the couples found themselves arranged in due order to tread 
 a well-known measure called " the Purpose," on the polished 
 floor. 
 
 This " Purpose," as it was called a word which signified 
 confidential conversation was a dance resembling the cotillon 
 so popular with our grandmothers, and not entirely despised 
 to-day when lights are waning after a night of festivity, and 
 gloves are soiled, and flowers faded, and cheeks begin to pale 
 before the coming dawn. Then is the moment to infuse 
 fictitious vigour borrowed from excitement into the closing 
 scene then the careful mother at the emptying doorway, 
 with shawl and wrapper on her braceleted arm, waves her 
 unwelcome summons to the bounding damsel, warmed up 
 into bloom once more, and every turn is precious now because 
 every turn must be the last. Then shall the prey, which had 
 been playing round it all night, gorge the glittering bait for 
 
 152
 
 THE REVELS 
 
 good and all. Wind up the reel, in with the tackle, out with 
 the landing-net goldfish or gudgeon, he is gasping helpless 
 on the bank ; but had it not been for the cotillon, he might 
 have been wriggling his tail even now in derision through the 
 elusive waters, might have despised the fire and ignored the 
 frying-pan to this day. 
 
 The " Purpose " was so called because the figure exacted 
 that at stated intervals the couples should dance together 
 through the doorway into an adjoining room, and having 
 made the circuit of that apartment, should return, unbosomed 
 of any secrets they might have had to interchange, to the 
 rest of the laughing company. It was a figure obviously 
 adopted for the triumph of coquetry, and the discomfiture 
 of mankind. The leading pirate had dutifully borne off 
 the queen, and when he unmasked, Mary discovered that 
 Chastelar was to be her partner in the dance. The poet's 
 manner was more full of deference than usual, but there was 
 a light of unearthly happiness in his eye. 
 
 Randolph had secured Mary Beton, nothing loth. That 
 very morning the ambassador had received instructions from 
 his Government to leave no stone unturned till he had dis- 
 covered the queen's predilections amongst the numerous 
 marriages that were proposed to her, all and each of which 
 gave Elizabeth such disquiet. He proceeded now deliberately 
 to sound her principal maid-of-honour, under cover of making 
 fierce love to her himself. With the loud music and the long 
 intervals of inaction there was ample opportunity for the 
 process. 
 
 "We shall soon have nobler doings even than these," 
 observed Mr. Randolph, whispering confidentially to his 
 partner, " when another royal wedding gladdens the walls 
 of Holyrood. Shall we dance the Spaniard's bolero, or the 
 Austrian's gavolte, or our own old English brawl? What- 
 ever be the measure, Mistress Beton, my only hope is that 
 we may dance it together." 
 
 Randolph looked very tenderly at her while he spoke, and 
 his partner's ruff heaved visibly. 
 
 " Nay ; you statesmen are too premature," she replied. 
 " Ladies are not to be thus wooed and won in a day, much 
 less queens. The archduke, Don Carlos, Lord Robert 
 which of them can be called a fitting mate for our sovereign ? 
 You must not hurry us thus, Mr. Randolph ; you are 
 indiscreet." 
 
 " And cannot you guess why I am so anxious for your 
 mistress to marry?" whispered the insidious statesman, 
 
 153
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 pressing nearer to his listener. " Is it not that alone which 
 will free her beautiful maidens from their self-imposed 
 celibacy ? Till that auspicious day even our thoughts are 
 not our own, and a man of honour must be tongue-tied on 
 the subject nearest his heart." 
 
 Mary Beton blushed and trembled. It was almost a 
 declaration, and from that impenetrable and capable man ! 
 The staid maid-of-honour was losing her head every moment. 
 
 " It may come sooner than any of us think," she murmured, 
 giving him her hand to lead her, as the dance demanded, on 
 their tour through the rooms. " Sooner than any of us desire," 
 she added, with a sudden resumption of her usual stateliness. 
 
 He pressed the hand affectionately, and his voice became 
 exceedingly trusting and confidential. Mr. Randolph was a 
 man who never hesitated to waste a sprat for the purpose of 
 catching a salmon. 
 
 "It will not be Lord Robert," said he; "I can tell you 
 that, though it is as much as my life is worth. But I would 
 trust you with my head, beautiful Mistress Beton far rather 
 than my heart," he added, in a low, fond voice ; " were it not 
 indeed too late to make that reservation." 
 
 The light seemed to swim in Mary Beton's eyes, and the 
 music was like surging water in her ears. A true woman, 
 despite her natural caution and her Court education, she 
 returned confidence for confidence. 
 
 " They do talk of a bridegroom," she whispered. " It is a 
 secret, Mr. Randolph ; but I feel I am safe with you. The 
 Countess of Lennox has already suggested her son, and I 
 think the queen is not averse to the idea. If it should ever 
 be," she added, with rising colour and some hesitation, " we 
 shall be differently circumstanced, of course; and, in short, 
 the future must always be uncertain for us all." 
 
 He replied with less warmth than she perhaps expected ; 
 but his commonplaces were extremely polite, nay, compli- 
 mentary, and when he led her back to the company, there 
 was that complacent expression on his countenance, which is 
 worn by a man who finds in the hand dealt him the leading 
 card of the game. 
 
 Far different was the " Purpose " entertained by Walter 
 Maxwell and Mary Carmichael, in their interval of conversa- 
 tion. With the frank kindliness of his nature, that honest 
 gentleman had determined at least to ask an explanation, ere 
 he condemned at once and for ever the woman he felt he still 
 loved only too well. With this intention he had joined the 
 merry band of masquers, though his heart was sadly out of 
 
 154
 
 THE REVELS 
 
 tune for mirth, and had carried off his mistress without 
 hesitation from the fair circle who were waiting to be 
 abducted. Nay, when he unmasked, and Mistress Carmichael, 
 who had recognised him from the first, stole a look at his 
 face, it wore its usual grave but kindly expression, and the 
 displeasure which had so discomfited her all day, and spoilt 
 her gaiety all night, had entirely disappeared. He was 
 determined to be just and kind and temperate in his dealing 
 with her, though more than life depended on the result. 
 When he spoke it was in a low, soft voice, but every syllable 
 was strangely emphatic and distinct. 
 
 " I behaved unkindly in the Queen's Park," said he, " but I 
 was hurt and offended at your conduct. Had I not cause?" 
 
 She blushed, yet her eye was bright with repressed 
 exultation. 
 
 " How have I offended you ? " she asked quickly. " I 
 would not do so willingly, you know." 
 
 " I thought you different from the others," he resumed, 
 with more agitation. " In common charity I ask to be 
 undeceived. Did I not see you in the Abbey garden the 
 night before last?" 
 
 She trembled all over, but looked him full in the face 
 nevertheless, yet so scared, so startled. 
 
 " What then ? " she murmured, in obvious agitation. 
 
 " You were not alone," he continued, with a severe brow ; 
 " who was your companion ? " 
 
 She drew a long breath as if immensely relieved, nay, she 
 almost smiled as she replied 
 
 " Then, you do not know ? you cannot even guess ? " 
 
 " Had I known," he answered significantly, " it would not 
 have been the lady I should have questioned." 
 
 She raised her head haughtily. 
 
 "And by what right do you question the lady now?" 
 she exclaimed. " Am I answerable to Walter Maxwell for 
 my conduct ? I take leave to think, sir, you might be better 
 employed than in watching my movements." 
 
 He was growing very angry and consequently calmer 
 every second. 
 
 "You had rather give no explanation?" he said, with 
 studied politeness. 
 
 She bowed her head in silence, but the colour was fading 
 faster and faster from her cheek. 
 
 " You decline it," he added, still very low, but through his 
 set teeth. 
 
 " Distinctly ! " answered the lady, adding, as only a 
 
 155
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 woman would at such a moment, "You are neglecting the 
 figure, the dance is going on without you." 
 
 After this the pair derived but small gratification, we 
 imagine, from the amusements of the evening. Walter 
 Maxwell took the earliest opportunity of departing to cool 
 his irritation in the night air, whither, as we dislike seeing 
 a strong man wrestling with pain, we will not follow him. 
 Mary Carmichael, however, bore her part bravely to the 
 end ; and although her answers were at times a little absent, 
 and her laughter somewhat misplaced, none could have 
 guessed by her outward bearing that she had so recently seen 
 the great stake of her life's happiness set, played for, and 
 lost. She was not the only gambler in the hall. There was 
 one heart amongst those dancers within a few yards of her 
 that had resolved to-night to play the great game in which 
 the odds were incalculably against it, and which to lose was 
 ruin entire and irretrievable. There were a couple now 
 gracefully moving through the figure of the Purpose, as the 
 music swelled and sank in triumphant harmony or pleading 
 sweetness, of whom one was enjoying unconsciously the 
 gratification of the moment, gay, kindly, generous, and 
 impressionable, yet calm and dignified because thinking no 
 evil, and the other with beating heart and swimming brain 
 was steeped to the lips in the intoxication of that madness 
 which comes but once in a lifetime, and seems to have but 
 one fatal and invariable result. 
 
 Woe to the idolater ! It is written on the tables of stone : 
 Woe to the idolater ! Be the image what it may, wood, brass, 
 or marble, or one " a little lower than the angels," whom the 
 worshipper must needs exalt above the Being to whom the 
 heavenly Host itself is but as dust in the hollow of a man's 
 hand. The punishment shall not come from abroad ; it shall 
 not be wrought by foreign enmity, nor owe its keenest pang 
 to foreign injustice. If so, the sting would be extracted ; the 
 vengeance incomplete. No ; Dagon alone shall crush the 
 deluded votary who grovelled at Dagon's pedestal. It is the 
 hand he trusted that shall strike him to the heart, the feet he 
 kissed that shall spurn him in the dust. When he shall have 
 stripped himself of all to do his false god service ; when he 
 shall have lost his friends, his wealth, his fame, his self- 
 respect, and forfeited his honour, and pawned his birthright, 
 then, and not till then, shall the image of stone rock and 
 totter and fall upon him and crush him to powder. Were 
 there no world but this, it would indeed be better for that 
 man that he had never been born. 
 
 156
 
 THE REVELS 
 
 The Dagon of to-night was fair to look on, queenly and 
 graceful and gloriously beautiful. It seemed unnatural to 
 refuse her homage ; it seemed ecstasy to kneel and supplicate 
 and adore. The worshipper was in the wildest stage of his 
 idolatry. He looked for no greater glory than to lay down 
 life and heart and soul at her feet. What good results could 
 come from such a link between the lovely Queen of Scotland 
 and the infatuated minstrel of France ? 
 
 157
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 CHASTELAR 
 
 " He either fears his fate too much, 
 
 Or his deserts are small, 
 Who dares not put it to the touch, 
 To win or lose it all." 
 
 MARY STUART still wore in her bosom the gold heart 
 that had been won by Chastelar in his victory of the 
 day. This it was that had so elated him at the banquet ; this 
 it was that gave him courage in the dance to speak words of 
 love to his queen. The distant music had subsided to a low, 
 plaintive strain ; the apartment into which, in their turn, the 
 two had seemed to float upon those floods of melody was 
 bathed in a subdued and softened light ; the odour of per- 
 fumes loaded the atmosphere ; and the sounds of far-off 
 revelry did but add to the languor and seclusion of the scene. 
 Mary's cheek was a shade paler and her step scarce so buoy- 
 ant as usual. She seemed fatigued, and whilst awaiting the 
 louder peal of music that should summon them back to the 
 dance, the queen seated herself on a low chair near the door- 
 way, and fixed her eyes upon the floor with a dreamy, listless 
 gaze. Chastelar remained standing, bent over her chair as 
 if fascinated, spell-bound. The music sank lower and lower, 
 and they were alone ! 
 
 At last the queen raised her eyes to his, and what she saw 
 there brought the blood reddening to her brow. It broke the 
 charm, however, and the poet found his voice to speak, though 
 his lips trembled so that he could scarcely form his words. 
 He knelt before her as he would have knelt to a saint. 
 
 " Ah ! madam," he exclaimed in broken accents, " accept 
 my homage, my thanks, my everlasting gratitude. This is 
 the day in Chastelar's life that he had better lay him down 
 and die in his great happiness, for the sun can never shine on 
 such another for him again." 
 
 She smiled on him, half-kindly and half-pitiful. 
 
 " Why should you thus thank me, Chastelar ? " she said 
 
 158
 
 CHASTELAR 
 
 " What have I granted to my troubadour that is not richly 
 merited by one so loyal, so devoted, and so true ? " 
 
 She spoke lightly and playfully, yet was there a tone of 
 repressed feeling in her voice. No woman alive could have 
 looked unmoved on the depth of intense devotion that 
 glowed in Chastelar's face. 
 
 " Ay, madam," he replied, " you have ever been kind and 
 condescending and gracious to your slave. You know not 
 what your notice is to him : how he watches every turn of 
 your face, and hangs on every word of your lips. What the 
 blessed sunlight is to creation its hope, its love, its pride, 
 its whole existence such is your presence, Oh, Mary ! Oh, 
 my queen ! to me." 
 
 " Nay," she replied, half rising from her seat, and looking 
 round as though not caring that their dialogue should be over- 
 heard ; " nay, Chastelar, now you are trenching on your own 
 prerogative, and wasting on my solitary ear the materials for a 
 sonnet which should delight the whole Court. I cannot listen 
 to such compliments from my troubadour, save in verse." 
 
 "You will listen to them thus," he exclaimed eagerly. 
 " You will allow me to lay at your feet a volume I have long 
 wished, but not dared, to pray you to accept. May I 
 experience this great happiness ? Is it a promise ? " 
 
 She bowed her fair head in acquiescence, and her colour 
 went and came. Queen though she were, Mary Stuart was 
 also a woman to the heart's core ; and it was not in woman's 
 nature but to experience a tinge of gratification and triumph 
 in an authority so despotic, a dominion so complete as this. 
 Emboldened by the permission, he hurried on 
 
 " I would lay all I have my fame, my happiness, my 
 life, nay, my very soul at your Majesty's feet, and thank and 
 bless you, even did you trample them to dust. Oh, madam ! 
 have you not read of such devotion ? can you not believe in 
 it ? Do you not know that there may exist a love so pure, 
 so holy, so self-denying, that its blessing and its privilege is 
 to give all and ask for nothing in return ? " 
 
 Again she looked around her, startled and confused, but 
 there were no listeners near. Still the strain of the Purpose 
 stole soft and low and soothing on her ear. She resolved she 
 must never hear him speak again like this ; but the moments 
 were all the more precious at the time. It would be too 
 unkind to check him harshly now. He was madly in love 
 with her, no doubt; and his punishment would come quite 
 soon enough: meantime, she thought it better to treat the 
 whole affair playfully. 
 
 159
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " I too can write verses," said she, with a bright smile. 
 " Shall I repeat you a couplet or two I composed to-day ? 
 They are not amiss, Chastelar, at least for a queen ! and 
 considering they are in rhyme, they are tolerably true too 
 true, I fear ; the more the pity. Listen, troubadour, and 
 take a lesson in your own trade; moreover, beseech you, 
 mark the moral, for that is the whole merit of the stave 
 
 "Wild Folly, so the legends tell, 
 
 Was wedded to a maid, 
 A dusky maid that used to dwell 
 In drowsy summer-shade. 
 
 Their offspring is a fairy elf, 
 
 A thing of tricks and wiles ; 
 He plays with hearts to please himself, 
 
 And when they break he smiles. 
 
 Unpitied pain and toil in vain 
 
 That little tyrant brings ; 
 And those who fain would slip his chain, 
 
 Must cheat him of his wings. 
 
 To Cupid's tortures, you may guess, 
 
 Each parent lends a part ; 
 The chain, the toils, from Idleness, 
 
 While Folly adds the smart." 
 
 "And yet, madam, there are chains that the slave hugs 
 to his bosom," answered Chastelar, gazing on her with looks 
 of imploring affection ; " there is a labour of love that is 
 sweeter than the profoundest repose ; there is a pain that 
 we prize and cherish, clasping it tighter and tighter till it 
 pierces to our hearts, and so we die." 
 
 " Such chains I would not lay on my servants," said the 
 queen : " such labour I would never impose ; such pain I 
 could not bear to inflict." 
 
 He looked up brightly. 
 
 " Say you so, madam ? " he replied ; " then indeed do 
 you give me new life, and something to live for. You 
 graciously accepted that trinket from me to-day; and the 
 proudest moment of my existence was when I saw it on 
 your breast to-night; that gold heart is but an emblem of 
 mine own ; it is yours, my queen, if you will deign to take 
 it. Do with it what you will ; keep it, or break it, or cast 
 it scornfully away." 
 
 He took the queen's hand as he spoke, and pressed it 
 fervently to his lips ; but he had gone too far, and Mary, 
 rising from her chair, snatched her hand from him, and drew 
 herself to her full height. 
 
 160
 
 CHASTELAR 
 
 " You forget," she said ; " you must surely forget where 
 we are, and to whom you speak ! This is Holyrood, Monsieur 
 Chastelar, the royal palace of the kings of Scotland ; and I 
 am Mary Stuart, its mistress and its queen. Lead me back, 
 sir, to the dancers ; the music warns us ; and do not expect 
 to be forgiven if you should so far presume again." 
 
 She spoke angrily, yet some feeling of compunction smote 
 her the while ; and perhaps she was not quite so angry as 
 she looked. She gave him her hand to lead her back to the 
 dance with lofty condescension ; and it was remarked on her 
 return to the hall, by more than one acute observer, that the 
 queen seemed to have quite recovered her fatigue, and that 
 her colour was deeper, her glance brighter, and her step 
 firmer than during the earlier part of the evening. One pair 
 of eyes, too, that never left him save when they met his own, 
 that shone with liquid lustre when he was present, and filled 
 many a time with unbidden tears when he was far away, 
 gazed wistfully on Chastelar to-night, and a fond heart 
 wondered why his face was so pale, and his manner so 
 dejected and wild and sad. 
 
 Mary Hamilton was one of those characters less rare in 
 her own than in the stronger sex, with whom, to use the 
 poet's expression, " love is its own avenger." For such, 
 happiness, when it does come, should indeed be intense, for 
 their sufferings are acute, their doubts harassing, their self- 
 depreciation unsparing in proportion to the abandonment with 
 which they merge their whole existence in that of another. 
 It is good to love for those who can love wisely, but, alas ! 
 for the self-inflicted tortures of the heart that loves too well. 
 
 The revel was at its height ; louder and louder pealed 
 the music, faster and faster flew the dancers ; all seemed bent 
 on the enjoyment of the hour, and resolved that the concluding 
 scene of the festival should be the wildest and merriest of 
 the night. To look at those panting forms, flushed cheeks, 
 bright eyes, and floating tresses, who would have believed 
 but that here, if anywhere, was to be found the gaiety that 
 flings itself without reservation into the pleasures of the 
 moment? Who would have thought there could be room 
 for care or sorrow in the fair bosoms heaving proudly under 
 pearls and gold, or detect the ring of spurious metal in the 
 joyous tones that told of gratified vanity and partial approba- 
 tion, and careless, thoughtless mirth ? 
 
 It is better to leave your partner when you have shawled 
 her deftly at the door ; there she bids you a cordial, perhaps 
 even a tender good-night with her mask on, the same mask 
 L 161
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 you always see, that is painted in such a radiant smile. It 
 comes off though in her dressing-room, when the aching 
 temples are released from their garland, and the shining 
 tresses are unbound, and the being that you have envied as 
 a model of good sense, gaiety, and content, sits her down 
 with a weary sigh, and dismissing you and your platitudes, 
 with which she seemed so highly delighted, from her thoughts, 
 leans her head upon her hand, while the hot tears trickle 
 through her fingers for the sake of somebody you never saw 
 or heard of, who is far, far away. 
 
 Perhaps you are even with her ; perhaps you, too, meeting 
 her gloved hand in the dance, wince under the senseless 
 exterior which you assume with your evening clothes, in 
 painful consciousness that you cannot quite forget a Somebody 
 of your own, the very rustle of whose dress was music to 
 your ears in the olden golden days that are spent and vanished 
 like a dream ; ay, though you seemed so gay and caustic and 
 debonair in the cloak-room a while since, when you walk out 
 into the night the stars you loved to watch for her sake long 
 ago look down upon you more in pity than reproach, and 
 the sighing wind reminds you, as it never fails to do, of the 
 gentle face that was all your trust and treasure once, that is 
 lost to you now for evermore. There is no need for you to 
 hum the refrain of that beautiful song, wailing for "the 
 tender grace of a day that is dead." Are you likely to forget 
 it, clinging as it does about your heart like ice, and chilling 
 you to the marrow even now ? Never mind ! you have done 
 your ball handsomely and creditably, both to self and partner ; 
 it matters little that you are a couple of well-dressed hypocrites 
 covering your respective sores under broadcloth and Mechlin 
 lace ; you have offered your incense at the conventional altar ; 
 you have sacrificed religiously to society ; you are at liberty 
 to take off your trappings now, and wash the paint from your 
 wan faces, and go both of you away by yourselves, to be as 
 wretched as you please. 
 
 The queen and her Maries danced on, fresh and gay to the 
 very last. Even the musicians' well-trained fingers seemed 
 less untiring than the ladies' feet. But the revel came to an 
 end soon after midnight, and the sentinels at the palace gates, 
 relieved at that hour, glanced admiringly after the noble 
 groups that departed in quick succession ; some of the older 
 and statelier forms, be it observed, walking with a more staid 
 and solemn air than usual, attributable to the excess of the 
 queen's hospitality, and the excellence of the French wines 
 that graced her table. 
 
 162
 
 CHASTELAR 
 
 There were two individuals, however, now strolling away 
 arm-in-arm with an appearance of great cordiality, who never 
 suffered their brains to be heated beyond their self-control, and 
 who, relying on their wits as the good swordsman on his blade, 
 were careful to keep those weapons constantly bright and 
 keen and tempered for immediate use. They were engaged, 
 even in this friendly promenade, in a kind of moral fencing- 
 bout, with muffled points indeed, and bloodless intentions, 
 yet such as should prove to each his adversary's strength 
 against the future possibility of a real encounter. 
 
 Said Mr. Randolph to Secretary Maitland 
 
 " The revel hath indeed sped gaily. I never witnessed a 
 merrier even at the English Court, where my royal mistress 
 hath always given so hearty a welcome to the Lord of Leth- 
 ington. The masques were quaint, the music exquisite, the 
 supper beyond all praise. Holyrood was indeed to-night one 
 blaze of splendour." 
 
 " And our Scottish ladies ? " asked the secretary, who had 
 not failed to observe his companion's attention to Mistress 
 Beton, and, suspecting his design, glanced curiously at his 
 face to gather what he could from that inscrutable volume. 
 
 The Firth down yonder sleeping in the moonlight, could 
 not have been less unruffled than the Englishman's counten- 
 ance ; nevertheless, his language was too enthusiastic to be 
 sincere. 
 
 " They are above all praise," said he. "Were I one of those 
 soft-headed, iron-handed paladins of fifty years ago, I would 
 break any number of lances in maintaining your queen and 
 her Maries to be the brightest bevy of beauty in Christendom ! 
 But those follies went out with the mass to make room for 
 others ! And, by the way, what thinks worthy Master Knox 
 and his godly party of all this feasting and fiddling and 
 mummery ? " 
 
 " There is a strong feeling of religion amongst our towns- 
 folk," was the guarded answer, " combined with loyalty to her 
 Majesty." 
 
 "Then they desire to see her wedded," resumed Randolph. 
 " It rejoices me to hear this, guessing, as I think I can, at 
 the Queen of England's wishes. Frankly now, and between 
 friends, hath your beautiful mistress no predilection for any 
 of her wooers ? " 
 
 " I am only a statesman," answered Maitland, laughing. 
 " I can fathom a plot or an intrigue ; but a woman's schemes 
 are far too deep for me. I believe, however, that on this 
 subject ladies are not prone to speak their real minds." 
 
 163
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " Lord Robert Dudley is a staunch Protestant ? " proceeded 
 Randolph interrogatively ; " and a comely, personable noble- 
 man besides ? " 
 
 " Would your mistress like to part with him to mine ? " 
 said the other, with increasing mirth. " If Dudley aims at a 
 crown-matrimonial, Mr. Randolph, he need not cross the 
 Tweed to fetch it, or we are strangely misinformed in the 
 north." 
 
 " Nay," answered the Englishman, " I will be frank with 
 you. The Maiden Queen would be loth to resign either 
 title. But it is not on her marriage that the eyes of all 
 Protestant Europe are fixed. The destiny of the Reformed 
 Church will be strongly influenced by Mary Stuart's choice 
 of a husband." 
 
 " She will be guided doubtless in this, as in everything, by 
 the wishes of her people and the advice of her royal cousin," 
 was the diplomatic reply. " The Austrian and the Spanish 
 match are alike distasteful. The archduke is a greybeard 
 and Don Carlos a puling, sickly boy. You see, I can be 
 candid with you. Our queen will have none of these." 
 
 Mr. Randolph, in common with the general public, had 
 known this important disclosure for weeks. It was his cue, 
 however, to accept the communication for somewhat more 
 than it was worth. 
 
 " As we are in confidence, then," he continued, " I will 
 round in your ear an idea of mine own. What if the Scottish 
 Queen should unite herself to one of her own blood, and of 
 suitable years, thus avoiding all foreign influences, the while 
 she does no violence to her natural inclinations ? a goodly 
 young gentleman, of honest nurture, and of the Reformed 
 religion. Surely such a mate could be found amongst the 
 noble families in both kingdoms." 
 
 It was a leading suggestion, from which Randolph hoped 
 to gather a corroboration of Mary Beton's intelligence ; but 
 he had to do with one as skilled in statecraft as himself, and 
 equally unhampered by compunctions as to truth or sincerity. 
 
 " There is none that I can think of," replied Maitland, with 
 an air of such exceeding candour that the other felt convinced 
 he was telling him a lie " unless it be young Lord Darnley ; 
 and there are so many objections to his claim, that although 
 it has often been considered, it has never been entertained for 
 a moment. Is it possible that it would meet with your Court's 
 approval ? " 
 
 " I cannot answer without instructions," said Randolph, 
 laughing ; and wishing each other " good-night," the well- 
 
 164
 
 CHASTELAR 
 
 matched pair separated, without either having gained a 
 decided advantage in the encounter of their wits. 
 
 The Laird of Lethington, indeed, who had been acting on 
 the defensive, was satisfied with his own reticence, although 
 his suspicions were aroused, and the eternal question, " What 
 is he aiming at ? " that haunts the diplomatist, followed him 
 to his pillow ; but Mr. Randolph was puzzled and discomfited. 
 He could not piece his information together as he liked into 
 one of those perfect specimens of workmanship which he 
 delighted to forward to Secretary Cecil for the inspection of 
 his queen. Nevertheless he sat up far into the night, writing 
 a state-paper to the English grand vizier, and when it was 
 finished, such is the inconsistency of man, dwelt with con- 
 siderable complacency on the handsome stately image of the 
 lady who had suggested it. The road to power is not often 
 strewed with flowers. Mr. Randolph had no objection to 
 gather them when he could do so without going out of his 
 way, though he was the last man to keep them when withered, 
 or indeed care for them one jot after the first freshness was 
 off their bloom. 
 
 But what were the musings of a weary courtier, or even 
 the misgivings of a baffled diplomatist, to the tide of anxiety 
 and anguish that surged through the overwrought brain of 
 Chastelar, till the poet felt as if he must go mad ? Alas ! 
 for the gift, dangerous as it is brilliant, of a vivid imagination 
 acting on a deep and tender heart. There are certain insects 
 in the tropics, with which, unconscious of the cruelty, ladies 
 are wont to trim their dresses, that sparkle like diamonds, 
 when thus impaled in torture : while they suffer they glow, 
 and when they cease to glow they die. So it is with certain 
 temperaments, and those not the dullest nor the least amiable 
 of their kind. Their very lustre arises from the pain that is 
 goading them within. The flash that sets the table in a roar 
 springs often from an aching heart : the glowing words that 
 clothe immortal thoughts in godlike imagery rise to lips wet 
 with the bitterest draught of all. Who can describe happiness 
 so vividly as he who feels that it can never be his own? 
 Who yearns for beauty with the thirst of him to whom all 
 that is fairest in earth and heaven but mocks the impotence 
 of his despair? If such temperaments enjoy keenly, and 
 indeed it would be hard if they did not, they suffer with an 
 intensity of pain that goads them nearly to madness, and 
 causes them to rush into follies and extravagances such as 
 less ardent natures are never tempted to commit. 
 
 Chastelar left the hall tortured with shame and doubt and 
 
 165
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 fear. Sometimes he wondered at his own recklessness, that 
 could thus risk his very existence on a word ; for he felt that 
 if Mary were really offended, and he were banished from the 
 Court, he had better die. Then he taxed the queen with 
 perfidy, injustice, hardness of heart. Anon, a softer feeling 
 argued that his offence was not of so grievous a nature after 
 all, that the sovereign might pardon and look kindly on a 
 confession of such devotion to the woman, nay, that it might 
 have been welcome to her and expected long ago. But Mary's 
 image, rising from her chair in offended majesty, dispelled 
 this brighter vision ; and though his very heart was flooded 
 with the remembrance of her beauty, the sense of hopelessness 
 that had chilled it so often, seemed to creep over him and 
 paralyse him as of old. At least he felt he could not bear 
 her displeasure. She had turned away from him when he 
 had sought her eye after the dance. Perhaps she was mor- 
 tally offended, and would never speak to him again. Like 
 all others under the same spell, he was totally incapable of 
 judging his own case, and saw everything in a false light. 
 He was even himself aware that he could no longer rely upon 
 his faculties, and yet he felt an irresistible impulse goading 
 him to action, no matter what. There is method in every 
 phase of madness save one, and that is the madness of a man 
 in love. 
 
 He paced his room in an agony of irresolution. At last 
 he made up his mind to ask the queen's forgiveness. He 
 could not sleep without it. He must have it this very night 
 before she retired. He bethought him of the book that she 
 had consented to accept. It was a happy idea : that un- 
 conscious little volume should befriend him. He would 
 present it to her on his knees, and would read his sentence 
 in the looks with which she received the token. He was 
 more composed now, and felt as if he were about the most 
 rational proceeding in the world. Acting on this suggestion, 
 Chastelar, with his offering in his hand, stole softly through 
 the gallery and up the staircase that led to the queen's private 
 apartments. The lights were already extinguished, and none 
 were moving in the palace, save one or two tired domestics, 
 loitering drowsily to bed. With a beating heart and noiseless 
 tread he reached the door of an anteroom that led to the 
 queen's chamber, and paused for an instant to listen. The 
 latch of the door clanked loudly as he opened it, but all was 
 dark within. 
 
 Whilst deliberating whether to enter or not, a light shone 
 along the passage, and a measured step, accompanied by the 
 
 1 66
 
 CHASTELAR 
 
 rustle of a lady's dress, made his heart leap to his mouth. At 
 this juncture, his presence of mind, which had so strangely 
 abandoned him all night, came back in a moment. Without 
 looking to identify the intruder, he laid his book upon the 
 doorsill, and stooping down imprinted a kiss on the threshold, 
 as one who takes his last leave of the shrine that guards his 
 idol ere he retires. In rising he encountered the queen her- 
 self, still in her robes of ceremony and alone. She was pro- 
 ceeding from the Countess of Argyle's chamber to her own, 
 and had dismissed all her attendants save the two that were 
 even now waiting for her in her bedroom. She started when 
 she saw Chastelar, and the blood came to her cheek. Was it 
 the light that shone round her like a glory in the poet's 
 heated imagination that produced the semblance, or was it 
 his own fancy, or could it be reality ? He thought her eyes 
 looked wet with tears. This was too much for his over- 
 wrought feelings. He flung himself at Mary's feet, and 
 taking the skirt of her robe in his hands, literally kissed the 
 hem of her garment again and again. 
 
 " Forgive me, madam, forgive me ! " he exclaimed, in 
 broken accents, and weeping like a woman or a child. " I 
 could not bear it ; I could not rest ; I felt I had offended you 
 I who would die to give you a moment's pleasure. I was 
 mad ! I knew not what I did ; but I crept here to lay my 
 offering at your feet, and to pray for your forgiveness; 
 although you would not know it, would never hear or heed 
 me. Pardon ! oh ! pardon me, my queen ! " 
 
 She could not but pity him ; she who was so good and 
 tender-hearted and pitiful to all : his sorrow was so obvious, 
 his misery so complete. She gave him her white hand and 
 bade him rise to his feet ; then she chid him gently, kindly, 
 with a grave sorrow on her young face, like a mother who 
 takes to task a dear but froward child. 
 
 " You would not grieve me, Chastelar," said she, " I know. 
 Not one of my Scottish subjects is more loyal and true than 
 my French minstrel. Give me your book ; I will accept it as 
 a pledge of your service and fidelity to your sovereign. To 
 your sovereign," she added, with a significant look, before 
 which his eyes were lowered, and his whole countenance fell. 
 " I am not only Mary Stuart," she added and perhaps it 
 was but his fancy made him think there was a dash of sadness 
 in her tone " I am the Queen of Scotland as well. This 
 country, too, is not like France ; there are grave eyes watch- 
 ing here to which the lightest matters are a scandal and 
 an offence. Enough of this. I have resolved to trust you, 
 
 167
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Chastelar: I will employ you in my service. You will be 
 far from Holyrood, but you will be fulfilling my wishes and 
 furthering my interests. To-morrow you will receive your in- 
 structions. Chastelar, I can count on obedience. Farewell!" 
 
 There was a tone of sorrow in her voice, and she looked 
 on him very sadly as she passed on into her apartments out 
 of his sight. 
 
 Though he heard her words, they were unable to rouse 
 him ; though he saw the glance, he appeared to heed it not ; 
 his frame seemed crushed and powerless; his head was sunk 
 on his breast ; when he lifted it, she was gone. Then he drew 
 himself up and looked around him like a man who wakes 
 from some ghastly dream. His face was very white when he 
 walked away, and there was a smile on it not pleasant to 
 behold. You may see such on the face of one who is 
 sentenced to death. 
 
 Why should he be pitied ? If a man must needs sit down 
 to play his all, whose fault is it that he gets up a beggar? If 
 he grasps at the phial, though it be marked " Poison," and 
 drains it to the dregs, what is he to expect? Experience will 
 not warn the gambler, he must go to the workhouse at last ; 
 nor reason stay the hand of the suicide, he must die like a 
 dog in a ditch. 
 
 J 68
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 HIGH DISPUTATION 
 
 "To seek hot water beneath cauld ice, 
 
 I trow it is a great folie ; 
 I have asked grace at a graceless face, 
 But there is nane for my men and me." 
 
 r I "'HE queen and her brother sat in grave deliberation 
 JL in her Majesty's private apartment. Moray's face 
 betrayed, under its usual composure, a sense of triumph and 
 satisfaction. The scheming earl had succeeded in bringing 
 about an interview, from which he expected great things, 
 forgetting, as such intriguers often do, the frank nature of his 
 sister, and the uncompromising character of the churchman 
 whom he wished her to conciliate. He glanced anxiously 
 now and then at the timepiece, for men of his stamp have 
 scant leisure to spare, and something like a smile overspread 
 his features as he detected a bustle in the anteroom which 
 indicated an arrival. 
 
 Mary seemed absent and depressed. With her cheek 
 leaning on her hand, she had listened to her brother's 
 arguments like one whose thoughts are far away. She was 
 already conscious that the burden of statecraft was too 
 heavy for her to bear ; her young head and heart, too, were 
 aching under the weight and restrictions of a crown. She 
 looked up with a weary sigh when the door opened, and a 
 staid usher, too long schooled at Court to betray surprise, 
 whatever he might feel, announced the entrance of Mr. John 
 Knox. 
 
 The reformer advanced with the grave, dignified air that 
 was habitual to him, and that sprang from no advantages 
 of bodily presence, but from the consciousness of unshaken 
 integrity within. His flowing beard and long black gown 
 accorded well with the severe and thoughtful brow. For an 
 instant, as he lifted his eyes to the beautiful face of his 
 sovereign, they shone with an expression of pity and admira- 
 tion, that softened his whole countenance ; but the gleam was 
 
 169
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 transient, soon to make way for an increased rigidity of 
 demeanour, as the churchman recalled the sacred nature of 
 his office, and the interests he felt commissioned to represent. 
 The queen rose when he entered and greeted him courteously. 
 They formed a strange contrast, that pair of disputants ; icy 
 winter and leafy June, the budding hawthorn and the gnarled 
 oak-branch, the smiling sunbeam and the keen north blast, 
 could not have been more different. For a moment they 
 were silent, and scanned each other narrowly. Her Majesty, 
 as became her rank, was the first to speak. 
 
 " I have summoned you, Master Knox," said she, " for 
 that I would not willingly mistrust a friend without an ex- 
 planation, or condemn a subject unheard. There is sedition 
 abroad in Scotland, and those in whom a queen should put 
 her confidence conspire to bring her authority to nought. 
 Master Knox, Master Knox ! can you answer to your sove- 
 reign the heavy charges brought against you ? " 
 
 " To my Sovereign, and to hers" replied the reformer, 
 pointing upward. " Confront me with mine accusers, madam, 
 and I will put them to open shame." 
 
 " Nay," resumed the queen, glancing at her brother as if 
 for support, " I can judge of your sedition for myself. Have 
 you not written a book expressly to-overthrow my just govern- 
 ment, wherein the casuistry and lore for which you are cele- 
 brated have been employed for the worse purpose ; but which, 
 nevertheless, I will commission the most learned men in 
 Europe to refute? Have you not stirred up rebellion, and 
 even caused bloodshed, in England, to sap the very foundations 
 of my throne ? Have you not practised the black unhallowed 
 art of magic, rather than leave a stone unturned to further 
 your cruel and undutiful enmity against me, your queen ? " 
 
 " Madam," replied the preacher, not without a certain 
 sarcastic admiration in his tone, "you are skilled in the 
 knowledge of the schools, and for a gentlewoman tolerably 
 familiar with the laws of logic and the rules of disputation. 
 I will answer your charges categorically and in order. If to 
 teach the word of truth to the discomfiture of idolatry ; if to 
 exhort the multitude to that worship of the Spirit which is 
 alone acceptable in the sight of Heaven ; if to fulfil the 
 commission of my Master by waging war to death against the 
 Roman Antichrist, to hew down root and branch, and cast 
 into the fire the deadly upas-tree its breviaries, its scapularies, 
 its masses, its mummeries, its rank blasphemous ceremonials : 
 if this be sedition and rebellion, I plead guilty. If princes are 
 not better served by those who have cast off the yoke of the 
 
 170
 
 HIGH DISPUTATION 
 
 popish despot, and if subjects are not more loyal who fear 
 God and honour the king, than those who flatter the crown 
 and obey the crozier if your grace have not more cheerful 
 homage from your free Scottish people than ever your fathers 
 enjoyed from our priest-ridden forebears I plead guilty. If 
 mine enemies can prove that one drop of blood hath ever been 
 shed by my influence or my consent, if they can deny that 
 wherever I have lived, at Geneva, in England, at Berwick, and 
 now in Edinburgh, it has been my constant endeavour to 
 inculcate the doctrines of peace and goodwill, and God hath 
 so blessed my labours that they have borne fruit an hundred- 
 fold I plead guilty. With regard to the charge of magic, I 
 can the more easily bear the brunt of that indictment when I 
 mind me that my Master while on earth was taxed with the 
 same accusation. What said the priests ? the priests, madam, 
 who like your own were fain to own all the wealth and power 
 of earth at the loss of heaven ' He casteth out devils,' said 
 they, ' by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.' So far as I 
 have striven to walk in the footsteps of my Master so far as 
 my weak unworthy efforts have been directed to follow His 
 example to this also I plead guilty. But if these charges 
 fail, as fail they must when your grace brings your own clear- 
 sighted reason to bear upon them, the verdict will be ' not 
 guilty,' and the accusation of rebellion and sedition falls to 
 the ground." 
 
 Mary had been listening with obvious impatience and no 
 very close attention. She had perhaps made up her mind 
 beforehand. She had again seated herself, and tapped the 
 floor fretfully with her foot, glancing occasionally at her 
 brother as if to ascertain his opinion of the controversy. 
 Moray looked on with the calm approval of a partisan, who 
 thinks his own man is getting the best of it. When- Knox 
 paused, the queen broke in with unusual vehemence. 
 
 "And the book ? At least you cannot deny the book, nor 
 its object, nor its reflections on my mother and myself. Even 
 the nice casuistry of Master Knox cannot refine away his 
 authorship of that ' First Blast of the Trumpet against the 
 Monstrous Regiment of Women.' Oh ! it is a worthy title 
 for a worthy production ! and, in any other country under 
 heaven but this, it would have brought its writer to the block. 
 By the crown I wear, in a parallel case, my cousin of England 
 would have had it burnt by the common hangman ! " 
 
 She breathed quick, and gesticulated more than was her 
 wont. She was lashing herself into anger, the gentle queen, 
 as she thought of her own weakness and Elizabeth Tudor's 
 
 171
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 strength. Knox met her glance unmoved. When thus 
 embarked on the tide of argument, he was no more to be 
 influenced by force than persuasion ; the softest eyes that ever 
 smiled, and the sternest brows that ever frowned, were alike 
 to him. In the pride of his calling, and the fierce delight of 
 disputation, a man of marble within and without. 
 
 "As to the book that so angers your Majesty," said he, " I 
 own to it freely. Yes, I wrote it deliberately, and on reflection ; 
 nor is there a position laid down, nor an argument adduced 
 in the whole of it, that I fear to establish and substantiate 
 before any ten of the most learned men in Europe ! " 
 
 " Then you maintain that I have no just authority even 
 over my own subjects ? " urged the queen, with difficulty 
 keeping back her tears. 
 
 "These are all fair matters for dispute, madam," was his 
 reply. " The learned may surely be suffered to discuss such 
 questions unmolested, when they refrain from putting their 
 theories of good government into practice. Plato himself, 
 as I need scarcely remind your Majesty, argued the necessity 
 of many reforms fundamentally opposed to the very principles 
 of the commonwealth in which he lived. The litera scripta 
 manet indeed, madam ; but it is for future generations ; and no 
 book written, if left unfortified by persecution, ever yet sub- 
 verted the authority existent at the time it was composed, 
 and against which it may seem to have been aimed. Besides, 
 madam," added the churchman, warming into good-humour 
 as he got into the full swing of his oratory, " my book was not 
 directed so much against yourself as your namesake, the 
 bloody Jezebel of England, with her wicked satellites, godless 
 Gardiner and blaspheming Bonner, the one on her right hand, 
 and the other on her left ! Had I meant to have troubled 
 your estate, madam, would I not have chosen a more fitting 
 time, and a weaker breach in the defences, for my assault ? " 
 
 "But at least," resumed Mary, a little mollified by this 
 admission, " ye cannot deny that ye have taught the people to 
 follow a religion different from that of their prince. How is 
 this to be reconciled with the divine command that subjects 
 should obey their rulers ? I cannot wrestle with you in argu- 
 ment, Master Knox ; I am but a foolish woman after all ; yet 
 here, methinks, I have you on the hip." 
 
 He paused a moment, like a true rhetorician, gratified at 
 an opposition he deemed worthy to be controverted. 
 
 " The objection, madam," he answered, " is a fair one ; yet 
 thus do I demolish it. True religion, it cannot be disputed, 
 cometh from God, and not from the king, else why are we 
 
 172
 
 HIGH DISPUTATION 
 
 enjoined but to honour the latter, whilst we are to fear, and 
 consequently obey, the fawner ? This is the argument posi- 
 tive. Of the negative, I can produce instances in abundance. 
 The following may be thought sufficient: the Hebrews 
 were not to conform to the idolatry of Pharaoh or the self- 
 glorification of Nebuchadnezzar the King, nor were the 
 primitive Christians to practise the degrading superstitions of 
 the Roman Emperors." 
 
 " Good," replied Mary ; " yet we read not that Jew or 
 Christian was justified in resisting with the sword." 
 
 " The Almighty had not seen fit to give them the power," 
 answered Knox. 
 
 " Then you hold that subjects are entitled to take up arms 
 against their sovereign," proceeded Mary. " In good faith, 
 Master Knox, this is a dangerous doctrine even in these 
 lawless times." 
 
 " Extreme means are allowable in extreme cases," was his 
 reply ; " the father hath authority over his family, but if the 
 father be seized with madness, it is lawful for the children to 
 rise up against him, and, stripping him of his power, to place 
 him under constraint, for his safety and their own. So is it 
 with princes, madam ; and that prince who goeth about in 
 his frenzy to commit iniquity, must be disarmed, deposed, 
 and cast into prison until he hath been brought to a more 
 sober mind, and disciplined to submission under the will of 
 Heaven." 
 
 It was a bold argument to propound in a royal palace in 
 the presence of majesty itself. The queen looked at her 
 brother, astonished and aghast. True to his part, Moray 
 assumed an air of profound reflection and conviction after 
 mature thought. Again Mary felt goaded to irritation as 
 she wondered how Elizabeth would have brooked a similar 
 discussion, but she commanded herself with a strong effort, 
 and shifted her ground for a new attack. 
 
 " And where shall we find this will of Heaven declared," 
 argued the queen, " or who shall decide between you and me 
 when each interprets differently the same command ? " 
 
 " The words of Scripture and the ordinances of the Church 
 are sufficient for our guidance," replied the preacher. 
 
 " But your Church is not mine," retorted the queen. " I 
 believe in my heart the Church of Rome to be the true Church 
 of God." 
 
 " Your will, madam," said the other, " cannot impose a 
 reason, neither doth opinion constitute argument ; I am fully 
 prepared to bear witness against the Scarlet Woman whom 
 
 173
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 ye would fain substitute for the pure Spouse: but I will 
 employ the weapons of controversy, in which mine adversaries 
 are so skilled, to do battle for the right. I will undertake to 
 prove, against the strongest of your priestly disputants, that 
 the Romish Church hath more degenerated from the truth and 
 purity of apostolic teaching, than the Jews from the ordinances 
 handed down to them by their first lawgivers Moses and 
 Aaron when they shouted to the Roman governor that he 
 should crucify the innocent, and let Barabbas go free." 
 
 " My conscience tells me it is not so," answered Mary. " I 
 cannot contend with you in argument, as it is neither my pro- 
 fession nor my pleasure ; but I have read and studied and 
 formed my own conclusions. Why should not my views be 
 as clear as yours, or may we not both be right ? " 
 
 " Impossible ! " thundered Knox. " Ye shall come out from 
 the ungodly, and shall not be partakers with them no, not 
 of one single drop in the cup of their abominations. There 
 is but one straight path for monarch and subject, the queen 
 on her throne and the beggar at the gate. I tell you, madam, 
 that if you deviate from it one hair's-breadth, you shall be lost 
 in the howling wilderness, and become the prey of the raging 
 lion. I will not concede to you one jot nor one tittle ; I will 
 prove to you that your tenets are false, your practice sinful, 
 and your ceremonials blasphemous. Stone by stone will I 
 destroy the edifice that priestly ambition hath raised on the 
 foundations of corruption, and cemented with the blood of the 
 prophets from time to time, even unto this day. First of all, 
 I will demolish the very keystone on which the whole fabric 
 rests ; I will cast down the idol and trample it under my feet ; 
 I will testify in the face of all men against the gross and god- 
 less mummery of the mass." 
 
 Mary looked shocked and a little scared at his vehemence ; 
 she was irritated, too, by this unscrupulous attack on all she 
 held most sacred, but she controlled herself, and only replied 
 quietly 
 
 " Abuse is not argument, Master Knox ; neither are asser- 
 tions of much weight until they are proved." 
 
 He settled his gown on his shoulders, and spreading his 
 hands before him, proceeded to demonstrate his propositions 
 in the manner that had become habitual to him in the pulpit, 
 checking off the main points of his argument on his fingers as 
 he proceeded. 
 
 " Ye maintain the mass," said he, " to be a sacrifice, and, as 
 such, to be holy in itself, for that things are sanctified which 
 have been once placed upon the altar ! Ye argue that in the 
 
 174
 
 HIGH DISPUTATION 
 
 Scriptures are to be found antitypes that shall support this 
 doctrine, and that Melchjzedek, when he brought out bread 
 and wine before Abraham, prefigured the offering which ye 
 now esteem to be the holiest of mysteries. I will not pause 
 to discuss with one of your Majesty's learning the object with 
 which Melchizedek brought forth these provisions, nor the 
 arguments which may be produced for and against the prob- 
 ability that he simply offered them as refreshment to Abraham 
 and his company. We will let this be for the present, and 
 proceed at once to the very root and core of the matter. Ye 
 shall observe, madam, that of sacrifices, there are two kinds 
 the sacrifices of propitiation and the sacrifices of thanksgiving 
 the propitiatorice and the eucharistice. Now, with regard 
 to the former" 
 
 " Hold, sir ! " interrupted the queen, much to the divine's 
 disappointment. " Now ye are launched on the depths of 
 controversial divinity, which are too profound for me, and ye 
 would fain confuse and overwhelm me with your learned Latin 
 terms ; I pray your mercy. Under favour, I shall find those 
 who are better capable than I am of holding their ground in 
 argument against Master Knox." 
 
 " So be it, madam," answered the reformer proudly ; " as 
 in the dark ages our ancestors feared not to encounter the 
 strongest champions armed with fleshly weapons in the lists, 
 so shall I be found, I humbly trust, prompt at the hour of 
 trial to do battle in the cause of truth." 
 
 " Those champions, at least, turned not their weapons 
 dagainst a weak, helpless woman," replied Mary, in a tone 
 of considerable exasperation. "When they opposed their 
 sovereign, it was to resist tyranny and oppression : not to 
 deprive him of his dignity, and even curtail him of his very 
 amusements. They fronted him boldly in the field, but 
 they would have scorned to wound him in his tenderest 
 feelings, or to attack him in the privacy of his household." 
 
 " Your Majesty's shaft is well aimed," replied Knox ; " yet 
 doth it rebound harmless from the armour of duty in which 
 the minister of the Word is encased. It is my calling, madam, 
 to reprove sin from the pulpit, whether it be found rearing its 
 head on high in the palace, or crawling among the sewers of 
 the street. I tell you, Mary Stuart, that the day will come 
 when your masques and your music and your mummeries shall 
 be recorded against you in such characters of fire as roused 
 Belshazzar and his nobles from their last revelry on earth. 
 In your feastings and fiddlings and dancings, do ye remember 
 the dance of death, down which ye are footing it so thought- 
 
 175
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 lessly ? When your ears are tickled by the foolish squeaking 
 of your lutes, your rebecks, or your virginals, do ye reflect on 
 the awful blast of the last trumpet, and the wail of perdition 
 coming up from the lake of fire? " 
 
 " Then you esteem a simple, innocent measure to be an un- 
 pardonable sin ? " retorted the queen, in high scorn. " Master 
 Knox, Master Knox ! is there not a certain virtue called 
 charity, without which all the others are of no avail ? " 
 
 " The guilt of the action, madam," answered he argumenta- 
 tively, " depends on the motive of the dancer. David, indeed, 
 leaped and danced before the ark ; but it was in pious zeal 
 and singleness of heart. Not so, that child of sin, the daugh- 
 ter of Herodias, graceful and fierce-hearted as the panther, 
 when she danced off the head of John the Baptist. Think 
 ye, madam, that the walls of Holyrood will shelter the guilty 
 more securely than the roof of Antipas ? Think ye that can 
 be but a harmless folly in the Queen of Scotland, which 
 entailed the curse of blood on that flaunting minion who 
 so charmed and cozened the Tetrarch of Galilee ? " 
 
 " And you dare compare me to her ! " exclaimed Mary, 
 rising from her chair with flashing eyes. " This is too much ! 
 Moray ! Brother ! I appeal to you ! This is too much ! " 
 
 And turning away she covered her face with both hands 
 and burst into tears. Even Knox could not see her thus, 
 unmoved. He hastened to explain away all that was 
 most offensive in his allusions. As far as lay in his uncom- 
 promising nature, he strove to modify the virulence of his 
 declamation. 
 
 " Nay, madam," said he, " to be effectual the remedies of 
 the physician must be unpalatable ; but I mean not to offend 
 your Majesty, not to be guilty of any disrespect towards your 
 person. I would that you could see many matters in another 
 and a clearer light, for your own welfare and that of your 
 people. It is my zeal for your Majesty's happiness here and 
 hereafter that makes me so stern and so unpleasant a counsel- 
 lor. I will fulfil my duty even at the risk of your Majesty's 
 displeasure, and yet it grieves me in my human weakness to 
 see your fair face sad. It is my daily prayer that Mary Stuart 
 should be brought into the right path. I am an old man, 
 madam, if not in years, in labour and bodily infirmities. I am 
 no courtier, ye know right well. Believe me, I cherish no 
 disloyalty towards your person. I would fain see you a happy 
 triumphant monarch, the joy of your people, the hope and 
 stay of the godly, a fruitful branch in the vineyard, and a 
 second Deborah in Israel!" 
 
 176
 
 HIGH DISPUTATION 
 
 The queen was easily mollified. A bright smile dried the 
 tears on her face, and she, stretched her hand graciously to 
 the zealous reformer. 
 
 " Ye shall advise with me from time to time, Master Knox," 
 said she. " If I cannot compete with you in argument, I can 
 at least equal you in truth and sincerity, and a good will to 
 that which is right." 
 
 The churchman's stern nature was moved. He bent over 
 the hand she gave him, and made as though he would have 
 touched it with his lips ; then dropped it somewhat awkwardly, 
 and resumed with a little embarrassment. 
 
 " I am at your Majesty's service always, second only to 
 His whose minister I am. Yet I beseech you to dismiss me. 
 I may tarry no longer ; even now I shall be blamed that I am 
 not at my book." 
 
 " Ye cannot be always at your book," replied the queen, 
 smiling. " Doth not Solomon tell us there is a time for all 
 things ? " 
 
 " Even so, madam," answered Knox, moving respectfully 
 towards the door ; " yet must Time himself be seized by the 
 forelock, for his poll is bald behind. Master Buchanan would 
 not fail to remind your Majesty 
 
 ' Fronte capillata post est occasio calva.'" 
 
 The queen either imperfectly heard or did not perfectly 
 understand, for she bowed her farewell without replying ; but 
 Moray, pondering on the adage, shook his head as he mur- 
 mured more to himself than to her 
 
 " There is a time even for seizing the time ; and it is but 
 an indiscreet haste that would pluck the pear before it is 
 ripe ! " 
 
 As Knox traversed the anteroom in leaving the royal audi- 
 ence chamber, he found the Maries sitting at work in that 
 apartment, and paused for an instant on his way through, to 
 contemplate that which was in truth a sufficiently pleasing 
 scene. The ladies were seated in different attitudes at their 
 embroidery, and although, doubtless, they had been in the 
 full tide of conversation previously, there was a profound 
 silence at the moment of his entrance. Wistfully, nay sadly, 
 with the concerned air of one who looks on a bed of lilies that 
 he foresees are to be withered at night by the early frost, the 
 preacher gazed for an instant on this bevy of beauty ere he 
 uncovered his head to salute them. In doing so, his cap 
 slipped out of his hand to the ground, and it was curious to 
 observe the behaviour of the Maries at this juncture. It is 
 M 177
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 needless to state that Master Knox enjoyed but a small share 
 of popularity amongst these ladies. As the official reprover 
 of all their gaieties and amusements, it may easily be under- 
 stood that they looked on him with no approving eye, and 
 that if they had one favourite aversion at the Court, next to a 
 wet Valentine's Day, it was Master John Knox. 
 
 Though of active habits, the great reformer was somewhat 
 stiff and enfeebled with rheumatism ; he stooped with diffi- 
 culty, and for a while could not recover his lost headgear. 
 Mistress Beton, sitting bolt upright, looked straight beyond 
 him at the opposite wall with the air of being as unconscious 
 of his presence as Mary Hamilton really was. The latter had 
 indeed been all the morning immersed in a brown study from 
 which it seemed impossible to extricate her. Mistress Car- 
 michael was not in the best of humours, and it may be 
 observed that her fair brow had of late been continually 
 clouded, and her eyes full of tears, without apparent cause. 
 She made not the slightest movement of assistance in the old 
 man's favour, and even whispered something to Mary Seton 
 with marked and offensive indifference ; but the latter, spring- 
 ing gaily from her chair, picked up the fallen skull-cap and 
 returned it to its owner with a pleasant smile, which, saucy as 
 it was, brightened her whole face like a sunbeam. 
 
 " I thank thee, fair mistress," said Knox. " These old 
 limbs of mine are stiff now, and the time is not far off when 
 they shall be motionless for evermore. Your knees are young 
 and supple ; the more cause have you to be thankful and to 
 bend them while you can in prayer." 
 
 " The neck may be stiff as well as the knees," answered 
 Mary Seton, glancing meaningly towards the queen's 
 chamber. " I hope my loyalty may outlast my lissomeness, 
 if I live to be as old as your reverence ! " 
 
 He smiled on her sorrowfully yet kindly. 
 
 " The young," said he, " think that they are to live for ever, 
 and the old hope still to live a few years longer. Fair mistress, 
 fear God, do your duty, and snap your fingers at the chance 
 of life." 
 
 Mistress Beton here interposed with stately scorn. 
 
 " We shall scarce take lessons of Master Knox," said she, 
 " in our duty towards the queen. Under favour, sir, we need 
 none of your reverence's teaching in loyalty and obedience." 
 
 He turned good-humouredly towards her, still smiling. 
 
 "Ye are angry with me, fair ladies," said he, "and why? 
 Because I am too old to learn your courtly graces, and too 
 honest to use your courtly terms ? Because I call a fig a fig, 
 
 178
 
 HIGH DISPUTATION 
 
 when I see one, and a spade a spade ? Nay, ye should rather 
 prize and cherish one who can look even on your beauty with- 
 out his eyes being dazzled, and tell you the truth for your 
 salvation, rather than a lie for your ruin." 
 
 " Ye speak fairly," answered Mary Seton, who in virtue of 
 her previous civility seemed to have constituted herself in some 
 sort his protectress. "Yet I warrant me ye spake not so 
 tenderly to her Majesty even now. I marvel that ye are not 
 abashed to look thus boldly in the face of an anointed queen ! " 
 
 " Nay, young lady," answered the preacher, in a tone of 
 pleasant humour, " why should the fair face of a gentlewoman 
 frighten me, who have fronted many angry men ? Think ye 
 a bonny brow, unscored by guilt, can be an object of terror, 
 whether it be crowned with a circle of gold like hers, or a 
 wealth of bright hair like your own ? No, no, the old man 
 can neither be coaxed nor frightened from doing his duty." 
 
 The Maries looked from one to the other in uncertainty. 
 Knox had obviously gained their attention, and he added a 
 few words with a good motive. 
 
 " I tell ye the truth, fair ladies," said he, preparing to with- 
 draw. " Better take it from me than the truth-teller to whom 
 ye must listen some day, whether ye will or no. Ay ! what 
 a goodly life were this if it could last for ever, or if we might 
 but pass to heaven with all this gay gear ; but out upon the 
 knave death ! that cometh whether we will or no, and strip- 
 peth us of all, and taketh us we know not where ! Prepare 
 yourselves for him now, fair ladies, while he is afar, so when 
 he cometh ye shall be found watching, and may laugh in his 
 face." 
 
 His admonition was well meant and received with 
 sufficient decorum, but the impression soon faded away,- for 
 he had not been gone five minutes ere they fell to discussing 
 his outward appearance, the severity of his manners, the 
 fashion of his garments, and the general unloveliness of his 
 demeanour. 
 
 179
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 UNEQUAL LOVE 
 
 " I freighted my bark with the rich and rare, 
 
 Alice of Ormskirk, all for thee, 
 Little I reckoned of cost or care, 
 But I launched her out on a summer sea 
 
 A summer sea and a smiling sky, 
 
 Never a ripple and never a frown, 
 Never a token of shipwreck nigh : 
 
 What did it matter? The bark went down." 
 
 OHN KNOX went back to his studies 
 and his labours. The queen and her 
 Maries betook themselves to the duties 
 of adornment and the preparations for 
 a journey. The Court was about to 
 move for a season to the pleasant sea- 
 side town of St. Andrews, in Fife, a 
 favourite resort with her Majesty, and 
 much affected by the household, as 
 their sojourn in the old episcopal city was 
 marked by a gaiety and freedom from 
 restraint exceedingly welcome both to the sovereign and 
 her Court. The cavalcade moved off in high spirits. It was 
 but a small party, consisting at the most of not more than 
 twenty equestrians, including the four maids-of-honour, and 
 the more immediate attendants on the person of royalty. 
 Horses stamped and snorted, and shook their bridles merrily, 
 as they were mounted at the palace gates to move on in gay 
 procession down the winding causeway that led towards the 
 Firth. Feathers waved, spurs jingled, men's voices rose in 
 merriment, and the soft laughter of women floated like music 
 on the pure calm air. The dames of Queen Mary's household, 
 like their mistress, were skilful horsewomen, yet it was 
 wonderful how many of those little attentions, which are so 
 delightful to render and so welcome to receive, they exacted 
 from the cavaliers who accompanied them. Horses were 
 
 1 80
 
 UNEQUAL LOVE 
 
 insufficiently bitted, saddles insecurely girthed, housings 
 unbecomingly disposed ; it seemed as if each of the fair 
 travellers had reason to complain of her groom's negligence 
 or incapacity, yet they bore it with exemplary good-humour 
 notwithstanding. Even Mary Carmkhael, after refusing 
 assistance from every gentleman in turn, and bending her 
 pretty fingers backward against an obstinate buckle, was fain 
 to apply to Walter Maxwell for his help ; and although it was 
 rendered in the gravest and coldest manner possible, thanked 
 him with a bright and kindly smile. It was, perhaps, the 
 most provoking way to treat him. Had she quarrelled with 
 him outright, he would have known how to act, for he was 
 hurt and angered to the depths of his loyal and resolute 
 heart, but this off-hand good-humour was irritating in the 
 extreme. It was treating him like a child, he thought, and he 
 chafed under it inwardly, the while the girl herself was only 
 striving to avoid a final rupture, and longing to be friends 
 with him as before. 
 
 " Do you journey with us to St. Andrews ? " said she, 
 glancing timidly at his immovable face ; " or do you return to 
 Holyrood from the water-side?" and her heart beat faster 
 while she waited for his answer. 
 
 " As the queen shall direct," he replied, it must be admitted, 
 not with his natural sincerity. " I confess I am profoundly 
 indifferent myself." 
 
 He spoke in a hard, dry tone, and she made her horse 
 bound forward from his side, and bent her head down to 
 caress the animal, till her bright hair mingled with its 
 mane. 
 
 The others rode gaily on, talking and laughing joyfully, all 
 but the queen. Mary Stuart was a thought paler than her 
 wont, and unusually silent and preoccupied. Was it that 
 the remonstrances of Master Knox had sunk into her heart ? 
 or was she overladen with the cares of her kingdom ? or was 
 there some feeling of pity and compunction gnawing her, 
 foreign to the weightier considerations of religion and policy, 
 yet, perhaps, keener and more engrossing than these ? What- 
 ever might be the reason, she, who was generally so eager, so 
 buoyant, on an expedition like this, now rode listlessly and 
 carelessly with her hand resting idly on her knee, and her 
 rein lying loosely on her horse's neck. Black Agnes, how- 
 ever, by no means shared the dejection of her mistress. That 
 favourite palfrey, a gift from her brother Moray, and called 
 after the famous Agnes of Dunbar, who was Countess of 
 Moray in her own right, was in the highest spirits at her 
 
 181
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 release from the stable, and, sharing the mettle of the tame- 
 less heroine whose name she bore, was no eligible conveyance 
 for an inattentive horsewoman. Ere the gleaming waters of 
 the Firth were in sight, the black mare shied at a beggar on 
 the roadside, and swerved from him with such activity, that 
 Mary, unprepared as she was, must have been unseated had 
 a dexterous hand not seized her bridle-rein at the decisive 
 moment, and a ready arm supported her till she regained her 
 balance in the saddle. 
 
 " It is the last service I may render my queen," said 
 Chastelar's low sad voice in her ear. " Oh, madam, send me 
 not away from you, I beseech you ! " 
 
 She knew he was in the cavalcade, indeed she had never 
 retracted the permission originally given, that he should 
 accompany the Court to St. Andrews, and perhaps something 
 had told her he was not riding very far off, although she had 
 resolved to treat him henceforth with enforced coldness and 
 reserve. As she turned to thank him now, and marked his 
 gallant bearing, the skill with which he rode his mettled 
 chestnut horse, the bravery of his apparel, the respectful 
 deference of his manner, and the pale worn face that told of 
 so much sorrow and suffering, the queen's heart swelled with 
 that remorseful pity which is not many degrees removed from 
 a softer feeling. 
 
 " You must leave me now," she said hurriedly. " I will 
 tell you more when we are embarked. You shall come to me 
 then for your last directions, Chastelar, and to bid me 
 farewell ! " 
 
 " Is there no hope? " he asked, in a low stifled whisper. 
 
 " None," she answered firmly, in the same guarded tone. 
 " Oh, Chastelar ! I pity you," she added, while the tears sprang 
 to her eyes ; " from my heart I pity you ; but it must be so." 
 
 He fell back quietly and humbly. Mary put Black Agnes 
 into a gallop, and the cavalcade were soon engaged in all the 
 bustle of embarkation at the water-side. 
 
 It was Valentine's Day, and the weather was indeed in 
 unison with that mild and popular saint. It was one of 
 those soft pleasant days, with a calm atmosphere and a serene 
 though clouded sky, that come in the early spring to remind 
 us of the principles of growth and fragrance still existing, 
 though dormant, in the bosom of the teeming earth. The 
 russet sward was saturated with moisture, and not a bud had 
 yet started into life, not a snowdrop lifted its gentle head on 
 the southern side of the sleeping braes and shaws, heavy 
 with the promise of another year. Ashore, the rooks were 
 
 182
 
 Ine blade 
 skied aT a
 
 UNEQUAL LOVE 
 
 flocking to the fresh-turned glebe, where the bright plough- 
 share, sticking in the ..furrow, marked that the half-day's work 
 was done ; while on the broad Firth, soft and smooth and 
 white as milk, the dark sea-bird rode calm and motionless, as 
 if at anchor, poised on the surface of his home ; the distant 
 mountains loomed grand and dim and sullen, the nearer 
 points and promontories shot sharply out into the water, 
 clearly defined against the sheeted level of the Firth ; the 
 very tide seemed but to heave and sob at intervals, lapping 
 drowsily against the dripping seaweed on the rocks. It was 
 a scene of beauty, but beauty of a softening, saddening 
 tendency, and all on board were fain to acknowledge its 
 melancholy influence and partake in the depression it pro- 
 duced. 
 
 The sturdy boatmen bent to their oars ; the courtiers, 
 disposed in different attitudes, appeared chiefly intent on 
 arriving at the termination of their voyage ; and Mary, sitting 
 in the stern of the boat, dipped her hand idly in the water, 
 silent and gazing downwards, in obvious disquietude of mind. 
 Chastelar watched the queen with eager eyes. After a while 
 he struck a few notes on the lute, without which he seldom 
 travelled; and observing that this, as usual, was the signal 
 for general attention, and that Mary did not seem to dis- 
 approve, proceeded to play a mournful melody, which, as it 
 rose and fell, he accompanied in apparent abstraction with 
 his voice 
 
 " Gone ! wholly gone ! How cold and dark; 
 
 A cheerless world, of hope bereft ; 
 The beacon quench'd, and not a spark 
 In all the dull grey ashes left. 
 
 No more, no more, a living part 
 
 In life's contending maze to own ; 
 Dead to its kind, an empty heart 
 
 Feeds on itself alone ! alone ! 
 
 The present all a blank, and worse ; 
 
 No ray along the future cast ; 
 All blighted by the blighting curse, 
 
 Except the past ! except the past 
 
 Ay, if the cup be crush'd and spilt, 
 
 More than the sin the loss I rue, 
 And if the cloud was black with guilt, 
 
 The silver light of love shone through. 
 
 And though the price be maddening pain ; 
 
 One-half their rapture to restore, 
 And live those blissful hours again, 
 
 I'd pay the cruel price once more. 
 
 183
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Dreams ! dreams ! Not backward flows the tide 
 
 Of life and love it cannot be : 
 Well thine the triumph and the pride, 
 
 The suffering and the shame for me ! " 
 
 As he concluded, even the rough boatmen looked from 
 one to the other in undisguised approval. Never insensible 
 to the charms of music have been these bold sons of the sea. 
 To this day they are persuaded that the silver shoals of 
 herring are attracted by harmonious sounds, and they dredge 
 for oysters with a low monotonous chant, that they believe 
 peculiarly grateful to that retiring zoophyte. Long after 
 Chastelar's last notes had died gradually out over the silent 
 waters, they laid to their oars with a will, and seemed to pull 
 their long sweeping strokes in measured cadence to the un- 
 forgotten strain. The Maries, too, applauded enthusiastically, 
 all but one, and she was weeping in silence, because her heart 
 was full. 
 
 In the stern of the boat, a wide roomy shallop, pulled by 
 some six or eight oars, the queen sat apart from the rest of 
 the company. More than once she had glanced at Chastelar 
 while he sung, and varying expressions, none of them in 
 keeping with the serene sky overhead, had crossed her brow. 
 After he had finished, she remained silent for several minutes, 
 absorbed in deep reflection. By degrees, as they approached 
 the opposite shore of Burntisland, and the hills of Fife began 
 to rise clear and brown above the black, jagged rocks and 
 level strips of white sand that edged the water's margin, 
 the attention of her Majesty's train became diverted to the 
 different objects around, and anon a shoal of porpoises, 
 tumbling to windward in grotesque succession, drew them, 
 with many exclamations of wonder and amusement, to the 
 bows. 
 
 None were now left in the stern of the boat save the 
 queen and the steersman. That ancient Triton's whole 
 attention was riveted, seaman-like, on the shallows they were 
 nearing, where, for the first time during their passage, the 
 rolling waves were breaking languidly into surf. Chastelar 
 remained in the place he had never quitted, his eyes fixed on 
 the queen's face. She beckoned him to approach, and in an 
 instant he was at her side. 
 
 " We remain at Burntisland to-night," said Mary, in a low 
 measured voice that seemed the result either of extreme 
 indifference or perfect self-command. " In the morning we 
 shall ride on to St. Andrews. I have a packet that must be 
 delivered without delay at Dunfermline. Can I depend upon 
 
 184
 
 UNEQUAL LOVE 
 
 you to undertake its safe arrival there before to-morrow's 
 dawn ? " 
 
 He assented eagerly. This was no such distant banish- 
 ment ! He should be under the same sky, within a day's 
 journey ! The light of hope shone over his face, but while 
 the queen proceeded in those dry, chilling tones, it faded as 
 it came. 
 
 " You will ride thence to Stirling, where you will remain 
 until you receive instructions from Maitland or Melvil. They 
 will be accompanied by letters for the French Court, and 
 on the instant of their receipt you will depart for Paris. 
 Chastelar, I depend upon your obedience you will not 
 fail me." 
 
 The cold drops stood on his forehead. It was in a broken, 
 hollow voice that he replied 
 
 " My life is in your hands. Do with me what you will ! " 
 
 Again her kindly heart smote her sore. It was a fear- 
 ful gift this charm that she possessed. It was a dreadful 
 responsibility thus to hold the happiness of a human being, 
 so to speak, in her hand. Could she dash it to pieces without 
 some tinge of pity and remorse ? She resumed her task very 
 sadly and unwillingly. 
 
 " It is better," said she, " that this should be done at once. 
 Queen though she be, nay, because she is a queen, Mary Stuart 
 may not listen for a moment to the voice of her own feelings, 
 nor the impulse of her own heart, pitying as it does those who 
 are in trouble, though their sufferings and their sorrows spring 
 from their own deed. Nay," she added, seeing him about to 
 speak, and deprecating his words, as it were, with a gentle, 
 almost a caressing gesture of her white hand, "there is 
 nothing you can urge that shall induce me to alter my 
 determination. A woman's heart is weak, but her will is 
 iron as a man's. It must be so, Chastelar, for your own sake 
 and and for mine ! " 
 
 " O God ! " he exclaimed, in an agony like a man writhing 
 under a deathblow. " Have pity have pity ! Anything 
 but this any disgrace, any punishment, any ordeal. But 
 oh ! think of the forlorn, despairing prayer, ' Entreat me not 
 to leave thee ! ' " 
 
 The tears dropped fast from her eyes, and the beautiful 
 face quivered in its struggle to be firm. What was that to 
 him ? He could only think her hard, unfeeling as the sea- 
 board rock. She yielded not an inch. 
 
 " It must be so," she repeated ; " loyal and true, you will 
 not fail me at last ! " 
 
 185
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 His eyes flashed with anger. Man's nature can scarce 
 endure great sorrow without a tinge of resentment. 
 
 "Loyalty and truth are soon forgotten in the absent," 
 said he bitterly. "Lip-service and flattery are more wel- 
 come to princes. I cannot refuse to make room for a newer 
 favourite ! " 
 
 She smiled on him gentle and forgiving through her tears. 
 
 " You are unjust," she said, " and unkind ; you know it is 
 not so ; and when you are far off it will be your punishment 
 to think that you could have spoken such words to me 
 to-day." 
 
 The reaction of his feelings was frightful : he put his hand 
 to his throat as if he was choking, and gasped out in broken 
 syllables 
 
 " Forgive me ! only forgive me before I go out from the 
 light into eternal darkness and despair ! " 
 
 " Obedience ? " she asked in her turn, looking wistfully at 
 the shore, which they were now approaching; and on their 
 arrival at which, something perhaps warned her that she must 
 take her last leave of Chastelar and his unselfish, unexacting 
 devotion. 
 
 " To the death ! " he replied ; and even while he spoke the 
 boatmen shipped their oars, and those who were forward 
 leaped out waist-deep in water, to steady the shallop for the 
 disembarkation of the ladies. 
 
 This was no such easy task. In these days people walk 
 from a roomy steamer roofed in and glazed like a conserva- 
 tory, across a platform securely railed on to a substantial 
 stone-built quay that reaches a quarter of a mile out into the 
 Firth, and renders them as independent of tide as the vessel 
 herself does of weather ; save for the slight oscillation caused 
 by the motive power, a blind man, unless in a gale of wind, 
 would never know that he had left terra firma. But even 
 within the recollection of those now scarce past middle age, 
 the crossing of the Firth was an affair of considerable dis- 
 comfort, if not a little danger. The state of the tide was of 
 paramount importance ; the transit in an open boat, generally 
 of the smallest and craziest description, to the steamer moored 
 half a mile off, was in itself a voyage of no slight apprehension 
 to the timid, especially if the wind had been blowing for two 
 or three days steadily from the east : and the disembarkation 
 on the northern side was, if possible, worse ; the boat had to 
 be beached with practised dexterity not to capsize altogether, 
 and under the most favourable circumstances the pursuing 
 waves were pretty sure to come dashing in over her stern, 
 
 1 86
 
 UNEQUAL LOVE 
 
 wetting to the skin those unwary passengers who had not 
 taken refuge at the prow. At low water also a considerable 
 journey had to be made which partook of the discomforts 
 both of land and sea, inasmuch as it was performed in the 
 ungainly fashion termed by schoolboys " pick-a-back," on the 
 shoulders of veteran boatmen wading knee-deep through the 
 surf. To a heavy weight and a timid rider this mode of 
 progression was also not without its terrors, for if the bearer, 
 generally old and often infirm, made the slightest false step, 
 a very complete ducking was the inevitable result. 
 
 In this hazardous mode it was necessary to land the queen 
 and her ladies on their arrival at Burntisland : the scene was 
 one of bustle, dash, and excitement, none the less picturesque 
 for the hard-weather appearance of the boatmen and the 
 gaudy dresses of the fishermen's wives and daughters, who 
 came down in numbers to welcome their sovereign, and 
 shrank not from criticising in loud ear-piercing tones the 
 personal appearance of the party, and the whole details of 
 the proceeding. 
 
 The horses that had been conveyed across in the boat 
 accompanying the queen's, splashed one after another into 
 the water, amidst shouts of laughter, and half swam, half 
 scrambled ashore as they might. The retainers and men- 
 at-arms jeered each other merrily as they waded through the 
 waves, or wrung the wet from their boots and clothing on the 
 sand ; the female spectators screamed out their advice and 
 opinions, fluttering aloof shrill and pertinacious as the sea- 
 mews themselves ; whilst white-headed urchins ran hither 
 and thither through the crowd, devising impossible jobs 
 which they professed their readiness to perform for the 
 smallest remuneration in copper. But the queen's . shallop 
 excited the interest and attention of all. 
 
 One by one the ladies were received into the arms of their 
 attending boatmen, to be conveyed tenderly and carefully 
 ashore. In right of his years, his experience, his patriarchal 
 dignity, and his solemn demeanour, the oldest of these boat- 
 men was entrusted with the person of the queen. He was a 
 stalwart, fine old man, broad in the shoulders, deep in the 
 chest, large of stature, and strong of limb. He took Mary in 
 his arms as if she had been a baby, and waded with her 
 deliberately through the surf; another score of yards, and 
 she would have been safe on land ; but whether the veteran 
 had been celebrating his prospective distinction by deep 
 potations of alcohol, or whether his toil-worn frame failed 
 him at the pinch, or whether it was indeed by one of those 
 
 187
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 fatalities for which it is impossible to account, he made a 
 false step, a fruitless effort to recover it, and but for prompt 
 assistance must have precipitated his royal burden before him 
 into the water. 
 
 Need we say that it was Chastelar who was at hand to 
 save; that it was his grasp which plucked the queen from 
 her falling supporter at this critical juncture ; and that for a 
 few blissful moments, worth to his delirious fancy whole ages 
 of torture, the love-stricken poet for the first and last time 
 bore the precious form of Mary Stuart in his arms ? 
 
 Slowly, carefully, gently, he waded with her to the land ; 
 not a word was spoken not a look exchanged ; the queen's 
 face was cold and impassive as marble, and Chastelar, in the 
 tumult of his love and his despair, was conscious but of one 
 frantic wish, that the waves would rise over their heads and 
 cover them, and they might be at rest fathom-deep down 
 there together for evermore. 
 
 1 88
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 A HEARTLESS RUSE 
 
 " Night by night must I pace the shore, 
 
 Longing, lingering, to and fro, 
 Questioning, ' May I not see her once more 
 Alice of Ormskirk ? ' answering ' No ! ' 
 
 And still the echoing sea-cave rings 
 
 With one unceasing pitiless strain ; 
 And still the wild wave dashes and sings 
 
 'Never again, love! never again.'" 
 
 THE episode of idolatry and madness was fast drawing 
 to a close. When the queen and her household went 
 to establish themselves in the lodging where they designed 
 to pass the night, Chastelar remained on the beach, 
 apparently unconscious of all about him, gazing out to 
 seaward, as a man does who is utterly lost to the interests 
 and occupations of the shore. Amongst the many mysterious 
 sympathies that connect natural objects so inexplicably with 
 the mind, there is a strange affinity between human sorrow 
 and the watery element be it the gentle ripple of a running 
 stream, or the dash and recoil of the mounting wave breaking 
 on the beach, or the dark -blue line of a sea-horizon clear 
 against the sky. 
 
 There is some morbid attraction to mortal grief in the 
 contemplation of each of these; there is something that takes 
 man out of himself, and though it speaks not of hope or 
 consolation, seems to promise oblivion and repose at last. 
 Ay, we love to prate of the beauties of nature, to enlarge 
 upon the pleasures of smiling skies and gorgeous landscapes 
 and magnificent scenery. Are we quite honest about the 
 effect produced by such objects? and can we declare that 
 they create sensations of unmixed gratification? On the 
 contrary, most of us, if sincere, will confess that when we 
 were happy, we took very little notice of them ; and it was 
 but in some keen, hopeless sorrow we turned to nature for an 
 anodyne, and found she added sharpness to our pangs and 
 
 189
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 mocked us with a smile as she poured fresh venom into the 
 wound. No ; if we would be consoled, we must look to where 
 the running stream loses itself in the ocean that we have 
 never seen ; we must carry our thoughts athwart the far 
 horizon in search of the eternal shore ; we must strain our 
 eyes to pierce the smiling heaven, and catch if but a glimpse 
 of the undying world beyond. 
 
 Chastelar paced to and fro upon the sand with all the 
 worst passions of our nature tearing at a heart that yet 
 seemed formed for better things. Utterly undisciplined in 
 his wild, imaginative character, he had never prepared himself 
 for such complete desolation as this. For many years, more 
 than he now dared count, the smiles of that beautiful queen 
 had been to him dearer than the very air he breathed. A 
 less enthusiastic temperament would have asked itself long 
 ago to what result this abject service, this blind adoration, 
 could eventually lead, and would, at least, have prepared for 
 the final shock, which it required little sagacity to foresee 
 must sooner or later tumble the magic edifice to the ground ; 
 but Chastelar's was a character that never stops to count the 
 cost. There was to him an unspeakable joy in the very 
 abandonment of his attachment, in the lavish devotion which 
 only asked to be received without return. Full of a generous 
 fire kindled in his own ardent imagination, and nourished by 
 those seductive follies which constituted the very essence of 
 an age of chivalry, it seemed to him as rich a happiness to 
 cherish his hopeless attachment for the queen, as it would 
 have seemed to a coarser and stronger mind to possess itself 
 of Mary's heart and person. The poet never dreamed the 
 time could come when he should be told that even this self- 
 sacrifice was unwelcome ; that for one unguarded word, wrung 
 from him by the very depth and tenderness of his feelings, he 
 should be banished from her presence, and that she who was 
 the light of his eyes should herself determine that he must 
 look upon her no more. 
 
 Presently the devil got into his heart; the rebellious spirit, 
 that is never so strong as when men feel they have been 
 virtuous and self-denying in vain, rose tumultuous now, all 
 the fiercer for having been kept down so long, and urged the 
 counsels of despair. Of what availed his old and faithful 
 service, his constancy, his loyalty, his obedience, and truth ? 
 She flung them away as nothing, and less than nothing; she 
 could take his warm fresh heart from him when it suited her, 
 as a mere matter of pastime, and squeezing it, as one would 
 squeeze an orange, give it him back again when she had no 
 
 190
 
 A HEARTLESS RUSE 
 
 further use for it, all withered and empty, the very essence of 
 its existence gone. Queen though she were, she had no right 
 to do this. She forbade him her presence ! He would see her 
 whether she would or no ! He had done with obedience 
 now, and discretion and consideration ! He would speak 
 to Mary Stuart once more, if all the devils in hell rose to 
 prevent it ! 
 
 Turning on his steps he strode fiercely along the now 
 solitary shore in the direction of the hamlet of Burntisland, 
 where the queen was to pass the night. Already the day 
 was waning, and the evening mist, gathering from the east- 
 ward, crept slowly up the margin of the Firth. A light 
 drizzling rain had also begun to fall, and the seagulls, no 
 longer floating in repose, were screaming and turning restlessly 
 on the wing, as they flitted to and fro in search of shelter for 
 the night. Boatmen and fishwives had betaken themselves to 
 their homes, and none were left to witness the gestures of 
 anger and despair with which the unhappy Chastelar accom- 
 panied his racking, maddening thoughts. He wrapped his 
 cloak round him, and walked faster and faster as he began 
 to shape his resolve. 
 
 But within a short distance of the hamlet he met a figure 
 approaching him through the increasing gloom : a female 
 figure cloaked and hooded, walking swiftly, yet with smooth, 
 majestic gait, and of a stature that seemed unusually lofty in 
 that uncertain light. For an instant the blood gathered round 
 his heart as a possibility flashed across him that even in his 
 madness he could scarcely dare believe. In that space of 
 time a thousand frantic surmises swept through his brain. 
 Reaction, remorse, a woman's pity, and a woman's tenderness, 
 overriding all, even the reserve and dignity of a queen. But 
 the foolish fancies died out rapidly as they arose, for the 
 figure stopped, handed him in silence a small packet tied 
 round with a morsel of silk (he could notice such a trifle even 
 then), and while she threw back her hood with a gesture of 
 relief, the clear, guileless eyes of Mary Hamilton looked him 
 sadly and inquiringly in the face. She spoke not for a while ; 
 she seemed to stop and take breath ; then she said, very 
 quietly and coldly 
 
 " The queen bade me bring you this. She says it must 
 be forwarded without delay." 
 
 He bowed courteously. He had recovered himself now, 
 for he had a scheme in view, and shaping it out rapidly in 
 his working brain, he bethought him that here was an un- 
 conscious instrument which he might turn to good account. 
 
 191
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " How did you know where to find me ? " he asked, forcing 
 himself to smile. 
 
 A bright blush swept over the maid-of-honour's forehead, 
 but she paled again almost immediately as she replied 
 
 " I saw you from our window walking on the shore. I 
 knew it was you, and I asked to bring the packet myself 
 because they tell me you are going away to-night, and I 
 was anxious to bid you farewell." 
 
 This was a great deal for Mary Hamilton to say. No 
 successful gallant could have wrung such an avowal from her 
 lips ; but the keen eye of affection had told her that Chastelar 
 was dejected and unhappy ; so she longed to console him 
 and speak kindly to him ere he went away. Should he not 
 have pitied her ? He who knew what it was to love in vain ? 
 Of all women on earth he should have spared Jier ; but the 
 devil had entered into him and he saw in this pure, unselfish 
 affection a way to his own object ; so she, too, must be 
 sacrificed without remorse. What did it matter? Was he 
 alone to suffer and be trampled under foot ? 
 
 " It was good of you, Mistress Hamilton," he replied, with 
 a soft glance from his dark eyes, that made her flush and 
 tremble where she stood. " Few but yourself would have 
 been so considerate, and I should have valued the kindness 
 as much from none. Shall I leave one person at Court to 
 regret me when I am gone ? " 
 
 " More than that," she answered hurriedly, and scarce 
 knowing what she said, " there will be no music for us now, 
 at least none worth listening to. The queen said so herself 
 and and are you not coming back again ? " 
 
 " Never ! " he replied darkly ; and then, seeing her scared 
 and troubled face, adding, with a laugh, " Never is a long 
 word, is it not ? and who can tell in such a country as this 
 what a few months may bring? But I shall be absent a 
 weary while, Mistress Hamilton, and I cannot bear unkindness 
 from those I love. I would not willingly be forgotten and 
 supplanted by newer faces." 
 
 Her eloquent eyes told him that was impossible, but she 
 dared not trust herself to speak. 
 
 " Will you think of me when I am gone ? " he proceeded, 
 in a lower tone, and pressing nearer his companion's side. 
 " When you are feasting merrily at Holyrood, and enjoying 
 dance and song and revelry, will you not keep one little 
 corner in your heart for the absent who used to do all in 
 his poor power to make your time pass pleasantly, who will 
 be thinking every hour so sadly and longingly of you ? " 
 
 192
 
 A HEARTLESS RUSE 
 
 Even in the midst of her astonished happiness she ex- 
 perienced a shadowy misgiving that it was too good to be 
 real ; but she could only reply 
 
 " You must think very poorly of us all, Chastelar, if you 
 imagine we could ever forget you." 
 
 " It is not distance that can separate those who care for 
 each other," resumed the poet dreamily; "after all, it is 
 thought that unites soul to soul ; that sea-bird's wing would 
 droop ere he had traversed a thousand miles of ocean, and 
 yet twice the distance separates the lover from his mistress 
 no more than a score of yards and a brick wall. He can be 
 with her in spirit, although his body may be at the uttermost 
 end of the earth. Nevertheless, for all this, Mistress Hamilton, 
 it grieves me sore to bid you farewell." 
 
 She could have listened to him for an hour; she loved 
 to hang on his musical accents, and drink in the tones of 
 his rich, southern voice ; above all, were such sentiments 
 as these congenial to her own lofty conceptions of an ideal, 
 and her trusting, clinging heart. 
 
 He was pitiless ; he went on speaking low and hurriedly 
 " We may not meet again for many, many months perhaps 
 never in this world. Do you think I am a man of marble 
 that I cannot feel ? Do you think mine is a happy lot, thus 
 to leave all I value or esteem and take not even hope with 
 me into exile? Mary Hamilton, you will not refuse me 
 what I ask you on such a day as this ? " 
 
 " I would give my life for yours," she answered, scarce 
 above her breath. " What is it you would have me do ? " 
 
 " Listen," he replied. " I must be in the saddle soon after 
 nightfall. For reasons I cannot explain to you, it must be 
 supposed by the household that I have departed at sundown. 
 My very life is in danger, if I am known to have remained. 
 I cannot tell you why. Do you trust me ? " 
 She bowed her head. 
 
 " I trust you," she answered, very quietly, and he needed 
 only to look in her face for confirmation of her words. 
 
 " Then grant me my request," he resumed. " It is a 
 foolish fancy of mine, but you at least cannot blame, though 
 you may scoff at it. There is one person whom I must see 
 the very last before I depart. One face of which I must 
 take the picture with me, into banishment, engraven on my 
 heart, one hand of which the farewell pressure must remain 
 on mine till we meet again. An hour after supper I will 
 be at the door of the small garden into which your apartments 
 open. You will meet me there for the last last time ? " 
 N 193
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 She looked a good deal frightened and discomposed. 
 
 " But I shall not be dismissed so soon," she urged, " and 
 if I am absent they will come to look for me everywhere, and 
 oh ! I ought not ! I ought not ! " 
 
 He was prepared for her objection he knew the queen's 
 habit so well this was exactly what he wanted. 
 
 " Nay, then," he resumed, " I will ask you to risk nothing 
 for my sake ; and yet, see the last of the dear face, I must 
 and will. The days are short now. It is already twilight, 
 and it will be as dark as midnight in an hour. I will go 
 make my preparations for departure. Do you, as you enter, 
 unlock the garden-door and take the key with you ; it cannot 
 then be fastened from the inside. I will conceal myself 
 amongst the shrubs and wait for you there. As soon as you 
 are dismissed for the night you can come out and bid me 
 farewell." 
 
 " It is better not," she murmured, in sad perturbation. 
 She could not bear to refuse him, and yet all her womanly 
 feelings revolted at the clandestine nature of such a proceeding. 
 " We are close at home now. All good attend you, Chastelar. 
 I will pray for you night and morning farewell ! " 
 
 She gave him her hand, as if to take her final leave, but 
 she had not the heart to withdraw it at once. It lingered 
 long and lovingly in his clasp. 
 
 " Mary ! " said he, and the dear name came so tenderly off 
 his lips. " Mary ! you will not let me part from you thus ? " 
 
 " I will do as you wish," was all she answered, once more 
 dropping the hood over her face and hurrying away. They 
 were within a stone's-throw of the queen's lodging, and it was 
 already time for her to resume her duties. Her mind was in 
 a sad tumult when she left him. She felt she was going to 
 do wrong, deliberately wrong ; yet how could she refuse him ? 
 She loved him so, and he was going away ! 
 
 With a wicked smile, suggestive of anything but mirth 
 or happiness, engraven, as it were, on his countenance, 
 Chastelar strode up the narrow street to the stable in which 
 his trusty chestnut was disposed. This animal was a gift 
 from the queen, and valued accordingly. We would fain 
 describe him from his velvet muzzle to his flinty hoofs, for 
 where shall we find so seductive a theme as the beauty of a 
 horse ? but will only observe that he was in every respect a 
 fitting present from royalty. The Frenchman ordered his 
 favourite to be saddled with considerable parade, and spoke 
 loudly of the journey before him. Then, ostentatiously 
 assuming his arms and valise, mounted and rode away in 
 
 194
 
 A HEARTLESS RUSE 
 
 the direction of Dunfermline, followed, as his figure disappeared 
 in the gloom, by the admiring glances of such ostlers and 
 retainers as his noisy departure had gathered to observe him. 
 For a mile or so he proceeded along the coast, and then, 
 turning off the horse-track into the recess of an old quarry, 
 dismounted and fastened his horse to the roots of a whin-bush, 
 growing from the chinks in the cold blue stone. For all his 
 feverish excitement, he disposed the animal in a nook 
 sheltered from the chill east wind, and taking his own cloak 
 from about him cast it over the flanks of his dumb friend. 
 Then, with a farewell pat, he returned on foot the way he 
 had come, rapidly and breathlessly, never stopping till he 
 reached the hamlet of Burntisland, and saw the lights 
 twinkling once more in the queen's lodging. 
 
 He stole softly to the garden-gate, of which he had spoken 
 to Mary Hamilton. It opened noiselessly to his push. By 
 this time it was quite dark, and on entering the enclosure 
 he found no necessity for concealment amongst the scanty 
 shrubs it contained. Here he drew off his heavy horseman's 
 boots with extreme caution, and thus, with his rapier at his 
 side, and his pistols in his belt, took up his position close 
 against the door of the house, which opened outwards. 
 
 Here he waited, watched, and listened. A drizzling rain 
 was falling, and the wind was very keen, but, though stripped 
 to his doublet and hose, Chastelar was unconscious of the 
 weather. Had he been immersed in snow, he could scarce 
 have felt cold while that fever burned and raged so fiercely at 
 his heart. 
 
 195
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE MADNESS OF PASSION 
 
 "For constancy hath her place above, 
 
 And life is thorny, and youth is vain, 
 And to be wroth with one we love, 
 Doth work like madness in the brain." 
 
 THE queen's supper and the couchee which succeeded it 
 seemed endless. Her Majesty, though by no means 
 in her usual spirits, eating but little, and scarcely speaking at 
 all, was yet none the more disposed to dismiss her ladies and 
 betake herself to repose. Mary Hamilton, with flushed cheeks 
 and unsettled gestures, busied herself about every arrangement 
 she could think of that should further the process of retiring 
 for the night, till even the queen, rousing from her medita- 
 tions, taxed her with being fatigued after her ride, and did 
 not scruple to hint at the remarkable restlessness of her 
 demeanour. After this she controlled herself, indeed, with 
 an effort ; but felt the while, that if the suspense continued 
 much longer it would drive her mad. 
 
 It was Mary Seton's turn and hers to put the queen to 
 bed ; and the gossiping propensities of the former, whose 
 lively disposition never acknowledged fatigue or low spirits, 
 did by no means conduce to the despatch of matters. For 
 reasons of her own, too, this young lady chose to ask a series 
 of questions concerning the Earl of Bothwell, and the prob- 
 ability of his returning to Court, interspersed with remarks 
 on that nobleman and his borderers and his enemies all 
 delivered with considerable freedom and a flippancy peculiar 
 to herself. The queen, who seemed to-night more or less 
 impatient of every subject broached, at length called her a 
 saucy chatterbox, and bade her good-humouredly hold her 
 tongue. As usual, the reproof only produced a merry smile 
 and a provoking little grimace, at which her Majesty could 
 not forbear laughing, though she looked sadder than ever a 
 moment afterwards. 
 
 Wearily the minutes passed on. Mary Hamilton had 
 
 196
 
 THE MADNESS OF PASSION 
 
 never before thought royalty so exacting, or an attendance 
 on her own dear mistress so tiresome. One by one the queen's 
 garments had to be taken off, folded up and disposed, each in 
 its proper place ; then the loose flowing gown was brought 
 her by the senior maid-of-honour, and the junior let down the 
 long, rich hair that covered her more nobly than the mantle 
 of royalty itself. While Mistress Seton combed and stroked 
 those chestnut tresses carefully, Mistress Hamilton brought a 
 basin and ewer, offering it on her knees ; after which cere- 
 mony, it was her duty to place an ivory crucifix, and a small 
 lamp, with the queen's breviary, on the table by her bedside ; 
 then she handed her Majesty's beautiful rosary, consisting of 
 beads of sandal-wood, inlaid with silver, and Mary Stuart 
 betook her, after the manner of the ancient faith, to those 
 devotions she never neglected in her chequered life, and that 
 served her so nobly in the hour of trial with which it closed. 
 
 The maids-of-honour retired. Mary Seton would fain have 
 prolonged the conversation, even on the threshold of their 
 mutual chamber. She was never tired, not she ! but her 
 friend, vowing she had forgotten something in the supper- 
 room, hurried away downstairs, with a feeling of intense 
 relief, and yet horribly frightened and uncomfortable, as 
 she fled like a lapwing along the dark passages towards 
 the garden. 
 
 The servants and retainers had all gone to their repose, 
 wearied with the toils of the day, and anticipating an early 
 start on the morrow. Even in that small house there was 
 something gloomy and alarming in the profound silence. 
 Mary Hamilton, while conscious of the purity of her motives, 
 trembled, as innocence always does tremble, far more violently 
 than guilt ; and it was with a beating heart and quick-coming 
 breath that she reached the door, and, unfastening it gently, 
 peered out into the thick darkness beyond. For a minute or 
 two she waited, listening anxiously. Not a sound was to be 
 heard but the dull beat of the tide upon the shore. Then she 
 advanced a few paces into the garden, now that it seemed 
 likely to elude her, more resolved upon the interview than 
 she could have believed possible a short while ago. The 
 small rain struck chill against her face, and she strained her 
 eyes in vain to pierce the surrounding gloom. 
 
 Had she turned round at this moment, she might perhaps 
 have faintly distinguished a dark shadow that passed swiftly 
 from behind the door, and entered the house by the passage 
 she had just quitted. But she was intent only on Chastelar. 
 She stepped softly to the garden-door, and peeped into the 
 
 197
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 sandy lane on which it opened. Here there was a little more 
 light, and she could see some ten or a dozen paces to right 
 and left. No living object was discernible; the rain fell 
 faster, and the tide moaned and gurgled in its ebb and flow 
 against the shallow beach. Mary Hamilton was puzzled and 
 distressed. An hour ago she would have hailed as an un- 
 speakable relief the news that Chastelar had actually gone 
 without further parley, but now that she had been schooling 
 herself and stringing her nerves for an interview, it was 
 provoking that so much agitation should be wasted for 
 nothing; it seemed hard and cruel not to see him just once 
 again. 
 
 She ventured on a gentle cough; a timid whisper, very 
 soft and cautious; there was no result. At last she spoke 
 his name out loud, and then, half-frightened and a good deal 
 disappointed, made her way back into the house, barring the 
 door after her with as little noise as her trembling hands 
 would permit. 
 
 Poor Mary Hamilton ! In that dark passage she paused 
 to lay her head against the wall and weep. She dared not 
 return at once to the chamber which she shared with her 
 comrades, in case any one of them should be awake. She felt 
 she could not brook observation or remark on her streaming 
 eyes and agitated looks. As the tears flowed silently, they 
 did her so much good ! For weeks the girl had been living 
 in a morbid state of overstrung excitement. Continually in 
 the presence of the man she loved, and that man gifted with 
 many brilliant qualities exceedingly attractive to the female 
 heart; never convinced of his preference, yet suspecting it 
 from a thousand trifles that she naturally interpreted in her 
 own favour ; living in an atmosphere of alternate hope and 
 fear, exposed to the daily charm of his person, his conversa- 
 tion, his musical talents, and his warm foreign cordiality, it 
 was no wonder that she hailed as a blissful relief the certainty 
 which she was persuaded had burst upon her to-day, even 
 though accompanied by the miserable conviction that she 
 must bid him a long, perhaps a hopeless farewell. The sweet 
 and the bitter were strangely mingled in the cup she had 
 drained so eagerly the cup that slakes, but never quenches 
 thirst. She was so relieved, and yet so troubled ; so proud, 
 and yet so fearful ; so happy, yet so sad. What could a 
 poor woman do but droop her head and weep her heart out, 
 simply because she was a woman ? 
 
 Suddenly she started as if she had been shot. A loud 
 shriek, followed by a succession of outcries for assistance in 
 
 198
 
 THE MADNESS OF PASSION 
 
 the queen's voice, rang through the small house, and were 
 quickly followed by the scuffling of feet, the banging of doors, 
 and the tumult of many tongues, in which the shrill tones of 
 the maids -of- honour predominated. Lights were already 
 glancing in the passages ; women in white, with pale, scared 
 faces, and half-dressed men but half-awake, snatching at what- 
 ever weapons came to hand, rushed to and fro tumultuously ; 
 everybody seemed exceedingly alarmed and excited, but none 
 to know the least what was the matter. All this Mary 
 Hamilton observed as we see things in a dream, while she 
 rushed upstairs, and dashed unhesitatingly into the queen's 
 chamber. 
 
 The sight that met her there arrested her as if by magic 
 on the threshold. In the twinkling of an eye, the warm 
 impulsive woman seemed frozen into a statue. 
 
 Pale as her night-gear, breathless and trembling, while 
 she clung to her brother's shoulder for support, yet with the 
 Stuart frown stamped sternly on her brow, the queen was 
 gazing in fear and anger on the dark figure of a man who 
 stood, with his arms folded, in the corner of the apartment. 
 That man, calm, erect, defiant, almost sublime in the intre- 
 pidity with which he confronted threatening brows and 
 levelled weapons (for already the royal retainers were filling 
 the place), was Chastelar. Mary Hamilton turned sick and 
 giddy while she looked. The queen raved and shook, and 
 seemed half-mad with fear and shame ; her ladies crowded 
 about her in helpless astonishment and dismay, while the 
 servants and men-at-arms glanced from one to another, 
 utterly at their wits' end. Except the fatal cause himself 
 of all this disturbance, Moray alone seemed to retain his 
 presence of mind. Alternately, he soothed his frantic sister, 
 and gave directions to the astonished bystanders. 
 
 " Stab him ! " exclaimed the queen, pointing with shaking 
 hand at the unfortunate man who stood there, so pale, so 
 calm, offering no attempt at escape or resistance. " Brother, 
 for the honour of our house, put your sword through him, an' 
 ye be half a Stuart ! Let him not live an hour to boast of 
 this daring, this atrocious insult ! Oh, it is too much too 
 much ! " 
 
 The queen covered her face with both hands, completely 
 overcome ; her beautiful hair, escaping from the ribbon which 
 confined it, fell over her shoulders to her waist. Chastelar 
 looked proudly and lovingly at her even then. Madman ! 
 even then ! 
 
 " Nay, madam," urged Moray, with soothing accents, " be- 
 
 199
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 think you, I beseech your grace. In the name of prudence 
 and discretion, bid me not dip my hands in the blood of this 
 man. Remember, you have yourself treated him with over- 
 courtesy and kindness, to the offence of your nobility, and, 
 pardon me for saying it, to the scandal of the Court. Reflect, 
 madam, what shall the world think of it when they hear that 
 a queen's musician was found in a queen's bedchamber, and 
 put to death lest he should tell the tale ? " 
 
 The queen raised her head with flashing eyes. 
 
 " You dare to shield him, Moray ! You ! my own blood ! " 
 she vociferated. " On your allegiance, I charge you. What ! 
 You will never let him speak ! To the death with him on the 
 spot!" 
 
 But Moray knew the pliant and forgiving nature of her 
 with whom he had to deal. 
 
 " Nay, madam," said the prudent earl, " patience ; I entreat 
 you, patience ; the unhappy man is clearly distraught ; let us 
 not shed his blood unwittingly. He shall be brought to 
 justice, and punished according to his deserving ; so shall his 
 treason be sufficiently expiated by death. Remove him," he 
 added, speaking composedly to the men-at-arms, who crowded 
 round the door. " Bind him forthwith, and let him be placed 
 securely in ward." 
 
 Chastelar still remained perfectly immovable ; never once 
 had he taken his eyes off the queen's face ; never once had 
 the strange longing, loving gaze, with its dash of wild triumph 
 and its depth of intense affection, faded or varied for an in- 
 stant. While they bound him fast, drawing a girdle tight 
 round his arms above the elbow, he neither seemed to feel 
 the pressure, nor to be conscious of the indignity ; while they 
 pressed round him and hustled him from the room, his looks 
 never strayed for an instant from the queen. 
 
 All this Mary Hamilton saw as if in a trance. Though 
 every stroke of her pulse beat with a loud stupefying clang 
 upon her brain, she knew that this was reality, that this was 
 truth, that there was no hope of awaking to find it all a 
 dream ; but when Chastelar reached the door, and, beholding 
 the queen no longer, seemed roused to consciousness at last, 
 she met his eye for the first time, and the whole hopeless 
 misery of her situation rushed upon her at once. 
 
 He smiled on her very sadly and kindly ; there was a pity- 
 ing, remorseful expression in his 'face a wistful, mournful 
 tenderness in his glance : she could bear it no longer, and she 
 fainted dead away upon the floor. 
 
 200
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 ACRIMONIA THEOLOGICA 
 
 ' And grant me his life ! ' Lady Margaret cried ; 
 
 ' Oh ! grant but his life to me ! 
 And I'll give ye my gold and my lands so wide, 
 
 An' ye let my love go free. 
 
 ' And spare me his life ! ' Lady Margaret prest, 
 
 ' As ye hope for a pardon above ; 
 And I'll give ye the heart from out of my breast 
 
 For the life of my own true love ! '" 
 
 LTHOUGH the gayest of the gay, 
 where revelry was in the ascendant, 
 and gifted with that tameless cour- 
 age and those qualities of endurance 
 which were the characteristics of her 
 family, alas ! too often proved in the 
 reverses of that ill-fated line, Mary 
 Stuart was subject to constitutional 
 fits of dejection, the more painful 
 that she struggled bravely against 
 the incubus; and, however much 
 it may have darkened her spirits, 
 never suffered it to affect her temper. 
 
 The queen was always kind, considerate, and smiling towards 
 her household, even while her eyes were full of tears, and her 
 heart was sore with undefined anxieties and anticipations 
 of evil for which she saw no obvious cause. Her Majesty 
 was generally more free from such depressing influences 
 at St. Andrews than elsewhere. The keen sea-breezes of 
 that bracing locality seemed to have a favourable effect 
 upon her health, and she enjoyed, above all things, the 
 absence of state and ceremony, on which she specially 
 insisted in the old cathedral town. Fond as she was of 
 the saddle, it was a great pleasure to the beautiful queen 
 to gallop over the spacious sands that skirt St. Andrews 
 Bay, where she could enjoy a stretch of two miles and 
 
 201
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 more, to the mouth of the river Eden, careering along on 
 the firm hard surface, with the spray of the German Ocean 
 wet on her cheek, and her horse's feet splashing amongst the 
 spent waves of the receding tide. Then she delighted to fly 
 her hawk at the wild-fowl abounding a mile or so inland, 
 returning by the well-known chain of grassy, sandy hillocks, 
 that are there called links, and devoted in modern times 
 by the Scottish gentry to their national recreation of golf. 
 Sometimes crossing the Eden at the shallows near its mouth, 
 she would roam over the waste of low grounds that stretch to 
 the northward, perhaps as far as a small straggling hamlet, in 
 days of old a Roman settlement, defended by one of their 
 masterly encampments, and called by the legions, Lochores 
 a Latinism which the Scottish peasant of to-day reproduces 
 in the name of Leuchars. 
 
 Then, on her return from these joyous expeditions to the 
 small house in the South Street, selected for her own royal 
 residence, she gathered her few intimates and friends around 
 her, and passed the evenings in amusement and hilarity, from 
 which the very name of business was rigidly excluded. 
 
 To one who was so staunch a supporter of the faith in 
 which she had been brought up, not the least attractive fea- 
 ture in this picturesque town was its beautiful cathedral, that 
 goodly edifice which the over-zealous followers of John Knox 
 thought it no sacrilege to devastate, and of which a fine ruin 
 alone remains to suggest to us what it must once have been. 
 
 The antiquary prowling about the moss-grown flag-stones 
 that pave its aisles, or prying into nooks and corners of sink- 
 ing buttress and mouldering walls, finds memory sharpened 
 and curiosity stimulated at every turn. The philosopher, 
 contemplating the length and breadth of that spacious area, 
 heretofore rich with the decorations of architecture, and glow- 
 ing in the pomp and pageantry of Romish piety, recalls the 
 solemn music, the swinging censers, the carven images, the 
 twinkling lights, the florid altar, the gilded crozier, and the 
 mitred abbot, with his train of monks and choristers winding 
 solemnly up the dusky nave. He speculates, half-pitying, 
 half-sneering, on the various modes in which men offer their 
 homage to the true God the Mollah exhorting the faithful 
 Moslem from a minaret, the priest pattering Latin in a corner 
 before a crucifix, the precentor's nasal psalmody quivering 
 within the unsightly walls of a Presbyterian meeting-house 
 and he reflects that the forms of religion change like the 
 fashion of a garment, and that the offertory of yesterday 
 becomes the superstition of to-day, and the mummery of 
 
 202
 
 ACRIMONIA THEOLOGICA 
 
 to-morrow ; but the Christian, looking upward to that ruined 
 arch, through the stained glass of which, as through a prism, 
 the light was wont to stream with rainbow colouring, sees the 
 blue sky of heaven smiling changeless in its span, and rejoices 
 to believe that clear as the blessed light of day is the light of 
 piety, penetrating the disguises and the ceremonials and the 
 ignorant prejudices of weak humanity, like the sunshine that 
 vivifies as surely the dusky slab lurking in the gloomiest 
 corner of the cathedral, as the fresh daisy raising its head on 
 the free mountain-side. What matters the fashion of the 
 cup, chased in gold, or of broken pottery, so the parched lips 
 can but drain their fill of the waters of life ? 
 
 It was the queen's habit to devote the early part of the day 
 to such affairs of state as would not excuse neglect, even at 
 St. Andrews, and to the usual household duties, which every 
 lady in the land, royalty included, then found to occupy a 
 considerable portion of her time. At twelve, she dined 
 temperately and hastily, after which she mounted her horse, 
 and, accompanied by as small a retinue as possible, devoted 
 the afternoon to exercise and amusement. 
 
 It was on the second day after her arrival at St. Andrews 
 that she agreed to Mary Hamilton's request, who begged that 
 she might be allowed to accompany her mistress in the daily 
 ride. The queen had seen with concern the sad change that 
 had come over her favourite's looks, and although surprised 
 at this departure from her usual habits (for the maid-of-honour 
 was a timid and unskilful horsewoman), willingly acceded to 
 a proposal that promised to bring back the colour to her cheek 
 and the light to her eye. With a couple of men-at-arms and 
 a page, as their sole escort, they left the town by its southern 
 gate, taking the horse-track that led to the broad expanse of 
 Magus-Muir, a locality destined in subsequent troubles to 
 obtain an odious celebrity for the murder of Archbishop 
 Sharpe at the hands of the Covenanters, but only interesting 
 to Mary and her courtiers that it was rich in an abundance 
 of wild-fowl. 
 
 Chastelar had been already tried on the charge of high 
 treason, and sentenced to death ; he was to be beheaded the 
 following morning at daybreak. It was perhaps natural that 
 neither Mary nor her maid-of-honour should have exchanged 
 a syllable concerning his fate. 
 
 The queen was riding Black Agnes. As soon as they 
 were clear of the town, she put her horse into a gallop, and 
 never drew bridle for several miles. It did not, however, 
 escape her Majesty's observation that the animal on which 
 
 203
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Mary Hamilton was mounted, a bay of great strength and 
 spirit, usually uncontrollable by the gentle hand of a lady, 
 was going in a perfectly docile and collected form ; also, that 
 the girl seemed to-day perfectly free from the timidity which 
 commonly left her miles behind her mistress in these scampers 
 across a country. They had already lost sight of the sea, and 
 had gained a wild inland district of moss and moor, varied 
 here and there with patches of cultivation, and interspersed 
 with a few fir-trees of stunted growth, and an occasional cairn 
 of stones breaking the level skyline, when the queen pulled 
 up at the top of an acclivity, and pointing to a solitary horse- 
 man stationed, as if expecting them, at the foot of the slope, 
 observed to her companion, with a wild attempt at cheerful- 
 ness obviously forced 
 
 "You scarcely thought, Mary, I was entrapping you to 
 witness a rendezvous. It is a romantic spot for the purpose, 
 nevertheless, and yonder is the gallant who has kept tryst 
 with me as he promised, faithfully enough." 
 
 Mary Hamilton would have felt it an unspeakable relief to 
 have burst into tears. The whole fabric of her morning's 
 work was swept away by the sight of that plain dark figure, so 
 stationary yonder on his horse. She would have given her 
 life for half an hour's conversation with the queen alone, 
 although (strange inconsistency) she dared not ask her 
 indulgent mistress point-blank to accord her that trifling 
 favour, and now, this hateful stranger would probably hang 
 about them all day, and to-morrow it would be too late. A 
 thousand shadowy and incongruous impossibilities crossed 
 her brain, too, at the same moment, all turning upon the one 
 sickening certainty, that even while she grasped at their 
 consolations, she felt too surely it would be out of mortal 
 power to avert. She answered with a ghastly smile that 
 startled the queen, and totally unconscious of what she said 
 the while 
 
 " Let us go to meet him, madam ; it may be that he can 
 give us some hope." 
 
 Mary stared at her attendant vaguely, and shook her head, 
 then, putting her horse in motion, descended the slope towards 
 the solitary traveller, flushing a brace of wary old moor-fowl 
 and a curlew, while she plunged and scrambled with charac- 
 teristic fearlessness through the broken ground that intervened. 
 The horseman dismounted as she approached, and did her 
 homage with a grave dignified air, not without something 
 of caustic humour that recognised the peculiarity of the 
 situation. 
 
 204
 
 ACRIMONIA THEOLOGICA 
 
 " I might not fail to do your grace's bidding," said he, 
 " even in so light a matter, as to see you fly your hawk on 
 Magus-Muir, but in good faith, madam, a younger cavalier 
 could scarce have ridden harder than I have done since 
 sunrise, and my old bones ache to some purpose for my 
 punctuality." 
 
 " Nay, Master Knox," answered the queen, with marked 
 favour, " those of your blood have been ever willing to set foot 
 in stirrup at the bidding of the Stuart, and I have been taught 
 to believe that a black cassock may cover as stout a heart and 
 as loyal as a steel breastplate. Behold, I have here a fitting 
 reward for your punctuality, to be given with the cordial good 
 wishes of your queen." 
 
 Thus speaking, Mary drew from her bosom a crystal 
 watch of curious and elaborate workmanship, large, substantial, 
 and of considerable thickness, but esteemed a triumph of 
 mechanical ingenuity, and presented it to the gratified 
 churchman, with a charm of manner that increased the value 
 of the gift a. thousand-fold. He bowed low over the royal 
 hand that proffered so flattering a favour, and mounted his 
 horse once more with an air of extreme satisfaction and the 
 ready alacrity of a youth. 
 
 So far all was progressing smoothly, but Mary Stuart, 
 judging of the human temperament by her own, was 
 persuaded that the exhilarating influence of a gallop would 
 produce the mollifying results she desired, and render even 
 stern John Knox malleable to the purpose she had in view. 
 
 " Ye are not so strict," said Mary, " but that ye like well to 
 see a fair flight, and I have a hawk here, Master Knox, that 
 hath not her equal on the wing this side the sea ; nay," she 
 added playfully, as he seemed about to excuse himself, and 
 muttered something of "business" and "distance," "'ye have 
 thought fit to reprove all my other amusements, my feastings, 
 and fiddlings, and masquings, and such-like, nor have I borne 
 you any grudge, for that I believed you to be sincere, but ye 
 love a good horse well I know, and can reclaim a hawk, for 
 all your solemn bearing and grave studies, with the best of us. 
 By these gloves, I will never forgive you, an' ye join not my 
 pastime to-day." 
 
 Thus speaking, the queen signed to her page, who came 
 up with a beautiful falcon on his wrist. The bird was trans- 
 ferred to her Majesty, and seemed to shake its bells more 
 gaily, and raise its hooded head more proudly, as though it 
 knew and loved the hand that sleeked its neck-plumage with 
 so gentle a caress. 
 
 205
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 The churchman was nothing loth. Despite a weak frame 
 and failing health, his bold, ardent nature, the same disposi- 
 tion that under different circumstances would have made him 
 a soldier, a statesman, an explorer, or an adventurer, bade 
 him take delight in the free air of the moorland and the stride 
 of a good horse. He settled himself in the saddle, gathered 
 his reins, and professed his readiness to attend her Majesty. 
 
 "These creatures," said he, arguing down some scruples 
 of his own which much enhanced the promised gratification, 
 " are given for our lawful recreation. Man is doubtless lord 
 over the beasts of the field. I will stay to witness one flight 
 of that long-winged falcon ; 'tis a goodly bird indeed if I 
 know aught of the craft. One flight, and so crave your 
 Majesty's licence to depart" 
 
 The queen smiled her assent, and galloped merrily on to a 
 waste marshy surface, where the tramp of their horses ere long 
 flushed a wisp of wild-fowl, and Mary, throwing her hawk in 
 the air, was soon scouring over the moor at a break-neck 
 pace, her eyes fixed on the sky, and her whole attention 
 absorbed by the gyrations of her favourite. John Knox, too, 
 casting aside for the moment his cares and responsibilities, 
 entered into the sport with the eagerness of a boy. It was 
 seldom indeed that zealous man shared in any of the lighter 
 amusements of the time ; but in pleasure as in business, 
 whatever he found to do Master Knox went about with his 
 whole heart and soul. The wrinkles seemed to smooth 
 themselves on his brow as the wild wind swept back his thin 
 grey locks, and he felt ten years younger, while the blood 
 leapt warm in every pulse, and he urged his steed forward 
 with leg and rein in the excitement of the flight. 
 
 Mary Hamilton rode like a woman in a dream. The bay 
 horse, accustomed to fret and chafe under the restraining 
 influence of the bit, seemed bewildered by his unusual freedom. 
 He had plunged and bounded away with his head in the air, 
 according to his wont, prepared for a contest in which he was 
 sure to obtain the mastery, and he may or may not have been 
 disappointed to find that his rider's carelessness of conse- 
 quences exceeded his own, and that he was suffered to exhaust 
 his mettle far more rapidly than he expected. With a stony 
 white face, and her abundant hair streaming over her 
 shoulders, the maid-of-honour sat back in the saddle, and flew 
 along at a pace that even Black Agnes could not surpass, 
 unconscious apparently of amusement, or danger, or excite- 
 ment, or anything but the relief afforded to her mental anguish 
 by the physical sense of being carried with such velocity 
 
 206
 
 T '/ ^' / 4f>y; 
 
 .' vx m* -> / A# '.A' ^ 
 
 utln kiu toHole 
 and boul
 
 ACRIMONIA THEOLOGICA 
 
 through the air. When the mallard was struck to earth at 
 last, and the horses were pulled up, with panting sides and 
 dilated nostrils, and wild eyes all aglow with excitement, the 
 queen gazed on her reckless attendant in surprise, and even 
 the severe reformer remonstrated with her, popish damsel 
 though she were, for the utter disregard in which she seemed 
 to hold that white neck of hers, and the probability of 
 breaking it in such a headlong career. 
 
 " Fair mistress," quoth Master Knox, " there is reason 
 in all things ; over-caution supposes want of faith, but the 
 contrary extreme, such as you have exhibited to-day, denotes 
 presumption and foolhardiness. You are young; humanly 
 speaking you have many years before you. You would not 
 willingly be cut off like a flower in its bloom. Why should 
 you thus risk your life as if there was no to-morrow ? " 
 
 She did not seem to hear him. She answered nothing, but 
 the last word of his sentence seemed to strike some chord 
 within her, for she turned away muttering below her breath, 
 "To-morrow. It will be too late to-morrow," and clasped her 
 hands upon her breast as if in pain. John Knox did not 
 observe her, for his attention was now taken up by the queen, 
 who seeing in his face, which was bright with repressed excite- 
 ment, that the propitious moment had arrived, motioned him 
 to her side, and moving her palfrey out of earshot of the 
 others, broached the subject that had led her to invite him 
 thus to join in her favourite amusement. 
 
 " I have brought ye a long ride, Master Knox," she said, 
 " and I would ye could return and taste a cup of sack at our 
 poor lodging in St. Andrews, but I know your busy avocations, 
 and that ye will not willingly be absent from Edinburgh a day 
 longer than is necessary. Ere you depart, I would fain ask 
 your opinion on a subject of toleration." 
 
 At the ominous word, the divine's whole countenance 
 changed as the sky changes after a chance blink of sunshine 
 in December. The clouds of controversy gathered on his 
 brow, and suspicion gleamed in his cold piercing eyes. The 
 queen saw the storm brewing, and added, with a pleading 
 sweetness few men would have been able to resist, " The sun 
 smiles on all alike ; the blessed rain of heaven falls on the 
 just and on the unjust. Which of us shall penetrate our 
 neighbour's motives, or judge our neighbour's heart?" 
 
 "Ye shall have no dealings with the ungodly," replied 
 Knox hastily, with an instinctive prescience of what was 
 coming; "the Amalekite is to be smitten root and branch 
 till he be destroyed out of the land. But I anticipate 
 
 207
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 your grace, and have not yet been favoured with your 
 commands." 
 
 He took himself up shortly, as though aware and a little 
 ashamed of his ill-manners. The queen, reining in her horse, 
 proceeded with great earnestness. 
 
 "The spring is now approaching, and you know with 
 what devotion we, of the Catholic faith, look forward to the 
 solemnities of Easter. I am not ashamed to solicit your 
 interest that my fellow - religionists should be suffered to 
 observe that festival with their accustomed ceremonies 
 unmolested. I know too well the feelings of the party who 
 call themselves the Reformed Church. I know (none better, 
 and ye cannot deny that I have reason) Master Knox's 
 influence with that powerful majority, and his sovereign 
 entreats him thus in confidence to exert it in the cause of 
 charity and peace and goodwill amongst men." t 
 
 It was a powerful appeal from a monarch to a subject, 
 especially under the peculiar circumstances of the moment. 
 Riding alone over the breezy upland with that beautiful 
 woman, under the exciting influence of wild scenery and an 
 inspiriting gallop, the heart softened by the smile of nature, 
 and the blood tingling with exercise, few men but would have 
 found it impossible to resist a suppliant, who was at the same 
 time a queen and such a queen. Loyalty demanded obedi- 
 ence, self-interest whispered the advantages of royal favour, 
 and the impolicy of refusing a sovereign, ambition drew a 
 dazzling picture of the eventual triumph of the cause wrought 
 out by the judicious concessions of one man alone, and that 
 man venerated as the great pillar of Protestantism in Europe ; 
 but conscience thundered "No"; and to do Knox justice, he 
 never wavered nor hesitated for an instant. His lineaments 
 looked more rugged, his brow more uncompromising than 
 usual, when he rejoined 
 
 " Your grace has addressed me frankly, and as frankly I 
 reply to you. If by holding up my finger I could retain for 
 the Church of Rome any one of the privileges that are daily 
 and hourly slipping from her grasp, if by so doing I could re- 
 lieve her from one of the least of the indignities or calamities 
 which are surely gathering round her head from the four 
 quarters of heaven, see, madam, as I ride here a living man 
 before you, I would keep it clenched down by force till the 
 nail grew through the palm of my hand ! I am a soldier, I 
 will not desert my banner ; I am an heir, I will not alienate 
 my birthright ; I am an honest man, I will do my duty at all 
 hazards, in the face of every prince in Europe." 
 
 208
 
 ACRIMONIA THEOLOGICA 
 
 He looked sublime while he spoke; the weak, ungainly 
 figure reared itself in the saddle with all the pride of a 
 Colossus, and never a belted earl could have borne a nobler 
 front in coronet and ermine than did that minister of the 
 Church in the fearless integrity of his purpose. Mary grew 
 pale with anger and disappointment ; nevertheless she had 
 long since learned the painful lesson of self-control, and she 
 forced herself to speak calmly, while her very blood was 
 boiling within. 
 
 " Would ye refuse to others the liberty of worship ye exact 
 for yourselves? Would ye persecute men who differ from 
 you only in their mode of worship, more ruthlessly than the 
 pagan emperors persecuted those early Christians who were 
 our teachers as well as yours ? Bethink ye, Master Knox, this 
 is a world of change. The old faith hath many staunch 
 supporters still. Men's minds may alter as they have altered 
 ere now, and those who are all-powerful to-day may find 
 themselves petitioners for mercy to-morrow. Is it well to 
 exasperate beyond endurance those who may in their turn 
 come to have the upper hand ? " 
 
 The implied threat was injudicious and ill - timed ; she 
 would have done better, knowing with whom she had to deal, 
 either to have given vent to her indignation and defied him 
 outright, or to have repressed it altogether ; but she was only 
 a woman after all, and womanlike, could not entirely separate 
 the two sensations of anger and fear, so she adopted those 
 half-measures to which her sex is fain to have recourse in a 
 difficulty, and roused his spirit while she tried to work upon 
 his apprehensions. 
 
 " I defy the Romish Antichrist as I defy the principle of 
 evil itself," replied Knox, with kindling eyes and excited 
 gestures. " Am I a watchman set upon a hill, and shall I 
 leave my post because the enemy is at hand? Am I a 
 shepherd in the wilderness, and shall I abandon my flock 
 because the storm is gathering on the horizon ? No, madam, 
 once again I tell you that if you count on my allegiance in 
 this matter, I renounce it ; if you depend on my loyalty, I am 
 a rebel ! " 
 
 "It seems so," she replied very coldly, and yet there was 
 a tone of utter sadness and desolation in her voice that smote 
 on the churchman's heart. With looks of tender pity and 
 concern, such as a father bends upon a favourite child, he 
 would have argued with her once more, would fain have ex- 
 pounded to her the fallacies of her doctrines, and recalled her 
 from the way which he conscientiously believed to be the 
 O 209
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 very highroad to destruction ; but, as is often the case in 
 such disputes, the more one yielded the more the other 
 encroached, and she cut him short with haughty impatience, 
 reining in her horse, and pointing with outstretched arm 
 towards the south. 
 
 " Yonder lies your homeward way, Master Knox," said the 
 queen, " and here is mine ; I sent for you to listen to my 
 proposals, not to hear your pulpit declamations at second- 
 hand. When next we meet, others may have found means to 
 tame that haughty spirit, and the avowed rebel may be glad 
 to solicit pardon from his sovereign. I have no further need 
 of you ; you may depart ! " 
 
 The dismissal was as peremptory as it was unceremonious ; 
 though burning to reply and charged with argument, he could 
 not pretend to misunderstand it, and unwillingly withdrew. 
 Ere the tramp of his horse had died out on the heathery 
 sward, Mary burst into a passion of tears which she could 
 no longer control ; then bending her head low to her horse's 
 neck, put Black Agnes once more to her speed, and fol- 
 lowed by her attendants, galloped off in the direction of 
 St. Andrews. 
 
 Independent of her own private sorrows and distresses, 
 the queen's political position was at this time one of peculiar 
 difficulty and anxiety. A sincere Catholic, and consequently, 
 from the very nature of her faith, an ardent upholder of its 
 infallibility, and advocate for proselytism, she was compelled 
 by the exigencies of her station to give countenance to its 
 most determined foes. Not only did she see its tenets re- 
 pudiated by the great majority of her people, but the very 
 toleration they extorted for themselves was denied to her, 
 and it was a subject of open discontent that the mass, which 
 had been suppressed elsewhere, was suffered to be performed 
 in the queen's own chapel at Holyrood. The very adviser 
 on whom she placed the utmost reliance, her half-brother, the 
 Earl of Moray, was the chief supporter of the Protestant 
 party in her kingdom. And although Seton and a few more 
 of her nobility remained secretly attached to the old faith, 
 their number was comparatively trifling, and their zeal 
 scarcely proof against the temptations of ambition and self- 
 interest. 
 
 Then, as if her difficulties were not sufficiently perplexing 
 without foreign interference, her relatives, the Guises, lost no 
 opportunity of reminding her that they looked to her alone 
 for the restoration of the religion in Scotland, and eventually 
 over the whole of Britain ; whilst a strong party in Spain 
 
 210
 
 ACRIMONIA THEOLOGICA 
 
 furnishing her, for aid, with nothing but unasked advice, 
 actually reproached her for lukewarmness in the cause to 
 which she was sacrificing day by day her authority, her 
 comfort, her very safety, and to which she was so sincerely 
 attached, that, rather than resign it, she would have lost, as 
 she afterwards did lose, her crown, ay, and the head that it 
 encircled. 
 
 The insults levelled at her person, through her belief, 
 constantly goaded her to anger, which prudential considera- 
 tions urged her to suppress ; and when pictures were paraded 
 before her in the streets, ridiculing all that she held most 
 sacred, and priests maltreated in her own chapel for the 
 performance of their ritual and hers, it is painful to 
 imagine the feelings of a sensitive woman and a queen com- 
 pelled to forego her revenge, and even to court the favour of 
 those undutiful subjects who had originated such overt and 
 outrageous scandal. 
 
 No wonder she galloped on with burning cheeks and 
 swelling heart, reflecting only on the failure of her benevolent 
 scheme so thwarted by the obstinate integrity of Knox, and 
 insensible as the very horse that carried her to the beautiful 
 scene opened out at her very feet. Before her lay the noble 
 sweep of St. Andrews Bay, framed, as it were, in its golden 
 sands, that stretched far to the north along the coast of 
 Forfarshire, till their tawny line was lost in the distant ocean 
 at the jutting promontory of the Red-head. Clear against 
 the blue expanse, dotted here and there with a white sail, rose 
 the delicate pinnacles of the cathedral, supported on the right 
 by the bluff square tower of St. Regulus, firm and massive like 
 some bold champion, proud yet careful of his charge. On the 
 left, far out into the water, stood the sea-girt defences of the 
 castle, while between these prominent objects many a graceful 
 arch and pointed spire denoted the churches and colleges 
 adorning that stronghold of learning and piety, refining the 
 taste with their exalted beauty, whilst they carried the eye 
 upwards towards heaven. Below these, the smiling town, 
 with its white houses and gardens scattered more and more 
 as they neared the water, straggled downwards to the beach ; 
 and, beyond all, the broad sea lay, calm and mighty in the 
 serenity of its majestic repose. On her bridle-hand, Mary 
 might have scanned the wide champaign of two counties, 
 through which two rivers ran in parallel lines to the ocean, the 
 intermediate space dotted with woods and rich in cultivation, 
 the river Eden gleaming like silver in the foreground, the 
 smoke of Dundee floating white against the dark heights of 
 
 211
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Forfarshire, as it followed the downward current of the Tay, 
 and in the far distance, the dim outline of the noble Grampians, 
 losing their misty tops amongst the clouds that streaked the 
 placid sky. 
 
 Yet Mary marked nothing of this. With a flushed cheek, 
 with a drooping head, and, oh! with a cruel sorrow at her 
 heart, she galloped on, and never checked her pace, nor 
 addressed her attendants, till she reached the gate of the 
 ecclesiastical city once more. Then she drew rein, and as 
 they rode together up the South Street, she blamed herself 
 that she had not sooner observed and taken pity on Mary 
 Hamilton's obvious exhaustion both of mind and body. The 
 bay horse was, ere this, reduced to a state of abject submission 
 and docility ; the bridle, on which he was wont to strain so 
 eagerly, lay loose upon his neck, and he seemed to be looking 
 about for his stable with a very wistful expression of fatigue 
 and discomfiture ; but his rider's face was pale and rigid, while 
 her eye was wide open, and her mouth firmly set ; she seemed 
 unconscious of all that was passing around her, and disclosed 
 that vacant, yet pitiful expression of face which is only to be 
 seen in those who walk in their sleep, or who are undergoing 
 some racking torture of mind by which their outer faculties 
 are benumbed. 
 
 " You are weary, child," said the queen kindly. " I should 
 have remembered you are not so indefatigable a rider as 
 myself. Well, we are at home now, and I shall not require 
 you again this evening." 
 
 So speaking, the queen leapt lightly from her palfrey, and 
 flung the rein to the attending page, but as she did so she 
 looked once more in the face of Mary Hamilton, who was dis- 
 mounting, and something she saw there made her start back, 
 and exclaim in an agitated whisper 
 
 " What is it, child ? You frighten me ! What is it ? " 
 
 The other found her voice at last, but it came husky and 
 broken to her lips. 
 
 " For mercy sake, madam !" said she, " let me unrobe you, 
 my kind mistress, do not deny me this one favour ! Let me 
 unrobe you, and alone." 
 
 The queen, though still startled, blushed vividly as some- 
 thing crossed her mind, that yet seemed partly to reassure 
 her, and she beckoned her maid-of-honour to follow as she 
 entered her private apartments ; then dismissing her other 
 attendants, threw herself into a chair, and with the colour 
 not yet faded from her brow, bade Mary Hamilton unburthen 
 herself of this dreadful grief that was weighing on her mind. 
 
 212
 
 ACRIMONIA THEOLOGICA 
 
 A burst of hysterical weeping was the result, but it calmed 
 and relieved the sufferer, until she could find words in which 
 to offer her petition and tell her pitiful tale. Women are 
 wonderfully patient of such affections in their own sex, and 
 the harshest of them will be gentle and considerate with one 
 of these outbreaks that they have agreed to call " nervous 
 attacks." Much more so, kindly Mary Stuart; soothing her 
 attendant like a child, she soon restored her to sufficient 
 composure to make intelligible the boon she had all day been 
 striving to entreat. What this was an hour or two would 
 disclose. In the meantime, the queen and her maiden sat 
 whispering in the darkening twilight, till the shafts and 
 pinnacles of the neighbouring cathedral loomed grim and 
 fantastic in the shadows of nightfall, and the light in the 
 sacristan's window told that the time of vespers was already 
 past. 
 
 At the same hour, John Knox, riding steadily along the 
 road to Edinburgh, was beguiling the gloomy journey with a 
 proud recollection of his resistance to the queen's advances, 
 sternly reminding his conscience that animosity to the Papists 
 was a Christian's duty, and that forgiveness was no Christian 
 virtue to one of another faith. 
 
 And Chastelar in his dungeon was preparing for death by 
 reflection on the pitiless beauty of her in whose face he would 
 never look again. 
 
 213
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE MAIDEN'S MISSION 
 
 " While hate itself is fain to shrink, 
 
 Love freely ventures lose or win 
 And friendship shivers on the brink, 
 Where love leaps boldly in." 
 
 THE wind was rising out at sea with fitful sullen moans ; 
 the town of St. Andrews was wrapped in thick darkness, 
 save that at long intervals a light glimmered from some lofty 
 window, showing where the pale student bent over his weary 
 labour ; the gathering waves rolled in with increasing volume, 
 breaking heavily against the rocky base of the old castle ; but 
 the sentinel at its eastern angle, though he felt the spray wet 
 on his face, could not distinguish the white surf leaping and 
 boiling down yonder In the dark gulf at his feet ; the vaulted 
 chambers, the winding stairs and gloomy corridors of that 
 stronghold were cold and dismal enough ; but what of the 
 dungeons down below the water-line, where the light of day 
 had never penetrated yet, where the salt froth oozed and 
 trickled from the bare rock, and the clammy slime stood on 
 its chill surface, like the death-drops on the brow of a corpse ? 
 Ay, what of the dungeons ? Ask those who were forced down 
 the narrow stair with pinioned arms and muffled faces, know- 
 ing that their feet would never ascend the slippery steps 
 again ! Ask those who were immured in narrow cells, 
 hollowed like living sepulchres from the rock, and so built 
 in that the soul, indeed, might, but the body never could, 
 escape from its imprisonment! Ask those who were let 
 down by a cord into the black, loathsome pit from which 
 they never came out alive ! The answer may, perhaps, some 
 day be spoken in tones of thunder before earth and heaven. 
 Even now they tell you how the marks of blood remain in 
 evidence on that accursed keep ; how the very stones bear 
 witness to a foul and murderous deed, none the less guilty 
 that victim and perpetrators were equally steeped to the 
 lips in homicide and crime ; that it was the accomplishment 
 
 214
 
 THE MAIDEN'S MISSION 
 
 of divine vengeance and the fulfilment of a martyr's 
 prophecy. 
 
 When the proud cardinal, leaning over his window to 
 behold the frightful holocaust at his ease, smiled bitterly on 
 George Wishart at the stake, did not his heart sink within 
 him to hear the martyr's solemn denunciation? "David 
 Beatoun, though the flames shall lick up my blood, yet shall 
 thine remain to stain the very wall on which thou leanest, 
 as a witness against thee till the day of judgment ! " When 
 the Laird of Grange and the two Leslies dragged their enemy 
 from his bed and slew him at that very window, must not 
 remorse have whispered in the moment of despair that there 
 is a retribution even here on earth ? and when we learn that 
 the fierce murderers did actually hang his body over the wall 
 as a butcher hangs a carcass in the shambles, till the blood 
 soaked and sank into the very stone-work, and that centuries 
 have not washed out its stains, what can we say but that the 
 divine will doth not always postpone justice to a future 
 world, and that divine vengeance seldom fails to work out 
 its own precept, " whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall 
 his blood be shed." 
 
 The only cheerful apartment in the castle was the guard- 
 room ; although the night was dark and stormy, the wind sigh- 
 ing, and the waves beating without, a huge wood-fire blazed 
 and crackled in the ample chimney, reddening the weather- 
 beaten faces of the men-at-arms, and glancing fitfully from 
 their shining headpieces and bright steel corselets. Small 
 care had these rude hearts for the weather without or the woe 
 within ; the spray might dash against their casement, and the 
 weary prisoner moan his wrongs in the neighbouring cell. 
 
 "What would you have? 'tis but the fortune of war," 
 quoth the soldier ; " my luck to-day, yours to-morrow ; a bed 
 of heather for this one, a lair of straw for that ; a free discharge 
 and a fresh enlistment at last. Put another log on the fire ; 
 I wish we had got something more to drink." 
 
 Their captain sat somewhat apart, his head resting on his 
 hand, and his sheathed broad-sword lying idle on the floor. 
 As the flame flickered on his forehead a frown seemed to pass 
 and repass across its surface, but his eyes were intently fixed 
 on the red glow of the embers, and perhaps he was drawing 
 pictures that had no semblance of reality in their glare. 
 
 A moody man of late was Alexander Ogilvy; once the 
 best of comrades, and the blithest of merry-makers, he was 
 becoming captious, contradictory, and quarrelsome. The 
 hand stole to the sword-hilt now on the lightest word of 
 
 215
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 provocation, and although he was still ready to pledge his 
 brethren-in-arms with the wine-cup, it seemed to be no longer 
 the desire of good-fellowship that stimulated him, but a fierce 
 morose thirst that he was resolved to slake in gloomy defiance. 
 
 Perhaps some of the phantoms he was watching in the fire 
 might have accounted for this untoward change in the young 
 soldier ; perhaps it was not pleasant to picture to himself in 
 those glowing depths the stately figure of Mary Beton, with 
 her flowing skirts and quivering ruff, bending her lofty head 
 so graciously towards a sharp spare man, in gorgeous apparel, 
 with a clever face and a sneer, that if Ogilvy had ever formed 
 any idea of Mephistopheles, would have presented to his 
 mind's eye the very expression of that sarcastic personage ; 
 perhaps it did not enhance the harmony of the group to recog- 
 nise in the hottest corner a figure bearing a grotesque resem- 
 blance to himself, watching the pair with jealous supervision, 
 and presenting the undignified, if not ridiculous exterior, of 
 one who runs second in the race of love. 
 
 With a movement of impatience he drove his heavy heel 
 against the logs, dispelling the whole representation at a blow, 
 and causing the fire to burn out fiercely, and the sparks to fly 
 in thousands up the chimney. At this moment a man-at-arms 
 entered the guard-room, and approaching his captain informed 
 him that two persons at the gate demanded admittance. 
 
 " Impossible," said Ogilvy ; " the wicket is locked, and the 
 watch set ; bid them go to the devil." 
 
 " One of them bears the queen's signet," answered the man, 
 " though she winna let it out of her hand. I doubt it's one of 
 the leddies," he added, "an' I ken the tither yane fine; it's 
 daft James Geddes, the fule." 
 
 This altered matters considerably. The royal signet-ring 
 was esteemed a voucher for anyone who bore it, and all 
 guards, warders, and such officers of the sovereign, had strict 
 orders to consider it in the light of a direct communication 
 from Majesty itself. So Ogilvy, taking down a torch from 
 the wall, proceeded to the wicket in person. On arriving 
 there, he encountered a female figure, cloaked and hooded, 
 that after a moment's hesitation he recognised as Mary 
 Hamilton, and half-watching over her, half-sheltering himself 
 behind her, much after the manner of a faithful dog, but with 
 less expression of countenance than that sagacious animal, 
 the ungainly figure and broad unmeaning face of James 
 Geddes, the fool. 
 
 Ogilvy knew the maid-of-honour personally well enough ; 
 also, on the universal principle (for though she was not the 
 
 216
 
 THE MAIDEN'S MISSION 
 
 rose to him, she had been near the rose), he was disposed to 
 oblige her for the sake of Mary Beton, and bowing courteously, 
 begged to know if she had any authority, at that late hour, to 
 enter the castle. 
 
 " I have come to visit a prisoner," replied she in a hard-set 
 voice, showing him at the same time the queen's signet-ring, 
 which James Geddes watched as if he expected the captain of 
 the guard would swallow it at a gulp. 
 
 Ogilvy bowed and withdrew the many bolts and bars that 
 secured the wicket, then calling a soldier to fasten them again, 
 preceded his visitors along the vaulted passage that led from 
 the entrance to the guard-room. Mary Hamilton shuddered 
 as she heard the gate clang to behind her ; and the fool looked 
 more than half- inclined to draw back and abandon his 
 adventure at the outset, but a glance at his protectress re- 
 assured the latter, and the former, seeming, as it were, by a 
 violent effort to adopt a fresh part, assumed an air of gaiety 
 and carelessness strangely at variance with her bloodless face 
 and horror-stricken eyes. Arrived in the light of the guard- 
 room, she produced an ample stone bottle from beneath her 
 cloak, and placed it on the rude oak table. 
 
 " The queen has not sent me to visit her brave soldiers 
 empty-handed," said she, with a wild, dreary smile. " While 
 I am about her Majesty's business, I hope they will drink her 
 Majesty's health." 
 
 The fool's eyes glistened at the sight of the liquor, but 
 once more he glanced at Mary Hamilton, as the well-trained 
 dog looks at its owner ere he ventures to touch the tempting 
 morsel placed before him. The soldiers gathered round with 
 well-pleased faces ; the bonds of discipline were not at that 
 period drawn so tightly as at present, and a carouse was a 
 sufficiently acceptable variety to the monotony of a night on 
 guard. Ogilvy, too, who might, under other circumstances, 
 have objected to such an employment of those he commanded, 
 for the reason we have before hinted at, was unwilling to dis- 
 oblige one of the maids-of-honour, and set the example him- 
 self by filling a cup to the brim with the strong fiery liquor, 
 and emptying it to the queen's health. James Geddes pre- 
 pared to make sport for the rude soldiery, and one and all 
 disposed themselves around the table for an hour or two of 
 conviviality. 
 
 The fool, although habitually not averse to imbibing as 
 much drink as he could honestly come by, seemed, on the 
 present occasion, unusually cautious in his potations, and 
 whilst he encouraged the laughing soldiers to drink deep from 
 
 217
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 the stone jar, only put his own lips to the cup that was freely 
 offered him, and for once appeared resolved to keep his poor 
 faculties as keenly as possible on the alert. He glanced, too, 
 ever and anon, at the door by which Mary Hamilton had left 
 the guard-room, and seemed to watch and listen attentively 
 for the slightest noise. It was painful to see the gleams of 
 anxiety that broke at intervals through the dense stupidity 
 of his broad flat face. At such times his countenance again 
 assumed the wistful sagacity of a dumb animal, and instinct 
 seemed to warn him that he must summon all his faculties to 
 meet some vague catastrophe for which his reason was unable 
 to prepare. 
 
 The soldiers jested with the poor half-witted creature 
 according to their wont, and as their draughts began to ascend 
 into the brain, proceeded to coarse practical jokes, and much 
 boisterous mirth, of which his infirmities were made the butt. 
 James Geddes, however, never relaxed from his vigilance. 
 Sometimes a lurid gleam shone for an instant in his eyes as a 
 grossly offensive insult penetrated even his obtuse nature, and 
 occasionally he gave vent to his feelings by a low moaning 
 noise, and the rocking of his body to and fro, as was his 
 custom when more than commonly irritated or distressed ; but 
 he was always careful to fill the soldiers' cups for them to the 
 brim was always watchful of the demeanour and presence of 
 their commander ; and whilst his glance wandered furtively 
 to the door, his whole attention seemed painfully on the 
 stretch to catch the sounds of that voice which it was his 
 nature to obey with the attachment and fidelity of a dog. 
 
 Mary Hamilton, after exchanging a few words, in a low 
 tone, with the captain of the guard, in which an acute 
 observer might have detected successively the accents of 
 remonstrance, entreaty, and command, had produced a small 
 lamp from beneath her cloak, and lit it at Ogilvy's torch ; 
 then taking a key from his hand, which he seemed to deliver 
 very unwillingly, proceeded alone towards the dungeon, 
 casting over her shoulder one glance at the fool, in which 
 caution was speakingly impressed as she departed. The 
 soldiers were already launched on their carouse, and Ogilvy, 
 though he seemed watchful and restless, often starting from 
 his seat, and taking short turns up and down the guard-room, 
 joined at intervals in their revelry. 
 
 The maid-of-honour stepped cautiously down the winding 
 stair that led to the dungeon. Mary Hamilton had nerved 
 herself for the undertaking on which she had embarked, and 
 now that she was fairly within the dreaded castle of St. 
 
 218
 
 THE MAIDEN'S MISSION 
 
 Andrews, the agitation which had rendered her so helpless 
 all day, had given place to the calm, resolute bearing of one 
 who is prepared to succeed in a hazardous enterprise, or die 
 in the attempt. It was, indeed, a trying situation for a young 
 tender-hearted woman. The man she loved lay in that 
 loathsome dungeon, condemned to die ; she believed that 
 she alone could save him. She had the means and the 
 opportunity ; all must depend on her courage and presence 
 of mind. Yes, she would save him, and her reward would be 
 to see him prostrate himself at the feet of another ! It was a 
 bitter thought, and yet she never wavered for an instant. 
 
 As she reached the door of his cell, she thought she heard 
 his voice, the well-known voice, rich and melodious even here, 
 and the sound of her own name made her pause and listen. 
 He was consoling himself in his prison, this man who was to 
 die on the morrow, with the illusions of his art. He had 
 composed a ballad, of which her name was the refrain, and 
 was singing it himself in his cell. 
 
 " There's a bonny wild rose on the mountain -side, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 In the glare of noon she hath droop'd and died, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 Soft and still is the evening shower, 
 
 Pattering kindly on brake and bower ; 
 
 But it falls too late for the perish'd flower, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 There's a lamb lies lost at the head of the glen, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 Lost and miss'd from shieling and pen, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 The shepherd has sought it in toil and heat, 
 
 And sore he strove when he heard it bleat, 
 
 Ere he wins to the lamb it lies dead at his feet, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 The mist is gathering ghostly and chill, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 And the weary maid cometh down from the hill, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 The weary maid but she's home at last, 
 
 And she trieth the door, but the door is fast, 
 
 For the sun is down and the curfew past, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 Too late for the rose the evening rain, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 Too late for the lamb the shepherd's pain, 
 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 Too late at the door the maiden's stroke, 
 
 Too late for the plea when the doom hath been spoke, 
 
 Too late the balm when the heart is broke, 
 
 Mary Hamilton." 
 
 219
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 She heard it every word, and for a time her composure 
 gave way. A burst of passionate weeping relieved her, and, 
 drying her eyes, she unlocked the door and entered the 
 dungeon. The light she carried streamed on Chastelar's 
 figure, dressed in the very clothes in which she had seen 
 him taken. He was half-sitting, half-lying, in the extreme 
 corner where the stone was dryest, and took no notice of her 
 entrance, thinking it was the jailer, but continued to hum 
 the air he had just been singing. When he lifted his eyes, 
 however, and recognised his visitor, he rose at once, with his 
 habitual courtesy, and bade her welcome to his habitation, 
 laughing pleasantly the while. 
 
 "You find me poorly lodged, Mistress Hamilton," said 
 the poet ; " and although I live in a castle I am but scantily 
 provided with room. It is not for long, however, as to- 
 morrow morning, I am informed, they mean to remove me 
 to a narrower chamber still." 
 
 She could not bear to see him thus ; again the warm tears 
 filled her eyes as she gasped 
 
 " The doom has gone forth ; I heard of it to-day ; there is 
 but one chance left." 
 
 He smiled a sweet sad smile. 
 
 " I have done with chances now," said he ; "I set my all 
 on one cast, and I do not complain that the luck has gone 
 against me. It was kind of you to come and visit me, Mary 
 he dwelt fondly on the name and repeated it more than 
 once " I was thinking of you even when you appeared. 
 I was wishing I could see you once more. What of the 
 queen ? " he added, with an eager glance. " Is she here at 
 St. Andrews ? " 
 
 " She sent me to you this very night," replied the other. 
 " What I do is by her command, and according to her direc- 
 tions. You shall not die, Chastelar ; she bade me save you, 
 and we have the means; only be obedient, and, above all, 
 keep silent." 
 
 His whole face lighted up as he seized her hand and 
 covered it with kisses. Life was sweet to the poet, with his 
 warm impulsive nature and his glowing hopes ; all the more 
 so when he learned that he would owe that life to the favour 
 of the queen. He listened eagerly while the maid-of-honour 
 detailed to him the proposed manner of his escape, which, 
 indeed, seemed feasible enough. She hoped, through the 
 potency of the brandy which she had left behind her in the 
 guard-room, and with the assistance of her half-witted con- 
 federate, to bring the soldiers to a state of hilarity at which 
 
 220
 
 THE MAIDEN'S MISSION 
 
 the eye is not very keen, nor the suspicions very easily 
 aroused ; while in her whispered conversation with Ogilvy 
 she had already, with the unscrupulous shrewdness of a 
 woman, made use of his attachment to Mary Beton to win 
 him half over to her enterprise. She calculated, at least, on 
 his ignoring her proceedings ; she then proposed to dress 
 Chastelar in her own hood and mantle, which, as their 
 statures were not very dissimilar, would form a thorough 
 disguise, and she had sedulously tutored James Geddes, who 
 took an unaccountable delight in the whole proceeding, to 
 conduct the captive to the gate with the same deference and 
 care as if it were herself. It was difficult to make the faithful 
 fool understand this part of the plan, but she had instilled it 
 into him at last. He was to encourage the inebriety of the 
 men-at-arms to the utmost of his power, and directly Ogilvy 's 
 back was turned to go his rounds, which something she had 
 told him would induce the captain to do at an earlier hour 
 than usual, James Geddes was to return to the dungeon and 
 summon the visitor to depart. Chastelar, in Mary Hamilton's 
 clothes, would then accompany him to the gate, and she 
 herself would remain a prisoner in his place. 
 
 " And when they find you here," exclaimed the poet, all 
 his generous impulses protesting against such an arrange- 
 ment, " think of Ogilvy's rage ! think of the rude drunken 
 soldiers ! It cannot, it shall not be ! Your life would have 
 to pay the penalty." 
 
 " And I would give my life freely for yours," she replied, a 
 bright smile breaking over her face, causing her to look for 
 the first time to-night like the Mary Hamilton he remem- 
 bered in the queen's chamber, when all was so different and 
 so happy. 
 
 " For mine ! " he repeated, with a sadly troubled face. 
 " Oh, too late ! too late ! " 
 
 "Do not say so," she continued, speaking very rapidly 
 and eagerly, with her slender fingers grasping the prisoner's 
 arm like a vice. " I would not have told you this but that 
 we shall never meet again. The very terms on which the 
 queen yielded to my entreaties were these that you leave 
 Scotland within twenty-four hours, and pledge your honour 
 never to enter Mary Stuart's dominions more. Oh, if you 
 knew how I knelt and prayed and pleaded ere I could wring 
 from her the token that gave me access here ; if you could 
 have seen her angry frown while I implored, or heard the 
 cold resolute voice in which she said at last, " I consent, but 
 only on these terms, that I never behold him more," you 
 
 221
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 would have pitied me, Chastelar ; you should pity me now, 
 for though I have saved your life, oh, I am very, very 
 miserable." 
 
 Again she burst into a fit of weeping, the hot tears fell 
 upon his hand, but he heeded them not ; he scarce seemed 
 conscious of the devoted broken-hearted woman trembling 
 there before him ; the queen's words struck like a poniard to 
 his heart, and he was mad ! love-mad once more ! He broke 
 rudely from his companion ; he flung her hand from his arm, 
 as if the touch were a viper's ; his eye glared, and he ground 
 his teeth together in the agony of a wounded spirit, and a 
 pride humbled to the dust. 
 
 " I scorn her mercy ! " he shouted, in wild frantic tones ; 
 " I renounce her pardon, and I refuse her terms ! Tell Mary 
 Stuart, from me, from Chastelar, who will be led out to die 
 at sunrise to-morrow, that the last words he said were these : 
 ' If every one of these hairs were a life ' he passed his fingers 
 while he spoke through the abundance of his dark clustering 
 locks ' I would lose them all ere I would accept the smallest, 
 lightest token of the queen's favour. Because I have dared 
 to love her more dearly than man ever loved woman here on 
 earth ; because I love her wildly, fondly, madly still.' Ha, 
 ha ! she cannot rob me of that ! Queen though she be, she 
 cannot recall the past ! Mary, Mary ! ere to-morrow's sun 
 be set, that cold heart shall ache, as it hath never ached yet, 
 and Chastelar will have had his revenge ! " 
 
 And now the pure unselfish nature of Mary Hamilton's 
 character rose superior to the crisis. Another who had loved 
 him less would have turned away in wrathful scorn, and left 
 him to his fate : not so that gentle, faithful heart ; on her 
 knees she besought him to listen to reason, to yield himself 
 to her guidance, to accept of life for her sake. The moments 
 were very precious. Already James Geddes was beating 
 impatiently at the door, warning them that he had fulfilled 
 his ministering in the guard - room, and that Ogilvy was 
 absent for the nonce. She clung to him she urged him 
 she implored him, and the man was obdurate, pitiless of 
 himself as of her, hardened in his despair, reckless, miserable, 
 and resolved to die. 
 
 How many before and since have been like him ! How 
 many have turned obstinately from the pleasant easy path of 
 safety and contentment, to reach wildly at the impossible, 
 scaling the slippery crag just so high as shall dash them to 
 pieces in their fall ! There are spirits that seem ever destined 
 to be striving after the unattainable, doomed in a punishment 
 
 222
 
 THE MAIDEN'S MISSION 
 
 more cruel than that of Tantalus to thirst for a mirage that 
 is never even within the bounds of hope. Be it love, wealth, 
 ambition, their craving seems to be in its very nature insatiable, 
 and, perhaps, even were the wildest and most extravagant of 
 their desires to be granted, they would but turn aside in- 
 differently, as if success must needs be loathsome, and 
 long incontinently for something else that could never be 
 their own. 
 
 It is well for the philosopher who has learned to create for 
 himself his life's essentials. Blessed is the barmecide who can 
 make believe that the tasteless water from his earthen pitcher 
 is a draught of nectar from a cup of gold. But woe to the 
 sanguine enthusiast who cannot be convinced that " half a loaf 
 is better than no bread " ; the fool who shouts " all or none," 
 for his war-cry, while he runs a tilt against the invincible 
 windmill of conventionalism, and getting, as he deserves, 
 none instead of all, has every bone in his body broken into 
 the bargain for his pains. 
 
 Mary Hamilton pleaded for dear life ; far dearer, indeed, 
 was that life to her than her own. James Geddes, hearing 
 her sobs and broken accents, became so importunate at the 
 door of the cell, that one or two drunken soldiers from the 
 guard-room, aroused by the noise, came loitering down the 
 dungeon stair ; and, at the same moment, Ogilvy, not in the 
 best of humours, returned from his rounds, and the last chance 
 was gone for evermore. Whether the captain had met with 
 any disappointment in visiting the different posts under his 
 charge, or whether he had reason to suppose that his midnight 
 walk was to be more agreeable than usual, and felt aggrieved 
 to find its dulness unrelieved by any variety, it is not our 
 province to inquire ; but he certainly showed more zeal for 
 discipline than on his, departure, and entering Chastelar's cell 
 in person, after kicking poor Geddes away with a bitter curse, 
 ordered the maid-of-honour imperatively to be gone, and 
 summoned two of the soberest men-at-arms to mount sentry 
 for the rest of the night at the head of the stair. 
 
 Mary Hamilton neither screamed, nor fainted, nor wept. 
 She knew that all was over now, and accepted the inevitable 
 catastrophe with that resignation which Providence seems to 
 bestow in mercy on those who are destined to endure great 
 suffering. She bent over Chastelar's hand as she bade him a 
 silent farewell, and though her lips moved as if in prayer, not 
 a sound escaped them. Then she raised her head proudly, 
 and walked rigidly and slowly out of the cell, less like a living 
 being than a figure set in motion by mechanical means. The 
 
 223
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 boisterous men-at-arms, in the guard-room, stood aside, re- 
 spectfully, to let her pass ; and James Geddes, as he followed 
 her, cowered and shook with a mysterious fear. 
 
 But Chastelar, in the selfishness of his great love, so 
 strong even at the threshold of the grave, scarcely noticed her ; 
 nay, he even called out to her as she departed with a message 
 for the queen. The ruling passion was, indeed, strong in 
 death. As his short and brilliant life had been valued only 
 for her sake, so she was his last thought now that he stood on 
 the brink of eternity. 
 
 " Tell her," he said, " that I commend me to her with my 
 last breath. Thank her for all her kindness and the mercy 
 she would have shown me even to-night, but say that I choose 
 to die rather than be banished from her presence, and so 
 Chastelar bids her farewell, the fairest, the proudest, and the 
 best beloved princess under heaven ! " 
 
 He seemed composed, even cheerful. To all appearance, 
 the man was in possession of his faculties and in his right 
 mind, yet these were the last words Chastelar ever spoke on 
 earth. 
 
 224
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE MINSTREL'S DOOM 
 
 " They led him forth to the silent square, 
 
 In the gray of the morning sky, 
 And they brought him a cup of red wine there, 
 To drink, and then to die. 
 
 Without the gate, Lady Margaret stood, 
 
 And she watch'd for the rising sun, 
 Till it blush'd on the stone-work, and gleam'd on the wood, 
 
 And the headsman's work was done. 
 
 Not a limb she stirr'd ; but when noon-day's glow 
 
 Smote fierce on her temples bare, 
 A brighter sun had not melted the snow 
 
 That streak'd Lady Margaret's hair." 
 
 THE morning broke dull and gloomy; the wind that had 
 been blowing steadily all night had subsided towards 
 dawn, but a chill easterly breeze was still creeping in from 
 seaward, and a light vapour rested on the surface of the ocean, 
 beneath which the lead-coloured waves rose and sank in the 
 sullen monotony of a ground swell. Little by little the 
 cheerless dawn stole imperceptibly over the rugged bluffs 
 and scaurs that to the northward formed a bulwark for 
 the town, and disclosed at every minute new rents and 
 fissures in their sea-worn sides new wisps of dripping sea- 
 weed trailing in ungainly streaks across their slippery surface ; 
 the ebbing tide, too, receding as though unwillingly, with 
 many a landward leap and backward whirl, disclosed here 
 and there round black rocks, peering like the heads of 
 sea-monsters above the restless waters, while a solitary 
 seamew, turning on its white wing downward from the 
 cliff, screamed, as it were, in disappointment of its fishing 
 after the storm. 
 
 The castle walls rose sullenly against the misty sky ; 
 black, massive, and impenetrable, they suggested no feelings 
 but those of inhospitable and uncompromising grandeur. 
 Their battlements, weather-stained with the gales of centuries, 
 frowned dark defiance down on the ruffled ocean, and the 
 P 225
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 royal flag, with the golden lion of Scotland ramping in its 
 folds, half-unfurled and dripping with last night's brine, 
 flapped drearily and heavily in the fitful breeze. 
 
 To and fro for a space of some twenty yards under the 
 wall, a female figure was pacing with swift irregular steps, 
 and her fingers twining convulsively as she held her hands 
 clasped together before her. Mantle and dress were wet and 
 disordered from the inclemency of the past night, but the 
 hood of the former covered her to the brows, and it was only 
 by the lower part of her white, rigid face, that a passer-by, 
 had there been one at that early hour, could have recognised 
 Mary Hamilton. 
 
 In a sheltered corner, screened from the wind by a massive 
 buttress, cowered the ungainly figure of James Geddes ; rock- 
 ing himself backwards and forwards, he moaned as if in pain, 
 and blew -upon his cold fingers, huddling himself together 
 for warmth the while, but his eyes travelled wistfully after 
 Mary Hamilton as she walked, and though she seemed un- 
 conscious of his presence, they never quitted her figure for a 
 moment. 
 
 Once, when close to him, she paused in a listening attitude, 
 and he took courage to address her, whining like a troubled 
 child 
 
 "Will ye no gang hame? will ye no gang hame? 'Tis 
 cauld and dreary biding here for sunrise. I'm wantin' hame ; 
 I'm wantin' hame ! " 
 
 She started violently when he spoke; but, turning from 
 him in impatience, only walked backwards and forwards faster 
 than before. 
 
 And now a dull knocking might be heard in the square of 
 the castle, and the noise, as of heavy beams put in motion, 
 broke the stillness of the early morning. At each fresh 
 sound, Mary Hamilton stopped in her walk, and started on 
 again as if goaded to exertion by internal agony; the fool 
 shivering and moaning in his corner, yet still watching her 
 intently, at length rocked himself off into a fitful half-slumber, 
 waking up at intervals to implore his unheeding companion to 
 go home. 
 
 Within the castle preparations were already making for 
 some grave and unusual event. The soldiers, though flushed 
 and fevered after their debauch, yet preserved an ominous 
 silence, and betrayed on their coarse faces an expression of 
 pity and dismay. Ogilvy himself looked pale and sorrowful. 
 Once when he caught sight of a sharp, polished instrument, 
 propped carefully that its edge should not be frayed against a 
 
 226
 
 THE MINSTREL'S DOOM 
 
 corner, a tear might have been seen to steal down the captain's 
 cheek till it hung in his heavy moustache ; but his voice 
 was gruffer than usual, as he gave some necessary order 
 a minute afterwards, ashamed, doubtless, as men commonly 
 are, of those emotions which betray that they have a heart. 
 Two or three workmen had been already admitted at the 
 wicket, and were taking advantage of the increasing light to 
 erect an ominous fabric of boards and scaffolding in the centre 
 of the castle square. They went about their job in a prompt 
 businesslike manner enough, but they spoke in whispers, and 
 when a basket of sawdust was brought out, it was disposed 
 almost reverently in its place. After this a taint of death 
 seemed to pervade the atmosphere, and one of the artificers, a 
 strapping young fellow, six feet high, had recourse to a dram 
 of strong waters on the spot. 
 
 Down below in his dungeon, Chastelar was asleep. 
 Strange as it may appear, men always do sleep before 
 execution. Be it that the faculties are so completely worn 
 out by the wear and tear of anxiety that usually precedes 
 condemnation, or be it another instance of the divine mercy 
 which would fain shorten that time of agony to the sufferer, 
 such is the fact ; and, in the last moments of criminals, it is 
 almost invariably the case that body and soul both taste their 
 last repose on earth, ere the one sleeps and the other wakes 
 for all eternity. 
 
 What were the poet's dreams in that short welcome rest ? 
 Did he anticipate the great change, and fancy his spirit 
 already free from its prison, wandering through those unknown 
 regions which good Eneas, and rich Tullus and Ancus, and 
 your grandfather and mine, and a host of those we both knew 
 and valued, and would have followed into any danger, or on 
 any expedition, have ere this thoroughly explored to which 
 you and I, though we think so little about it, are bound just 
 as surely and inevitably, and with which to-morrow, or the 
 day after, or this time next year, we may be familiarly 
 acquainted ? Or did he retrograde to the past, and revel and 
 ruffle it at Holyrood once more, riding the sorrel horse along- 
 side of Black Agnes, and sunning himself in the bright eyes 
 of the Maries, and above all the smiles of her their peerless 
 queen ? Perhaps a vision of that face he had worshipped so 
 fondly shone on him for the last time kindlier and lovelier 
 than it had ever appeared in reality, and to wake from such 
 a dream as that was so bitter that even death became welcome 
 as promising sleep again. The knocking on the scaffolding 
 failed to arouse him, and when Ogilvy went gently into his 
 
 227
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 cell with a torch, the soldier passed the light half-pitifully, 
 half- admiringly, over the manly face that could look so calm 
 and peaceful at such a time. 
 
 And in the royal house in the South Street, within a 
 culverin's distance of the castle, were all the inmates sleeping 
 soundly at the dawn of that gloomy morning ? Was that a 
 bed of rest, on each post of which was carved a crown, and at 
 the head of which the arms of Scotland were emblazoned so 
 richly in embroidery and cloth of gold ? Was the lovely face, 
 so flushed and troubled, thus buried in the pillows to exclude 
 the light of day ; were the white hands pressed against the 
 throbbing temples and covering the beautiful little ears, in 
 dread of the morning gun which would be fired at sunrise, 
 and tell that all was over ? 
 
 It was no fault of Mary Stuart's that Chastelar was 
 doomed. All that lay in her power had been done to save 
 him ; all that royal dignity and womanly shame would permit. 
 Perhaps she believed him to have escaped even at the last ; 
 she would hardly guess at such infatuation as he had shown, 
 even in him, and yet the victim's sleep had probably been far 
 sounder than hers for whom he was about to die. 
 
 Lights were burning in the queen's chamber, heavy curtains 
 at the window excluded the faintest glimpse of dawn, yet 
 she was turning and tossing restlessly on her couch, while 
 Chastelar was pacing in grave composure up the dungeon- 
 stair that led into the grey morning, the last he would see on 
 earth. 
 
 But one bed, at least, in the royal house remained cold 
 and unoccupied Mary Hamilton had never returned home 
 all night. Under the castle wall she kept her weary watch ; 
 and, as the dawn widened into day, she was still pacing 
 hurriedly up and down, up and down, and at every fresh turn 
 casting a horror-stricken look towards the sky. 
 
 Presently the mist rolled slowly away, curling downwards 
 from the heights of Craigton and the bleak outline of Drum- 
 Carro Hill, disclosing the bare and cheerless tableland that 
 forms the eastern boundary of Fife. The changing wind 
 cleared the loaded atmosphere, and glimpses of blue became 
 apparent through the fleecy vapours dispersing rapidly as 
 they were driven cut to sea ; already the beams of morning 
 were gilding the sands of the bay, and two or three fishing- 
 boats, hoisting their white sails, were putting out hopefully 
 from the shore ; the cheery voices of the sailors came pleasantly 
 over the water, and reached the ears of the watcher under the 
 castle wall. Still the hood was drawn over her face ; still she 
 
 228
 
 THE MINSTREL'S DOOM 
 
 paced with that monotonous tread up and down, up and 
 down ; still the poor fool, crouching under his buttress, 
 moaned and rocked and shivered, urging pitifully that he 
 was " wantin' hame wantin' hame." 
 
 Then, though the castle yet remained a huge black mass 
 in deep shadow, spire and pinnacle on the cathedral began 
 to blush and glow in the morning sun ; presently, when Mary 
 Hamilton turned in her walk, her eye was dazzled by his 
 horizontal beams streaming along a pathway of molten gold 
 as he rose cloudless from the sea. Retracing her steps, she 
 saw the whole massive building before her shine out at once 
 in a flood of warm yellow light; then she stopped short, 
 bending forward with her hand outstretched, and listening 
 eagerly. 
 
 Comforted by the warmth, the fool rose from his lair and 
 rubbed his hands together, with an attempt at cheerfulness, 
 shifting alternately from one foot to the other in a kind 
 of measured dance, and striving in his vacant, half-witted 
 manner to attract the attention of his companion. She 
 neither moved nor noticed him ; still in the same attitude, 
 with her neck bent forward, her hand stretched out, and 
 the lower part of her face visible beneath her hood, white 
 and rigid as if cut from marble. 
 
 He pulled her cloak impatiently " Come awa' hame," he 
 whimpered like a child left alone in the dark. " I'm feared 
 here I'm feared here ; it's no sae canny sin' the dawn. 
 
 " Wi' a rising wind, 
 And a tide comin' in, 
 
 There's a death to be ; 
 When the wind's gaed back, 
 An' the tide's at the slack, 
 "There's a spirit free." 
 
 He crooned this doggerel over twice or thrice, pointing at 
 the same time to the wet sand below them, and the black 
 shining rocks left bare by the ebb ; but she never answered 
 him, for ere he was silent the heavy boom of a culverin broke 
 on the morning's stillness, and a wreath of white smoke, rising 
 above the walls of the castle, floated calmly and peacefully 
 out to sea. The fool cowered down and hid his face in his 
 hands. She did not start she did not shriek, nor faint, nor 
 quiver; but she threw her hood back and looked wildly 
 upwards, gasping for air ; then, as the rising sun shone on 
 her bare head, Mary Hamilton's raven hair was all streaked 
 and patched with grey. 
 
 229
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE DIPLOMAT AND THE SOLDIER 
 
 " ' How should I your true love know 
 
 From another one?' 
 ' By his cockle hat and staff, 
 And his sandal-shoon."' 
 
 HILE the grass was growing tall 
 and rank on Chastelar's grave, the 
 beauty that had bewildered and 
 destroyed him was unconsciously 
 sowing dissensions and intrigues 
 in half the Courts of Europe. 
 Not only on the southern side of 
 the Tweed did every turbulent 
 noble and ambitious statesman 
 look to Mary Stuart's marriage 
 as, in one way or other, a stepping- 
 stone to his own aggrandisement, 
 but each of the numerous parties 
 in the State was prepared to put 
 forward and support its candidate for her hand, totally 
 irrespective of the lovely queen's personal feelings and pre- 
 dilections. Austria, Savoy, Spain, had also their claimants 
 for the desired alliance ; and it would be difficult to calculate 
 the multiplicity of schemes and combinations originating in 
 the desire of possessing the heiress to two kingdoms, and the 
 most fascinating woman of the age. 
 
 Perhaps the proposed union with the Crown-Prince of 
 Spain was, of all matrimonial overtures, the most unpopular 
 in Great Britain ; and the Protestant party, now completely 
 in the ascendant both in England and Scotland, would have 
 resorted to the strongest measures rather than submit to 
 such an arrangement. All the engines of an unscrupulous 
 diplomacy were ready to be put in motion for the purpose 
 of thwarting Don Carlos, and over-reaching his emissaries. 
 Nor were Elizabeth and her agents likely to be restrained by 
 
 230
 
 THE DIPLOMAT AND THE SOLDIER 
 
 any over-refinement of delicacy in a matter which concerned 
 the stability of the English queen's power, and the very 
 existence of her government. 
 
 In the meantime, Mary and her maidens floated, so to 
 speak, on the surface of all this turbulence and vexation, 
 as the seabird floats with unruffled plumage on the restless 
 waves. Their life was indeed one of constant variety and 
 adventure, for their royal mistress was too thorough a Stuart 
 not to identify herself with all the difficulties and troubles of 
 her kingdom, whilst the bonds of affection which riveted her 
 attendants to her service were but drawn closer every day, by 
 the dangers and hardships they shared in their huntings and 
 progresses and judicial proceedings, through the length and 
 breadth of Scotland. 
 
 Nevertheless, winter after winter found them established 
 once more, over their peaceful embroidery, at Holyrood ; 
 beautiful and merry and unchanged as ever all but one. 
 Mary Hamilton, though she still showed the same unbounded 
 devotion to her mistress, the same sweetness of disposition 
 towards her companions, was cruelly altered now. It is 
 very sad to read in any human face the unerring symptoms of 
 a broken heart ; to watch the eye sinking, the cheek falling, 
 and the lines about the mouth deepening day by day ; to note 
 the listless step, the morbid craving for solitude, the painful 
 shrinking from all that is bright and beautiful from a strain 
 of sweet music, a gleam of spring sunshine, or the laugh of a 
 happy child, as the aching eye shrinks from light, and, above 
 all, the dreary smile that seems to protest patiently against 
 the torture, while the sufferer is kind and forgiving still. We 
 are almost tempted to ask, why should there be such sorrow 
 here on earth ? But we are satisfied and reassured, recalling 
 a certain pledge that cannot deceive, remembering who it 
 was that declared in mercy and sympathy " Blessed are they 
 that mourn ; for they shall be comforted." 
 
 Her companions could not fail to notice the change that 
 was thus wasting the very existence of their favourite, and 
 each, in her own way, strove to show her fellow-feeling and 
 her concern. Mary Carmichael was, perhaps, the least demon- 
 strative of the three ; but this young lady had of late been 
 extremely engrossed with her own affairs, and seemed to 
 acquire -additional hardness of character and reserve of de- 
 meanour day by day. Her interviews with the stranger in the 
 Abbey garden, always clandestine, and always affectionate, 
 took place at regular intervals ; and she seldom saw Walter 
 Maxwell now, avoiding, indeed, every occasion of meeting 
 
 231
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 him, and treating him, when they did happen to be together, 
 with a coldness and displeasure, which he was the last man on 
 earth to accept with resignation, and which was gradually, 
 but surely, estranging his affection from her altogether. He 
 did not see the longing looks that followed him when his back 
 was turned ; he did not hear the sigh that rose so wearily 
 to her lips when she was alone ; he only thought her fickle, 
 heartless, ungenerous, and unjust, determined to have nothing 
 more to do with her, felt hurt and angry, yet very much 
 ashamed of himself for entertaining either of these sentiments 
 on her account. 
 
 All this time Mr. Randolph had not been idle at the Court 
 of Holyrood, fulfilling his ministering with a tact and energy 
 peculiarly his own, and valued as they deserved by his bust- 
 ling mistress and her astute adviser, the celebrated Cecil. 
 Wherever there was an intrigue brewing, the English ambas- 
 sador was not to be satisfied until he was at the bottom of 
 it ; wherever there was a mystery he sifted it thoroughly ; 
 analysing with diplomatic chemistry its component parts, and 
 amalgamating the whole into a confusion worse confounded 
 when he had done with it. The many marriage proposals to 
 the queen kept his hands full, and the contradictory orders he 
 received from his sovereign, who, with all her great qualities, 
 was sufficiently a woman never to be quite sure of her own 
 mind for two consecutive days, by no means tended to 
 simplify or facilitate the duties of his office. Nevertheless 
 he found time to press his suit ardently with Mary Beton, 
 insinuating himself sufficiently into her affections to worm 
 out of her all the intelligence he could possibly obtain, yet 
 with characteristic caution never failing to stop short of the 
 boundary beyond which he must compromise or embarrass 
 himself. And yet Mr. Randolph, with his clever scheming, 
 well-balanced mind, and his thoroughly disciplined heart, was 
 but human after all : none other was so pleasant to him as 
 this daily duty of making love to Mary Beton ; her dignity 
 and her beauty gratified his fastidious taste, and her obvious 
 admiration of himself could not but make an impression on 
 his callous heart. 
 
 Sometimes, even over him, the hardened man of the world, 
 stole a soft vision of something better than ciphers, and pro- 
 tocols, and despatches of pleasant words and loving looks, 
 and little children and a home ; but a moment of reflection 
 brushed all such weaknesses from his path, and the perusal of 
 a state-paper from Cecil soon restored him to his philosophy. 
 Then he remembered that in a career like his every stepping- 
 
 232
 
 THE DIPLOMAT AND THE SOLDIER 
 
 stone to greatness must be prized and used only as such ; 
 however fair its polish, however valuable its quality, it must 
 be crushed under his heel to gain a firmer foothold, and 
 spurned in turn when done with, for his upward spring to the 
 next. Randolph sought out tools for his own purpose in all 
 directions ; when he failed to find an appropriate instrument, 
 he shaped one to his hand for himself. 
 
 Now it had not escaped the watchful eyes of Mistress Beton 
 that a certain stranger, with whom Mary Carmichael seemed 
 extremely intimate, came and went at stated intervals to and 
 from the Court. With all her vigilance, however, she had 
 never been able to discover the exact object of these frequent 
 visits. Had she been satisfied that it was a simple love affair, 
 she might, indeed, on her own responsibility, have stifled the 
 whole proceeding by authority ; but a hint to that effect 
 hazarded to the queen had been so coldly received as to con- 
 vince her that the intrigue, whatever might be its object, was 
 carried on with Mary's cognisance and approval. More than 
 any of the other maids-of-honour, Mistress Carmichael had 
 free liberty to come and go as she chose. On occasion 
 she was closeted secretly with her mistress ; and more than 
 once these private consultations were known to have been 
 preceded or followed by an assignation with the mysterious 
 stranger. Mary Beton could not make it out ; she was 
 satisfied that her junior had a lover who was deeply engaged 
 in a political intrigue. She must have been more or less than 
 woman had her curiosity not been aroused and her disappro- 
 bation excited. It was a relief to tell Randolph of her 
 suspicions, and a pleasure to listen to the eloquence of 
 his gratitude for the confidence thus reposed in him. In 
 consequence of these disclosures the diplomatist resolved to 
 cultivate a greater familiarity with Maxwell, of whom he had 
 never entirely lost sight, and whose honest nature he doubted 
 not he could mould to his own purposes ; the more so that, 
 in common with the rest of the Court, he was aware of 
 Walter's feelings towards Mary Carmichael, which the lover 
 believed to be inscrutably hidden in his own heart. 
 
 To a cynical disposition it is no small amusement to 
 watch the demeanour of an offended swain. Women, who are 
 hypocrites from the cradle, manage to conceal their feelings 
 creditably enough, and we may take leave to doubt whether 
 these feelings themselves are so engrossing as they would have 
 the other sex believe ; but a man, one of the Lords of the 
 Creation, who " dotes yet doubts, suspects yet strongly loves," 
 is an object that may at least be termed deplorable, if not 
 
 233
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 ridiculous. He always over-acts his part so completely, his 
 affectation of indifference is so transparent, his bearing of 
 scrupulous courtesy and offended dignity so ludicrous, and 
 his sudden fits of remorse so unaccountable, that the world 
 in general contemplates him with comical surprise, and the 
 object herself regards him with secret triumph and outward 
 contempt. 
 
 " Treat a woman frankly," quoth Lovelace, in his treatise 
 on this difficult topic, " and, strange as it may at first sight 
 appear, like a rational creature. This course is sure to pro- 
 duce a misunderstanding ; but remember the sooner there 
 is a trial of strength the better. Afterwards, if you cannot 
 preserve a bond fide and complete indifference, take care to 
 absent yourself from the subject under treatment. It is in- 
 dispensable never to appear at a disadvantage. If elsewhere, 
 the subject, whose imagination is vivid, will picture you as 
 more pleasingly employed than in its society. This rouses 
 emulation and stimulates self-esteem, of both which qualities 
 it possesses a large share. When it is satisfied you can do 
 perfectly well without it ; if it has the slightest inclination to 
 be tamed, it will come to the hand of its own accord ; if it 
 has not, all your pains are but labour thrown away, and only 
 render you less fitted to cope with such other subjects of 
 the species as it may seem desirable to reduce to obedience. 
 Always remember this, that the men whom women love best 
 are those over whom they have the least influence, and of 
 whom they stand somewhat in awe." 
 
 Is Lovelace right ? We have quoted from memory, but 
 such is the gist of his theory, the truth of which our own 
 observations of such matters would lead us to concede ; the 
 difficulty seems to be in reducing it to practice. The generous 
 nature is more willing to give than to receive, and takes all 
 the shame and all the suffering ungrudgingly on its own 
 shoulders. " Mallem cum Platone errare." It may be better 
 to fail thus, than to triumph with Lovelace. 
 
 Walter Maxwell was proud, lonely, and unhappy. It was 
 under these circumstances that Master Randolph bade him to 
 dinner in his lodging at twelve o'clock noon, and studiously 
 avoided asking any other guest to meet him. The refined 
 taste of the Englishman had gathered about him even in the 
 northern capital every luxury of which the age admitted. 
 Good living and diplomacy have ever gone together, from 
 the roast mutton consumed in council before Troy to the 
 Nesselrode puddings of to-day. Honest Jenkin, an invalu- 
 able domestic, received his master's guest with a grin of 
 
 234
 
 THE DIPLOMAT AND THE SOLDIER 
 
 recognition. He had not forgotten their night skirmish on 
 the border some two years ago, and after the manner of his 
 kind had assumed a vested interest in Maxwell for the rest 
 of his life. 
 
 " Master Randolph was in his closet concluding a despatch," 
 he said, placing a seat for the visitor in the chimney corner. 
 " The soup would be on the table in five minutes ; would 
 Master Maxwell divert himself in the meantime with examin- 
 ing these silver-mounted dags ? They were pretty pistolets 
 enough. We would have been none the worse of them that 
 moonlight night in the Debatable Land." 
 
 Maxwell smiled, and whilst Jenkin bustled to and fro 
 about his hospitable labours, warmed himself at the wood- 
 fire and took a survey of the ambassador's apartment. It 
 presented the same medley of refinement and simplicity, 
 of comfort and contrivance, which may be observed in an 
 officer's barrack-room of the present day. Sundry mails and 
 leather trunks, all adapted for carriage on horseback, were 
 converted into cases for books and writings, and otherwise 
 served temporary purposes for which they were not intended. 
 The massive oaken chairs and tables, rough primitive furni- 
 ture belonging to the mansion, were covered by skins and 
 shawls of considerable value, Randolph's own property, and 
 presented to him at different times by the great personages 
 with whom he came in contact. Costly arms of beautiful 
 workmanship, richly-chased drinking-vessels, and elaborate 
 ornaments of great value in small compass, that had come 
 into his possession in the same manner, were scattered about 
 the apartment. A sword of the finest temper Italian forges 
 could produce, inlaid with gold and ornamented with precious 
 stones, the gift of the Duke of Savoy, lay carelessly on a 
 writing-table across a bible printed at Geneva, as the inscrip- 
 tion on its leather cover attested, for Mr. Randolph's especial 
 acceptance; and propped against the hilt of this beautiful 
 weapon smiled a miniature portrait of Elizabeth, with tightly 
 curling yellow hair, set profusely in diamonds. Quantities 
 of papers and memoranda, none, we may be sure, of the 
 slightest importance, littered the floor ; a pair of spurs, a 
 hawking glove with a set of jesses and a lure, were on the 
 high chimney-piece, grouped about the beautiful cup that the 
 Queen of Scotland had herself bestowed on the minister; 
 whilst ranged in a semicircle before the fire, ripening and 
 mellowing in its comfortable glow, stood a row of tapering 
 flasks, blushing with the goodly vintage of Bordeaux. As 
 Jenkin appeared with the dinner at one door, Randolph came 
 
 235
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 forward with his open pleasant manner to meet his guest 
 through another. 
 
 " Work is done for to-day ! " exclaimed the diplomatist, 
 with the bright air of a boy released from school. " Master 
 Maxwell, you are heartily welcome, once for all. Be seated, 
 I pray you. Were a despatch to arrive post from my gracious 
 mistress herself, I should thrust it aside like the noble Roman, 
 fill me a cup of wine, as I do now, to your health, and say, 
 ' Business to-morrow ! ' ' 
 
 " No man has so good a right to leisure as yourself," re- 
 plied his guest, doing as he was bid, and returning the pledge 
 in a hearty draught, " for no man gets through so much work 
 in so short a time. Even Maitland, who is our most accom- 
 plished penman here in the north, vows that he cannot but 
 marvel at the despatch with which the English affairs are 
 conducted." 
 
 " It is all plain sailing," replied Randolph, with an appear- 
 ance of the most engaging candour. " My instructions are 
 usually so intelligible and above-board that I have but to act 
 on them without delay. Frankly, my friend, between you and 
 me, the only complications I have are owing to the mystery 
 that is kept up about your queen's marriage. But this is no 
 time for business. Fill your cup once more. Honest Jenkin's 
 catering requires to be washed down with good wine. The 
 fare is moderate enough, but at least I can answer for the 
 liquor." 
 
 Both by precept and example Randolph encouraged his 
 guest to do justice to his hospitality, and led the conversation, 
 as he well knew how, to such topics as he thought would 
 most interest a man of his companion's age and habits. 
 Horses, hawks, and hounds, wine, women, the latest gossip 
 at Holyrood, the newest jest from the French Court, and the 
 recent improvements in warlike arms and tactics, such were 
 the subjects lightly touched upon in turn, and each was 
 made the reason or the excuse for a fresh bumper ; but all the 
 while the diplomatist's attention was never taken off the object 
 he had in view. Like some skilful chemist, he watched the 
 gradual fusion of his materials, and waited patiently for the 
 moment of projection. It did not escape him, however, that 
 Maxwell was preoccupied and out of spirits ; that though he 
 bore his share in the dialogue courteously enough, it was with 
 an obvious effort, and that every fresh cup he emptied seemed 
 rather to drown than to cherish the few sparks of hilarity 
 which he had shown at the commencement of the entertain- 
 ment. At a sign from his master, Jenkin set a flask of rich 
 
 236
 
 THE DIPLOMAT AND THE SOLDIER 
 
 Cyprus wine on the table, and Randolph, dismissing the 
 domestic, heaped fresh logs upon the fire, and drew his chair 
 towards his guest, as if he were growing exceedingly confi- 
 dential and communicative. 
 
 " Are you for the revels at the palace to-night ? " said he, 
 with a meaning look at the bravery of Walter's attire. " We 
 may as well go together. In the meantime (we are old 
 friends, good Master Maxwell), I have something to say to 
 you of course, in the strictest confidence." 
 
 " Of course," replied Maxwell, with rather a disturbed 
 expression of countenance, which subsided, however, almost 
 immediately into his usual steady composure. 
 
 The ambassador filled his guest's cup and his own. 
 
 " You and I[are interested in the same matter," said he, not 
 entirely repressing his habitual cynicism, " and such a com- 
 munity forms the strongest bond of friendship. If I can 
 prove to you that by helping me you benefit yourself, can I 
 count upon your assistance ? " 
 
 " You must explain your meaning more clearly," replied the 
 other, with something of contempt in his tone. " Remember, 
 I am a soldier, and no diplomatist." 
 
 "You are a soldier, I know," rejoined Randolph, "and 
 a brave one. You are loyal and generous and true. 
 Master Maxwell, I will be frank with you. There is an 
 evil influence at work here, which I think you have 
 the power to crush. Listen. Would you stand by and see 
 your queen deceived and trifled with by a political cabal, 
 of which the principal emissary is blackening and destroy- 
 ing a reputation that I believe is dearer to you than your 
 own ? " 
 
 " What mean you ? " exclaimed Maxwell, with forced com- 
 posure, but putting so strong a constraint upon himself 
 that the silver goblet he grasped was dinted by the pressure 
 of his fingers. 
 
 " It is no secret now," answered the other gravely. 
 " Courtiers' tongues wag freely enough on such subjects, and 
 you must not be wroth with me for repeating in your own 
 behalf simply what I hear. It is well known that Mistress 
 Carmichael, beautiful Mistress Carmichael, cold Mistress 
 Carmichael, proud Mistress Carmichael " (he watched the 
 effect of each epithet in succession on his irritated listener), 
 " has taken to herself a friend, an admirer, a lover, call it 
 what you will, with whom she holds clandestine interviews 
 in the Abbey garden at night. As I live, 'tis the common 
 talk of the palace ; and people laugh and whisper and sneer 
 
 237
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 about the spotless Maries, and wonder why the queen takes 
 no notice of it. Nay, chafe not with me. In good faith, 
 man, I do but tell you this as a friend. I have little enough 
 to do with ladies, you know." 
 
 " And what is all this to me ? " asked Maxwell, with such 
 admirable self-command that Randolph could not help think- 
 ing what a pity it was he did not follow out the profession of 
 statecraft. Nevertheless, every word had struck home, and 
 although his voice was so steady and his face so calm, the 
 perspiration stood on his brow, and there was a dangerous 
 glitter in his deep-set eyes. 
 
 "Why thus much," returned Randolph "that had this 
 intriguer, whoever he may be, no claims but his own merit 
 to the notice of Mary Carmichael, I believe, and those who 
 know her best affirm, that she would never have condescended 
 to notice him. But these interviews, granted for some hidden 
 purpose unconnected with gallantry, are compromising her 
 till she is gradually falling into his power, and the poor 
 girl will find herself at last compelled to accept as a 
 lover the man for whom she does not care, unless she be 
 extricated from her false position by the man for whom 
 she does" 
 
 " Meaning me," said Maxwell, looking steadily in the 
 minister's face. 
 
 " Meaning you," replied the latter, continuing in the most 
 friendly tone ; " you have the right, it seems to me, and you 
 ought to have the will, to unmask this intruder. It is your 
 own fault, Maxwell, with good friends at your back, if you 
 have not the power. Come, you may count upon me for one 
 in this matter. To-night I have reason to believe Mistress 
 Carmichael will again meet this mysterious personage in the 
 Abbey garden, whilst the revel is at high tide in the palace. 
 Follow her to the tryst, confront your rival and compel him 
 to declare himself, or to do you reason with his sword. If 
 needed I will be at your back, and should all other means 
 fail, six inches of cold steel can easily square accounts between 
 you." 
 
 "And your reason for thus interesting yourself in my 
 concerns?" demanded Maxwell, with a dry laugh. "Is it 
 purely out of friendship for me, Master Randolph ? " 
 
 " Now you speak like a sensible man," replied the diplo- 
 matist, "and I answer you with the frankness you deserve. 
 No ! with all my regard for you, this interest, on my part, is 
 not entirely for your sake. I have reason to mistrust this 
 stranger ; I have my suspicions of some dark plot, against 
 
 238
 
 THE DIPLOMAT AND THE SOLDIER 
 
 which it is my bounden duty to be on my guard. If he be a 
 friend, my plan will at once set matters on a proper footing, 
 both as regards yourself and the lady of whom we speak. 
 If an enemy, the sooner he is removed from our path the 
 better. Have I not convinced you that our interests are 
 identical ? The day wanes ; one more cup of the Cyprus, 
 Master Maxwell, and then, first to the palace, afterwards to 
 the garden." 
 
 Maxwell filled and emptied the cup of Cyprus as he was 
 bidden : but his was a temperament on which wine took 
 but little effect, or rather, in which it stimulated the 
 faculties without upsetting the judgment. Even Randolph's 
 brain, powerful as that organ undoubtedly was, could not 
 have been less affected by his potations than was the 
 soldier's. 
 
 As the pair, ostensibly dismissing the subject from their 
 minds, talked gaily on about other matters, it would have 
 been amusing to note the dexterity with which the diplomatist 
 adapted his conversation to the purpose he had in view. 
 How with a casual remark here, a covert sarcasm there, he 
 endeavoured to stimulate the other's jealousy and to arouse 
 his alarm, whilst, at the same time, with many a plausible 
 argument and choice anecdote, introduced as it were by 
 chance, he endeavoured to establish the expediency of prompt 
 and desperate measures on all occasions where a man had 
 to deal with cases of mystery and intrigue. 
 
 Maxwell listened attentively, but the inscrutable repose 
 of his countenance baffled even Randolph's penetration, and 
 he contented himself with vague and general replies, of which 
 the other could make nothing. Nevertheless, he was resolved 
 in his own mind what to do. With all his exterior of adamant, 
 he was sufficiently vulnerable within. Bitterly hurt and 
 offended at Mary Carmichael's conduct, he had determined 
 to forget her; but the old wound was only superficially 
 healed over, and it would not bear being touched or tampered 
 with yet. Also his attachment to that young lady had been 
 of the purest and most unselfish order, and such an affection 
 never fails to evoke all the latent generosity of a noble heart. 
 His own impulse, as a gentleman, was to give his rival every 
 fair advantage ; to treat him, at least, as an open and honour- 
 able foe ; to warn him that his movements were watched and 
 his personal safety endangered ; and to tell him, point-blank, 
 that he had done this for the sake of her whom they both 
 loved. Surely such frankness would meet with the return 
 it deserved ; and then, if Mary really preferred this stranger 
 
 239
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 why, the dream was over, that was all. Any privation was 
 better than this continual uncertainty ; it was but giving her 
 up, and the world would be before him again something 
 whispered that it would be a very different world, nevertheless. 
 However, he made up his mind, and was more than usually 
 merry with Randolph as they proceeded together towards 
 Holyrood. 
 
 240
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 TWELFTH-NIGHT 
 
 " I leant my back into an aik, 
 
 I thought it was a trusty tree ; 
 But first it bowed and syne it brak, 
 Sae my true love did lightly me. 
 
 Oh, waly, waly gin love be bonny 
 
 A little time while it is new ; 
 But when it's auld, it waxeth cauld, 
 
 And fades away like morning dew." 
 
 IT was the anniversary of Twelfth-night, and the Feast of 
 the Bean was in act of celebration with great glee and 
 splendour when the English Minister and his companion 
 entered the reception-rooms of the palace. This favourite 
 pastime, borrowed from the Court of France, has come down 
 to us in modern days under the form of " drawing for king 
 and queen " ; the bean was concealed in the twelfth-cake, and 
 the dame to whose share it fell was chosen with much mock 
 solemnity as queen of the night On the present occasion 
 the lot had fallen to Mary Beton, and her indulgent mistress, 
 with that playful good-humour which so endeared her to 
 her attendants, had insisted on decking the leader of the 
 revels with the most splendid attire her own royal wardrobe 
 contained. 
 
 In case that any lady should condescend to look into 
 the dry pages of a historical novel, we will endeavour to the 
 extent of our poor abilities to present the details of a grande 
 toilette of the fifteenth century. 
 
 A sweeping robe of cloth of silver, heavy with embroidery 
 and ornamented with medallions of pearls down the front 
 of the dress, which was looped backwards at the knee and 
 fastened with bunches of red and white roses, disclosing a 
 petticoat of white silk damask, long and ample so as to cover 
 the feet encased in their satin shoes ; at the waist a girdle of 
 precious stones arched over the hips, and coming downwards 
 to a point in front, marked the outline of the figure ; while 
 Q 241
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 a collar of sapphires and rubies, close round the neck, lurked 
 and sparkled under the clouds of scalloped lace that com- 
 posed the ruff; the sleeves of the gown, open at the elbow, 
 terminated in ruffles of the lightest gauze, and thick gold 
 bracelets on the wrists ; the hair, gathered into heavy masses 
 at the back of the head, was dragged somewhat off the 
 temples, so as to show the delicate ears with their glittering 
 earrings ; whilst over the whole figure, relieving its dazzling 
 whiteness, was thrown a satin mantle or scarf of cramoisie, 
 the well-known deep rich hue, something between crimson 
 and plum-colour, which was such a favourite with the elaborate 
 coquettes of that sumptuous period. 
 
 Thus attired, majestic Mary Beton looked every inch a 
 queen, and had it not been for the presence of her mistress, 
 simply dressed in her usual morning garb, yet beautiful 
 exceedingly where all were beautiful, the maid-of-honour 
 would have riveted every eye on her magnificent exterior. 
 Randolph felt a thrill of triumph and gratification when she 
 caught his attention, something akin, perhaps, to that which 
 is experienced by the wary deer-stalker while he contemplates 
 the royal stag with his branching antlers, the pride of the 
 forest, within point-blank range of his rifle. The ambassador, 
 however, had but little time to admire, for the queen called 
 him to her with such marked favour immediately on his 
 entrance, that he felt convinced something of more importance 
 than usual was in the wind, and resolved, from whatever 
 quarter it blew, that at least it should not throw any dust in 
 his eyes. 
 
 After receiving very graciously the compliments which 
 Mr. Randolph proffered on the splendour of the entertainment, 
 Mary darted at him a keen glance of mingled watchfulness 
 and amusement, then observed carelessly 
 
 " What think ye of this chamber for a real king and queen 
 to hold their state in, Master Randolph ? Since it hath been 
 newly decorated, methinks a king-consort might be satisfied 
 with his lodging. Ere another Twelfth-night comes round, 
 the lot may have fallen, who knows? and these faithful 
 damsels of mine may have been released from their vow." 
 
 He stole a look at Mary Beton, surrounded by her mock 
 courtiers, and immersed in the game of forfeits which they 
 were all playing with the eagerness of children, and wondered 
 whether he would like to marry her or not ; but he answered 
 the queen as if the subject she had broached, so far from 
 being unexpected, had occupied his attention for days. 
 
 " Your Majesty anticipates the congratulations I am but 
 
 242
 
 TWELFTH-NIGHT 
 
 waiting an opportunity to offer. May I give my own mistress 
 joy on your acceding so cordially to her views for your 
 welfare ? " 
 
 " You may do what you have authority for, and no more," 
 replied the queen severely. " My cousin can scarce spare me 
 that master of the horse of hers, whom she so much regardeth 
 herself, nor am I so scantily supplied with suitors that I need 
 trespass on her generosity for so precious a bridegroom. 
 Come, Master Randolph," she added gaily, " this is Twelfth- 
 night, and we read riddles and play at forfeits. Can you not 
 read me mine ? " 
 
 " Your grace must condescend to instruct me," replied he, 
 running over his information and calculating probabilities 
 with inconceivable rapidity in his own mind ; also studiously 
 abstaining from the guess he thought most likely to hit the 
 mark. " Where the prize is of such value, all are so unworthy 
 that it reduces the competitors to a level. I can aim no 
 nearer the white than my first shaft, your grace. A suitor 
 for such a hand as yours should have some weighty influence 
 to back him, in addition to unbounded merits of his own." 
 
 " You seem to have considered the subject deeply," said 
 the queen, laughing. " Come, Master Randolph, for very 
 pastime let us hear the qualifications you deem indispenable 
 to an admirer of Mary Stuart." 
 
 He paused for an instant, enumerating in his own mind the 
 different qualities of the nobleman whom he was instructed, 
 at least ostensibly, to put forward, and then proceeded with 
 an air of the utmost deference and humility 
 
 " He should be a gentleman of admirable presence ; of 
 skill in courtly exercises ; of varied accomplishments ; familiar 
 with the customs of palaces ; brave, noble, and learned ; he 
 should be of no fo'reign extraction, neither Frenchman, 
 Spaniard, nor Italian; suitable in point of years, of language, 
 and of country." 
 
 She nodded archly every time he paused in his catalogue ; 
 then added with an inquiring look 
 
 " And of royal lineage as well ? Surely like pairs with like, 
 and a Stuart should only mate with a Stuart." 
 
 It was a home- thrust. It corroborated much that he had 
 already suspected, and explained a good deal that had suffi- 
 ciently puzzled even Randolph, but he never winced or 
 started ; to judge by his face it was the communication, of 
 all others, for which he was best prepared, and whilst he ran 
 over, as quick as thought, the different combinations to which 
 such a projected alliance might give rise, and already, in his 
 
 243
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 mind's eye, saw the young Lord Darnley, the suitor to whom 
 Mary alluded, helpless in his toils, he bowed humbly to the 
 queen, and begged her to accept his heartfelt congratulations 
 that she had made her choice at last. Mary laughed more 
 than ever. 
 
 " Not so fast," said she, " not so fast. I am discussing 
 possibilities, Master Randolph, and you are accepting them 
 for certainties ; but enough of this amusement is our chief 
 business to-night. See, the queen of the revels is looking 
 anxiously this way, and you have not been to pay her your 
 homage yet. Delay no longer, her displeasure to-night is far 
 weightier and more implacable than mine." 
 
 As she spoke she dismissed him with a courteous gesture, 
 and Randolph, nothing loth, commenced paying his court 
 most assiduously to Mary Beton, with the double object of 
 spending his time agreeably and worming out of her, ere the 
 night was past, some corroboration of the queen's vague hints 
 as to her approaching marriage. 
 
 It was with secret pride and exultation the Twelfth-night 
 queen, in all her assumed splendour, beheld the ambassador 
 approach the circle that formed her sham Court. It would 
 be too much to say that Mary Beton was deeply in love with 
 Randolph, but she experienced from his attentions certain 
 agreeable feelings, that originated in gratified vanity and a 
 sense of her own superiority to her companions. It was 
 indeed no petty triumph to have secured the homage of the 
 fastidious and cynical Thomas Randolph : the man who was 
 the type of refinement and the incarnation of selfishness, 
 avowedly a despiser of women and a free-thinker in love. 
 The pleasure, too, was doubtless in no small degree enhanced 
 by the careworn face of Alexander Ogilvy, who continued to 
 haunt the Court, with a hopeless perseverance truly edifying, 
 and made himself miserable with the self-immolating regularity 
 peculiar to a lover, and totally inexplicable on any grounds of 
 reason or expediency. 
 
 Mary Beton had no objection in the world ; she liked to 
 have two strings to her bow. Two ! Where is the woman 
 who would refuse half a dozen ? With all their vanity and 
 all their libertinism, thus much we may safely say in favour 
 of the ruder sex a man is usually indisposed to have more 
 than one attachment on his hands at a time. He may behave 
 ungratefully, unfeelingly, brutally, to Dora, but it is for the 
 sake of Flora. For however short a period it may be, yet 
 while he wears those colours, Nora looking out for prey in 
 every direction, shall strive to fascinate him in vain. But 
 
 244
 
 TWELFTH-NIGHT 
 
 how different is the conduct of the last-named personage : 
 brilliant and seductive, it is no reason, because she is herself 
 in love with Tom, that she should refrain from the massacre 
 of Jack, Dick, and Harry; nay, if Bill be fortunate enough 
 to spend an hour or two in her company, away with him to 
 the shambles too ! Shall we pity Nora so very much when 
 she wears the willow for the faithless Tom, and finds out too 
 late that she never really cared a pin for the other victims who, 
 more or less damaged, have made their escape from the toils ? 
 
 The wrongs of the sexes towards each other are of the 
 cruellest, and it is generous and manly that our sympathy 
 should be given to the weaker portion, but the injuries are 
 not all one way. Many a rugged face is only so grave and 
 stern because it dares not, quivering there behind its iron 
 mask, lose for one instant its self-command ; many a kindly 
 heart has turned to gall, many an honest nature been warped 
 irrevocably to evil, because the pride of manhood forbids it to 
 ask for that relief which never comes unsought ; of course it 
 serves them right : of course we do not pity them ; but are 
 they the less lost on that account ? 
 
 It would have moved even a courtier to witness the ex- 
 pression of sharp pain that swept over Ogilvy's face when 
 Randolph led Mary Beton out to dance, but it was gone in a 
 moment, and nobody detected it save the fair cause herself, 
 who moved, we may be sure, all the more proudly through 
 the measure in consequence, and listened, well -pleased as 
 ever, to the mingled honey and vinegar of the ambassador's 
 flatteries and sarcasms. Meanwhile the queen, followed by 
 her other maidens, glided through the throng, dispensing her 
 notice graciously to all her guests, and more especially those 
 whom she had reason to consider somewhat wavering in 
 their loyalty a distinction not lost upon Mary Seton, who 
 whispered to her companion 
 
 " This would be a fine time for poor Bothwell now to come 
 back again ; see, my dear, even Lord Ruthven has had soft 
 words and kind looks to-night." 
 
 To which the lady addressed, no other than Mary Car- 
 michael, only answered by a smothered sigh, for that noble- 
 man was popularly believed to tamper with the black art, 
 and to be an especial adept in the compounding of charms 
 and potions both for friend and foe. She was thinking how 
 delightful it would be to have one of his specific love-philters 
 to do what she liked with, and to whom she would give it. 
 Certainly not to the stranger in the Abbey garden ; he loved 
 her quite well enough already. 
 
 245
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Somehow at this moment her eye sought out the figure of 
 Walter Maxwell, who was standing apart in the recess of one 
 of the windows, and looking at her with a kind of pitying 
 sadness, as men do on an object once dearly prized which 
 they will never see again. It was so unusual now for them to 
 exchange glances, much less words, that the sight troubled 
 her ; she turned red first and then very pale. He stirred and 
 made a step forward, as if to advance and speak to her, but 
 seemed to think better of it, crossed his arms upon his breast, 
 and resumed his former position. Following the queen, she 
 was obliged to pass very near him, and lowering her eyes to 
 avoid meeting his glance, she was distressed and ashamed to 
 find that they were full of tears. 
 
 There is a mysterious kind of sympathy often existing 
 between those who have some common cause of suffering. 
 Two gouty old gentlemen are never tired of detailing to each 
 other their respective symptoms of podagra ; and weak-minded 
 ladies subject to " nervous attacks " have been overheard to 
 interchange the most surprising confidences regarding that 
 remarkable ailment ; in the same manner a couple of lovers, 
 not a pair, are drawn towards each other by a community 
 of sorrow. Alexander Ogilvy took his place by Mary 
 Carmichael's side, and sought in that lady's blue eyes, at 
 least commiseration for his sorrows. Placing a chair for her 
 a little out of the crowd, he conversed with her on the heat 
 of the room, the beauty of the dresses, her own successful 
 toilet, and suchlike topics, gradually lowering his voice and 
 bringing the conversation round to the subject nearest his 
 heart. 
 
 " A bird hath whispered in my ear," said he, " that we 
 must look ere long to have a king-consort at Holyrood. The 
 Maries are more interested in the matter than the whole of 
 Scotland besides. You will be freed from your vow : choose 
 each of you a mate, and pair off, like the fowls of the air, 
 ere another St. Valentine be past. What say you, Mistress 
 Carmichael? sings my little bird true or false? I am no 
 courtier, you know." 
 
 " And yet you are much at Court," she answered absently, 
 " particularly of late, Master Ogilvy ; it was but yesterday the 
 queen, pointing you out to Mary Beton, commended the 
 bravery of your attire." 
 
 Ogilvy coloured, looking very much alarmed, yet not 
 altogether displeased. 
 
 " And what said Mistress Beton ? " he asked anxiously. 
 
 His discomposure was so obvious, that it was well for him 
 
 246
 
 TWELFTH-NIGHT 
 
 he had not to do with mischievous Mary Seton, or even with 
 his present companion, had she been in other than a subdued 
 and melancholy frame of mind. In most women the tempta- 
 tion to mockery would have been irresistible, but Mistress 
 Carmichael only replied carelessly 
 
 " That you were the properest man at Holyrood, and that 
 she thought our gallants of the Court wore the French air 
 more naturally than did the Southrons." 
 
 " Did she really say so ? " he exclaimed eagerly ; " and do 
 you believe she meant it? You know her well, Mistress 
 Carmichael ; is it not true that she is herself too irresistibly 
 attracted towards the Southron? Do you not think that 
 when hood and jesses are fairly doffed once for all, she will 
 fly her pitch toward the border, ay, and strike her quarry far 
 on the southern side ? " 
 
 Mary Carmichael followed the direction of his glance to 
 where Mistress Beton stood radiant in her Twelfth-night 
 bravery, and listening with a heightened colour and a well- 
 pleased air to Randolph's flatteries ; but she pitied whilst she 
 marked the suffering that was too apparent in her questioner's 
 gaze, and replied gently to his thoughts rather than his 
 words 
 
 " Gratified vanity is one thing, and real preference another. 
 A woman ofttimes likes that suitor best whom most she seems 
 to avoid. Perhaps for that very reason, perhaps because she 
 is weak at heart and cannot help herself." 
 
 She spoke the last sentence low, and more to herself than 
 to him. She was willing to console him, for the deeper a 
 kind nature is wounded, the more it feels for the sorrows of 
 others. Also, it may be that she found a certain relief in 
 repeating the lesson it had cost her so much pains to learn. 
 
 He drew closer to her. 
 
 " Thank you," said he, with a beaming look of gratitude. 
 " You are a true friend ! Believe me, Mistress Carmichael, I 
 am not ungrateful. Can I serve you in any way in return ? " 
 
 "It is no question of that," she replied. " Our positions 
 are so different. I only say to you, remember your own 
 motto 'To the end.' If I were a man I think I could trust 
 and hope for ever. I think I could be staunch and unselfish 
 and true, in defiance of sorrow, suffering, opposition, nay, even 
 of ingratitude and neglect. I would prove to the woman 
 whom I had chosen that at least she must be proud of my 
 choice, that a man's honest affection was no vacillating fancy, 
 but an eternal truth ; and even if she did not love me, I would 
 force her to confess that it was her own inferiority of nature 
 
 247
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 that could not mate with mine. But why should I talk thus 
 to you ? " she added, breaking off with rather a bitter laugh. 
 " You are a man : you cannot understand me ; you will not 
 believe in anything unless you can see it with your two eyes, 
 and grasp it in your two hands, and be told by all your friends 
 besides that it is there. If you had but one gold piece in the 
 world, you must beat it out thin, and lacker it over your spurs, 
 and your housings, and the hilt of your sword ; you could 
 not hide it away in your bosom, and keep it unspent and 
 unsuspected next your heart ! " 
 
 " I know not," he said with a brightening face ; " your 
 words give me hope. I seem to see things differently since 
 you have been speaking to me. You are my good angel. 
 Help me; advise me; tell me what I had better do." 
 
 " In the first place, go and talk to somebody else," she 
 replied, laughing. " You will scarcely advance the cause you 
 have at heart by whispering with me in a corner. Looks of 
 inquiry, if not displeasure, have been already shot this way ; 
 and although, perhaps, we are the only two people in this 
 room who never could be more than friends, courtiers' eyes 
 are so sharp and their inferences so good-natured, that they 
 have probably ere this made their usual grand discovery of 
 that which does not exist. And so, good Master Ogilvy, my 
 last word is, think of your motto and speed you well ! " 
 
 Thus speaking, she made him a stately curtsey and with- 
 drew towards the queen ; but Mary CarmichaeJ was right, and 
 their interview, short as it was, had been remarked by more 
 than one interested observer. 
 
 Though it costs the animal many stripes and much 
 vexation doubtless to acquire the accomplishment, we have 
 seen a dog so well broke as to forego at his owner's word a 
 tempting morsel placed within his reach, licking his lips indeed 
 and looking longingly after it, yet exhibiting, nevertheless, a 
 noble mastery over his inclinations. But let another dog 
 come by and snatch the bone thus ceded to a sense of duty, 
 and all his self-restraint vanishes on the instant. Open- 
 mouthed he rushes to wrest it from the intruder, and that 
 which but a moment ago was an advantage he could philo- 
 sophically resign, becomes immediately a necessity that he 
 will break through all bounds to attain. So is it with man- 
 kind. We can give up, or rather we fancy we have given up, 
 the one bright hope that gilded our existence. We see the 
 dear face that used to make the very sunshine of our heart 
 altered and estranged, perhaps cold and distant, perhaps turned 
 scornfully away. We think we can bear our burden resignedly 
 
 248
 
 TWELFTH-NIGHT 
 
 enough. There is a great blank in our lives, felt less in the 
 time of sorrow than at those seasons when, were it not for our 
 loss, we think we should be so contented, so happy. There is 
 a sense of desolation, a consciousness of old age coming on 
 and being welcome a morbid inclination to receive adversity 
 with open arms; but yet we man ourselves against the calamity, 
 strong to oppose and constant to endure. We have not felt 
 the sting yet. Whilst we are in the cold shade let the dear 
 face beam upon another ; let the tones, so cruel now and hard 
 to us, fall with the well-remembered cadence on his ear ; let 
 him be the recipient of the thousand tender cares and winning 
 ways that used to bring tears of affection into our eyes ; then, 
 and not till then, have we sustained the sharpest pain that life 
 has to inflict ; then, and not till then, do we feel that there is 
 no sorrow like to our sorrow, and that it is well for us it is 
 transient from its very nature, or heart and brain would give 
 way under the stroke. 
 
 Mary Beton was well satisfied to receive the homage of 
 her English admirer, and, in order to ensure it, was perfectly 
 willing to discard her sincerer suitor. Poor Ogilvy might pine 
 and sigh as he pleased, without gaining so much as a kind 
 word or an approving glance; but this rigorous treatment 
 was only to endure so long as she felt he was her property ; 
 the dog's wages were to be given to the dog's honest obedience 
 and fidelity. It was quite a different matter when he appeared 
 to have transferred his allegiance to another. Though she 
 did not like him well enough to give up Randolph for his 
 sake, she had no idea of losing him altogether. Even if she 
 had no use for him, he had no right to belong to anyone else, 
 and it was with far more of anxiety and concern than usually 
 overspread those calm features that Mistress Beton glanced 
 continually towards the corner where he was whispering with 
 Mary Carmichael, while she listened to the smooth phrase of 
 the English ambassador with an absent air and a forced 
 smile. 
 
 Nor was the stately maid-of-honour the only person in 
 that noble assemblage who felt acutely the difference between 
 the active and passive moods of the verb "to give up." 
 Walter Maxwell, hurt, jealous, and indignant, had for long 
 accustomed himself to look upon Mary Carmichael as one 
 who was dead to him for evermore ; had trained himself to 
 meet her coldly and calmly when their respective duties 
 brought them unavoidably together, and to shun her on all 
 other occasions with scrupulous self-denial ; nay, was beginning 
 to find a certain gloomy satisfaction in the violence he was 
 
 249
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 capable of doing to his own feelings, and a certain savage 
 triumph in the reflection that he, too, could be as unkind and 
 heartless and indifferent as a woman ! But when he saw her 
 thus engrossed with Ogilvy's conversation, evidently of a 
 mysterious and interesting nature; when he marked, as he 
 did at a glance, the softened expression of her face and the 
 wistful tenderness in her blue eyes, he experienced a sensation 
 of pain once more, to which he had thought he was hence- 
 forth to be a stranger, and felt again for an instant as he had 
 felt that well-remembered night when he came upon her so 
 unexpectedly at her tryst in the Abbey garden. 
 
 The same cause produces strangely different effects upon 
 different individuals. Whilst Mary Beton, under the influence 
 of jealousy, was becoming restless, captious, and even irritable 
 (much, it must be confessed, to the secret amusement of Mr. 
 Thomas Randolph), Walter Maxwell felt a fresh impulse 
 given to that generosity, which prompted him to put an end 
 to-night to his anxieties and misgivings once for all. 
 
 The queen, in the meantime, seeking, in her innocence 
 and gaiety of heart, to keep up the characteristic merriment 
 of the feast, was unconsciously exciting the displeasure of 
 her nobility, and unwittingly preparing the downfall of her 
 versatile little favourite the Italian Riccio. Disregarding 
 the coarser witticisms and grotesque antics of James Geddes, 
 who indeed had become a duller fool day by day, since 
 the shock his feeble intellect sustained on the morning of 
 Chastelar's death, Mary had summoned her private secretary 
 into the centre of the illustrious circle which surrounded her, 
 and, with a familiarity exceedingly displeasing to the haughty 
 Scottish barons, bade him improvise, after the manner of his 
 country, for their amusement. Nothing daunted by bent 
 brows and scornful looks, the glib foreigner, placing himself 
 on a cushion at the queen's feet, commenced a lively tale, of 
 which the incidents and the language, for it was related in 
 French, were most displeasing to his audience. It turned 
 upon one of those fables so popular at the time in Italy, and 
 was, indeed, both in its details and its catastrophe, especially 
 unsuitable to the practical nature and affected asceticism of 
 the Scottish character at that period. 
 
 "There was a beautiful flower," said he, his little black 
 eyes twinkling at the queen while he spoke, " growing in a 
 fair garden, through which ran a mountain stream, and the 
 birds of the air and the insects of the noontide came to pay 
 their court to this flower and to win a breath of her fragrance, 
 for she was the pride of all earthly plants and the queen of 
 
 250
 
 TWELFTH-NIGHT 
 
 the garden. So the humming-bird flitted by in his bravery, 
 and she marked not his liveries of blue and gold, nor bent her 
 head towards him, but let him pass on to court the flowers 
 of his own tropical land, gorgeous without perfume, dazzling 
 but loveless, like a fair woman without a heart. And the 
 nightingale sang his life away to please her, and, wooing her 
 with his last notes, died hungering when the evening star 
 shone out above the trees. Then the butterfly brought his 
 painted coat and his gay manners and fluttered about her, 
 making sure that a courtier like himself must prevail ; but 
 she bent not her head nor moved one of her leaves towards 
 him, though the breeze was sighing softly around her and 
 shaking the dewdrops from her stem. 
 
 " None of the gay and gaudy seemed to win the favour of 
 that queenly flower. At length a bee came buzzing home 
 from his labours, laden with the honey-dew that he had been 
 gathering far and wide. He thought to rest on her petals 
 and distil fresh treasures from her chalice, but she shook her 
 beautiful blossoms merrily in the breeze and waved him 
 scornfully away. 
 
 " All the birds of the air and the noontide insects marvelled 
 that she would have none of them, for they deemed her 
 haughty and unsociable, whispering to one another of the 
 pride that goeth before a fall. 
 
 " Now, even as she shook her petals in disdain, she 
 opened her heart to the daylight, and at its very core lay 
 concealed a lazy useless drone. Then the humming-bird 
 and the butterfly and the bee laughed together, for they 
 said 
 
 " ' Of what avail are beauty and bravery and worth, against 
 possession ? And if she have taken the dullest of all insects 
 to her heart, we have but lost our time in suing her, and the 
 nightingale, on the cold earth yonder, hath given his life in 
 vain.' 
 
 " There is a moral in my fable, ladies ! " added Riccio, 
 with a smile and a shrug of his crooked shoulders " a moral 
 that you will all of you acknowledge if you tell truth. Who 
 shall dictate to a woman's fancy, or reduce to rule the wander- 
 ing inclinations of a woman's heart ? " 
 
 The ladies laughed and whispered, some protesting against 
 the conclusion, others pitying the poor nightingale, but all 
 uniting in condemnation of the useless drone. Lord Ruthven, 
 who had been eyeing the narrator with looks of fierce scorn, 
 strode up to where he was sitting at the queen's feet, and 
 asked him, in a loud, contemptuous voice 
 
 251
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 "Were there no WASPS in yonder garden of which you 
 spake, Master Tale-teller, wasps that might give the drone 
 a lesson, and teach him his place was somewhat lower than 
 the bosom of its choicest flower ? " 
 
 The Italian looked up somewhat scared in his grim 
 questioner's face. 
 
 " Nay, signior," he replied humbly, " in courtly gardens the 
 wasps must leave their stings behind." 
 
 " Ay ! sticking in the carcass of the drone ! " returned 
 Ruthven, with a brutal laugh, which was echoed by Morton 
 and one or two other savage-looking noblemen who stood 
 near. 
 
 The queen seemed highly displeased, but, true to her 
 conciliatory principle, hastened to change the subject ere 
 these turbulent spirits should further forget their own dignity 
 and the respect due to her presence. Calling her maidens 
 around her, she bade them bring her harp, a beautiful 
 instrument, highly ornamented, and proposed it should be 
 the prize of any lady in the company who could sing to 
 it an impromptu measure on a subject she would herself 
 propose. 
 
 " I shall play on it no more," said Mary, with a half- 
 melancholy smile. " It is only maiden-queens who have time 
 for such follies. A busier day, for aught I know, may be 
 about to dawn, ere long, on Mary Stuart " (here she cast a 
 sly glance at Randolph, who, without seeming to heed her, 
 was listening, all attention), " and I cannot leave my favourite 
 instrument in better hands than hers who wins it fairly by 
 her skill. Behold ! which of you, ladies, will undertake to 
 strike these strings and improvise a song, as deftly as our 
 little secretary here has told us a story ? " 
 
 It was an attempt requiring considerable confidence in 
 such a presence. The ladies gazed on one another in obvious 
 hesitation. Presently a handsome, intellectual-looking woman 
 stepped forward, and curtseying to her Majesty, bent grace- 
 fully, without speaking, over the instrument. 
 
 " Beatrix Gardyn ! " exclaimed the queen, with a bright 
 smile, " the Sappho of the North ! I know of none better 
 qualified to do justice to my poor harp ; will you begin, 
 Beatrix, at once? Are you waiting for inspiration?" 
 
 "The theme, an't please your Majesty?" said Beatrix, 
 bowing her classic head with the utmost composure, and 
 sweeping a masterly prelude over the strings. 
 
 The queen gave another meaning glance at Randolph, 
 and laughed again. 
 
 252
 
 TWELFTH-NIGHT 
 
 " What say you to my marriage my possible marriage 
 and the consequent release of my four bonny maidens 
 from their celibacy ? The subject, methinks, is a noble one ; 
 and see, the Maries are listening all attention for your 
 strains." 
 
 Beatrix Gardyn struck a few wandering chords, then 
 with bent brows and kindling eyes fixed on vacancy, broke 
 into a melody to which, with but little hesitation, and now 
 and then a meaning smile, she adapted the following 
 words : 
 
 THE MAIDENS' VOW 
 
 " A woman may better her word, I trow, 
 
 Now lithe and listen, my lords, to me ; 
 And I'll tell ye the tale of the 'Maidens' Vow,' 
 And the roses that bloom'd on the bonnie rose-tree. 
 
 The Queen of the cluster, beyond compare, 
 
 Aloft in the pride of her majesty hung, 
 Bright and beautiful, fresh and fair ; 
 
 The bevy of blossoms around her clung. 
 
 So the winds came wooing from east and west, 
 
 Wooing and whispering frank and free ; 
 But she folded her petals ; quoth she, ' I am best 
 
 On a stalk of my own at the top of the tree.' 
 
 And they folded their petals, the rosebuds too, 
 And closer they clung as the wind swept by, 
 
 For they'd vow'd a vow, that sisterhood true, 
 Together to fade, and together to die. 
 
 ' Never a wind shall a rosebud wrest, 
 
 Never a gallant shall wile us away, 
 To wear in his bonnet, to wear on his breast, 
 
 Rose and rosebuds answering, Nay.' 
 
 So staunch were the five to their word of mouth, 
 That they baffled all suitors who throng'd to the bower, 
 
 Till a breeze that came murmuring out of the south 
 Stole home to the heart of the queenliest flower. 
 
 She droop'd in her beauty to hear him sigh, 
 And ever the brighter and fairer she grew ; 
 
 What wonder, then, that each rosebud nigh 
 Should open its leaves to the breezes too? 
 
 Oh ! gather the dew while the freshness is on ; 
 
 Roses and maidens they fade in a day ; 
 Ere you've tasted its sweetness the morning is gone ; 
 
 Love at your leisure, but wed while you may. 
 
 Winter is coming, and time shall not spare ye, 
 
 Beautiful blossoms so fragrant and sheen ; 
 Joy to the gallants that win ye and wear ye, 
 
 Joy to the roses, and joy to their queen." 
 
 253
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Rounds of applause followed the conclusion of the song. 
 The approval with which Mary received it was tantamount 
 to an acknowledgment of its truth ; and the courtiers scarce 
 refrained from cheers and such noisy demonstrations of their 
 acquiescence in its purport. 
 
 Congratulations were freely tendered to the Maries on their 
 coming release from the vows by which it had been long 
 understood they were bound ; and many facetious remarks 
 were directed at those young ladies on a topic, which although 
 next to death the most serious and important in the human 
 destiny, has been considered, from time immemorial, as a 
 fitting subject for stale witticisms and far-fetched jokes. 
 
 In the midst of all this clamour and merriment, Walter 
 Maxwell slipped quietly out of the presence ; and when Mary 
 Carmichael, wondering how he would be affected by the news 
 that thus seemed to stir the whole Court, stole a wistful look 
 towards the corner he had lately occupied, behold, he was 
 gone! 
 
 After this the buzz of conversation, the rustle of ladies' 
 dresses, the strains of the queen's musicians, seemed to strike 
 wearily on her ear ; how pointless seemed the jests that yet 
 provoked bursts of laughter from the bystanders ; how unin- 
 teresting the vapid compliments that were yet paid with such 
 an air, and received so graciously ; how dull and uninteresting 
 the whole routine of a courtier's life, and the individual items 
 that composed a courtly assemblage ! As we must all do 
 sooner or later, for the moment the girl saw life without the 
 varnish, and wondered it had ever looked so bright; she 
 longed for the hour of dismissal, when she, too, had a tryst to 
 keep, a duty to perform. In the meantime we must follow 
 Maxwell into the Abbey garden. 
 
 254
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 MYSTIFICATION 
 
 ' ' The foremost was an aged knight, 
 
 He wore the gray hair on his chin, 
 Says, ' Yield to me thy lady bright 
 An' thou shalt walk the woods within.' 
 
 ' For me to yield my lady bright 
 
 To such an aged knight as thee, 
 People wad think I war gane mad, 
 
 Or all the courage flown frae me.' " 
 
 HE paused as he emerged from the palace, to let the cool 
 air fan his brow, and to give his thoughts and energies 
 time to collect themselves for the great effort he felt he had 
 to make. Then he walked steadily on to the well-known spot 
 under the apple-tree, where he remembered to have witnessed 
 the interview between Mary Carmichael and her mysterious 
 admirer. Once he had loved that spot so dearly ; once he 
 used to linger there for hours together at night, and watch 
 the lights in the apartment inhabited by the Maries ; once he 
 was fool enough to feel his heart thrill when her shadow 
 crossed the casement. Well ! that was all past and gone. 
 It seemed strange the place could be so changed, and yet 
 the same. 
 
 There is no feeling so sad as that with which we revisit 
 our earthly paradise, whatever it may be, after our return has 
 been forbidden, and the angel placed at the gate to warn us 
 off with his flaming sword. Adam and Eve plodded away 
 indeed contentedly into the wilderness, but we, their children, 
 cannot always resign ourselves so philosophically to the 
 inevitable. We plead and pray to be allowed to re-enter, 
 and, perhaps to enhance our punishment, the angel is suffered 
 to give way to our entreaties. Ah ! it is, the same garden 
 still. (Although the trees are lying prostrate, dank, and 
 rotting, on the tufted sward ; although the flowers are broken 
 and withered and trampled into the earth ; although there 
 are dust and ashes now, and the darkness of desolation, where 
 
 255
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 once the ripe fruit glowed, and the green leaves flickered in the 
 golden floods of noon ; yet it is here we first knew paradise ; it is 
 from this spot we first caught a glimpse of the dazzling depths 
 of heaven ; it was from that spring, choked and tangled and 
 dried up now, we first drank the waters of life. All is ruined 
 and defiled and destroyed, but it is our Garden of Eden still. 
 We had rather sit here with bowed head and rent garments, 
 than walk the fairest realms of earth, in purple and fine linen, 
 lord and ruler of the whole. 
 
 Poor ghosts we are indeed, some of us, even while clothed 
 in our fleshly coverings, and prone to wander to and fro about 
 the spot where we buried our treasures, though they have been 
 dug up and taken away long ago. If we could but sever 
 that cord which links us with the past and cut out the moral 
 gangrene, as we amputate the physical limb when mortifica- 
 tion has set in, how healthy would be our spiritual being, how 
 cheerfully we could limp, mutilated but painless, to the grave ! 
 Alas ! to some natures it is impossible. To such the punish- 
 ment of Prometheus is no fiction. The chain and the vulture 
 and the rock must be their portion. Nevertheless they are not 
 eternal, and the Garden of Eden itself, glowing in the summer 
 noon, was but a dreary waste compared with that garden 
 which men enter by a strait way and through a narrow gate. 
 
 Maxwell looked about him with a heavy heart. He was 
 young yet, and the lesson of life, which all must learn, came 
 painfully to him in the freshness of his youthful hopes. It 
 takes a long time and a good many reverses to acquire the 
 unenviable stoicism which always expects the worst and is 
 seldom disappointed. He was, however, consoled and sup- 
 ported by the consciousness that he had come to a final 
 determination, unselfish and sincere, which would put an end 
 to his doubts once for all. Whilst the dice are yet unthrown, 
 it is a wondrous moral sedative, that resolution to set our 
 whole future on the cast. When they have come up against 
 us, we are by no means satisfied to abide by the issue, but 
 this is an after consideration, and affects not a whit the 
 vigour of our purpose in the meanwhile. 
 
 The watcher had not long to wait. A tall dark figure, 
 cloaked as before, was soon seen gliding to the accustomed 
 spot. Ere he had well reached the apple-tree, Maxwell was 
 already by his side, and had laid his hand upon his shoulder. 
 The stranger started. Under his cloak a few inches of steel 
 showed themselves out of the scabbard, as his grasp closed 
 upon his sword ; but he drove the blade home with a clash, 
 thoroughly reassured at Maxwell's first sentence. 
 
 256
 
 MYSTIFICATION 
 
 " I am your friend," exclaimed the latter, hastily but in a 
 cautious voice, " at least for the present. You are in danger, 
 and I have come here to warn you." 
 
 There was something so frank in his tones that the other 
 responded immediately. He even lowered the cloak in which 
 his face was muffled and smiled gaily as he replied 
 
 " I am used to it, my good friend, but equally beholden to 
 you, nevertheless. I would fain know, all the same, who you 
 are that takes such interest in my welfare, and wherefore. 
 Nay," he added more abruptly, " this is scarcely candid. I 
 know you, Master Maxwell, and I believe you to be a man of 
 honour and a gentleman ; but what you can have to communi- 
 cate to me is indeed a mystery." 
 
 There was light enough to distinguish the speaker's features. 
 They were those of a singularly handsome man in the prime 
 of life, as his rival did not fail to remark, with a certain defiance 
 and reckless good-humour in their expression. His hair and 
 beard were somewhat grey, but not sufficiently so to destroy 
 the general comeliness of his appearance, and his eyes would 
 have been beautiful even in a woman. 
 
 " This is no time to bandy compliments," answered Max- 
 well, still in the same low tone. " You are engaged here in 
 some intrigue ; it may or it may not amount to treason. You 
 have been coming and going secretly for months. If you are 
 discovered and arrested, your very life is in danger. Is it 
 not so ? " 
 
 " Granted," replied the other, smoothing his grey moustache 
 with a provoking air of calmness. " There is no game with- 
 out a hazard. And what then ? " 
 
 " You have been watched ! " urged Maxwell impatiently. 
 " You have probably been recognised by those who know you 
 better than I do. Perhaps a few more hours may see you 
 arrested. I tell you, Randolph is on your track, that Southron 
 bloodhound who never overran a scent nor opened on a false 
 trail. You had better have the devil for your enemy than the 
 English ambassador ! " 
 
 " I trust devoutly I may prevail against both," answered 
 the stranger ; then added musingly, " You say true about 
 Randolph; his schemes are both wide and deep, whilst his 
 hand is as prompt to execute as his brain is subtle to devise. 
 I pray ye, my friend, when did ye learn I was to be here 
 to-night ? " 
 
 " This day at dinner, and from Randolph himself," replied 
 Maxwell. " The minister spared not the wine-flask, I promise 
 you ; and had it been any other man I might have believed 
 R 257
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 that he told me more than he intended, but not all the vine- 
 yards of the Rhine or the Garonne would influence Randolph's 
 tongue to play false for a syllable to Randolph's brain. Nay, 
 I will deal frankly with you, fair sir. I offered myself to be 
 the means of unmasking you, in order that I might warn you 
 in time and save you from your fate ! " 
 
 " It was most friendly and considerate," observed the other, 
 with a laugh not far removed from a sneer. " I would fain 
 know, nevertheless, to what happy chance I am indebted for 
 the interest Master Walter Maxwell takes in my preservation. 
 Nay," he again broke off abruptly, and added with complete 
 sincerity, " this is unworthy of both of us. You are an honest 
 fellow, Master, Maxwell, and a loyal gentleman. Roundly now, 
 what is your hidden motive for this proceeding ? Come, out 
 with it ! " 
 
 " My motives are honourable enough," replied the other, 
 with some difficulty retaining his composure. " I pray you 
 attribute no hidden meaning to what I have to say. Be frank 
 and open with me, whether friend or foe, as I swear I am 
 frank and open with you." 
 
 " I believe it ! " exclaimed the other, extending him his 
 hand ; but Maxwell, without taking it, folded his arms across 
 his heart, and proceeded in the low quiet tones of repressed 
 excitement 
 
 " I have no right to assume that your presence here in 
 silence and secrecy is for any other than a political object, 
 and yet from my own knowledge I am satisfied that there 
 are further motives of a private nature. If you feel that 
 what I have done for you to-night deserves any return, I 
 claim your confidence in a matter that is to me one of life 
 and death." 
 
 He wiped the drops from his pale face as he spoke, and 
 the stranger, pitying his obvious agitation, motioned to him 
 courteously to proceed. 
 
 " There is a lady of the Court," resumed Maxwell, still in 
 the same concentrated voice, " who has allowed herself to 
 hold clandestine interviews with you in this spot by night. 
 No man alive shall make me believe that anything but an 
 ardent and sincere affection would tempt that lady so far to 
 commit herself. Mistress Carmichael is above the weaknesses 
 and petty vanities of her sex. I demand of you, on your 
 honour as a gentleman, to clear her conduct in my eyes by 
 avowing that you are her lover." 
 
 The stranger had started violently when he heard men- 
 tioned the proper name of the adventurous damsel, whom in 
 
 258
 
 MYSTIFICATION 
 
 truth he was momentarily expecting, but the lower part of 
 his face was again concealed in his cloak, and his whole 
 frame was shaking from some strongly - curbed emotion, 
 while he demanded 
 
 " By what right do you ask so unwarrantable a question ? " 
 
 "By the right of a pure and holy affection," answered 
 Maxwell gravely ; " by the right of an unselfish love that 
 would even give her up ungrudgingly to a worthy rival ! " 
 
 " Hoity-toity, young gentleman ! " exclaimed the stranger, 
 breaking forth into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, all the 
 more violent that he dared not indulge in it above his breath. 
 " Thou art not likely to lose aught for lack of asking ; thou 
 art one of these wild Iceland falcons, I warrant me, that will 
 fly their pitch, hooded and jessed and all, to strike at every 
 quarry alike. I ought to be angry with thee, man ; but I 
 cannot for the life of me. In faith I forgive thee ; I forgive 
 thee were it but for the jest's sake." 
 
 He wiped his eyes while he spoke, and, turning away, 
 stamped upon the ground, as he held his sides once more in 
 a convulsion of mirth. To Maxwell, with his feelings wrought 
 up to a pitch of quixotic generosity, all the more exalted that 
 it was an unusual effort of his practical nature, such a display 
 was irritating in the extreme. It is bad enough to hand 
 over the last stiver you have in your pocket, but when the 
 tears in the recipient's eyes are those of mockery rather than 
 gratitude, it is sufficient to cause an outbreak in the most 
 stoical temperament. The younger man's brow grew dark 
 with passion, and he laid his hand upon his sword. 
 
 " At least," he exclaimed, " I will force a confession from 
 you ; I came here prepared for either alternative. Had you 
 met me frankly and vowed your devotion to her, I would 
 have been your friend for life ; if you mean treacherously, 
 I am your rival to the death." 
 
 The other was still laughing. 
 
 " Pooh! pooh!" said he carelessly, " you are meddling with 
 what concerns you not. I thank you for your warning, young 
 sir ; and, in return, I advise you to give up the championship of 
 every dame who comes out with a muffler into the moonlight ; 
 I wish you good-night, Master Maxwell ; I would be alone." 
 
 He waved his hand rather contemptuously and turned upon 
 his heel ; but Maxwell, now boiling with passion, placed him- 
 self in front of him, and drew his sword. 
 
 " You part not thus," said he ; " by Saint Andrew, I am 
 henceforth your sworn foe. Draw and take your ground if 
 you be a man ! " 
 
 259
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 The other put aside the weapon with his naked hand, and 
 laughed once more. Maxwell's face was white with anger, and 
 his eyes flashed fire. Quick as thought he struck his enemy 
 a smart blow across the shoulder with the flat of his sword. 
 The smile on the stranger's countenance deepened into a 
 very dangerous expression. 
 
 " Nay," said he, in a hissing whisper between his teeth, 
 " a wilful man never yet wanted woe ; ye have forced me 
 to lug out, youngster, and it shall be to some purpose, I 
 promise ye." 
 
 With that he placed himself on guard with an ominously 
 steady eye, and a hand that, as he bore against his blade, 
 Maxwell quickly discovered to be as skilful as his own. 
 
 The wicked steel twined and glittered in the moonlight. 
 As they warmed to their work each man grew more eager 
 and more deadly in the murderous game ; thrust and parry, 
 give and take, delicate feint and desperate return, were rapidly 
 and breathlessly exchanged, but at the end of a few passes, 
 though neither had gained any advantage, Maxwell's youth 
 and activity began to tell upon his elder antagonist. Already 
 the stranger's brow was covered with sweat, and his breath 
 came quick and short as he traversed here and there, and 
 began perceptibly to give ground. With the true instinct of a 
 swordsman, Maxwell pressed him vigorously when he began to 
 fail, and was in the act of delivering a long-meditated and 
 particularly fatal thrust, when he suddenly found his own 
 blade encumbered with a woollen plaid that had been thrown 
 over it, and himself at the mercy of his antagonist. Looking 
 wildly up, he could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw 
 Mary Carmichael's pale face frowning angrily upon him, 
 while she clung fondly and imploringly on the stranger's 
 sword-arm, effectually preventing the latter from availing 
 himself, even were he so minded, of the diversion she had so 
 made. 
 
 Stunned and stupefied, with his mouth open and his sword- 
 point resting on the ground, Maxwell stood like a man in a 
 dream. Presently his face contracted with an expression of 
 intense'pain as he saw Mary once more enveloped in his rival's 
 embrace, and heard her incoherent expressions of tenderness 
 and alarm. The stranger was soothing her gently and 
 lovingly as a burst of weeping succeeded the effort she had 
 made for his preservation. After a while he turned to his late 
 antagonist, and said 
 
 " You are satisfied now, sir, I presume, and have no wish to 
 renew this foolish and untimely brawl ? " 
 
 260
 
 MYSTIFICATION 
 
 But Maxwell never heard him ; with pale face and parted 
 lips, his eyes were still riveted on Mary Carmichael. He 
 advanced a step towards her, trembling in every limb. 
 
 " You love him, then ? " said he, quite gently ; but his voice 
 was so changed that the stranger started and turned round, 
 thinking some intruder had disturbed them. 
 
 " I do ! I do ! " replied the girl hysterically, still hiding her 
 face on the breast to which she clung. 
 
 Maxwell smiled such a dreary, hopeless smile ! then 
 sheathing his sword, turned and walked slowly towards the 
 palace without another word. 
 
 261
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 ON THE QUEEN'S SERVICE 
 
 ' ' I send him the rings from my white fingers, 
 
 The garlands aff my hair ; 
 I send him the heart that's in my breast ; 
 
 What would my love hae mair ? 
 And at the fourth kirk in fair Scotland, 
 
 Ye'll bid him meet me there." 
 
 HE little crooked secretary had been 
 educated in an atmosphere of politi- 
 cal agitation and intrigue. To his 
 native Italian shrewdness David 
 Riccio added that quickness of per- 
 ception, that power of reading men's 
 characters at a glance, which can 
 only be acquired by those who are 
 compelled, amidst the storms through 
 which they guide their barque, to 
 watch every aspect of the horizon, 
 to press every instrument into their 
 service, and take every advantage 
 that shall enable them to weather the gale. 
 
 During the Feast of the Bean, whilst the majority of the 
 courtiers were but intent on the merriment of the moment, 
 whilst ladies sipped flattery and lords quaffed wine, it had 
 not escaped the notice of a pair of black southern eyes that 
 Maxwell seemed unusually restless and unhappy ; that, in spite 
 of his outward composure, there was something wild and defiant 
 in his glance ; nay, that he wore the look of a man in the 
 right mood for a desperate undertaking one to whom a 
 dangerous enterprise would appear in the light of a relief. 
 
 Either purposely, or by chance, Maxwell, returning giddy 
 and half-stupefied from the Abbey garden, found himself con- 
 fronted in one of the galleries of the palace by her Majesty's 
 private secretary. The revel was dying gradually out ; most 
 of the ladies, following the example of their sovereign, had 
 retired, and but a few staunch wassailers were left, collected 
 
 262
 
 ON THE QUEEN'S SERVICE 
 
 round the buffets and tables, at which wine was still flowing 
 with a lavish hospitality more regal, perhaps, than judicious. 
 The secretary (though he had to rise on tiptoe to do it) clapped 
 the soldier familiarly on the back. 
 
 "Not to bed, Master Maxwell," he exclaimed in jovial 
 tones, " not yet to bed, without one cup of sack to wash the 
 night air out of thy throat and wet the wings of sleep, as we 
 say in Italy, so that she cannot choose but fold them around 
 thine head ! " 
 
 While he spoke he desired one of the queen's cellarers, who 
 was passing at the moment, to pour him out a measure of 
 the generous liquid, and the man, more than half-drunk, gladly 
 filled his goblet to the brim. Maxwell, though in no mood for 
 revelry, was still less disposed for solitude. Half-stunned by the 
 blow he had received, he yet dreaded the moment at which he 
 must stand face to face, as it were, with his great sorrow, and 
 caught eagerly at any interval of delay as a respite from his 
 sufferings. A draught of the rich, generous wine seemed to 
 restore him somewhat to himself. Riccio, meanwhile, trolled 
 off, in his mellow southern voice, a few notes of an Italian 
 drinking song. He was no mean physiologist, the little 
 secretary, and he saw that his man was weary and saddened, 
 and both morally and physically overpowered. So he gave 
 the charm time to work, and when his companion had emptied 
 the cup, poured him out another forthwith. 
 
 " Master Maxwell," observed Riccio, as he marked the eye 
 of the former brightening and the colour returning to his 
 cheek, " the ladies of the Court vow you are a true knight. 
 Like our chevaliers of Italy, sworn before the Peacock to do 
 them service, you are bound to refuse no adventure in their 
 behalf. Is it not so?" 
 
 Maxwell winced a little. The subject was no pleasant one, 
 and he was at this moment particularly sore on that point ; so 
 he answered in a cold, hard voice 
 
 " I have little respect for the mummeries of chivalry, 
 Signior Riccio. A man should do his duty, whatever it be, 
 for its own sake. And as for the ladies," he added, with a sad 
 smile, " I leave it to younger and happier men to fulfil their 
 wishes ; if indeed they are fortunate enough to be able to find 
 them out." 
 
 The secretary laughed gaily. 
 
 " Is it so? " he said ; " must all men alike discover that the 
 little finger of a white hand is heavier than the arm of a 
 Douglas sheathed in steel? I thought it was a lesson only 
 learned by the dwarfed, the misshapen, the unsightly, like me. 
 
 263
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 But you, Master Maxwell, the handsome, the straight, and the 
 tall ; can it be that a woman listens unmoved to such men as 
 you ? " 
 
 There was no covert sarcasm, no leavening of ill-nature in 
 his voice nothing but the good-humoured banter of a laugh- 
 ing boon-companion. And yet it may be, that even under his 
 jest, David Riccio was glad to learn that the prizes of life did 
 not fall so readily to those personal advantages which he 
 coveted with the longing of deformity. 
 
 " Enough of this ! " replied Maxwell, interrupting him 
 rudely, and holding out his cup to be filled yet once more. 
 " Months of Holyrood have not succeeded in making me a 
 courtier. I love the free open sky better than these tapestried 
 walls. I love the sound of a trumpet better than a woman's 
 false whisper, and the shaft of a Jed wood axe better than an 
 ivory fan. I can hearken to a plain tale, and accept a defiance 
 given in my teeth, but I have no skill in reading the thoughts 
 of others by the rule of contrary, and I never could under- 
 stand our Scottish proverb that averreth how ' Nineteen nay- 
 says make half a grant.' " 
 
 He was still chafing under his ill-usage, and talking more 
 to himself than his companion. The latter looked at him long 
 and eagerly. Apparently satisfied with his scrutiny, he patted 
 him on the shoulder once more. 
 
 " You are young," he said ; " you have life before you ; you 
 are quick-witted, brave, and adventurous. What, man, there 
 are more prizes than one in the lottery! If love be a false 
 jade, ambition is a glorious mistress. Is it not better to sit at 
 the back of the stage and pull the strings than to be one of 
 the puppets and dance because another moves you ; perhaps 
 a fool's dance, with a fool's guerdon for your pains at the 
 end ? " 
 
 Maxwell shook him off impatiently. 
 
 " You speak in riddles," said he, " and I have no skill in ex- 
 pounding such parables. If you have aught to say, out with 
 it, like a man. Midnight is already past." 
 
 " And a fresh day begun," added Riccio, " a fresh day, a 
 fresh scheme, a fresh triumph. What say you, Master Max- 
 well, have you stomach for an adventure ? Have you a mind 
 to draw your riding-boots on for those silken hose, and don 
 corselet and headpiece on a queen's errand? Or are you, 
 too, under the spell that paralyses youth and strength and 
 manhood ? Are you, too, bound to some slender wrist 
 by the jesses you dare not break, and a prisoner here at 
 Holyrood because the rosy-lipped jailer will not let you go ? " 
 
 264
 
 ON THE QUEEN'S SERVICE 
 
 Maxwell laughed a fierce, wild laugh, and dashed his 
 goblet down upon the board with an emphasis most unusual 
 to him. Though habitually possessed of much self-com- 
 mand, for an instant the tide of his feelings surged up beyond 
 control. 
 
 " Holyrood ! " he exclaimed mockingly ; " what is Holy- 
 rood to me ? One place is like another, and all are barren ! 
 Talk not to me of jesses. Your wild-hawk soars her pitch, 
 and strikes her quarry, and buries beak and singles in the 
 dripping flesh ; but, bird of the air though she be, she knows 
 the false from the true, and will not stoop to the lure. There 
 is no spell can fetter the limbs of a brave man who is 
 determined to be free ; and be the jailer never so fair, I 
 would not waste a look over my shoulder at my prison-house 
 for the sake of the rosiest pair of lips that ever were kissed 
 on the dawn of St. Valentine ? Again, what is it you would 
 with me, Signior Riccio ? Were it an errand to the gates of 
 hell, I think I have spurs that would serve me to ride there ; 
 and in good faith," he added in a lower tone, " a man need 
 hardly wish to come back even thence to such a dreary world 
 as this." 
 
 Not a whisper of his voice, not a shade on his counten- 
 ance, escaped his sharp little companion. What cared he 
 how hot the furnace were, so that it tempered the tool aright ? 
 Nay, he was even willing to burn his own fingers a little, 
 rather than fail in perfecting his instrument. At heart he 
 thought how lucky it was that there should be men who 
 allowed themselves to be influenced by less rational feelings 
 than those of self-interest and ambition. Perhaps he felt 
 something between pity and ridicule for that morbid state 
 of mind which could forget its own advantage in anger, or 
 pique, or sorrow. His swarthy face, however, wore nothing 
 more than its usual expression of comical good-humour, as 
 he linked his arm in Maxwell's, and fixing his twinkling eyes 
 upon him, said 
 
 " You are more trusted than half the peers in Scotland 
 ay, and more trustworthy too. Come with me to the queen's 
 chamber." 
 
 Thus speaking, he led Walter out of the banqueting room 
 and along the dim passages, in which the lamps were now 
 expiring, to the foot of a winding stair, the same up which 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh had twisted his great body under the 
 guidance of Mary Seton. Here the secretary paused for an 
 instant and listened cautiously. It was pitch-dark, and he 
 gave his companion a hand to guide him through the 
 
 265
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 obscurity, then opening a narrow door, and pushing aside a 
 heavy curtain of tapestry, ushered him into a blaze of light 
 and the presence of four ladies, crowded together in so small 
 an apartment that Maxwell actually touched the robe of one 
 of them while he entered, and was somewhat abashed to 
 discover that its wearer was no other than the queen. 
 
 It was Mary's custom, when the pageantry or duty of the 
 day was over, to retire to this narrow retreat and sup in the 
 strictest privacy, with two or three of her ladies at most. The 
 proportions, indeed, of the apartment would admit of no 
 larger party, as its area was little more than twelve feet by 
 eight, and of this circumscribed space, a wide chimney and a 
 window occupied a large share. It was here that, at a later 
 period, the shrieking Riccio clung to his queen for the pro- 
 tection she strove to extend to him with all a woman's pity, 
 and more than a woman's courage ; it was here that, in brutal 
 disregard of her majesty, her beauty, and her situation, the 
 high-born ruffians of the Scottish peerage butchered their 
 victim before her eyes, nay, clinging to the skirts of her 
 garment, and laid the weltering body down, within a few 
 feet of her, to soak with its blood the very planks of their 
 sovereign's bed-chamber. But to-night all was a blaze of 
 light and warmth and comfort. The table, with its snowy 
 cloth, was drawn close to the crackling wood-fire, which 
 sparkled and glowed again in the cut crystals and rich plate 
 that adorned the choice little repast ; an odour of some rich 
 incense, such as is burnt in Roman Catholic churches, per- 
 vaded the apartment ; and the strings of a lute that had 
 just been laid aside were still vibrating from the touch of a 
 fair and skilful hand. 
 
 The queen herself, all the more lovely from the slight 
 languor of fatigue, sat at the supper-table with her relative 
 the Countess of Argyle, a lady whose flaxen locks and ruddy, 
 laughing face formed no bad foil to the delicate colouring 
 and deep, thoughtful beauty of her mistress. Mary Seton, 
 all coquetry, animation, and vivacity, as usual, busied herself 
 in arranging and disarranging everything on the table ; whilst 
 another lady, turning away from the rest, with her head bent 
 low over her task, was disposing some winter flowers in a vase 
 with peculiar care and attention. It needed not the turn of 
 her full white arm and dimpled elbow, nor the curl of rich 
 brown hair that had escaped over her shoulder, to tell Walter 
 this last was his hated love, Mary Carmichael. 
 
 The queen gave him her hand to kiss as he entered the 
 room. 
 
 266
 
 "Welcome, Master Maxwell," said she, "rather to the 
 simple dame who has bid you visit her here, in private life, 
 than to the Scottish Queen at Holyrood. We have put off 
 our royalty with our robes. To-night we shall charge you 
 with an errand that affects the woman far more than the 
 queen ; to-night you must be less than ever our subject, 
 more than ever our friend. You are faithful and trustworthy, 
 we know ; and, indeed, there are few men on whose truth a 
 lady would offer to stake her life," she added, smiling, "as 
 one of mine did, not five minutes ago, on yours." 
 
 Mary Seton laughed and pretended to hide her face in 
 her hands. Walter looked wistfully in the queen's face ; he 
 did not turn his eyes towards Mary Carmichael, or see how 
 the white neck had turned crimson while her Majesty spoke. 
 
 " I can trust you, Maxwell ? " added the latter after a 
 pause, in her frankest and most engaging manner. 
 
 " To the death, madam ! " answered he, in a tone of 
 suppressed emotion ; " I have but little merit, I know, but J 
 am as true as the steel I wear ; I would give my life for your 
 grace willingly, now, this very minute ! " 
 
 " I believe thee," said the queen, exchanging at the same 
 time a rapid glance with Mary Seton ; " I trust, however, mine 
 errand may be done without shedding of blood. Neverthe- 
 less, Maxwell, it requires courage, discretion, above all, a 
 silent tongue and a faithful heart. Listen ! My good sister 
 entertaineth causeless grudges against me ; she will endeavour 
 to thwart my aim and cover the mark I shoot at ; she liketh 
 not of marrying or giving in marriage. It may be that she 
 mistrusteth her own power to rule in that state," added Mary, 
 while a gleam of feminine vanity crossed her brow. " It may 
 be that Elizabeth hath more dominion over men's heads than 
 their hearts; nevertheless, if she and her agents were to 
 suspect thee of bearing such a secret of Mary Stuart's about 
 thee, they would probe for it with their daggers but they 
 would find it ere thou wert a dozen leagues across the border. 
 Bethink thee, man, 'tis a dangerous burden ; art not afraid to 
 carry it ? " 
 
 "Your Majesty is jesting with me," replied Maxwell, 
 raising his head proudly, almost angrily, "and I can but 
 answer with a jest ; yes, I fear to do your bidding as I fear 
 a good horse when I am in haste, a cup of wine when I am 
 thirsty, or a down pillow when I am weary and would fain 
 lay my head down to rest." 
 
 Mary Carmichael shot at him one glance of ineffable pride 
 and tenderness, then busied herself amongst the flowers deeper 
 
 267
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 than before. He could not see it; his head was turned 
 towards the queen ; he had not forgotten, no, he never would 
 forget, the embrace of that stranger in the Abbey garden. 
 
 " I knew it," exclaimed her Majesty triumphantly, " believe 
 me, I was indeed only jesting with my brave and well-tried 
 servant. Listen then, Walter ! To-morrow you must be in 
 the saddle at daybreak ; I reckon on your arriving at Hermit- 
 age before nightfall." 
 
 At the name of Hermitage the queen lowered her eyes 
 for an instant, and looked somewhat confused as she 
 continued 
 
 " In that stronghold you will find the Earl of Bothwell, 
 who has returned with no leave of mine from his well-merited 
 banishment in France; nevertheless, 'a queen's face should 
 show grace/ and we women forgive more readily than you of 
 the sterner sex. You will summon him to appear before his 
 sovereign in Holyrood, so shall he receive pardon for his 
 errors. Or stay ! this were an ungracious behest to so tried 
 a servant for one venial offence; you shall bear him Mary 
 Stuart's full and free forgiveness, and bid him, as he loves his 
 queen, bid him on his loyalty and allegiance, that he speed 
 with all his heart and all his strength the object of your 
 journey." 
 
 "And that object, madam?" inquired Maxwell, observing 
 that Mary paused, blushing rosy red and averting her eyes 
 from his face. 
 
 " Is my coming marriage," proceeded the queen hastily, 
 whilst Lady Argyle and Mistress Seton interchanged an arch 
 glance and smile. " An alliance that I take Heaven to witness 
 I contemplate more for the welfare of my people than for any 
 foolish longings of my own weak heart. Henry Stuart is of 
 royal blood, no unworthy mate for the proudest princess in 
 Europe. Lord Darnley is a comely, gentle, and well-nurtured 
 youth, of whose affection any lady in the land might well be 
 proud. You will explain this to Bothwell ; you will teach 
 him that Mary has made no unworthy choice ; you will tell 
 him that she has confided in him, her old and tried servant, 
 because she can depend upon him more securely than on any 
 other lord in Scotland." 
 
 "Would it not be well, madam, to write the earl a few 
 lines with your own hand apprising him of your intentions ? " 
 hazarded Maxwell, who was sufficiently a man of the world 
 to appreciate the delicacy of his mission ; and who, in good 
 truth, was sufficiently familiar with the temper of his power- 
 ful kinsman to relish not the least the delivery of the message 
 
 268
 
 ON THE QUEEN'S SERVICE 
 
 with which he was charged. Mary, however, would not 
 entertain such a proposition for a moment, and hurried on 
 with far more of agitation than the occasion seemed to 
 warrant. 
 
 " Letters may be intercepted, changed, forged, misunder- 
 stood. Master Maxwell, you will fulfil my bidding as I 
 charge you, or leave it alone. I can trust you, I feel. I 
 know you will do justice to the fair intentions of your 
 mistress. I know you will not allow Bothwell to misunder- 
 stand my motives, or my feelings Bothwell, who has always 
 believed so implicitly in his queen ! Nay, for letters," added 
 Mary, with her own sweet smile softening and brightening 
 her whole countenance, " I will charge you, indeed, with this 
 one for my Lady of Lennox, and with this token, always 
 subject to his mother's approval, to be given as an earnest 
 of my goodwill to her son. Take them carefully, Master 
 Maxwell. Our warden's strong hand will pass you safely 
 through the thieves that infest the border, and when you 
 get among the Southrons, I know you will guard them with 
 your life. I pledge you, my trusty messenger, to the success 
 of your mission ! " 
 
 While she spoke, the queen filled out a cup of wine and 
 put her lips to the brim, handing him, at the same time, 
 a packet carefully sealed and secured with a silken thread, 
 which wound in and out through the folds of the missive, 
 so that the silk must be cut before the letter could be opened. 
 Also a small casket, containing a beautiful antique ring, 
 representing a cupid burning himself with his own torch, as 
 a keepsake for her future husband. The messenger received 
 them on his knees in token of his fidelity and obedience, and 
 the queen, according to the custom of the age, bade him finish 
 the cup of wine in which she had recently pledged him, and 
 refresh himself ere he departed. 
 
 " It must be a stirrup-cup, your grace," said Maxwell, with 
 a smile ; " I shall hope to be out of sight of Holyrood ere the 
 sun rises. Have I received all your Majesty's directions ? " 
 he added, preparing to take his leave. 
 
 "There is no such hurry for a few minutes," replied Mary 
 graciously. " Do you sup with royalty every night, Master 
 Maxwell, that you are in such haste to be gone ? " 
 
 But Maxwell was enduring an amount of pain to which 
 he would willingly put a period. To be in the same room 
 with Mary Carmichael, nay, so close that her very dress 
 touched him when she moved, and yet to feel, by her averted 
 face, by his own offended and aching heart, that they were 
 
 269
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 completely and irrevocably estranged, was a trial to which 
 he had no wish to subject himself for a longer time than he 
 could help. 
 
 " I must crave your grace's license to depart," said he ; 
 and added, looking round with a forlorn hope that just this 
 once he might meet the eyes that he had resolved should 
 never gladden him again, " Have none of your ladies any 
 commands for merrie England or the border?" 
 
 Mistress Carmichael stirred uneasily, and grew very pale, 
 but she neither looked at the speaker nor answered him. 
 Mary Seton, however, with rather a noisier laugh than 
 common, charged him with a message on her own part, of 
 which, as she said merrily, he was not to purloin nor spill 
 any portion by the way. 
 
 " If you should chance to see that rude giant who calls 
 himself Lord Bothwell's henchman," said that young lady, 
 " tell him from me, that I hope he has not forgotten, in his 
 wild glens, all the polish we had such difficulty in imparting 
 to him at Holyrood. Commend me to him, in sober earnest," 
 added she demurely ; " I would send him my love had I not 
 the fear of Mistress Beton before my eyes, for, in good truth, 
 he is the only honest man I know in Scotland, except your- 
 self, Master Maxwell, and you are so stern and unforgiving, 
 that I am quite afraid of you. If a woman loved you ever 
 so dearly, I think you would give her up for the slightest 
 misunderstanding." 
 
 The shaft might have been shot at random, but it pierced 
 home to at least two hearts in that little supper-room. For 
 an instant his eyes met kers, and that sad, reproachful, implor- 
 ing glance haunted him afterwards for months. Then Mary 
 Carmichael, pale, proud, and sorrowful, turned away from him 
 once more to her former occupation, and Walter Maxwell, 
 taking a respectful leave of the queen, was ushered by Riccio 
 from the presence. 
 
 As he sped southward through the chill air of morning, 
 after the few hasty preparations had been completed for his 
 departure, he could not but acknowledge that the world had 
 never seemed so dreary, that he had never felt so sick at heart 
 before. Perhaps it would have cheered him though, to know 
 that another's sufferings were even keener than his own, lying 
 broad awake behind him there at Holyrood, pressing a pale 
 cheek against a pillow wet with tears. 
 
 270
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 HERMITAGE TOWER 
 
 " But had I kenn'd or I cam' frae hame, 
 How thou unkind wad'st been to me, 
 I would have kept my Border-side, 
 In spite of all thy peers and thee." 
 
 " T T OOD her up, Dick ! The worthless haggard ! Like 
 XJ. all her sex, I would not trust her a bowshot out of 
 hearing of the whistle, out of sight of the lure. Curse her ! 
 I should have known she was but a kestrel. By the bones 
 of Earl Patrick, she shall never strike quarry in Liddesdale 
 again ! " 
 
 The warden was in a towering passion. His favourite 
 hawk, a bird that he had chosen to name " the Queen," had 
 not only missed the wildfowl at which he had flown her, but 
 spreading her broad pinions to the wind, had sailed recklessly 
 away for several miles ere he could recover her, a salvage that 
 had only been made at considerable expenditure of patience 
 and horseflesh. He was now standing by the side of his 
 panting steed at the head of one of those deep, grassy glens 
 which give such a pastoral character to the wilds of the 
 Scottish border. A severe and exhausting gallop the warden 
 must have had, to ju'dge by the condition of the bonny bay, 
 whose heaving sides were reeking and lathered with sweat ; 
 yet the good horse pawed, snorted, shook himself, and got 
 back his wind, ere the rider recovered his temper. 
 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, too, had mercifully taken his long 
 body out of the saddle, and was now busy replacing hood 
 and jesses on the recent captive. 
 
 " There's no siccan a falcon 'twixt here and Carlisle," said 
 Dick, smoothing with no ungentle hand the neck-plumage of 
 the refractory wild bird. " Whiles she'll gang her ain gate 
 when she misses her stoop, and what for no ? A falcon's but 
 a birdie when a's said and done, and she's just the queen of 
 falcons ; bonny and wilful, as a queen behoves to be ! " 
 
 Bothwell turned angrily upon his follower. The war- 
 
 271
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 den's temper had become more violent and uncertain than 
 ever. 
 
 " Hood her up, man, I tell thee ! " said he, with an oath or 
 two, " and fasten up my girths ; it is time we were back at 
 Hermitage." 
 
 Thus speaking, he threw himself into the saddle, and, 
 followed by his henchman, proceeded down the glen at a 
 gallop. 
 
 The earl was at this period of his reckless and chequered 
 life, perhaps more than at any other, a dissatisfied and 
 miserable man. After his imprisonment in Edinburgh Castle 
 subsequent to his brawl with the Hamiltons, an imprisonment 
 he felt he did not deserve, at least at the hands of the queen, 
 he had returned to his fastness in Liddesdale, where he had 
 been obliged to remain in a state of seclusion and inaction, 
 extremely galling to one of his adventurous nature and ardent 
 temperament. Here he received no direct communication 
 from Mary herself, a neglect which irritated whilst it distressed 
 him ; and he only heard of her continued displeasure through 
 others in whom he could place no reliance, and whose interest 
 he more than half suspected it was to create dissension and 
 mistrust between him and his sovereign. He then went for a 
 short period into France, hoping, perhaps, that this self-imposed 
 exile might elicit a recall to Holyrood ; but finding no notice 
 taken of his movements, and assured on all sides of the 
 queen's continued coldness, he returned to his strong castle 
 of Hermitage in a maddening state of uncertainty as to the 
 future position he should assume. The wild borderers were 
 all as devoted as ever to their chief. He had at no time been 
 actually deprived of his office as Warden of the Marches and 
 Lieutenant of the Southern Border, nor, had he been super- 
 seded, was it probable that a successor could be found bold 
 enough to take upon him the duties of the office. Accordingly 
 the earl remained at Hermitage in the anomalous position 
 of a sovereign's representative whilst held to be an avowed 
 rebel to that sovereign's authority ; in the agitating dilemma 
 of one who is at variance with the person to whom he is 
 most devoted on earth, and whom self-love forbids to offer 
 that reparation which pride whispers may be contemptuously 
 refused. 
 
 The warden galloped on in silence for several minutes, till 
 the nature of the ground and the jaded condition of his good 
 horse brought him perforce to a more sedate pace. With an 
 impatient jerk at the bridle and a curse on the stumble that 
 provoked it, he relapsed into a walk, and summoning Dick- 
 
 272
 
 HERMITAGE TOWER 
 
 o'-the-Cleugh to his side, proceeded to vent the remainder 
 of his petulance on his companion. That worthy's good- 
 humour, however, was proof against all such attacks, and 
 Bothwell, calming down after a time, took back the favourite 
 falcon to his own wrist, and began to caress the bird whose 
 wild flight had so much aroused his wrath. 
 
 " 'Tis a royal pastime, in good truth, Dick," said he, as 
 they emerged from a deep, narrow glen, and beheld spread 
 out before them a broad expanse of moorland, patched and 
 brown and sombre, yet suggestive of sport and freedom, a 
 sound sward whereon to breathe a horse, and a soft grey 
 winter's sky in which to watch the flight of a hawk. " I would 
 rather be here in the saddle than mewed up in the old keep 
 over yonder," pointing while he spoke to the square towers of 
 Hermitage, looming dim and grand in the distance ; " would 
 rather handle any weapon than a pen, and track any slot 
 rather than unravel a cipher. I marvel that the Earl of 
 Moray can keep his chamber, as he doth, the livelong day, 
 writing, plotting, calculating ; never a stoup of wine to cheer 
 his heart, never a breath of the free air of heaven to cool his 
 brow. I'll wager you a hundred merks, Dick, that how long 
 soever he remains in my poor castle he never sets foot beyond 
 the moat till the stirrup-cup is in his hand." 
 
 " The brock l likes fine to lie at earth," answered Dick, with 
 a loud laugh, " and I doubt there's no a brock in Liddesdale 
 that's a match for the Earl of Moray in takin' his ain part. 
 But hegh ! warden, there's a sight for sair een ! " exclaimed 
 the henchman, interrupting himself suddenly. " See to yon 
 canny lad ridin' down the glen ; if yon's no Maister Maxwell, 
 may I never lift cattle nor plenishing more ! I wad ken the 
 back o' him 'mang a thousand. 'Odd, man ! but ye're welcome 
 to Liddesdale again." 
 
 In truth, while the borderer spoke, Maxwell made his 
 appearance on the track that led to Hermitage, exchanging, 
 as soon as he spied the earl and his henchman, for a brisk 
 hand-gallop the more steady pace at which he had been 
 prosecuting his journey. The greeting between the kinsmen 
 was sufficiently cordial, between Dick-o'-the-Cleugh and the 
 new arrival, of the most boisterous and demonstrative nature. 
 The rough borderer would have been at a loss to explain 
 to himself why he entertained so warm a regard for Walter 
 Maxwell. 
 
 As the three rode slowly on together towards Hermitage, 
 the emissary thought it a good time to broach the business 
 
 1 The badger. 
 
 s 273
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 which had been entrusted to him by his sovereign. Slowly 
 pacing over the open moor, where everything breathed peace 
 and repose, where not a tuft of heather stirred in the soft still 
 air, and the call of a moor-fowl or the dull flap of a heron's 
 wing alone broke the surrounding silence ; where the softened 
 gleams of a winter sun came down in sheets of mellowed 
 light, and heaven above and earth below seemed wrapped in 
 security and content, Maxwell poured into no inattentive ears 
 the tale that was rousing all the fiercest passions of our 
 nature in the heart of one of his listeners. Bothwell, after 
 bidding him a hearty welcome to the border, heard him 
 patiently and in silence, with an enforced composure that was 
 more ominous of subsequent evil than would have been the 
 wildest outbreak of that wrath which he suppressed with such 
 an effort. His jaded horse, indeed, felt his rider's thighs 
 tightening on him like a vice as the tale proceeded, and 
 exerted himself gallantly to meet the unusual pressure ; but 
 only a very close observer could have marked, by the clenched 
 jaw, the widened nostril, and dilated eye, that every word 
 was driving its sting deeper and deeper, poisoned and 
 festering, into the warden's heart. 
 
 Once indeed when a brighter gleam of sunshine than 
 ordinary lighted up the moor, and the old towers of Hermitage 
 coming into view imparted a picturesque and even beautiful 
 aspect to the scene, Bothwell looked up to heaven as if in 
 helpless expostulation with the mocking sky, and then in one 
 bitter and defiant smile, took leave for ever of those nobler 
 and better feelings which had hitherto redeemed his character 
 from utter reprobation. 
 
 It was at this moment that Maxwell urged his kinsman to 
 forward him at once upon his journey. 
 
 " I will but break bread with you, my lord," said he, " and 
 so with a fresh horse speed my way to the southward! once 
 more ; mine errand brooks no delay, and he that goes wooing 
 for a queen must not let the grass grow under his feet while 
 he is about it." 
 
 " Is her grace indeed so hurried ? " answered Bothwell with 
 an evil sneer. " Can she not wait a matter of twenty-four 
 hours, more or less, for this long smooth-faced lad on whom 
 she has set her princely heart so wilfully? God speed the 
 royal wedding, say I, and good luck to the bold suitor who 
 would lie in a queen's bed ! Here, Dick, your horse is fresher 
 than mine ; gallop on to the castle and bid them prepare for 
 Master Maxwell's refection ; see, too, that the Lord Rothes' 
 men and horses be well looked to if they be come. I have 
 
 274
 
 HERMITAGE TOWER 
 
 guests to-night with me at Hermitage, Walter ; I pray you be 
 not so niggardly as to depart without a supper and a night's 
 rest. It is ill travelling on the border after nightfall, and I 
 will speed you on by sunrise to-morrow with the best horse 
 in my stable and a guard of my own men. And now that 
 long knave is out of earshot, tell me, Master Maxwell, is this 
 marriage but an affair of state and policy ? or doth the queen 
 seem to affect it for herself? Is her heart in it, think 
 you ? " 
 
 While he asked the question Bothwell busied himself 
 about the hawk on his wrist, it may be to conceal the 
 trembling of his lip, which extended itself even to his hands, 
 for his strong fingers seemed unable to take off her hood or 
 loose the fastenings that secured her jesses. 
 
 " In faith," answered Maxwell honestly, " her grace bade 
 me make no secrets with your lordship. When she spoke of 
 marriage her colour went and came like a village maid's 
 going a-maying ; I reck but little of such follies," he added 
 with a sigh, " but if you ask me the truth, I think, queen 
 though she be, she loves him as a woman should love the 
 man whom she bids to share a throne." 
 
 Bothwell swore such a fearful blasphemy that his com- 
 panion, whose attention had been somewhat engrossed by the 
 irregularities of the track, looked up astonished in his face. 
 The earl excused himself by vowing that his falcon had 
 struck her talons into his arm. 
 
 " The foul-hearted haggard ! " he exclaimed, flinging the 
 bird violently from him into the air ; " let her fly down the 
 wind to the Solway an' she will ! She may stoop on the 
 southern side ere I whistle for her ; no such false kestrel shall 
 ever perch on wrist of mine again." 
 
 The hawk soared freely up into the soft calm sky, then 
 spreading her wings to the breeze, sailed gallantly away to 
 the westward, and was soon out of sight. Maxwell was too 
 good a sportsman not to be surprised at such an action on 
 the part of his host, but attributed it to one of those outbreaks 
 of temper in which he had heard the earl was prone to 
 indulge ; and as they now proceeded to the castle at a gallop 
 by the warden's desire, who spurred his tired horse with 
 savage energy, he had no opportunity of pursuing the subject 
 on which they had been engaged. 
 
 That evening, however, there was much consternation 
 amongst the retainers on discovering that " the Queen " was 
 missing from her mews ; much discussion as to who should 
 take upon himself the perilous task of informing the chief of 
 
 275
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 his loss ; much astonishment at Bothwell's unexpected answer 
 to the stammering varlet who apprised him of it 
 
 " May the foul fiend fly away with every feather of her ! 
 Never speak of her again ! Go fetch me a stoup of wine." 
 
 In the meantime the earl and his guest sprang from their 
 reeking horses at a postern-door, which admitted them privately 
 into the castle of Hermitage. Already its courtyard was filled 
 with the retinue of the Lord Rothes, a powerful Fifeshire 
 baron, who had even now arrived with no inconsiderable 
 following, on a visit to the disgraced warden. His men were 
 well-armed and determined-looking, their horses strong, swift, 
 and of considerable value. It argued little for the repose of 
 the country, when lord met lord upon a peaceful visit, with 
 fifty or a hundred spears at his back. 
 
 Extorting an unwilling promise from Maxwell that he 
 would partake of his hospitality for one night, a concession 
 only made by the latter on the express agreement that relays 
 of horses should be sent forward immediately to enable him 
 to prosecute his journey with extraordinary speed on the 
 morrow, Bothwell placed his guest in the hands of an elderly 
 person, whose black velvet dress, white wand, and grave 
 manners, could only belong to the major-domo. 
 
 " See my cousin well bestowed in the eastern turret," said 
 the warden, " and bid them serve supper without delay. Tell 
 Lord Rothes I will give him a welcome to my poor house the 
 instant I have doffed my soiled riding-gear. Bring me the 
 key of the wicket in the winding stair, and tell Dick-o'-the- 
 Cleugh to have six picked men and horses ready to-morrow 
 at daybreak." 
 
 With many grave deliberate bows the old man received 
 the orders of his chief, and then preceded Maxwell solemnly 
 to his chamber, while Bothwell, with swift irregular strides, 
 betook himself up a winding staircase to a chamber in a 
 remote tower of the castle. Knocking, but not waiting for 
 permission to enter the apartment, he walked hastily to a 
 table at which a man sat writing, who looked up on his 
 approach. Then, with an expression of irritation and 
 impatience at the calm face that met his own, Bothwell 
 flung himself into a chair, and commenced pulling and twist- 
 ing the long moustaches that overhung his mouth. 
 
 Moray, for it was the queen's illegitimate brother, whose 
 occupation the warden had interrupted, looked at his host 
 with his usual wary scrutinising expression, that seemed to 
 extract the thoughts of others, but afforded no clue to his 
 own, It was a handsome face, too, this mask so well adapted 
 
 276
 
 HERMITAGE TOWER 
 
 to conceal the workings of a mind in which diplomacy stifled 
 every instinct of manhood, every chivalrous spark of honour, 
 loyalty, and good faith. The bright fair complexion, the 
 regular features, the keen grey eyes, deep-set, and glittering 
 with scornful humour, forcibly repressed, the thin closed lips, 
 shutting in, as it were, upon an ill-omened smile, and the 
 broad, square chin, denoted rather the daring schemer than 
 the dashing soldier, the wary politician to whom, so as it led 
 at last to his object, the path was none the less welcome for 
 being devious, rather than the stout-hearted champion who 
 would break his own way for himself through every obstacle, 
 with his own right hand. 
 
 Gravely and plainly dressed, though in a rich suit of sad- 
 coloured velvet, adorned with costly pearls, the figure that 
 supported this inscrutable face was formed in fair and grace- 
 ful proportions. The manners of the man were those of an 
 accomplished courtier, dashed with something of that stealthy 
 gravity which marks the Romish priest ; yet Moray was now 
 of the strictest amongst the Reformers. " A shining light," 
 so said the followers of John Knox, " an advanced disciple 
 and assured professor of the true faith ! " 
 
 " Mine host appears disturbed," said Moray, in the low 
 impressive tone which acted as a sedative on all who came 
 within its influence. "What ails ye, my lord earl? Hath 
 your falcon flown so high a pitch she will perch on your 
 wrist no more ? or have our friends on the southern side so 
 far forgotten themselves as to drive a raid across the border ? 
 I think we have influence with the English queen for heading 
 and hanging at Carlisle as promptly as at Jedburgh ! " 
 
 Bothwell winced. Hating the intrigues in which he found 
 himself involved ; balancing, as it were, on the verge of a 
 precipice to which his passions hurried him, and from which 
 his better nature held him back, he loathed in his heart the 
 master-spirit that he was yet fain to obey. The demon was 
 under the spell of the magician, but his submission was as 
 unwilling as it was complete. He burst out angrily 
 
 " See to what your schemes and your intrigues have led at 
 last ! Is this the upshot of my Lord of Moray's plotting and 
 counter-plotting, and Randolph's promises, and Maitland's 
 crabbed ciphers ? Faith ! a couple of hundred spears and a 
 closed horse-litter would have done the work long ago far 
 better than all your bonds and all your treaties. And now it 
 is too late. The noblest queen in Europe, the fairest woman 
 on earth, is to be wasted on a half-witted boy, a beardless 
 minion of the English Court. Out upon you. Earl Moray ! 
 
 277
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 I have worn steel since I was twelve years old, and man hath 
 never so deceived me yet. Again I cry shame on you ! 
 Answer me how you will ! " 
 
 If Moray was startled at the intelligence or angered at 
 the manner in which it was conveyed, neither sensation was 
 suffered to betray itself for an instant. He smiled pleasantly 
 on his chafing companion, and answered composedly 
 
 " All's not lost that's in hazard. Surely no lord in Scot- 
 land knows this better than the Warden of the Marches. 
 Tell me the worst intelligence you have gained, and how you 
 learned it." 
 
 Moray's brow grew darker and darker as his host detailed 
 to him, not without violent gestures and many a wrathful 
 expletive, all he had gathered from Maxwell concerning the 
 queen's proposed marriage. Whether new to him or not, 
 the intelligence seemed to give him great concern, and once, 
 although it was now twilight, he turned his face from the 
 window so as to conceal its expression from his dupe. When 
 Bothwell had finished his story there was a dead silence for 
 a few minutes. He had lashed himself into a violent passion ; 
 he was now calming down into a sullen despair. Moray's 
 face, on the contrary, wore a brighter look after he had 
 ruminated a while, but his voice was as cold and distinct as 
 ever when he spoke again. 
 
 " And the messenger is here, you say here, in this very 
 castle. Lord Bothwell, if we gain time, we can place the 
 pieces on the chess-board for ourselves. Your borders here 
 are not without their disadvantages. 'Tis bad travelling for 
 single horsemen ; they may be robbed of letters and even 
 jewels. Nay, if they make much resistance they are some- 
 times heard of no more. 'Tis a numerous family, the 
 Maxwells, and a loyal. One more or less makes no such 
 great odds." 
 
 " Nay, nay, he is my kinsman," urged Bothwell, who 
 perfectly understood the dark suggestion of his guest, but 
 to whose frank and ardent nature such counsels were most 
 distasteful. " Besides, she trusted me ; she trusted me. My 
 queen's own words were, that 'she could depend upon me 
 more securely than on any lord in Scotland.'" 
 
 "You best know the value of the stake you play for," 
 answered Moray, with a very sinister smile, " and the amount 
 you are willing to set against it. Master Maxwell is a trusty 
 messenger, no doubt, and will do his part faithfully, an' he 
 get not his throat cut ere he reach Carlisle. Should this 
 marriage ever take place, it will be prudent, Lord Bothwell, 
 
 278
 
 HERMITAGE TOWER 
 
 for you to make early court to young Henry Stuart. He has 
 a noble future before him in truth. The crown-matrimonial 
 of one kingdom ; the crown in reversion of another ; a Catholic 
 alliance, or I am much deceived, with France, Spain, and 
 Austria; lastly, no small temptation, lord earl, to young 
 blood, her grace, my sister, the fairest woman in Europe, for 
 a bed-fellow. In good faith the prize is worth struggling for ! " 
 
 The arm of the chair which Bothwell held broke short off 
 in his hand. 
 
 " Enough ! " he exclaimed, " it shall never be. What ! am 
 I not warden here ? Have I not power of life and death on 
 the marches ? But no blood shall be shed ; no blood, Moray. 
 Can we not bestow him in safe keeping? Counsel me, my 
 lord, for I am at my wits' end." 
 
 Moray laughed outright. 
 
 " I will tell you a story," said he, whilst he shuffled his 
 papers together and tied them up, preparatory to changing 
 his dress for supper. " When we were studying at college in 
 France, my brothers and I had great dread that the prize 
 would be carried off by one of our companions who had more 
 book-learning than all the rest of us put together ; well, we 
 invited the clever youth to an entertainment, and we drenched 
 his brains with wine just such a red generous Bordeaux as 
 I saw a runlet of pierced only yester even here in the buttery 
 then we tied him on a horse, a sorry French nag enough, 
 but able to carry him some ten leagues away into the country, 
 where we left him to sleep off his carouse. When he returned 
 next day the examinations were over, and I myself, for as 
 dull as you may think me, had taken the first prize. All is 
 fair in love and war, my lord. The curfew is already ringing ; 
 it is time for both of us to meet Rothes at the supper-table." 
 
 The hint was not thrown away upon Bothwell. 
 
 " I will bestow him securely," said he, as a bright idea 
 seemed to flash across him ; and he too departed hastily to 
 make preparations for meeting his guests at supper. 
 
 Contrary to the usual custom of Hermitage, this meal, 
 instead of being served in the great hall and shared with 
 Bothwell's jackmen and retainers, was brought into a smaller 
 apartment furnished with extreme splendour, and as near an 
 approach to luxury as the times and locality permitted. This 
 was perhaps done as a compliment to the presence of Moray, 
 who was already beginning to accustom the nobility to his 
 assumptions, and while he treated them with the outward 
 cordiality of an equal, to cozen them insensibly of the 
 attentions due to a superior. 
 
 279
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 The dishes were served with great pomp by the grave 
 major-domo and two staid attendants splendidly dressed ; the 
 Lord Rothes, a dark handsome man, with a sinister expression 
 of countenance, sat on the left hand of his host, Maxwell 
 faced the latter, and the queen's half-brother was in the place 
 of honour on his right; also Moray's chair was somewhat 
 higher than those of his companions, and of a different form. 
 
 When the meal was over, the wine, according to custom, 
 circulated freely ; whatever designs might be lurking in the 
 breasts of the four men, the conversation was merry and 
 jovial enough, embracing the usual topics of hawk and hound 
 and horseflesh, with a good-humoured gibe or two at the 
 opposite sex, and a free criticism of their charms. Maxwell 
 might be pondering on the difficulties of his task ; Moray 
 weaving additional meshes in that web which entangled 
 himself at last ; Rothes reflecting on his frailties or his debts, 
 his past follies or his coming embarrassments ; and Bothwell 
 eating his own heart in combined pique, disappointment, and 
 vexation ; but each man rilled his cup, and pushed round the 
 flask, and passed his frank opinion or his loud jest, with a 
 merry voice, an open brow, and a cordial smile upon his 
 face. 
 
 When the wine began to take effect, Maxwell excused 
 himself from further participation in the carouse, and asked 
 permission to retire "on the plea of his early departure in the 
 morning. After a faint resistance exacted by the laws of 
 hospitality, Bothwell acceded freely to his request ; meditating, 
 as he did, a foul treachery against him, the earl felt his 
 cousin's absence would be a relief. Moray, indeed, would 
 have had small hesitation in so spicing his wine that he would 
 need a sleeping-draught no more, and few scruples would 
 have deterred Rothes from ridding himself of a troublesome 
 guest with six inches of cold steel ; but the lord warden had 
 still some rough soldierlike notions of fair play about him, 
 and had not lost all at once every trace of the chivalry and 
 manhood that had made him heretofore the stoutest champion 
 of his queen. 
 
 When Maxwell had retired, his host sat moodily for a 
 while, wrapped in meditation, drinking cup after cup in 
 gloomy silence, and playing ominously with the haft of his 
 dudgeon-dagger, a weapon that was never for an instant laid 
 aside. 
 
 Moray seemed to divine his thoughts. After a few 
 whispered words to Rothes, who treated the whole affair as 
 an excellent jest, he observed in a cold measured voice, and 
 
 280
 
 HERMITAGE TOWER 
 
 as if continuing the thread of a conversation in which they 
 had already been engaged 
 
 "You cannot so prudently bestow him here, my lord, 
 though it were a good jest to keep a queen's ambassador 
 mewed up in a queen's fortress, and the prisoner would be 
 well lodged with his affectionate kinsman." 
 
 " Why not ? " demanded Bothwell, rather fiercely. " The 
 walls of Hermitage are pretty strong, my lord, and these 
 riders of mine are held to have a somewhat close grip when 
 once they lay hold." 
 
 " Nevertheless," argued the other, " this would be the first 
 place suspected. Nay, it might be well that you should 
 even deliver up the castle to her Majesty with a clean breast. 
 I have thought more than once of urging you to demand an 
 audience at Holyrood, to resign your lieutenancy or obtain 
 a just acknowledgment of your loyalty from my royal sister." 
 Bothwell's face brightened. 
 
 " True ! " he exclaimed, dashing his heavy hand on the 
 board. " We must have no stolen horse in the stall when the 
 ransom is told down ! A clean breast and a ' toom byre,' l 
 as we say here on the border. I must send him elsewhere." 
 Rothes filled his cup, with a laugh. 
 
 " I can lodge him at Leslie," said he ; " any kinsman of 
 Lord Bothwell's is welcome in my poor house. ' Food and 
 wine he shall not lack,' as the old song says; ay, and a 
 bed too, my lord, if so you will it, that shall serve him till 
 doomsday." 
 
 Bothwell flushed dark red with wrath and shame. 
 " Not a hair of his head must be jeopardied ! " he exclaimed 
 passionately ; then controlling himself, added in a more 
 friendly tone, " I am beholden to you, Leslie, nor will I forget 
 your courtesy. I shall, indeed, commit my kinsman to your 
 care for a brief space. Four of my knaves, commanded by 
 one whom I can trust, shall convoy him to-morrow into 
 Fifeshire ; though its lord is here with so gallant a following, 
 Leslie House is, doubtless, not left ungarrisoned." 
 
 " Trust me for that ! " answered Rothes, an evil sneer 
 again marring the beauty of his countenance. "They are 
 peaceful knaves enough, the men of Fife, yet they would like 
 well to harry the old corbie's nest up yonder, and clear off 
 scores for a few of Norman's doings, to say nothing of my 
 own. It will be long, though, ere they crack the stones of 
 my poor fortalice with their teeth, and I care not to ride in 
 Fife without some fifty spears at my back ; there are more 
 
 1 An empty cow-house. 
 28l
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 than as many there even now. Hark ye, Bothwell, take 
 my signet-ring here ; give it to your lieutenant, and he will 
 find himself at Leslie House master and more." 
 
 Moray, pretending not to listen, now asked for more wine 
 with a great assumption of joviality and recklessness. A 
 close observer, though, might have remarked that he scarce 
 touched his own cup with his lips, whilst he encouraged his 
 companions, who indeed were nothing loth, to empty theirs 
 again and again. Artfully leading the conversation to the 
 queen's possible marriage, to her different suitors, and other 
 topics connected with Mary, he watched Bothwell writhing 
 under the torture, and drowning his sufferings in revelry, with 
 covert interest tinged by a sardonic amusement. 
 
 It was midnight ere the reckless orgie broke up, when 
 Moray, calm, cool, and smiling, bade his companions a placid 
 good - night ; while Rothes, flushed and boisterous, trolled 
 off a ribald drinking song ; and Bothwell, in whom wine had 
 been powerless to drown the stings of conscience, sought his 
 solitary chamber with keen remorse and torturing self-reproach 
 gnawing at his heart. 
 
 282
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 FOUL PLAY 
 
 "In solitude the sparks are struck that bid the world admire, 
 Though heart and brain must scorch the while in self-consuming fire. 
 In solitude the sufferer smiles, defiant of his doom, 
 And Madness sits aloof and waits, and gibbers in the gloom. 
 'Tis dazzling work to weave a web from Fancy's brightest dyes, 
 And speed the task ungrudging all we have, and hope, and prize. 
 But it must make the devils laugh, to mark how, day by day, 
 The plague-spot widens out, and spreads, and eats it all away. 
 In vain the unwilling rebel writhes, so loth defeat to own, 
 And strives to pray, and turns away, and lays him down alone. 
 Oh ! better far to moan aloud, on earth and heaven to cry, 
 Than like the panther in its lair, to grind his teeth and die. 
 Then help me, brother ! Help me ! for thy heart is made like mine ; 
 The shaft that drains my life away is haply wing'd for thine. 
 It is not good to stand alone, to scorn the rest, and dare ; 
 But two or three, like one must be, and God shall hear their prayer." 
 
 HEATED with wine, stung with jealousy, torn by con- 
 flicting feelings, Earl Bothwell paced the stone floor 
 of his bed-chamber, as a wild beast traverses to and fro 
 between the sides of his cage. His step had the same noise- 
 less elasticity, his air the same subdued ferocity, his eye the 
 same lurid sparkle that seems struck from some quenchless 
 fire within. If there are indeed hours at which the master- 
 fiend is permitted 'to vex those human souls, who, for some 
 wise purpose, are delivered like Job into his hand, the lord 
 warden must have been that night a prey to the arch-enemy 
 of our race. It needed but little addition to the frenzy of his 
 mood to imagine a dusky shape, defining itself more and 
 more distinctly in the gloom, stepping as he stepped, turning 
 as he turned, whispering in his ear suggestions that curdled 
 his very blood, while he pondered them, and yet were tinged 
 with the strange fascination which all frantic expedients 
 possess for despair. It takes a long apprenticeship to sorrow 
 ere a man can bow his head in resignation and cease to 
 struggle, nay, even to quiver under the lash ; but he who has 
 gained this faculty at the cost of anguished moments, none but 
 himself and one besides can count, is indeed master of his fate. 
 
 283
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Such, however, was far from the condition of the tameless 
 border-lord. He could have fought, struggled, died with the 
 fiercest champion that ever set his teeth in the grim smile of 
 a death-grapple ; but the Hepburn blood was not the stuff of 
 which martyrs are made, and the fiercest scion of all the bold, 
 bad men that constituted the pride of his line, was now, so to 
 speak, like some demoniac of antiquity, wrestling and striving 
 against himself, torn, and rent, and infuriated by the possess- 
 ing spirit, which refused to be exorcised and come out of him. 
 That night in his lonely room at Hermitage, Bothwell learnt 
 many new and strange things, never to be forgotten whilst he 
 had life. Depths of guilt, into which, heretofore, he would 
 not have dared to look, were now opened up to him, and 
 there was seduction in the very immensity of the abyss. 
 Crimes, dazzling from their boldness, now seemed feasible, 
 nay, almost justifiable, and entranced him by the reckless 
 daring with which they must be carried out. He had been 
 dreaming hitherto a soft sweet dream for years. He was 
 awake now, broad awake, and the vision should become 
 reality, or he would never dream again. He had been 
 cozened long enough ! What ? The game was not yet 
 played out. Turn and turn about, fair dame ! And it was 
 Bothwell's turn now ! He laughed a low hissing laugh within 
 his beard, and then stopped, startled, in his walk, for it 
 seemed to him that the laugh was echoed by something in 
 the room, and that the shape was close to his ear now, 
 whispering, whispering, one continuous stream of upbraiding, 
 and persuasion, and reproach, with maddening promise and 
 stinging sarcasm, and here and there a devilish scoff. 
 
 But these paroxysms wear themselves out. By degrees 
 the earl became calmer ; by degrees he recalled the past and 
 reviewed the present, and looked steadily on the future. The 
 whirl of contending passions passed away to make room for a 
 stern and gloomy resolve far more dangerous, and the molten 
 stream of thought that had seared his brain, cooled down 
 into the settled determination of the man. 
 
 There are seasons when the whole of our past lives seems 
 presented to us as on a stage, each scene distinct and vivid as 
 when it actually took place. Men are taught to believe that 
 this occurs at the supreme moment ere the spirit leaves its 
 dwelling, and when the heart clings so instinctively and so 
 pitifully to its treasure here. Be this how it may, there can 
 be no doubt that at periods of strong excitement, this clair- 
 voyance, if we may so call it, acquires extraordinary power. 
 For a moment it seemed to Bothwell that the gloomy walls 
 
 284
 
 FOUL PLAY 
 
 of his chamber had disappeared, and he stood again beneath 
 the sunny skies of France. Again the towers of Joinville 
 started from the smiling plain, and he knelt once more to 
 tender his homage to the fair widowed bride, who looked so 
 sweetly down upon him, with her pleading womanly beauty, 
 softening and enhancing the majesty of a queen. It was the 
 first time he had ever looked on that face, which, despite of 
 all his madness, all his crimes, was imprinted thenceforth on 
 his rebellious heart. He had seen it since in sorrow, in 
 triumph, in levity, nay, in bitter anger and unjust displeasure 
 against himself, but it was still the same face to him, the type 
 of all that was pure and good and lovely upon earth, the 
 charm that had wound itself into his whole being, that shed 
 its magic glow over every scene and action of his life ; whether 
 he laid spear in rest, or flung his hawk aloft in air, or watched 
 the last rays of sunset gilding the broad brown moor on a 
 peaceful summer's evening, still that face was ever present to 
 him, with its quiet thoughtful beauty, and the kind look in 
 its deep winning eyes ; then he thought of the many, many 
 times when he had vowed in his heart to cherish undying 
 love and loyalty for her alone, to ask no happier fate than to 
 suffer shame and sorrow for his queen. Would he not have 
 given his life-blood for her, oh ! so gladly that morning at 
 Holyrood, when he alone of all her nobles had grieved with 
 her on her day of grief, when, overcome by his faithful 
 sympathy, and stung by the cold ingratitude of the rest, she 
 had turned her face away and wept ? And was he so changed 
 now that he could be plotting treason against his sovereign 
 and violence towards his love? For a moment his better 
 nature mastered him ; the fierce set features writhed, the 
 strong frame shook, and though he was alone in the room, 
 in the hush of midnight, the proud noble bowed his head and 
 turned his face aside, ere he dashed away the drops that had 
 stolen unawares to his shaggy eyelashes. 
 
 But the devil was watching his opportunity, and what a 
 picture did he now conjure up ! The beautiful queen in her 
 robes of ceremony, with the crown upon her head and the 
 orb and sceptre in her hands ; ambassadors from England, 
 France, Spain, Austria, thronging with their sovereigns' con- 
 gratulations ; the nobility of Scotland proffering homage 
 before the throne ; and these regal honours shared by a tall 
 handsome stripling, who would lift his lady-face scornfully, 
 and stretch a weak girlish hand for him Bothwell to kiss ! 
 Worse than all, amongst the courtiers' jeering faces, Moray's 
 cool sardonic smile, as of one who had foreseen the degrada- 
 
 285
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 tion from which, had his advice been taken, it would have 
 been so easy to escape. And then the banquet and the 
 wedded pair, sitting side by side, and the subsequent revel 
 and the customary ceremonies, and the laughing guests 
 departing one by one, and then, and then, the stillness of 
 night brooding over the old pile of Holyrood, and Mary once 
 more a bride, another's bride, and Bothwell a laughing-stock ! 
 * 
 
 " Perdition ! it shall never be ! " exclaimed the earl, dash- 
 ing down, while he spoke, with the violence of his involuntary 
 gesture, the lamp that stood on the table by his side. The 
 few moments consumed in rekindling it gave him time to 
 compose himself, and to determine on his future conduct. It 
 was but a brief period, yet was it long enough for Bothwell 
 to bid farewell, at once and for ever, to all the higher and 
 purer feelings of his nature; to change him from a man 
 who, with many faults and with ungovernable passions, yet 
 possessed a certain frank uprightness, a certain chivalrous 
 devotion to the one ideal of his life, into an unscrupulous 
 ruffian, prepared to commit any crimes, to go any lengths in the 
 prosecution of his schemes, and willing in brutal selfishness to 
 drag his idol down to the dust, rather than see it enshrined 
 upon the pedestal of another. One moment cannot indeed 
 change the whole character of a human being, though it may 
 influence his whole conduct ; but as it is the last ounce that 
 breaks the patient camel's back, so is it the one additional 
 atom of sorrow, or unkindness, or disappointment, added to 
 the mass, that overwhelms the poor sufferer's powers of en- 
 durance, and drives him into the frenzy of despair, or leaves 
 him stunned and sick at heart, in the helpless apathy of a 
 ruined man. It would be well to think of this sometimes 
 when we see the bruised reed so nearly broken, the kind 
 generous nature so wearied and suffering and overladen. It 
 is but an ignoble triumph to lend the tottering mass that 
 slight push which sends it crashing to destruction. It is 
 cowardly and un-English to strike .a man when he is down. 
 
 Bothwell lit his lamp, and wrapping a furred bed-gown 
 around him whilst he thrust his feet into the mules or slippers 
 which would best muffle their tread, proceeded with swift and 
 stealthy strides along the passages of his castle, towards the 
 eastern turret in which his kinsman was disposed. All was 
 hushed and silent within the walls of Hermitage. The drowsy 
 sentinels might have been sleeping on their posts, for neither 
 stir of arms nor measured tread of steel-shod foot denoted 
 their vigilance, yet, strange to say, the warden failed to 
 
 286
 
 FOUL PLAY 
 
 observe this unusual silence. Nevertheless, preoccupied as 
 he was, he marked a light still burning in Moray's chamber, 
 and instinctively he shaded the lamp he carried with his 
 hand when he passed the narrow casements on the opposite 
 side of the castle -yard. Arrived at Maxwell's door, he 
 listened for a while, and satisfied himself by the deep breath- 
 ing within that his kinsman was asleep; then shading his 
 light once more, he entered the room softly, and made at 
 once for the small travelling valise, in which he hoped to find 
 the messenger had secured his despatches. But Maxwell 
 had travelled the borders ere this, and had profited by his 
 experience. Ready dressed, booted and spurred, with his 
 sword by his side, he lay prepared for a start, sleeping indeed, 
 yet not so sound but that a sudden noise might waken him. 
 Whatever he had about him of value was concealed in his 
 breast, and could not be taken from him without disturbing 
 his repose. Bothwell felt once for the haft of his dagger, and 
 smiled grimly to himself, as he thought how easily he might 
 possess himself of his guest's despatches, and how lightly he 
 would think now of such a crime as murder under his own 
 roof. There was even a wild devilish triumph in the reflec- 
 tion that he could have so changed within an hour ! 
 
 After a moment's thought, however, he again passed un- 
 observed from the room, and returned to his own as stealthily 
 as he had come. There he spent the remainder of the night, 
 still pacing up and down, up and down, and an hour before 
 dawn summoned Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, already astir thus early, 
 to a long and mysterious consultation, in which, though he 
 yielded eventually, for the first time in his life the retainer 
 presumed to remonstrate with his lord. 
 
 28;
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 KIDNAPPED 
 
 " Oh, they rade on, and farther on, 
 
 And they waded through rivers above the knee, 
 And they saw neither the sun nor the moon, 
 But they heard the roaring of the sea." 
 
 HE morning broke gloomily. A 
 thick and heavy mist clung around 
 the towers of Hermitage, dimming 
 the arms and saturating the cloaks 
 of the escort already mounted and 
 waiting in the castle -yard. The 
 moisture dripped from the ears and 
 nostrils of the horses, and stood 
 upon the beards of their riders, 
 while the former stamped and shook 
 their bits impatiently, and the latter 
 muttered a coarse jest or two, not 
 without fervent aspirations after a 
 tass of brandy to keep the raw air from their throats. 
 Presently Dick -o'- the -Cleugh emerged from the turret 
 containing the warden's private apartments, wearing an 
 unusually gloomy expression on his face, and proceeded to 
 examine the arms and appointments of his comrades, with 
 a disposition to find fault, that elicited sundry growls, mur- 
 murs, and a round oath or two from the impatient jackmen. 
 
 There was, however, but little delay in starting the caval- 
 cade. Maxwell, who had been anxiously awaiting the spare 
 horse prepared for him, was soon in the saddle exchanging a 
 cheerful greeting with the troopers, to which Dick alone made 
 no reply ; and while it was yet scarcely light, the portcullis 
 was raised, and the party filed out, intently watched from one 
 of the narrow windows by a haggard eager face, that still 
 looked and lingered after the croup of the last horseman had 
 disappeared. Bothwell even made one hasty gesture, as if to 
 recall his mandate, and order the party back, but changing 
 
 288
 
 KIDNAPPED 
 
 his mind again on the instant, with a bitter laugh, he took a 
 long draught from a wine-flagon that stood by his bedside, 
 and then flinging himself on the couch, turned doggedly to 
 the wall and tried to force his senses into sleep. 
 
 Maxwell felt his sovereign's letter lying safe within his 
 doublet. He examined, too, the priming of his pistols, and 
 turned his sword-belt a little more to the front. Then he 
 proved the mouth and mettle of his charger with rein and 
 spur, deriving from the experiment all the confidence felt by 
 a good horseman on a well-bitted steed. Satisfied at length on 
 these important points, his spirits rose with the morning air 
 and the excitement of his mission. Even Mary Carmichael's 
 falsehood seemed less black in hue than it appeared yesterday. 
 The future once more showed promise of something beside a 
 dull apathetic response to the call of duty alone. He looked 
 along its dim vistas, and saw the light shining, though faintly, 
 at a distance. The mission was already in imagination half- 
 fulfilled. He had made his journey prosperously through the 
 rich districts of middle England, and gained the capital with 
 unprecedented rapidity, thanks to good luck in procuring 
 horses, and his own untiring powers in the saddle. He had 
 delivered his credentials to Lady Lennox, and presented 
 himself at Greenwich Palace to the Maiden Queen. He 
 could even conjure up a picture in his mind of that redoubt- 
 able lady ; could imagine the flaxen curls, the stately figure, 
 the harsh yet not uncomely features, and the dignified 
 gestures that veiled a woman's vanity beneath the majestic 
 bearing of a British sovereign. He became a courtier for 
 the occasion, and thought how he could serve his own dear 
 mistress with a well-timed compliment, and a little apt 
 flattery to her rival " good sister." He saw himself dismissed 
 with honour, and speeding back to the north, triumphant 
 at the safe accomplishment of his mission. Then he fell to 
 thinking of Mary's kindly thanks, delivered with all that 
 charm of manner which made a word from her better than a 
 jewel from another, and his welcome reception at Holyrood 
 by all the loyal and well-disposed party to whom it was of 
 no small moment to see their queen happily married. 
 
 Perhaps others, thought Maxwell, might not have served 
 her so well. Perhaps one of her maidens, with whom, as 
 with the rest, loyalty was still the master passion, might be 
 inclined to give him a welcome far warmer and kinder than 
 her proud and distant farewell : might think she had judged 
 him harshly, prematurely : might wish when it was too late 
 that she had not so scornfully rejected his devotion, nay, 
 T 289
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 might long to possess now what she had valued so lightly 
 when it was her own. Then he would teach her a lesson that 
 it would do her good to learn ; then how delicious would be 
 the triumph of meeting her coldly, politely, with calm friend- 
 ship and quiet goodwill, far more cutting than any amount 
 of assumed indifference and unconcern ; then she would 
 know that she had altered her mind too late, that a man of 
 energy and action was not to be pulled hither and thither 
 like a puppet by the weak hand of a woman holding the 
 string ; that she had flung the falcon from her wrist once, 
 jesses and all, and he would soar his wing now, and never 
 stoop to lure of hers again. Oh ! it would be a happy 
 moment; and yet how much happier to forgive her freely, 
 and without reproach to take her hand in his, look frankly 
 in her face, and tell her he had loved her all along, even when 
 she was most wilful and most unkind ! Was he not a man 
 a bold strong man ? What had he to do with pride as 
 regarded her ? Nay, was it not his pride to think that whilst 
 he yielded an inch to no one else on earth, he would always 
 be content to accept suffering, sorrow, even humiliation, for 
 her dear sake? 
 
 Such is the usual conclusion of one of those love reveries 
 in which men indulge whilst under the influence of the 
 malady ; such is the climax of an infinity of stern resolution 
 and haughty self-reproach and bitter self-examination ; we 
 make ourselves very unkind and very uncomfortable, and 
 after all leave off very much at the point from which we 
 started, if anything, in a less rational frame of mind than 
 at first. 
 
 Maxwell could not but compare himself at the moment to 
 the horse of one of the leading files of his escort, which had 
 got bogged up to the girths in a well-head, as those par- 
 ticularly soft pieces of morass are called, which abound on 
 the Scottish moorland. The poor animal made two or three 
 gallant efforts to extricate itself, stimulated not only by the 
 great terror a horse entertains of such a catastrophe, but 
 by a fierce application of its long - legged rider's spurs ; each 
 plunge only hampered it more irrevocably, and at last amidst 
 the loud jeers of his comrades and a volley of oaths from 
 himself, the trooper abandoned the saddle and wisely allowed 
 the beast to be still for a few moments and recover its 
 wind. 
 
 Maxwell's attention, which had hitherto been somewhat 
 taken up with his own thoughts, was now directed towards 
 the locality in which he found himself, and the mist clearing 
 
 290
 
 KIDNAPPED 
 
 away as the day drew on, enabled him to recognise one or 
 two of those acclivities and breaks of the skyline which con- 
 stitute the landmarks of an open moorland district, such as 
 he was at present traversing. 
 
 Though he had been but once before at Hermitage, his 
 soldier's eye had not failed to acquaint itself with the general 
 outline of the surrounding country. He now recognised a 
 conical-shaped hill on his left hand, that he distinctly remem- 
 bered to have passed yesterday in riding from Edinburgh on 
 his right ; the wind, too, which from the appearance of the 
 weather he judged to be easterly, struck cold upon his right 
 cheek ; he was convinced they must be going north. His first 
 impression was that the party had lost its way in the mist ; 
 his first impulse to jeer its leader, his old friend Dick, on such 
 a want of moss-trooping sagacity. 
 
 " How now, Master Dick ? " said Maxwell cheerily, look- 
 ing round for his friend, who rode silent and sullen in the 
 rear ; " I should have thought you knew your way to the 
 southern side better than this ! If you wanted to drive Lord 
 Scrope's horses, or empty a byre or two in Cumberland, you 
 wouldn't take the road to Holyrood, as I am much mistaken 
 if we are not doing, this morning. Why, man, I came by that 
 very cairn on the green hill yesterday. Thou must be asleep, 
 Dick, for I know the ale is not yet brewed that will make 
 thee drunk ! " 
 
 Dick shook himself sulkily in reply, and moving his horse 
 alongside his questioner, laid his hand on the other's bridle- 
 rein as if to guide him into a sounder path. 
 
 " I'm thinkin', Maister Maxwell," said Dick, with an 
 assumption of extreme friendliness and great caution, " that 
 it wad be mair wiselike just to whig cannily back to Holy- 
 rood, and leave a fule to gang a fule's errand for himself." 
 
 Maxwell laughed good-humouredly. Even now he was 
 persuaded the borderer had missed the southern track, and 
 was annoyed at his own stupidity, perhaps inclined to veil 
 it from his men by affecting ignorance of his charge's 
 destination. 
 
 " Holyrood is a fair palace, Dick," said he, " and I left it 
 but yesterday at daybreak. Do you think I came all the 
 way to Hermitage only to push the wine-cup round with wild 
 Lord Rothes, and so back again, with red eyes and a singing 
 brain, to my duties in the queen's anteroom ? Nay, nay, the 
 sooner we strike the right track and cross the border the 
 better. Why, man, I should be half-way to York before sun- 
 down!" 
 
 291
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Dick seemed sadly disturbed. He fidgeted with his bridle, 
 he loosened his sword in its sheath, ne looked up and down 
 and on all sides of him in obvious vexation. Once when a 
 jackman rode nearer Maxwell than was convenient, he bade 
 the man keep his distance with a hearty curse. He seemed 
 hurried, and yet anxious to put offtime, and talked at random 
 as one does who has some engrossing subject of no pleasant 
 nature to occupy his thoughts. 
 
 " Ye wad be better at Holyrood, Maister Maxwell," said 
 he, still harping on the old subject. " An' ye were at the 
 palace yesterday, nae doot, wi' the queen an' her leddies, an' 
 who but you ? I wish ye were there at this moment, Maister 
 Maxwell, an' that's the doom's truth o' it ! " 
 
 " Orders must be obeyed, Dick," answered the other, vainly 
 trying to induce the whole cavalcade to increase their pace, 
 which had now dwindled down to a very funeral walk. " That 
 reminds me, I have a message for you from one of the queen's 
 maids-of-honour." 
 
 All the blood in the borderer's great body seemed to rush 
 into as much of his face as was visible beneath his morion, 
 then the colour faded visibly, and for the first time in his life 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh turned as white as a sheet. 
 
 "It wad no be from Mistress Seton ! " said he, almost un- 
 consciously, and with the true Scottish negative that affirms 
 so much. " Man ! I wad like fine to hear it," and he bent 
 over his horse's neck and looked Walter in the face with 
 something of the wistful eager expression that the Newfound- 
 land dog, to whom he has already been compared, assumes 
 when his master is going to throw a stick for him to retrieve 
 out of the water. In the animal goes ! A plumper off the 
 pier, be it never so high, and the waves breaking never so 
 angrily below, and you may be sure that in his noble instinct 
 of fidelity he would drown ten times over before he would let 
 
 go- 
 Walter freed his rein from the other's grasp, and struck 
 
 into a trot. 
 
 "It was but to hope you had not forgotten all she taught 
 you, Dick, good manners and suchlike. I may tell her when 
 I see her again that you are such a courteous squire now, you 
 guide the bridle-rein of a mounted man-at-arms as carefully 
 as a lady's palfrey. Tush, man ! we are wasting time ; let us 
 strike into the right path and get on. I tell thee mine errand 
 admits of no delay ! " 
 
 He spoke impatiently, but yet in perfect good-humour, and 
 looking on his companion's face was startled at the expression 
 
 292
 
 -u-ell Turned m kis saddle ."
 
 KIDNAPPED 
 
 of intense pain that was apparent in its features. Dick-o'- 
 the-Cleugh looked like a man who had been shot through 
 the body, and was endeavouring to hide his internal agony 
 under an appearance of outward composure. Inside that 
 stalwart frame of his a terrible conflict was going on. Good 
 feeling, manhood, a certain reflective sense of the duties of 
 hospitality, above all, loyalty to the queen, represented by an 
 intense devotion to one of her maids-of-honour ; all these 
 sentiments were at war with the habits of a lifetime and the 
 first feudal instinct of the henchman implicit obedience to 
 his chief. It is needless to say that the latter obtained the 
 mastery. 
 
 Maxwell was a friend, and he had come from the im- 
 mediate presence of her who was the one bright image 
 that gladdened the man's honest unsophisticated heart, that 
 elevated his rude nature and gave him a glimpse of something 
 better than clash of steel and clang of drinking - cups, the 
 excitement of a foray, and the pleasures of a debauch ; but, 
 on the other hand, Bothwell was the master whom he had 
 venerated and obeyed from childhood ; whose mandate it 
 never occurred to him to dispute ; whose will was law. The 
 Rutherfords had served the Hepburns by flood and field as 
 long as either family could count their line. It was not for 
 Dick, so he thought, to be the first traitor of his race ; yet he 
 loathed his task, too, this frank-hearted borderer, and his face 
 was very stern and his voice rung hoarse and harsh when he 
 spoke again. 
 
 " Ye say true, Maister Maxwell. Orders must be obeyed. 
 Gude forgie us ! and the Laird's bidding must be done ! " 
 
 Startled by the altered tone, Maxwell turned in his saddle, 
 and at the same instant a thick woollen plaid, thrown over 
 him from behind, was drawn tight across his head and face, 
 a sword-belt was as quickly strapped round his arms above 
 the elbows, a stout moss-trooper pinioned him on either side, 
 two more were at his horse's head, his weapons were secured, 
 and he found himself, in the space of about half a minute, 
 helpless, blindfold, half-stifled, and a prisoner ! 
 
 Accustomed as he.had been in his adventurous life to every 
 sort of catastrophe, the present seemed to him the most un- 
 accountable and startling of all. He had not witnessed the 
 chafing warden's interview yesterday with calm, impassible, 
 unscrupulous Moray, nor guessed how much he had to thank 
 his host, that imprisonment rather than death was his present 
 fate. He knew nothing of the conclave held over their wine 
 after he had retired last night by the three nobles, when 
 
 293
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Rothes had suggested so jovially that he might be blinded 
 or left in a dungeon for life, or hidden out of the way 
 altogether, in any manner that was most agreeable to his 
 boon-companions. 
 
 " For," as the peer politely put it, while he filled his cup to 
 the brim, " you need have no fear of inconveniencing me. We 
 have a saying in Fife of which I have always endeavoured 
 to uphold the truth 'Ask no questions of the Leslies, for 
 their answers are sharp, silent, and to the point.' If he 
 goes down a certain winding stair in my poor house you 
 might never hear of him again till you wanted him ; and if 
 need be, I could produce you his bones, at anyrate, twenty 
 years hence. Do not hesitate, I pray you ; I am only 
 happy to accommodate the warden. Bothwell, your good 
 health ! " 
 
 Nor had he overheard the orders accepted so unwillingly 
 by poor Dick - o' - the - Cleugh an hour or two before dawn, 
 nor that worthy's eager remonstrance and extreme unwilling- 
 ness to fulfil his chiefs behests. Perhaps the henchman never 
 felt so keenly that he was a vassal as when he told off six 
 stout jackmen for the unwelcome duty, and informed them of 
 the catchword, " the Laird's bidding," at which they were to 
 muffle and pinion their prisoner. 
 
 Maxwell knew it was useless to complain. A request for 
 a little air was so far complied with that the plaid, while it 
 still blinded him, was enough loosened to admit of his breath- 
 ing more freely ; but no answer was vouchsafed to the few 
 indignant questions that, in his first surprise, he had put to 
 his captors. The pace, too, at which they were now going, 
 forbade conversation, and in the few words exchanged at inter- 
 vals between the jackmen, their prisoner failed to distinguish 
 the tones of Dick-o'-the-Cleugh. Notwithstanding the hench- 
 man's treachery, Maxwell's heart sank a little within him to 
 think that he was deserted by his last friend. 
 
 After many hours of hard riding, and when he could not 
 but feel that his horse was becoming completely exhausted, 
 the fresh sea-breeze made him aware that he was approaching 
 the Firth. With no unnecessary violence, though with much 
 rapidity, he was, ere long, lifted from the saddle and placed 
 in a boat, but the plaid was still kept round his head, and an 
 unbroken silence preserved even by the men who handled 
 the oars. It must have been long after nightfall when they 
 made the opposite shore, and Maxwell, despite his hardy 
 frame, was becoming faint and exhausted from fatigue, vexa- 
 tion, and want of food. 
 
 294
 
 KIDNAPPED 
 
 As he was again forced into the saddle, however, a flask of 
 brandy was applied to his mouth, and at the same time a 
 strong bony hand grasped his own warmly, and Dick-o'-the- 
 Cleugh's welcome voice whispered in his ear 
 
 " Tak' anither sup, lad, and keep your heart up. Ye've 
 gotten a friend to your back for a' that's come and gone 
 yet." 
 
 295
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 DARNLEY 
 
 "Good-morrow, 'tis St. Valentine's day, 
 
 All in the morning betime ; 
 And I a maid at your window, 
 To be your Valentine." 
 
 'HT^HERE is one saint in the calendar, who at least has 
 JL never lacked worshippers ; at whose shrine the strictest 
 sectarians, the bitterest reformers, have never failed to lay their 
 votive offerings, and in whose train shine myriads of the 
 brightest and fairest beings we can picture to ourselves, the 
 only angels that gladden the sight of us adoring mortals here 
 below. Yes, blooming maidens, buxom widows, constituting 
 a phalanx beautiful to look upon, as it is dangerous to deal 
 with, have for centuries conspired to do honour to sweet St. 
 Valentine, and we can only regret that the anniversary of his 
 martyrdom (kissed to death, we have always been taught to 
 believe, and buried by turtle-doves, under a shower of orange- 
 blossoms) should occur at a season of the year when in our 
 own climate the usual concomitants of frost and snow seem 
 so inappropriate to the indolent and relaxing amusement of 
 love-making. We have no reason to believe that the I4th of 
 February 1 564 afforded any contrast to the usual boisterous 
 inclemency of a Scottish spring, or that Queen Mary and her 
 maidens, looking from the battlements of Wemyss Castle on 
 the leaden waves of the stormy Firth, had any sunshine to 
 gladden them save that which originated in their own breasts. 
 But the queen at least was in the height of good-humour 
 and good spirits ; though subject to occasional fits of depres- 
 sion, Mary's usual state of mind was kindly and cheerful ; 
 nay, when in some rare interval of peace she was relieved 
 from the pressure of actual distress, or the anticipation of 
 impending calamity, her gay and cordial manner shed an 
 influence of happiness over all who came within its range ; and 
 even Randolph busy, intriguing, heartless, cynical Randolph 
 could not but admit that " this queen," as he calls her, " is 
 
 296
 
 DARNLEY 
 
 a divine thing, far excelling any (our own most worthy only 
 excepted) that ever was made since the first framing of 
 mankind." 
 
 Behold, then, Mary Stuart and her maidens sitting at 
 work in a chamber overlooking the stormy Firth from the 
 seaward turret of Wemyss Castle. Without, the leaden hues 
 of sea and sky form a grand though savage contrast to the 
 white snow - mantle which wraps the undulating shores of 
 Fife, while the opposite Lothian coast stands out, as it were, 
 into the water with the distinct outline and startling appear- 
 ance of proximity peculiar to an atmosphere charged with 
 coming snow, and a wind from the north-east. 
 
 Within, an old oak-panelled chamber, hung here and there 
 with faded tapestry, once of priceless value, but now frayed 
 and worn and coming rapidly into rags; grotesque, gaunt 
 ornaments are strewed about the room, the spoils of predatory 
 warfare on the Danish coast, brought hither generations back 
 by stern Sir Michael, the first Lord Admiral of Scotland. 
 Strange-looking arms and a ponderous axe or two are not in 
 character with the interior of a lady's bower, nor do the grim 
 figures carved in wood that support the chimney on either 
 side of the high wide fireplace, the least resemble such cupids 
 and other gentle symbols as would be appropriate to the 
 company and the occasion. 
 
 Bending over her work, the queen's blushes come and go 
 with a degree of graceful embarrassment that is not unmarked 
 by her attendants. These are around her as usual, and, like 
 their mistress, occupy their fingers with considerable energy, 
 and doubtless allow their thoughts to stray far and wide 
 during the task. We of the sterner sex have probably not 
 the faintest idea of the comfort derived by woman from her 
 natural weapon, the needle. 
 
 It is well known, we are told, to physiologists, and the 
 fact is not lost sight of in our treatment of the insane, that 
 manual labour requiring a moderate amount of attention, such 
 as the prosecution of a handicraft, has a remarkably composing 
 tendency on the mind ; but carpentering is perhaps the only 
 male pursuit which combines the exact proportions of physical 
 and mental exertion supposed to produce such beneficial 
 results. Few men, however, are carpenters, whereas, speaking 
 in general times, all women can sew, and the very act of 
 stitching we believe to be a complete and unfailing anodyne. 
 The delicate fingers bend unconsciously to their task ; the 
 white hand flies to and fro as the dove flew round the Ark 
 seeking the olive-branch on which it should find rest at last ; 
 
 297
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 the gentle head bends lower and lower, while thoughts, 
 humbled by sorrow and chastened by resignation, wander 
 farther and farther away. Presently the tears are dropping 
 fast upon the pattern, be it the beads of a queen's embroidery 
 or the hem of a peasant's smock ; but like summer showers 
 they do but clear the sky when they are over, and ere the 
 hair is shook back, and the loving face looks up to thread the 
 needle afresh, all is sunshine and peace once more. Perhaps 
 no woman of any degree had oftener occasion to practise this 
 healing occupation than ill-fated Mary Stuart, destined to a 
 pre-eminence in suffering as in beauty. 
 
 The only male attendant on the queen was David Riccio. 
 Splendidly dressed in the thickest velvet that could be pro- 
 cured, that poor little Italian shivered in a corner of the 
 ample fireplace, preserving, to his credit be it said, his 
 southern good-humour even in the rigours of a cold, raw 
 climate, which, to use an expression from his own land, 
 seemed " to loosen every tooth in his head." Three of the 
 maids-of-honour were unusually silent and depressed, Mary 
 Seton alone incorrigible as usual. A portentous shiver from 
 Riccio, which he tried in vain to repress, made the queen look 
 up from her embroidery. She could not but smile at the 
 chattering teeth and pinched features of her ungainly secretary, 
 yet there was a slight tone of irritation in her voice as she 
 said 
 
 " Heap more wood on the fire, if you are so cold, Signior 
 David ; yet methinks the weather hath moderated since 
 morning. It cannot be so bad even now on the landward side ; 
 but the wind whistles round this old keep of my brother's 
 till we might fancy ourselves a plump of wildfowl cowering 
 together for shelter on the Bass." 
 
 Her eye happening to rest on Mistress Beton while she 
 spoke, that demure lady, who was plunged in a profound fit 
 of abstraction, felt herself called upon to reply, and could find 
 nothing more apposite to say than 
 
 " Bitter weather indeed, your grace, and threatening worse 
 than ever over the Firth. Heaven help all poor travellers 
 by land and sea ! " she added piously, drawing at the 
 same time her mantle closer round her shoulders, to the utter 
 destruction of her stupendous ruff, a neglect of which orna- 
 mental structure always denoted in Mary Beton extreme 
 discomposure of mind. 
 
 " Psha, child ! " said the queen impatiently. " Travellers 
 are not so faint-hearted. What say you, Signior David ? 
 We wot of some that would ride through fire and water at 
 
 298
 
 DARNLEY 
 
 our behest. Is not that the gallop of a horse I hear even now 
 along the causeway ? " 
 
 " I pray you patience, madam ! " answered the cautious 
 Italian, seeing that the queen had risen from her chair, and 
 was pacing up and down in obvious expectation. " No 
 traveller that your grace wotteth of can be on this side the 
 Firth to-day. Spurs are but steel ; horses are but bone and 
 sinew ; riders but flesh and blood. There can be no arrival 
 at the earliest for twenty hours. I have myself wagered a 
 collar of pearls and rubies with Mistress Seton." 
 
 " And lost ! and lost ! and lost ! " exclaimed that voluble 
 young lady, dancing rather than walking into the room from 
 which she had not been five minutes absent. " Even now the 
 portcullis is up, and I saw him myself ride into the court- 
 yard from the passage-window. Good lack, madam, such a 
 tall cavalier ! and his poor horse looked so tired ! Not a 
 living creature with him neither, and he called for a cup of 
 wine before ever his spurs had touched the pavement." 
 
 Mary Stuart's cheek turned very red, and her breath came 
 quick and short ! the woman could not but appreciate the 
 compliment, however much the queen must study to conceal 
 her feelings. This looked like an earnest wooer in good 
 truth ; no laggard could thus have distanced his followers 
 and arrived in such an incredibly short space of time from 
 the southern shore. Ay ! there was more lost and won on 
 that ride of young Lord Darnley's than the collar of pearls 
 and rubies which David Riccio delivered the same evening 
 with such a good grace to saucy Mistress Seton. But the 
 queen's innate dignity soon reasserted itself. Signing to her 
 ladies to attend on her, she paced majestically from the 
 room. 
 
 " It would ill become us," said she, " to keep one waiting 
 for an audience who hath shown such loyal diligence in 
 obeying our summons ; we will receive our guest in the 
 great hall of the castle. Do you, Signior Riccio, apprise 
 him that we are ready to accept his homage. Mary 
 Carmichael and Mary Hamilton attend us for a few minutes 
 to our tiring-room ; we will all meet again here, and proceed 
 at once to the hall." 
 
 Mary seldom spoke in such a measured dignified tone. 
 It may be that this stately manner covered some little 
 trepidation and heart-beating ; it may be that the queen 
 felt timid and bashful as the meekest village maiden. At 
 least it was remarkable that the most beautiful woman in 
 Europe should have thought it necessary to revise her toilet, 
 
 299
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 and add to her attractions before receiving the homage of 
 her vassal and kinsman. 
 
 It was no ordinary phalanx of beauty that Darnley had 
 to confront when the venerable seneschal of Wemyss Castle 
 ushered him into the lofty hall, at the end of which, on a 
 portion raised by one step above the level of the floor, was 
 placed the royal lady to whom he had dared to aspire as 
 his bride ; her exquisite loveliness only enhanced by the 
 presence of the four prettiest women in Scotland who stood 
 behind her. But faint heart never won fair lady, and Darnley's 
 was by no means one of those dispositions which are prone 
 to fail from a retiring modesty and too low an estimate of 
 their own advantages. Besides, he was playing a great stake, 
 and playing it with all the reckless audacity of a gambler. 
 Young as he was, he well knew that the prize now before 
 him represented not only the Majesty of Scotland, but pos- 
 sibly, nay, in all human probability, the eventual succession 
 to the English throne. It was this contingency which made 
 Elizabeth so jealous of all matrimonial overtures to her 
 beautiful cousin ; it was this which caused Cecil and 
 Throckmorton, and their agent Randolph, to lay their 
 cunning heads together and devise means for amusing the 
 Scottish Queen with a procession of suitors, none of whom 
 were ever intended to be more than the puppets of the 
 moment, each to prevent the attainment of his object by 
 the other. 
 
 The accomplished Warwick, the manly-looking, weak- 
 hearted Norfolk, nay, the prime favourite of the English 
 Queen herself, the selfish, handsome, and utterly unscrupu- 
 lous Leicester, were successively put forward as appropriate 
 sharers of Mary Stuart's throne and masters of her hand. 
 But no sooner did the hapless object of all this intrigue and 
 duplicity show the slightest preference for one over the other, 
 the faintest inclination to accede to wishes which seemed so 
 candidly expressed, than instantly, like some scene in a 
 masquerade, the performers all changed characters at once. 
 Elizabeth became the stern monitress, Randolph the delicate 
 adviser, and the belted earls and noble dukes, no longer 
 humble suitors and devoted champions of their idol, cooled 
 at a breath into very coy and somewhat unwilling parties to 
 an engagement of political expediency, only binding so long 
 as it received encouragement at Greenwich or Whitehall. 
 Thus was a woman's heart made an object of cruel traffic 
 and shameful double - dealing, none the less disgraceful 
 because its possession implied the occupancy of a throne. 
 
 300
 
 DARNLEY 
 
 Some day, perhaps, the world may be brought to see that 
 even in the highest places expediency can never justify 
 heartlessness or crime, that not only is "honesty the best 
 policy," but that chivalrous unselfishness and frank defiance 
 of evil are the surest beacons to success. 
 
 In the meantime, it is sad to think, that the life's 
 happiness and the life itself of Mary Stuart were pitilessly 
 sacrificed by one of her own blood and her own sex. Surely, 
 since the serpent, woman has had no such bitter enemy as 
 woman. 
 
 Darnley, put forward at eighteen as the rival of so many 
 distinguished nobles, entered on the contest with all the wil- 
 fulness of a Stuart, and all the joyous temerity of a boy. 
 Though a tool in the hands of his seniors, it must doubtless 
 have seemed to the adventurous young nobleman no unwel- 
 come task to woo his beautiful sovereign the kinswoman 
 whom he had already once seen when they were both mere 
 children, but whose charms even at that early age he had not 
 yet forgotten. Few men would refuse the hand of a queen, 
 even if she were an ugly one ; what shall we say of a proposal 
 to try his fortune with such a paragon as Mary Stuart? It 
 was no wonder the lightsome young wooer rode horse after 
 horse to death as he posted northward in the direction to 
 which his star beckoned him ; no wonder that he should 
 arrive at Wemyss Castle all alone, far ahead of his scattered 
 escort; no wonder that he should advance into Mary's 
 presence, under all the disadvantages of haste, fatigue, and 
 travel-stained riding -gear, with the gallant air of a gay 
 young knight who goes forth to conquer, rather than that of 
 a slave who comes to wear a chain. As he walked up the 
 hall, his step was firm, his head erect, and his eye bright and 
 open as that of a man who sees his destiny beckoning him 
 forward fairer and fairer, more and more promising as he 
 approaches. 
 
 The colour was very deep in Mary's cheek, and her eyes 
 were fastened to the ground while he drew near, yet she stole 
 a good look at him somehow, too, or she would not have 
 been a woman. What she saw might have satisfied even her 
 fastidious taste. 
 
 Darnley was very tall and slim, but his limbs were so 
 well-proportioned, his hands and feet so small and beautifully 
 shaped, that his excessive height only gave him an air of 
 peculiar grace and distinction above ordinary men. Even in 
 the riding-dress of the period, though we may be sure that 
 the handsome young noble wore one of the richest material, 
 
 301
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 and of the most tasteful fashion such a costume allowed, he 
 betrayed those habits of refinement almost bordering on cox- 
 combry, which, when they accompany a fine manly person, 
 have such an attraction for the other sex. All the details of 
 his toilet had been carefully attended to before he started, 
 and disordered as he now was, at least on his exterior, nature 
 had written gentleman in characters that could not be mis- 
 taken. Alas ! that her pen can sometimes only trace skin 
 deep. His face, too, was in accordance with the high-bred 
 beauty of his form. The line of features was soft and delicate 
 as a woman's, the dark eyes shone out soft and tender from 
 beneath a pair of pencilled eyebrows, the dark hair clustered 
 in silken curls round a fair and open brow, pure and unruffled 
 in the calm springtime of youth, and though the mouth was 
 that of a voluptuary rather than a hero, the small teeth were 
 so white and regular, the lips so full and red, that, had it not 
 been for the down beginning to shade its contour, it might 
 have belonged to a girl. The whole countenance would 
 indeed have been too effeminate, but for a bold sparkle in 
 the eye, which corresponded well with the manly proportions 
 of the frame. 
 
 The subject was not half so much abashed as the sovereign. 
 Darnley advanced confidently up the hall, then kneeling 
 before the queen and kissing the hand she tendered him, he 
 looked boldly in her face and asked leave to deliver certain 
 packets with which he was charged from his mother and 
 kinsfolk. 
 
 " But your mails have not yet arrived, my lord," said Mary. 
 " You have outridden your retainers ; you are the only one of 
 your party who hath yet reached us here in our hiding-place 
 beyond the Firth." 
 
 She stopped in some embarrassment, unwilling that 
 Darnley should learn how much his coming had been looked 
 for and his arrival watched. 
 
 " I have them with me here, your grace," answered he, 
 producing at the same time a packet from his bosom. " I 
 would trust my queen's letters to no hands but my own, 
 although to remind me of her I do not need to carry them 
 next my heart." 
 
 He dropped his voice at the latter part of his sentence, 
 but looked her boldly in the face while he spoke, as if to 
 mark the effect of his words. Boy as he was, he knew well 
 how to woo a woman already, and had not been slow to learn 
 that the reticence of true affection is the worst auxiliary in 
 the world. He had studied his own motto to some advantage 
 
 302
 
 DARNLEY 
 
 this adventurous young suitor, and now or never was the time 
 to say 
 
 " Avant, Darnle, 
 D'arriere jamais." 
 
 So he kissed the fair hand once more that took the packet 
 from his own, and added 
 
 " None of my servants can be here for hours, madam, and 
 I have dared to appear before your Majesty all disordered 
 and travel-stained. May my rudeness stand excused in the 
 ardour of my desire to see the beauty which now dazzles me 
 so that I can hardly look upon it, and my loyal anxiety to 
 obey the commands of my mistress and my queen ? Am I 
 forgiven, madam ? 'Tis said that ' a lady's face should show 
 grace.' " 
 
 " And well it might, to such a face as yours," thought the 
 queen ; but she only answered a few words of commonplace 
 courtesy ; bidding her cousin rise from his knees, and affected 
 to busy herself in the packet of letters she had just received, 
 for Mary was again blushing deeply, and not unwilling to 
 hide her confusion in the task she had thus set herself. 
 Truth to tell, though she had hitherto been so impervious to 
 flattery, the words she had just heard were stealing their way 
 very softly and pleasantly to her heart. 
 
 Seeing her thus occupied, Darnley proceeded to pay his 
 compliments with graceful ease to the attendant ladies, find- 
 ing time to note in his own mind their respective attractions, 
 and to discover that Mary Seton was the most to his taste of 
 all the four. 
 
 After a while, and it may be, somewhat disturbed in her 
 studies by the merry voice of her gay suitor, who came (such 
 is the advantage of being young) as fresh from his ride of so 
 many hundred miles, as if he were lately out of bed, the 
 queen looked up, and with kindly courtesy bade him join 
 them at the noonday meal, then about to be served. The 
 young courtier had the good taste to excuse himself, pleading 
 the want of proper attire in which to meet her Majesty at 
 table, and reflecting in his own mind that he could satisfy the 
 hunger which he now began to feel so keenly more comfort- 
 ably alone. He saw too that he had made an agreeable 
 impression, and wisely determined to give it time to work. 
 So he asked permission to wait on his sovereign at supper 
 instead, and retired to refresh himself in private, and curse 
 the delay of his servants, whom he expected hour by hour, 
 with some portion of his baggage. 
 
 303
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 It may easily be imagined that in the seclusion of Wemyss 
 Castle, such an event as the arrival of a guest like Darnley 
 created no small amount of excitement and conversation. 
 Doubtless every point in his doublet, every hair of his head, 
 was thoroughly discussed and criticised, in kitchen, buttery, 
 and hall. The rumour spread like wildfire through the castle 
 that this dashing springald was a suitor for the hand of the 
 bonny queen. 
 
 " Set him up ! " as the Scottish lower orders say when they 
 opine that the aspirant is hardly worthy of the prize. Never- 
 theless the young lord's height, appearance, and easy manners 
 had already won him golden opinions of those who judge 
 chiefly by the eye, and when he had finished the best part of 
 a capon, and a goodly stoup of Bordeaux for his breakfast, 
 the old sensechal delivered himself of the opinion that " the 
 youth was a bonny lad, an' a fair-spoken forbye bein' a 
 Stuart himsel', an' no that far off frae him that lies out bye 
 yonder at Flodden ! " Had there been any dissentients, an 
 allusion to their favourite hero, James IV., would at once have 
 brought them over to an agreement with the majority. 
 
 But in Mary Stuart's bower the engrossing theme was 
 canvassed with considerably less freedom. The queen herself 
 was restless and ill at ease, constrained in manner and reserved 
 in conversation. Mary Carmichael was absent on certain 
 household duties; Mary Hamilton seldom opened her pale 
 lips now, save at matins or vespers, when she poured from 
 them such floods of melody as if she were indeed an angel 
 from that heaven to which she was so obviously hastening ; 
 Mistress Beton had been too long a courtier ever to broach 
 a fresh topic of conversation, or indeed to give an opinion 
 frankly upon any subject whatsoever moreover, she had no 
 means of learning what Randolph said to all this, and she felt 
 somewhat at a loss to form her own ideas without the assistance 
 of her false English lover ; Mary Seton alone led the charge 
 bravely, by asking the queen point-blank what she thought of 
 her young kinsman. 
 
 " Nay," replied her Majesty, with a smile, " you would not 
 have me give an opinion after a five minutes' interview. The 
 outside methinks is of fair promise ; at least, if ' all be good 
 that be upcome.' " l 
 
 "Ay, he's well enough to look at," answered the young 
 
 lady, with the air of a consummate judge. " Long and small, 
 
 even and straight; a proper partner for a galliard, and, I 
 
 should say, would grace velvet doublet and silken hose better 
 
 1 A Scotch saying, equivalent to the converse of our " 111 weeds grow apace." 
 
 304
 
 DARNLEY 
 
 than steel corselet and plumed headpiece. But my choice, now, 
 would be something sterner, stronger, rougher altogether; some- 
 thing more of a man ; like stout Earl Bothwell, for instance ! " 
 
 The queen started as if she had been stung, and answered 
 angrily 
 
 " How mean ye ? The one is a loyal and accomplished 
 gentleman, the other a brawling swordsman and a traitorous 
 rebel." 
 
 " A woman might have worse help at her need than the 
 lord warden in jack and morion, with a score of those daring 
 borderers at his back," retorted the staunch little partisan, 
 following out, it may be, some wandering fancy of her own. 
 
 The queen did not seem loth to pursue the subject. 
 
 " You were talking of looks," said she, " not sword-strokes ; 
 and Bothwell, at his best, was bronzed and marred and 
 weather-beaten, and built more like a tower than a man." 
 
 " That was exactly what I admired in him," interposed the 
 damsel ; " I even thought that scar over his eye became his 
 face as it would have become none other." 
 
 The queen smiled once more, and resumed, in the tone of 
 one who is looking far back into the past 
 
 " He certainly had more of the warrior than the courtier in 
 him, and doubtless he hath always done his part well and 
 knightly in the field ; I will do him that justice. Poor Both- 
 well ! he must have been ill-advised indeed when he could 
 refuse to obey me. I thought I could have trusted him if all 
 Scotland besides had failed me. Well, well ! all must be 
 forgiven now and forgotten." 
 
 She spoke the last words in a melancholy tone, and each 
 relapsed into silence, for both the queen and her damsels 
 seemed to have ample food for thought ; so their fingers 
 flew over the tapestry more nimbly than ever, and the work 
 proceeded with extraordinary perseverance till supper-time. 
 
 But if Darnley had been pleasant to look at in his travel- 
 stained riding-gear, the most fastidious eye must have admitted 
 that he was indeed splendidly handsome when he appeared, 
 prepared to perform the menial offices of the queen's supper- 
 table, clad in a suit of gorgeous apparel, cut in the newest 
 fashion of the English Court. Refreshed with food and 
 repose, sleek from the bath and perfumes of his toilet, radiant 
 with hope and excitement, the young courtier stood before 
 his sovereign probably the best dressed and the best looking 
 man that day in her dominions. 
 
 After he had gone through the form of presenting Mary 
 with the basin and ewer, which she declined, she bade him sit 
 
 U 305
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 down at the same table with herself and her ladies, for the 
 queen disliked ceremony, and always dispensed with it in 
 private to the utmost. Then did Lord Darnley strain every 
 nerve to be agreeable, and with so partial an audience, it is 
 needless to say, succeeded beyond his highest expectations. 
 Skilled in those outward graces which make so good a show 
 and are so effective in society, it was an easy task to him, 
 even in the presence of royalty, to lead the conversation round 
 to those topics on which he was best qualified to shine. 
 
 His descriptions of his journey, his humorous account of 
 the difficulties he experienced in procuring horses at the 
 different posts, with a covert allusion here and there to his 
 impatience to get on, were listened to with laughter and 
 interest by all with rising colour and heaving breast by 
 one ; while in no circle probably of either kingdom could his 
 graphic sketch of the English Court, with its petty intrigues 
 and latest scandal, have been appreciated with such thorough 
 zest and goodwill. It does not follow that Mary Stuart was 
 displeased because she checked him when he mimicked her 
 "good sister" to the life, hitting, with a happy mixture of 
 fun and malice, on some of the most prominent foibles and 
 grotesque points in the character of "good Queen Bess." 
 Ere the ladies rose from table they had made up their minds 
 that this new acquisition to their society was of unspeakable 
 merit ; and later in the evening, when they discovered that 
 he could play and sing as well as he could talk, and that his 
 leg and foot were as beautiful as his face and hand, Mary 
 Seton had almost decided that such courtly graces as these 
 were worth all the ruder virtues of a less accomplished gallant ; 
 and judging from her subsequent conduct, we may fairly con- 
 clude that Mary Stuart's opinion followed on the same side. 
 
 A few more days of the seclusion of Wemyss Castle, 
 lightened by the lively talk and winning manners of the 
 guest, served but to establish Darnley more securely in the 
 good graces of his sovereign. The weather was of unex- 
 ampled severity, and a deep snow prevented all attempts at 
 outdoor amusements, and especially forbade those field-sports 
 in which Mary took such delight. The society of a handsome 
 young gallant, fluent and accomplished, was not likely to be 
 rated below its real value, when it represented the only 
 amusement available to five such ladies as the queen and her 
 Maries, shut up in an old house during a snowstorm ; and 
 Darnley found he had free access at all hours of the day to 
 their agreeable presence ; but he had as yet enjoyed no 
 opportunity of seeing her Majesty alone. Mary, with her own 
 
 306
 
 DARNLEY 
 
 good sense and womanly reserve, had resolved to judge for 
 herself more at leisure ere she committed her happiness to the 
 keeping of her possible husband, or encouraged him avowedly 
 in his suit. 
 
 The young lord, however, impatient by disposition, and 
 now reckless on principle, had resolved that this brief visit to 
 the old seaside tower should determine his fate ; he would 
 never have such a chance again ; and on the last day of Mary's 
 sojourn at Wemyss Castle he made up his mind to hazard all 
 upon the cast. 
 
 Darnley entertained few scruples of delicacy when he had 
 an object in view. He chose the hour when Mary Hamilton 
 was sure to be in an oratory which the queen had temporarily 
 fitted up, to get the three other ladies out of his way ; a few 
 gold pieces judiciously administered induced the venerable 
 dame who charged herself with the domestic details of the 
 castle, to request the presence of Mistresses Beton and Car- 
 michael on a visit of inspection to vast hoards of linen hid 
 away in an old walnut-wood press ; then seducing Mary 
 Seton into the long gallery under pretence of a match at 
 billiards, or bilies, as it was called, he coolly left the game 
 unfinished and turned the key upon that young lady, who 
 found herself, somewhat to her dismay, a prisoner in a remote 
 apartment of the castle without the slightest prospect of 
 escape. Chance, too, further favoured his designs, for a blink 
 of sunshine had tempted the queen out upon the battlements, 
 and he found her there alone looking wistfully across the 
 Firth towards the southern shore. 
 
 We are no eavesdroppers on the courtships of royalty. 
 Turn after turn Mary Stuart paced up and down those leads, 
 and still Darnley urged and argued and gesticulated, and still 
 his fair companion blushed and listened and shook her head. 
 That the interview was not entirely without results, Mary 
 Seton gathered from what she witnessed at its conclusion. 
 She had been released from durance by a domestic who 
 happened to be passing the door of the gallery, and hastened 
 immediately to excuse her absence to her mistress. As she 
 approached the battlements, Darnley was offering the queen a 
 ring, with every appearance of eagerness and agitation ; and 
 although the latter obviously declined the gift, it was with 
 a kindliness and an embarrassment that made the refusal 
 tantamount to an acceptance. 
 
 " For my sake," said Darnley imploringly, " your subject, 
 your vassal, your slave for ever ! " 
 
 " Not yet," murmured the queen, in answer ; and although 
 
 307
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 she spoke very low, her whisper reached the keen ears of the 
 attentive maid-of-honour. 
 
 As Darnley left the presence he did not stop to apologise 
 to Mary Seton for their unfinished match. His colour was 
 high, his eye was very bright, there was an air of joyous 
 triumph in his whole aspect and bearing ; perhaps he was 
 quite satisfied in his own mind that he had won the game. 
 
 308
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 OVERCAST 
 
 " We'll hear nae mair lilting at the ewe-milking, 
 
 Women and lasses are heartless and wae, 
 Sighing and moaning on ilka green loaning 
 The flowers of the forest are all wede away." 
 
 THE Court was now established at Stirling, and a very 
 dull and melancholy Court it was. The visit at 
 Wemyss Castle had indeed borne ample fruit ; but as if there 
 was some fatality hanging over Mary Stuart's head, the days 
 of courtship which, with most women, form such a happy era 
 in life, were fraught for her with much annoyance, vexation, 
 and distress. Though she had listened coyly at first to her 
 handsome young suitor, she had not prohibited him from 
 broaching the agreeable subject again ; and by the beginning 
 of April Lord Darnley was known to the whole of Scotland 
 as the accepted lover of the queen. It is needless to dwell 
 upon the confusion created by such an announcement at the 
 different Courts of Europe, where her marriage had been 
 made the subject of endless intrigue and diplomacy, nor the 
 access of ill-humour which it produced in Elizabeth, who 
 could never make up her mind as to the exact manner in 
 which she should treat her cousin. Cecil was sharply reproved 
 for not having earlier foreseen so probable a contingency; 
 Randolph received a rap over the knuckles for his tardiness 
 in forwarding the disagreeable intelligence ; and Lady Lennox, 
 for no graver offence than that of being Darnley's mother, was 
 committed to the Tower. 
 
 In Scotland, the popular opinion was in favour of the 
 match, although the vulgar, with their usual love for the 
 marvellous, affirmed that their queen's affections had been 
 gained by magic arts ; the favourite rumour being that 
 Darnley had presented her Majesty with an enchanted 
 bracelet, made by the famous sorcerer Lord Ruthven, who 
 had shut himself up fasting for nine days and nights for 
 the purpose, and finished it off in so short a space of time 
 
 309
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 with no assistance but that of the arch-fiend, his fellow- 
 workman. 
 
 The spell, however, which the lover had cast upon his 
 mistress was probably stronger than anything likely to result 
 from the black art, originating as it did in beauty of person, 
 charm of manner, and above all, the sympathetic attraction 
 of young blood. That they had plighted their troth to one 
 another was only to be presumed from the intimacy the queen 
 permitted him, and the obvious delight she experienced in 
 his society. 
 
 Randolph was puzzled. He was fain to have some certain 
 intelligence to convey to Cecil ; and, although he had 
 thoroughly sounded Mary Beton, who was beginning to get 
 tired of attentions which never became more definite, he 
 suffered no opportunity to escape him of watching the 
 affianced pair. 
 
 The Court, we have said, was dull and melancholy. 
 Darnley, stretched on a sickbed with an attack of measles, 
 was sedulously attended by the queen. His illness shed a 
 gloom over the royal household, and Randolph was nearly 
 satisfied in his own mind that the marriage was as good as 
 concluded. He resolved, nevertheless, to place his suspicions 
 beyond a doubt. 
 
 It was a sunshiny day in April, and the diplomatist knew 
 that he was likely to see Mistress Beton on the southern 
 terrace of the castle about noon. He awaited her there 
 accordingly, with a great affectation of anxiety and agitation. 
 The lady, on the contrary, looked three inches taller than 
 usual, and was as cold as ice. 
 
 " I have longed to see you, fair madam," said the courtly 
 gentleman ; " there is no sunshine for me where Mistress Beton 
 is not, and I pine like some tropical bird for the reviving 
 warmth of her smiles." 
 
 The comparison seemed a little ridiculous, as she con- 
 templated "the bird," dressed with scrupulous attention, in 
 the extremity of the mode, and wearing an enormous ruff. 
 She smiled somewhat scornfully, as she replied 
 
 " You seem to keep your plumage marvellously sleek in 
 the shade." 
 
 " The bird seeks its mate," answered he, laughing good- 
 humouredly ; " and the two-legged creatures here below, like 
 the fowls of heaven, always wear their gaudiest feathers in 
 the pairing season. Mistress Beton, the cage-door is open at 
 last, and you are now free. Is it not so ? " 
 
 He took her hand while he spoke, and pressed it warmly, 
 
 310
 
 OVERCAST 
 
 but she released it with an impatient gesture, and answered 
 angrily 
 
 " What mean you, Master Randolph ? My freedom is not 
 dependent upon you, I trow ; nor do I see in what manner it 
 concerneth you. I pray you, sir, let go my hand ! " 
 
 " Nay, but is it not true that the queen-bird hath chosen 
 her mate ? " he proceeded affectionately, and determined not 
 to be affronted, at least not yet. "In plain English, or rather 
 in your pretty Scotch, tell me truth, fair Mistress Beton : this 
 queen of yours hath given her consent to her kinsman, and 
 the maidens are released from their vow ? " 
 
 " I am not here to tell my mistress's secrets," answered 
 the lady, none the less severely that her conscience reminded 
 her she had not always been so discreet. " Surely Master 
 Randolph can get information more reliable than mine, or 
 he hath indeed lived in ignorance for long ! " 
 
 She was thinking that he had of late neglected her shame- 
 fully ; but although his quick ear detected much of pique in 
 her tone, there was so little affection in it, that he determined 
 to alter his tactics, but warily, of course, and by degrees. 
 
 " You are offended with me, Mistress Beton," said he, in 
 a quiet, mournful voice, " and therefore you are pitiless. Well, 
 you will know better hereafter, perhaps when it is too late. I 
 have but remained at this Court for the sake of others, and 
 now it is time that I was gone. You must yourself know 
 that my position here has been a false and delicate one: I 
 am looked on coldly by your queen ; I am an object of jealousy 
 and distrust to this new favourite of hers ; I am continually 
 reproached by my own employers for betraying too strong 
 a bias towards the Scottish interest ; and, worse than all, 
 those whose good opinion I most value, and for whose sake 
 I have lost so much, turn upon me at the last, and seem 
 determined to fall out with me, whether I will or no. But 
 it takes two to make a quarrel, Mistress Beton, and I am 
 resolved not to be one. Farewell ! we part friends. Is it 
 not so ? " 
 
 A woman could hardly resist such an appeal from a man 
 whom she had once cared for, if ever so little. She gave him 
 her hand frankly, of her own accord this time, and murmured 
 a few commonplace expressions of leave-taking and good- 
 will. Randolph bowed over the hand he held, and drew a 
 rare jewel from his doublet. 
 
 " You will accept this from me as a keepsake," said he, 
 coldly and courteously; "perhaps you will look on it some- 
 times, and think of me more kindly when I am gone." 
 
 3"
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 It was a large gold locket, in the form of a heart, suspended 
 from two clasped hands, richly ornamented with precious 
 stones, and of a peculiar and fanciful device. Mary Beton 
 started when she set eyes on it. 
 
 "Where did you get that?" she exclaimed, completely 
 thrown off her guard. "It belongs to the queen ! " 
 
 Randolph owned one peculiarity : he never smiled when 
 he was really pleased, but had a trick of half shutting his 
 eyes when he considered he had the best of the game ; he 
 looked as if he held a trump card now, while he answered 
 quietly 
 
 " That is surely mine own which I have fairly won. Lord 
 Darnley paid me with that trinket in lieu of the fifty gold 
 pieces he lost, when you and I beat her Majesty and himself 
 so handsomely at billiards the day before he was taken ill. 
 I never thought the house of Lennox was overburdened with 
 money, yet I can hardly believe its fortunes are at so low 
 an ebb, that its heir must pay his debts with his love tokens." 
 
 "It is so, nevertheless," said Mary Beton indignantly. 
 " It was the queen's locket, and I saw her give it him with 
 loving words, a thousand times more precious than the gift. 
 Out upon him ! a false knight ! a recreant ! I would have 
 pawned my doublet first ! " 
 
 Randolph had learned all he wanted to know. With a few 
 kind phrases he soon took his leave of his companion, hurry- 
 ing off, we may be sure, to convey the result of his inquiries 
 without delay to his Court. It was not till he had been gone 
 several minutes that Mary Beton cooled down sufficiently to 
 reflect how indiscreetly she had suffered herself to be sur- 
 prised, and how very unsatisfactory had been hitherto her 
 dealings and relations with the English ambassador. 
 
 The Maries were indeed all in trouble now, more or less. 
 Here was their leader, the lady who expected them to look 
 up to her for counsel and example, awaking to a sensation 
 the most galling perhaps that can be experienced by the 
 female heart that of having been cozened out of its affections 
 by one who has given nothing in return. In one way or 
 another we all of us go on playing silver against gold all 
 our lives through, but it is not in human nature to have this 
 humiliating truth thrust upon its notice without vexation. 
 Mary Beton fairly ground her white teeth together when she 
 thought how near she had been to loving Mr. Randolph very 
 devotedly, and how that astute gentleman had been making 
 a cat's-paw of her all through, never so much as burning the 
 tips of his own fingers the while. It was an aggravation to 
 
 312
 
 OVERCAST 
 
 reflect on Ogilvy's honest nature, and the sincere homage 
 she had spurned for the sake of one so much inferior in 
 every manly quality to the frank-hearted soldier. And now 
 Ogilvy was absent from the Court, and perhaps consoling 
 himself for her unkindness in the smiles of another. Well, 
 he would come back again ; and it would go hard but she 
 would resume her sway, if once she turned her mind to it, 
 and was really determined to try. 
 
 A woman's spirit is tolerably elastic. We may say of it, 
 as Horace says of the shipwrecked merchant mox reficit 
 rates ; the barque may have had awful weather to encounter, 
 have lost spars, and masts, and tackle by the fathom, perhaps 
 damaged her screw, and sustained one or two very awkward 
 bumps against a shoal never say die ! she puts in hopefully 
 to refit, jury-masts are rigged, fresh canvas bent, leaks care- 
 fully stopped, and damages repaired ; the first fine day she 
 launches forth to sea again, almost as good as new. 
 
 But there are some exceptions that cannot thus recover, 
 some natures to whom one keen disappointment of the 
 affections is a moral deathblow; nay, there are rare cases 
 in which such a wound is physically fatal. Mary Hamilton 
 had never been like the same woman since Chastelar's death. 
 With a pale cheek and a languid step she went about her 
 duties indeed as usual, but the light of her life seemed to be 
 gone, and the only time a smile ever crossed that beautiful 
 sad face was when, in the exercise of her devotions, the soul 
 seemed to assert its superiority over the body, and to lift 
 itself out of this earthly darkness into the everlasting day 
 beyond. Everyone who came about Mary Hamilton seemed 
 to acknowledge the refining influence of a spirit thus purified 
 by suffering. The fiercest barons, the rudest men-at-arms 
 felt softened and humanised while in her presence, and James 
 Geddes the fool, after sitting gazing into her face for hours 
 together, would break into a succession of such unearthly 
 moans as subjected him to the discipline of the porter's lodge 
 forthwith. 
 
 Lively Mistress Seton was losing somewhat of her spirits 
 and her elasticity. The laugh was no longer so frequent, 
 though it might ring out at times as saucily as ever, and 
 the step, though light and buoyant still, had acquired a more 
 sober and regular tread as she went upon her Majesty's 
 errands through the gloomy passages of Stirling Castle. 
 The young lady was learning to think. In her heart she did 
 not thoroughly approve of this proposed match on which 
 the queen was now so bent, and considered Lord Darnley, 
 
 313
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 with all his outward advantages and accomplishments, by no 
 means good enough for her dear mistress. Mary Seton had 
 seen through him at once, as a woman often does, and detected 
 under that fair outside the frivolous disposition, the reckless 
 passions, and the utter want of heart beneath. If she had 
 given her honest opinion, she would have said Bothwell was 
 worth a dozen of him, and his big henchman a hundred. 
 
 And what of Mary Carmichael? Proud, self-reliant, and 
 undemonstrative, she was the last person on earth to have 
 admitted that any anxiety or disappointment of her own 
 could have deprived her cheek of one shade of colour, or 
 dimmed her eye of one ray of brightness, and yet beauti- 
 ful Mary Carmichael was losing day by day much of that 
 brilliant freshness which had constituted no small portion of 
 her beauty, and went about mournfully and in heaviness, as 
 one who suffered keenly from some secret sorrow; yet the 
 stranger who used to meet her in the garden at Holy rood 
 had been seen at Stirling, and his clandestine interviews with 
 the fair maid-of-honour had been of late more frequent than 
 usual. If she was the happier for them, her appearance 
 strangely belied her. 
 
 Yes, the Court was very dull now. Darnley was on a 
 sickbed, and Mary and her maidens were in trouble, one 
 and all. 
 
 314
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 EARL AGAINST EARL 
 
 " ' Fear ye nae that,' quo' the laird's Jock, 
 
 ' A faint heart ne'er won a fair ladie ; 
 Work thou within, we'll work without, 
 And I'll be sworn we'll set thee free."' 
 
 UR worthy friend Dick - o' - the - Cleugh 
 seemed strangely altered as he rode back 
 into Liddesdale. A moody man was 
 Dick, and a silent ; no longer the jovial 
 comrade and devil-may-care trooper that 
 the other jackmen had heretofore known 
 him, but a sulky and captious fellow- 
 traveller, an abrupt and peremptory 
 martinet. The borderer was beginning 
 to find that he had a conscience, and 
 to discover how unpleasant are the 
 remonstrances of that monitor when 
 displeased. His heart smote him sorely while he reflected 
 on the part he had been compelled to play with regard to 
 Maxwell, a man whose whole character had inspired him 
 with admiration and respect, in whom also, as a constant 
 frequenter of the Court, he took an affectionate interest that 
 he did not care to analyse. And now he had lured this 
 frank and friendly soldier into a trap from which it was 
 doubtful if he would escape with life. The towers of Leslie 
 were thick and lofty, and well-guarded ; the retainers of 
 Rothes noted, like their chief, for an unscrupulous reckless- 
 ness and defiance of all consequences. What chance for the 
 naked prisoner in such a stronghold? Those damp and 
 gloomy vaults could keep a secret well. It needed no out- 
 rage, neither steel nor poison, to silence an inmate for 
 ever. The jailer had but to forget a small black loaf, neglect 
 to fill a shallow cruse of water, and who would ever 
 chronicle the prisoner's agonies in a torturing, lingering 
 
 315
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 death? Dick-o'-the-Cleugh turned sick and faint at the 
 thought. 
 
 He had ample leisure to indulge these painful fancies, for 
 the rapidity with which Maxwell had been conveyed into 
 Fife necessitated a slow return, even on the same powerful 
 horses that carried the men-at-arms of Earl Bothwell. Ere 
 the weary animals pricked their ears to welcome the towers 
 of Hermitage, Dick had come to a resolution which neither 
 discipline nor loyalty would have tempted him to abandon. 
 His comrades, more astonished than irritated at the change 
 in one whom they had been accustomed to consider the very 
 pattern of a moss-trooper, shook their heads, and whispered 
 one another that " muckle Dick was fey," signifying doomed 
 it being an old Scottish superstition that any sudden and 
 complete change in the disposition of an individual denotes 
 an early death. When Djck sat silent among the wassailers 
 below the salt, and passed the black flagon untasted by, many 
 a roistering associate looked a thought graver for the moment, 
 as he pictured his old comrade stretched upon the heather, 
 with the pale gleam of death upon his face, and a " false 
 Southron's" lance through his body, a thought graver per- 
 haps, for an instant, till a coarse jest or a fresh draught of 
 ale brought him back to the gross and the material once 
 more. 
 
 Hermitage Castle was no lightsome residence now. But 
 for the return of military duties and the clang of arms at 
 stated intervals in the court, it might have been a college or 
 a monastery, so rarely was the voice of merriment heard 
 within its walls. No more hawking and hunting now. The 
 drawbridge had not been lowered, nor the portcullis raised, 
 since Moray took his departure with his solemn smile, follow- 
 ing wild Rothes and his spearmen at half a day's interval, and 
 leaving the lord of the castle in a mood of such stern and 
 sullen defiance as caused the boldest of his retainers to shrink 
 instinctively from his path. It seemed like another life, that 
 they used to lead long ago, dashing out in the dewy morn- 
 ings with hawk on hand and hound at heel, or winding warily 
 away in warlike order at set of sun for a moonlight foray on 
 the southern side. The rude spearmen consoled themselves 
 with great meals of beef and floods of ale, but the henchman's 
 platter often remained untouched, his cup unfilled, whilst the 
 lord of the castle himself spent whole days of solitude in his 
 own chamber, walking out at sunset to the northern rampart, 
 where he would pace up and down for hours, far into the 
 night.
 
 EARL AGAINST EARL 
 
 His good angel had abandoned Bothwell at last, yet the 
 spirit had left a gleam of his presence, a fragrance from its 
 wings, about him still. Fast in the toils of unscrupulous 
 Moray, the earl could yet look back with a painful longing 
 to the days when he was a loyal subject and a devoted knight 
 to his beautiful queen. At times he would be tempted to 
 forego ambition, pride, revenge, consistency, everything but 
 his wild unreasoning affection, and, galloping to Holyrood or 
 Stirling, fling himself at Mary's feet, entreat her to forgive 
 him, and pledge himself, if it would make her happier, that 
 he would never see her face again. Yes, there were moments 
 when the proud, strong man felt he would ask no more welcome 
 relief than to bow his head and pour his heart out like a 
 woman in tears before his queen ; but then he thought of 
 Darnley's youthful beauty, and Darnley's mocking smile of 
 the path that was still open to himself if he would crush 
 all such foolish weaknesses, all such exaggerated notions of 
 chivalry and forbearance. The fiend, who is always at hand 
 with his temptations, if a man gives him the least encourage- 
 ment, whispered in his ear that nothing is impossible to one 
 who has no scruples, and who will ungrudgingly risk all ; 
 that when honour, honesty, faith, and humanity are but rated 
 as flimsy superstitions to bind weak intellects, and crime 
 itself is considered simply as an untoward necessity or a 
 decisive manoeuvre, the will becomes all-in-all, and the 
 master-spirit, that can dare boundlessly and unflinchingly, 
 may aspire to the fulfilment of its boldest wishes and its 
 wildest dreams. Bothwell, too, had been brought up in no 
 precise or scrupulous school. In his adventurous career on 
 the North Sea, many a scene of bloodshed and rapine had 
 come under his notice, and one who had accustomed himself 
 to direct those predatory descents on the Danish coast, which 
 were but authorised acts of piracy after all, was not likely to 
 entertain much compassion for a woman's shriek or a man's 
 death-groan. It would have been no shrinking from bloodshed 
 that could have deterred Bothwell from any scheme on which 
 he had once thought well to enter. 
 
 Moray, too, had got the earl completely in his hands. 
 That wary statesman, in whom the suaviter in modo seems to 
 have been admirably combined with fa&fortiter in re, had the 
 peculiar faculty of acquiring unbounded influence over his 
 associates, a power sometimes observable in the calm impas- 
 sive nature which never betrays its own feelings. Whatever 
 might be the plot on which he was engaged, how high soever 
 ran the waves through which the base-born Stuart steered his 
 
 317
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 barque not a shade of trepidation was to be detected on his 
 quiet brow during its voyage, not a gleam of satisfaction when 
 he had landed his cargo safely in port. It may be that men 
 felt, so long as their interests were identical, they could trust 
 Moray not to betray himself or them. It may be that, though 
 sadly warped to evil, his was a superior nature, born to com- 
 mand. Whatever was the cause, no intriguer could be more 
 plausible, no party-leader more successful. 
 
 And Bothwell, eager, hot - headed, vain, perhaps even 
 romantic, was a mere child in the hands of such a man as 
 this. What could avail the bluff straightforward courage of 
 the swordsman against the diplomatic finesse of the equally 
 bold but far more subtle statesman ? It was the old story of 
 the long sweeping sabre against the delicate rapier skilfully 
 handled. The broad blade whistles through the air with 
 mighty strokes that would serve to cleave a headpiece or to 
 lop a limb, but ere it can descend amain, the thin line of 
 quivering steel has wound its sinuous way under the guard 
 and through the joints of the harness, and is drinking the 
 streams of life-blood from the heart. Earl Bothwell was 
 bound hand and foot to the half-brother of his queen. 
 
 All these intrigues and vexations goaded the warden to 
 the verge of madness. He could scarce bear to be noticed, 
 much less addressed, by his retainers ; and it was with a fierce 
 oath and a savage glare that he accosted his henchman when 
 the latter ventured to interrupt his solitary walk, one summer's 
 evening, on the northern rampart. The stars were coming out 
 one by one in the soft twilight sky, and the warden paced 
 moodily to and fro, looking ever and anon wistfully towards 
 the north. 
 
 " What lack ye, man, in the fiend's name ? " exclaimed the 
 earl angrily. " Must every knave that clears a trencher 
 come into my presence unbidden ? Silence, varlet, and 
 begone ! " 
 
 But Dick, too, had a sore heart and a perplexed brain, a 
 combination which renders a man somewhat careless of out- 
 ward observances. He was not to be daunted, even by the 
 displeasure of his chief, and he answered doggedly in return 
 " I'll no be silent when it's for the laird's honour that I 
 suld speak ! Oh ! Bothwell, man, me an' mine has served 
 you an' yours ever sin' Scotland was a kingdom, I'm thinkin'. 
 Will ye no hear me speak the day ? " 
 
 Dick's voice shook when he alluded to his feudal services. 
 Stern as the giant looked, he was hoarse and trembling with 
 emotion. Something in the warden's breast responded to 
 
 318
 
 EARL AGAINST EARL 
 
 the appeal of his retainer, and he answered with assumed 
 impatience 
 
 " Say your say, man, in the devil's name, who seems to be 
 commanding officer here; out with your report, if report it 
 be, and have done with it." 
 
 " I wad wage my life for you, Bothwell, and that ye ken 
 fine," replied Dick, with something almost like tears shining 
 in his eyes. " I wadna grudge to shed every drop of bluid 
 I hae, just to keep ye frae watting your foot. It's no danger, 
 an' it's no disgrace, an' it's no death that wad daunton me 
 frae doing the laird's bidding. No, no, Dick-o'-the-Cleugh 
 and Dick's forebears ha' eaten the Hepburn's bread and drunk 
 frae the Hepburn's cup ower lang for the like o' that. But 
 it's just rackin' my heart to think o' yon lad in the donjon- 
 keep at Leslie, and him breaking bread in the Hepburn's 
 hall, and setting his trust on the Hepburn's honour. And 
 to think o' the like o' me pittin' his feet in the fetters and 
 his craig in a tow ; I wish my hands had rotted off at the 
 elbows first ! " 
 
 " What would you have, man ? " said his chief, somewhat 
 less impatiently than the henchman had expected. " Tis a 
 mettled gallant, I grant ye, and a far-off kinsman of my own. 
 What, then? A soldier must take his chance; 'tis but the 
 fortune of war." 
 
 " An' whan the leddies speir for their messenger at Holy- 
 rood, an' the bonny queen hersel' cries, ' Ou, he's safe enough, 
 I trusted him to Bothwell ' ; how will we look if ever we come 
 lilting into the Abbey-yard, and can give no tidings of our 
 guest?" 
 
 The warden's brow softened, although he seemed con- 
 siderably perplexed. 
 
 " I would he were safe back again, Dick," replied he, " I 
 care not who knows it ; but Rothes has a firm grip, and he 
 would like well to make favour with Moray, even though he 
 should disoblige me. I wish poor Walter may not be in a 
 prison from which there is no breaking, at this present 
 speaking. Ay, Dick ! times are changed since my father's 
 day. Earl Patrick, now, if he had wanted anything from the 
 proudest baron in Scotland, would have gone and taken it 
 with a hundred riders at his back." 
 
 Dick snapped his fingers in great glee. He was reading 
 his chieftain's thoughts as he would have read the track of a 
 herd of cattle driven but yesterday into Cumberland. 
 
 " It wadna tak' a hundred men," said he exultingly, " to 
 lift the plenishing of Leslie Hoos itsel', though it were 
 
 319
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 garrisoned with a' the loons in Fife. I wad but ask for Ralph 
 Armstrong and Lang Willie, an' maybe Little Jock-o'-the- 
 Hope, to bring awa' Maister Maxwell in a whole skin, 'gin he 
 lay in the heart o' Carlisle jail ! " 
 
 " It might not be a bad ploy for some of our lads," 
 answered Bothwell, with rather a fierce smile. " Horses get 
 fat and men lazy cooped up here within four grey walls, and 
 I might require man and horse in proper trim before long. 
 Hark ye, Dick ! if ye want to go northward for some ten days 
 or so, I shall not ask ye where ye have been at your return. 
 No thanks ! leave me, man ! If it come to blows, that long 
 body o' yours can take care of itself." 
 
 For the next hour or two Dick-o'-the-Cleugh looked like 
 a different person as he busied himself preparing man and 
 horse for a march that he determined should commence at 
 nightfall. When the sun had set, and the earl, after deeper 
 potations than ordinary, had retired from his habitual walk 
 on the rampart, his henchman and three companions rode 
 steadily out of the castle-yard, followed by many inquiring 
 looks from their comrades, who, heartily wearied of their 
 forced inaction, beheld with strong feelings of envy the 
 departure of the little cavalcade. It consisted but of four 
 individuals, nevertheless it would have been difficult among 
 all Lord Bothwell's retainers to have selected a more efficient- 
 looking quartette. With the exception of Dick-o'-the-Cleugh 
 himself, Ralph Armstrong was esteemed the most powerful 
 man in Liddesdale ; he was a stolid-looking fellow, too, with 
 considerable mother-wit concealed under a composure that 
 nothing could ruffle, and a courage that nothing could daunt. 
 Lang Willie, again, was an exceedingly voluble and amusing 
 companion, chiefly distinguished for his extraordinary skill 
 as a swordsman, and the readiness and coarseness of his 
 repartees. Little Jock-o'-the-Hope, so called simply because 
 he was the youngest of the party, was an active, limber, 
 powerful fellow, with all the mettle of his twenty summers and 
 the sagacity of twice his age. With such a following, and a 
 moonless night in his favour, Dick would have been nothing 
 loth to lay a wager that he would cross the southern border, 
 and take Lord Scrope by the beard. 
 
 They rode all night merrily enough ; steadily though, and 
 careful not to distress their horses. As they neared the 
 capital, Dick's spirits rose visibly, and his comrades could not 
 but remark on his resumption of his old habits of good- 
 fellowship ; but at daybreak an incident occurred which cast 
 a gloom over the henchman's superstitious nature, and 
 
 320
 
 EARL AGAINST EARL 
 
 plunged him once more into that gloomy taciturnity which 
 was so foreign to his real disposition. 
 
 It was in the grey of the dawn. Dick was riding at the 
 head of the party, who followed in single file, for the tract 
 lay through some boggy and broken ground in which two 
 horses could not go abreast. Suddenly a hare that had been 
 cropping the dank herbage thus early, stole into the path in 
 front of them, and leaped slowly along under the very nose of 
 the henchman's charger. This, although an untoward omen, 
 was too common an occurrence to create alarm. There was 
 an established formula for all such cases made and provided. 
 Though too good a Protestant to cross himself, Dick repeated 
 the customary charm with edifying gravity ; but, as though 
 in defiance, the hare still kept on in front of them. At three 
 different angles in the path she hesitated, seeming about to 
 turn off to right or left, and then hopped slowly on in the 
 direction they were travelling. The stout borderers grew pale. 
 It was even proposed that they should retrace their steps 
 and abandon the enterprise; but Dick suggested that as 
 he was the person immediately in front, his must be the 
 entire risk, and the warning must be especially intended for 
 him. The others were well satisfied to take this view of the 
 matter, and presently they were discoursing as blithely as 
 before ; but their leader felt a depression of spirits creeping 
 over him, which he strove in vain to overcome, and as the 
 gloom gathered darker and darker about him, he felt in the 
 depths of his rude nature that presentiment of coming death, 
 which, let philosophers say what they will, is no unusual 
 precursor of the final catastrophe. 
 
 His past life comes back to him with strange vividness 
 as he rides silently on. His father's rude grey tower at the 
 head of the glen ; the sunny, grassy nook, where he used 
 to play, by the shallow burn, with five sturdy urchins like 
 himself, and one golden-haired brother, whom they missed 
 at last from amongst them, and told each other in awed 
 whispers, looking up at the sky the while, how " Willie was 
 gone to heaven." Till to-day he had almost forgotten the 
 gleam of his father's broadsword, and the caresses of a gentle, 
 careworn woman who used to hush him to sleep with low 
 plaintive songs. He remembers, too, with peculiar distinctness, 
 that first ride on the tall bay gelding, and the mimic lance 
 with which he drove his imaginary foray. These early 
 memories are clearer to him now than many a real scene of 
 plunder and bloodshed in which he knows he has since taken 
 too much delight, but his devotion to his chief is as intense as 
 X 321
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 ever, albeit dashed with something of a melancholy tenderness 
 that seems unnatural, and derogatory to both. 
 
 Another figure, too, comes flitting across the borderer's 
 mental sight a figure that is seldom long absent from his 
 dreams either by day or night a figure that he dares to dwell 
 on now for the first time these long weeks past without 
 shame, because he feels that he is about to vindicate his 
 loyalty to all belonging to her, or to her queen. He can 
 almost hear the ringing tones of her voice, can almost catch 
 the flutter of her dress. Surely he is bewitched ! Bewitched, 
 or else irrevocably doomed to death. As he gathers a sprig 
 of witch-elm and fastens it in his morion, he says to himself 
 that if he is really to die, he should like to see Mary Seton 
 just once again. 
 
 322
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 IN EDINBURGH 
 
 "For this is love, and this alone, 
 
 Not counting cost, nor grudging gain, 
 That builds its life into a throne, 
 And bids the idol reign ; 
 
 That hopes and fears, yet seldom pleads, 
 
 And for a sorrow weakly borne 
 (Because it yields not words but deeds), 
 
 Can hide a gentle scorn ; 
 
 In pride and pique that takes no part, 
 
 Of self and sin that bears no taint, 
 The homage of a knightly heart 
 
 For a woman and a saint." 
 
 / "T~ V HE four borderers rode up the High Street of Edinburgh 
 J_ in the warm afternoon sun, and their leader, fortified 
 doubtless by the sprig of witch-elm in his headpiece, and 
 inspirited by his arrival at the Scottish capital, looked about 
 him with the gleeful curiosity of a schoolboy on a holiday. 
 On any other occasion, though troops of armed horsemen 
 were by no means a rare sight on the causeway, so well- 
 mounted and stalwart a little party would have received their 
 share of admiration ; but to-day no man had eyes to spare 
 for any other object than a brilliant group of foot-passengers 
 surrounding two commanding figures, which neither their 
 own nor any other country in Europe could have matched. 
 No more in widow's weeds, but bright and beautiful in all 
 the freshness of her own charms, set off" by the splendour of 
 her dress, Mary Stuart walked by her young husband, the 
 beau ideal of a monarch's bride : her husband de facto if 
 not de jure, for a private marriage some weeks since in 
 Riccio's apartments had united the destinies of the lovers, 
 and paved the way for that public ceremony which should 
 confer on the fortunate young noble the crown-matrimonial 
 of Scotland. 
 
 Alas for Mary Stuart! even in those happy days of 
 
 323
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 courtship, which for most women glow so brightly ; im- 
 mediately before and after the nuptial tie she was doomed 
 to many anxieties and misgivings, originating in the un- 
 governable temper of the very man for whose sake she had 
 braved Elizabeth of England's displeasure, affronted a large 
 and powerful party of her subjects, perhaps even stifled and 
 eradicated certain deep though unacknowledged memories in 
 her own heart. Although with the utmost haste Darnley had 
 been created Earl of Ross, he was dissatisfied that he had 
 not been immediately raised to the Dukedom of Albany, and 
 vented his displeasure in no measured language even on her 
 from whose open hand he received all the benefits he enjoyed, 
 and whose beauty alone, bending so tenderly over himself, 
 should have commanded his entire allegiance. 
 
 Perhaps the queen loved him none the worse for his petu- 
 lance at first ; perhaps it was not till long afterwards, when 
 unlimited indulgence and increasing depravity had fostered 
 the spoiled and wayward youth into a reckless and unfeeling 
 profligate, that she may have contrasted Darnley's open in- 
 sults and avowed indifference with the devotion of other 
 worshippers, who, however faulty in many respects, had never 
 failed in faith and loyalty towards her. 
 
 Darnley's exterior was indeed beautiful exceedingly, but 
 it covered a disposition in which there were no brilliant 
 qualities of the head to counterbalance the evil of the 
 heart. The Earl of Ross was unfortunate in the possession 
 of dishonesty without craft, indecision without foresight, 
 and obstinacy without energy. Like a woman, he could not 
 restrain his tongue ; unlike a woman, he never knew the exact 
 range and precision with which that organ is able to direct 
 its shafts. Even on his sickbed at Stirling, when it was first 
 obvious to him that he had won his way into his sovereign's 
 good graces, and that a little time and care could not but 
 make the game his own, even then, when it was essentially 
 important to cement friendships and conciliate differences in 
 every direction, he contrived to affront the two most formid- 
 able men in Scotland and purchase their enmity for life. To 
 the Duke of Chatelherault, simply because he heard that 
 nobleman was opposed to her Majesty's immediate marriage, 
 he sent his defiance from his sickbed, not couched in the 
 language of knightly courtesy, which shows a gracious respect 
 even for a mortal foe, but threatening to " knock his old pate 
 as soon as he should be well enough." 
 
 We may imagine how such a message would be received 
 by one who boasted he was the proudest peer in Europe. 
 
 324
 
 IN EDINBURGH 
 
 But an observation he made concerning the Earl Moray, and 
 which did not fail to reach the latter's ears, was even more 
 ill-advised in its tendency and unfortunate in its results. 
 Scanning a map of Scotland, someone pointed out to him 
 the vast estates of the queen's half-brother, and the incon- 
 siderate youth exclaimed hastily 
 
 " This is too much by half! " 
 
 So untoward a remark was of course repeated to Moray, 
 who received the information with his usual grave smile, and 
 never made further allusion to it. So much the worse. He 
 had forgotten it none the less for that, and it may be those 
 half-dozen words one day cost Mary Stuart a husband and 
 Scotland a king. 
 
 Meantime, who so brave in apparel or so debonnair in 
 demeanour as the young Lord Darnley? The eyes of all 
 Edinburgh are upon him as he paces along so proudly by the 
 side of their bonny queen. His dress, as it is fit, is one blaze 
 of splendour ; the materials indeed are unpaid for, and the 
 jewels are mostly love-gifts from his sovereign, yet they set 
 off none the worse his lofty stature and his graceful form. 
 The women look after him admiringly ; the men's gaze is as 
 usual riveted on the beautiful being who walks by his side. 
 Mary Stuart has never shown to more advantage than to-day. 
 It is not the stately folds of the damask dress, nor the delicate 
 edging of scalloped lace, nor the rich mantle of glowing 
 cramoisie that enthral the eyes in an irresistible spell ; nor 
 needs it that massive bracelet hanging from her shapely arm, 
 which men say dark Lord Ruthven fabricated for a love- 
 charm, with Satan standing over him while he worked, to 
 account for Mary's influence ; they need but to look on the 
 bright smile and the deep, loving eyes turned in pride and 
 tenderness upon her husband, and they feel in their inmost 
 hearts that there is no witchery in all the lore of gramarye to 
 equal the resistless power that lurks in a fond and trusting 
 woman's face. 
 
 Darnley has turned back for an instant to exchange some 
 light jest with one of the maids-of-honour ; it must be of a 
 strangely confusing nature to account for the vivid blush that 
 has come over Mary Seton, dyeing her fair skin perfectly 
 crimson from the roots of her hair to the hem of her bodice. 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, riding up the street and watching in- 
 tently the motions of the royal party, does not perceive it for 
 the simple and somewhat paradoxical reason that, although 
 he has been hoping to see her the whole way from Hermitage, 
 no sooner has he caught her eye than his own glance is 
 
 325
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 immediately withdrawn. He turns deadly pale, too, and the 
 hand which guides his charger's rein trembles in every fibre ; 
 the good horse bends his neck and collects himself, expectant 
 of some further indication after this unusual touch. 
 
 Perhaps, poor Dick, with all his courage, might have 
 ridden on into Fife without more parley, so helpless and 
 abashed had he suddenly become, but that the queen's quick 
 glance observed the cognisance of the Hepburn as he rode 
 by, even recognised the tall retainer's face, and could have 
 accosted him by name. There was a faint flush on Mary's 
 brow as she stopped her company and bade the borderer 
 approach. Dick was off his horse in an instant, and the 
 courtiers could not but admire his magnificent form as he 
 strode up to them in his clanging armour, manning himself 
 for the effort, now he was in for it, with his natural audacity. 
 Mary Seton did not fail to remark, with no displeased eye, 
 that even Darnley, tall as he was, stood half a hand's-breadth 
 lower than the henchman. 
 
 "What news from Hermitage, good fellow?" said the 
 queen, accepting Dick's awkward homage with gracious 
 courtesy. " How fares it with our lord warden yonder on 
 the marches? Mayhap he is coming northward with the 
 main body, of which you are but the vanguard ? " 
 
 She spoke with something of flutter and hurry that was 
 scarce natural to her. Perhaps she wished the retainer to 
 know that she bore his sullen lord no ill-will ; perhaps she 
 even expected her vassal to return to her feet in penitence 
 and contrition ; perhaps in her woman's heart, even now she 
 could not but revert to the old times, when Bothwell's haste 
 regarded neither pace nor horseflesh to gallop on far ahead 
 of his following, only to be the first to kneel at his queen's 
 feet and touch the hem of her garment. 
 
 Dick answered stoutly, though in some confusion 
 
 " The laird's no ailing in body, your grace, though he wad 
 be nane the waur to be whiles in the saddle a wee thing. 
 The Hepburns' feet aye become steel stirrups better than 
 velvet mules. 1 He's less wise-like than ordinar'," added 
 Dick, with a shrewd glance in her Majesty's face; "but I'm 
 thinkin' he'll bide in Liddesdale a whiley yet." 
 
 Mary laughed good-humouredly. It did not seem to 
 displease her that Bothwell should be sullen and dispirited. 
 Yet she bore him no grudge for it, obviously; rather the 
 contrary. 
 
 " The Liddesdale lads are aye welcome at Holyrood," said 
 
 1 Slippers. 
 326
 
 IN EDINBURGH 
 
 she frankly, and with the Scottish accent she knew how to 
 assume so gracefully. "Take a Stuart's word for it," she 
 added, giving him at the same time her hand to kiss, " both 
 for yourself and your chief." 
 
 Dick-o'-the-Cleugh kissed the beautiful hand with the 
 devotion of a worshipper to a saint ; but his eyes wandered 
 beyond the royal form and sought that of a lady in her train. 
 
 At this moment Darnley came up from behind and 
 accosted the henchman with his usual overbearing assump- 
 tion of manner. 
 
 " How now, whom have we here, my fair cousin ? " said the 
 young noble, flinging a contemptuous glance at the borderer. 
 " An ambassador from Limbo Castle, sometimes called 
 Hermitage, by his crest ! Accredited messenger from all the 
 thieves and sorners in the Debatable Land. How ranges 
 the price of good nags on the border, knave? The nights 
 are moonless just now, though they be something short ; the 
 droves should be coming in pretty fast from Cumberland." 
 
 The moss-trooper's eye brightened. 
 
 "If it was her grace's wish," said he, looking respectfully 
 towards the queen, " we could bring the wale l o' the country- 
 side up to Holyrood in a fortnight from this day. Lord 
 Scrope rides a soar gelding," he added, warming with the 
 congenial subject, " that steps as daintily as a bird lights on a 
 bough. Forbye the colour would become rarely her grace's 
 housings and foot-mantle. If I might make so bold, I wad 
 engage he should be in her Majesty's stable or he was weel 
 missed at Warkworth. I wad send ain o' my lads back for 
 him this very night ! " 
 
 Darnley burst into a loud mocking laugh. 
 
 " A thorough moss-trooper," he exclaimed, " rider, jack- 
 man, plunderer, thief; call them what you will, they are all 
 alike ; fit followers of such a chief. Were I king of Scotland 
 I would have the halters off the horses and put them on the 
 men, and string them up in rows with this tall knave at their 
 head, not forgetting his worthy master, the leader of the 
 gang." 
 
 The young man spoke in laughing boisterous accents that 
 might be taken either for jest or earnest, but the borderer's 
 face flushed dark-red, and the fingers of his left hand closed 
 like a vice upon his sheathed sword. 
 
 " If ever you are king of Scotland," said he, " may ye die 
 no less noble a death than him who lay by the Till, yon 
 summer's evening, with the proudest an' the bauldest an' the 
 
 1 Pick. 
 327
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 best down about him like trees felled in a rank ; and wha but 
 the borderers sleepin', man by man, at gentle King James's 
 feet ! It sets a Scottish lord ill to speak again' them that 
 keeps the Scottish line, an' warst of all a limber lad like your 
 honour (no offence to ye), that's got soldier written on his 
 brow, and swordsman marked on every yane o' his lang 
 limbs." 
 
 The compliment to his personal appearance, always an 
 acceptable offering to Darnley, modified whatever he might 
 have considered offensive in the henchman's plain-speaking. 
 The queen, too, who had listened to the colloquy with obvious 
 displeasure and some uneasiness, now laid her hand on the 
 arm of her consort and motioned him to proceed with their 
 walk. The latter felt in his girdle for a couple of gold pieces, 
 which were not, however, forthcoming, then with a careless 
 laugh and a whisper in Riccio's ear, nodded insolently to the 
 borderer, and passed on with Mary and her train. 
 
 One of these, however, lingered a few paces in the rear. 
 Dick's face grew very pale once more when Mistress Seton 
 turned back and accosted him with her own bright glance and 
 her own merry smile. 
 
 " You are slow of speech," said she, " I know of old, though 
 prompt in deed, and as true as the steel in your belt. Is it 
 not so ? " 
 
 His lips were white and dry. He could not answer in 
 words, but his affirmative gesture was more convincing than a 
 hundred oaths. She laid her hand on his. Through the steel 
 gauntlet that light touch thrilled in every vein and fibre of the 
 giant. 
 
 "You will tell me the truth," she proceeded. "What of 
 Walter Maxwell ? We have had no tidings of him since the 
 morning he rode away from Holyrood, weeks and months 
 ago!" 
 
 It speaks well for Mary Seton's good - nature that the 
 subject uppermost in her mind was one which she believed 
 so vitally affected the welfare of her friend. It was as much 
 kindliness of disposition as female curiosity that riveted her 
 attention on the borderer's reply. 
 
 Dick's face became a study of self-reproach and embar- 
 rassment while he related the treachery of which Walter had 
 been the victim ; neither concealing nor palliating his own 
 share in the business, which seemed to himself the less black 
 that it was taken in compliance with his chiefs orders, and for 
 which his listener either forgot or neglected to reprove him. 
 It is impossible to take the same interest in other people's 
 
 328
 
 IN EDINBURGH 
 
 matters that we do in our own, and what a world of confusion 
 we should have if the confidants and go-betweens in a love- 
 affair were as much agitated as the principals. 
 
 Mary Seton heard him calmly enough, and then proceeded 
 to interrogate him about Bothwell. The henchman's answers 
 concerning his chief seemed to afford her matter both of 
 surprise and gratification. The earl was evidently in a state 
 of discomfort and restlessness that must be reported at once 
 to the queen, who had always betrayed extraordinary interest 
 in everything connected with Hermitage or the borders, and 
 his rude follower seemed to have observed and analysed 
 his feelings with a sagacity that must have been strangely 
 sharpened by some influence from without. 
 
 If there was a more triumphant sparkle in Mary Seton's 
 eye, a tinge of deeper colour on her cheek, as she reflected on 
 the nature of that influence, who shall blame her ? Was she 
 not a woman ; and is it not a woman's instinct, like a cat's, to 
 tease and tantalise her prey to the utmost? Though the mouse 
 be as big as an elephant, it is such fun to tempt him with the 
 prospect of indulgence, or even liberty, and then sweep him 
 irresistibly back again with one stroke of the cruel velvet paw. 
 Mary Seton smiled within herself, and felt twice as big as the 
 great borderer trembling there before her. With a whole 
 budget of news gained for her sovereign, she reverted to the 
 topic most interesting to her comrade. 
 
 "You think, then, that he is alive, though in close 
 ward ? " she asked. " They are cruel folk, I have heard say, 
 the lightsome Leslies. I would poor Walter were safe out of 
 their hands ! " 
 
 Dick had found his voice at last 
 
 " And safe he shall be ! " was his reply, " before another 
 week has passed over" his head. It may tak' time, an' it may 
 tak' skill, an' it may tak' twa or three men's lives, but we'll 
 ha' Maister Maxwell oot 'gin we ding doon Lesly itsel', an' 
 mak' a low 1 that'll light up the twa Lommonds and the tae 
 half o' the kingdom of Fife ! That's what I'm here for now." 
 
 She looked at him archly 
 
 " Was that all that brought you to Edinburgh ? " said she. 
 
 Again something seemed to choke the man-at-arms and 
 prevent his reply. At last he spoke in a hoarse whisper 
 
 " I was fain to see the Court once more and the queen 
 and and yersel', Mistress Seton ! I'll no win back to Lid- 
 desdale, I'm thinkin' ; but I'll tak' the brunt o' it bra' an' easy 
 the noo, sin' I've seen ye to wish ye farewell." 
 
 1 Flame. 
 329
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Something in his tone so tender, so hopeless, and so re- 
 spectful, touched the girl to the heart. She laid her hand 
 once more in his, and he wrung it hard in his own strong 
 fingers, but did not even presume to put it to his lips. Only 
 as she turned away to join the queen, a low stifled sob smote 
 upon her ear, and looking back she beheld the borderer 
 standing as if spell-bound on the spot where she had left him. 
 The next moment he was in the saddle, and as he passed her 
 moving up the street after the others, he detached the sprig 
 of witch-elm from his morion and cast it at her feet ere he 
 galloped off. Mary Seton's eyes filled with tears while she 
 picked it up, and Dick's honest heart would have leapt with 
 joy, notwithstanding his forebodings, could he have seen her 
 hide it away carefully and tenderly in her bosom. When she 
 rejoined the royal party, Riccio's sharp countenance wore a 
 look of curiosity, for his quick eye detected that she had been 
 weeping ; but the queen called her to her side, and soothed 
 and caressed her, speaking in gentle, loving tones, like a 
 mother to a child. 
 
 330
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 THE ATTEMPT 
 
 ' ' Oh ! Esperance ! Hope on ! The fight 
 
 Is never lost while fight we may ; 
 
 At home the hearth is shining bright, 
 
 Though yet unseen along the way : 
 
 And the darkest hour of all the night 
 
 Is that which brings us day." 
 
 LONG weeks of solitary confinement in a dungeon, dark 
 and damp and dismal, nourished on bread and water, 
 and cheered only by the periodical visits of an asthmatic 
 jailer, appointed to that post because fit for nothing else, 
 would destroy the courage of most men, as it would sap their 
 bodily health and vigour. Walter Maxwell had need of all 
 his strength of mind, all his natural qualities of bravery and 
 endurance, to resist the influence of his imprisonment, ere he 
 had spent many weeks in the strong room of Leslie House. 
 This place of confinement, paved and walled with stone, 
 lighted by but one window, narrow and iron-barred, com- 
 municated with a winding staircase, and a long gloomy sub- 
 terranean passage terminating in a wicket, which opened on 
 a pleasaunce and flower - garden. Prisoners might thus be 
 smuggled in or out of the Leslies' stronghold without exciting 
 observation ; and unless the Lord of Rothes was much belied, 
 this facility of ingress was used for a variety of purposes, 
 foreign to its original object. On summer evenings, 'tis said, 
 the flutter of a farthingale might sometimes be seen emerging 
 from its dark recesses, while lighter steps and merrier voices 
 than were likely to belong to a permanent prisoner echoed in 
 the damp underground passage leading in and out of Leslie 
 House. Under these circumstances, bars were sometimes 
 left undrawn and locks unturned, nor was Walter ignorant 
 of the occasional negligence in which lay his only chance of 
 escape. 
 
 The old jailer, too, albeit short in temper as in wind, was 
 not entirely destitute of compassion for a hungry and thirsty 
 
 331
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 man. After the first fortnight, and when he found that his 
 lord gave no orders for Maxwell to be starved to death, he 
 brought him on rare occasions a morsel of venison, or even a 
 flask of wine, mollified as it would seem by the courage and 
 good-humour with which his charge bore the rigours of 
 captivity. Then old Ralph, as he was called, would some- 
 times put down his pitcher and his keys to remain for a few 
 minutes' conversation, or what he considered such, being 
 indeed a monologue on his own grievances, his own infirm- 
 ities, and, when in high good-humour, his youthful prowess 
 and general accomplishments. These occasional visits were 
 as beneficial to Maxwell's moral condition as the meat and 
 wine were to his physical man. 
 
 After a week or two without exchanging a word with a 
 fellow-creature, the stupidest of companions is welcomed like 
 an angel from heaven, the dreariest platitudes fall like spring 
 showers upon a desert soil. Maxwell really rejoiced in the 
 visits of his jailer, looking forward to them as the sole events 
 of his long, uninteresting day, and old Ralph began to take 
 a great pride and pleasure in the prisoner who greeted him 
 so warmly, and showed himself such an accomplished listener. 
 By degrees the warder became confidential, not to say indis- 
 creet, though the last idea in his mind was to favour his 
 prisoner's escape. Indeed he could not afford to part with 
 him, and, little by little, Maxwell, with his energies aroused, 
 and his intellects sharpened by the emergency of his case, 
 made himself familiar with the arrangements of the castle, 
 and the details, of which he hoped to take advantage at some 
 future time. 
 
 The sensations of a prisoner enduring solitary confinement 
 have been so often analysed and described, that it is needless 
 to enlarge upon them here. Without some distant hope of 
 escape, without some definite point for the mind to rest on, 
 the infliction would become unbearable, and end probably in 
 insanity. Maxwell, however, possessed one of those dogged, 
 resolute dispositions, not uncommon amongst his countrymen, 
 which, like iron at the forge, become only harder and harder 
 the more heavily they are struck. From the first moment of 
 his entrance, bound and blindfolded, into the Leslies' strong- 
 hold, he had determined to escape. That he was not to be 
 put to death he argued from the pains that had been taken 
 to kidnap him ; and the knowledge that Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, 
 notwithstanding his apparent treachery, was still his friend 
 at heart, was a vague source of comfort and reassurance. The 
 hours, marked only by the shadows on the blank and dreary 
 
 332
 
 THE ATTEMPT 
 
 wall, were indeed long oh ! so long ! but the continued 
 effort to keep mind and body in a condition to take advantage 
 of any chance that might offer, served almost in lieu of an 
 occupation and a pursuit. 
 
 The prisoner would force himself to pace the narrow limits 
 of his cell for hours at a time, that he might not lose the wind 
 and strength so necessary to that problematical flight which 
 was the one fixed idea of his brain. By degrees Walter 
 observed that the precautions taken for his security became 
 more and more relaxed. With all his senses sharpened by 
 constant watching, he could hear the door, at the foot of the 
 winding stair which led to the subterranean passage, although 
 carefully locked at sundown, grating ajar on its hinges during 
 the day, could detect the summer air stealing even to his 
 remote dungeon, denoting that the door into the garden was 
 also unfastened. By dint of constant attention he became 
 satisfied at last that if he could but break out to the top of the 
 stairs any time before nightfall during the summer afternoon, 
 he might, at least, reach the garden without hindrance. Once 
 there, though ignorant of the locality, he trusted to the chapter 
 of accidents to make his escape into the open country beyond. 
 
 The first object was as far as possible to hoodwink Ralph, 
 and that worthy's implicit confidence in the quiet demeanour 
 of his charge would go far towards assisting him in his 
 scheme ; then, when the jailer was thrown completely off his 
 guard, a bold stroke would effect at least the first stage of the 
 project We do not affirm that the idea of springing on his 
 keeper, who, although armed, might have been overpowered 
 by a younger and a stronger man, and beating out his brains 
 with his own keys, did not present itself to Walter's mind, 
 but such a measure was wholly repugnant to his character, 
 and he resolved to attain freedom without shedding the blood 
 of the old man who had mitigated, as far as he could, the 
 rigour of his captivity. 
 
 By little and little the prisoner had discovered that no 
 amount of outcry or disturbance in the dungeon could be 
 heard without ; of this he had satisfied himself by a series of 
 experiments. This was always a step gained in the furtherance 
 of his plan. Fortunately for himself, also, Maxwell was a 
 large-boned man, especially in the wrists. Every set of fetters 
 in the castle had been successively tried on him and found too 
 tight ; so for a time he had been bound hand and foot with 
 ropes ; but on his complaining that these cut him, they had 
 been withdrawn, and his limbs suffered to remain at liberty. 
 So all the fine summer days, when the June roses were 
 
 333
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 blooming without, and the June grass growing, and the June 
 birds singing on the tree, while within the rat and the spider 
 were the only living creatures, and a green slime on the 
 wall the only vegetable production, Maxwell was preparing 
 his escape, and biding his time patiently for a favourable 
 opportunity to put it in execution. 
 
 When Ralph used to bring his prisoner a draught of wine, 
 he would sometimes, if in a particularly good humour, con- 
 descend to stay for a few minutes and help him to partake of 
 it. On these occasions Maxwell, by a studiously quiet and 
 even languid demeanour, contrived to throw his jailer com- 
 pletely off his guard. One day he requested the wine might 
 be left with him to cheer his solitude when his agreeable 
 friend was gone ; another time he complained of indisposition, 
 but thought he might relish a cup towards nightfall. By 
 degrees he collected a Scottish pint or so of strong red wine 
 in a stone jar that he had begged might be applied to the 
 purpose. 
 
 The weather was very hot ; even in a dungeon its inmate 
 could tell that the summer sun was glowing bright and fierce 
 without. Old Ralph arrived, according to custom, with his 
 prisoner's afternoon meal, and sat himself down on the stone 
 floor like a man thoroughly overcome with his exertions. 
 
 " Take a draught of wine, man," said Maxwell, pointing to 
 the jar ; " 'tis the coolest place in the castle here, and by 
 St. Andrew the prisoner hath the best of it to-day." 
 
 The old man smiled grimly ; then he took a hearty pull, 
 as desired, and set the vessel down with a sigh of great 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " An old man's bluid aye wants warmin'," said he, looking 
 pensively into the vessel the while ; " but I've kent it far 
 hotter ower sea. When I was in Flanders wi' Norman 
 Leslie, ye ken ; ay ! he was a wild lad, Norman, but 
 a bra' soldier, fair sir, a bra' soldier as ever belted on a 
 brand ! aweel, when I was in Flanders wi' Norman -" ; 
 and forthwith the old man embarked upon a long story of 
 which gallant Norman Leslie was the hero, moistening his 
 narrative at frequent intervals with draughts of the strong red 
 wine, and Maxwell watched with strung nerves and beating 
 heart, how his eye grew dimmer and his speech more laboured 
 as the tale progressed and the contents of the vessel waned. 
 Nevertheless the door was locked on the inside, and the 
 jailer's ringers kept an instinctive grasp upon his keys. Once, 
 catching Maxwell's eye fixed on these implements, he shifted 
 them suddenly into the hand farthest from his prisoner, 
 
 334
 
 THE ATTEMPT 
 
 although in the act he interrupted himself in an elaborate 
 description of a certain blue velvet surcoat, by which Norman 
 Leslie set much store, and did not again recover the thread 
 of his recollections until he had discovered that the wine 
 was done, and it was time for him to be gone. But it was 
 obviously necessary to lull his suspicions and induce him to 
 remain a few minutes longer. 
 
 " I should like to hear how that surcoat was finished and 
 embroidered," said Maxwell, with an affectation of interest. 
 " The time of my release is drawing near," he added, " and 
 when I go out I should wish to have one of the same colour 
 and conceit." 
 
 He spoke in so matter-of-fact a tone that old Ralph was 
 thrown completely off his guard. 
 
 " Oot ! " said he, " it's the first time ever I heard it, lad. 
 I'll no say but I'll miss ye ! Oot ! Gude presairve us ! Was 
 there ever the like o' that ? " 
 
 " I told you when I came in," replied his prisoner, yawning 
 and stretching himself lazily the while, " the full turn will be 
 out the day after to-morrow at noon." 
 
 Old Ralph laid down his keys and scratched his head. 
 
 That instant Maxwell pounced upon them like a tiger. 
 Almost with the same motion he seized the old man round 
 the body, completely pinioning him, heavy and powerful as 
 he was, till he had sent him staggering to the farthest ex- 
 tremity of the cell. Then, with one rapid turn of the key, 
 that key at which he had often looked so longingly, and of 
 which he knew every ward, he was through the door, as 
 rapidly he locked and bolted it on the outside. His hand 
 never trembled ; his nerves were as true to him now in 
 the moment of success as they had been through all the 
 dangers and disasters he had overcome. 
 
 " Ah ! " thought Maxwell, as he sped down the winding 
 stair like a lapwing, " you may holloa your heart out, as many 
 a poor prisoner has done before, but nobody will come near 
 you till supper-time. If you get not free for a week you'll 
 have had a lighter captivity than mine. And now for liberty 
 and life, and Mary Carmichael ! " 
 
 He believed he had schooled himself to think of her no 
 more, but she came back to him with the first gleam of the 
 summer sun, the first breath of the summer air. 
 
 There is no catastrophe of grief or discomfiture so stagger- 
 ing to the nervous system as the shock of a great relief or a 
 great joy. You shall attend the sickbed of one nearest and 
 dearest to you for days together, and see the life that is more 
 
 335
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 precious than your very heart's blood ebbing away, as it were, 
 inch by inch, and drop by drop, yet your eyes are dry ; though 
 your brain feels strangely hot and seared, your hand is steady, 
 your tread firm, and your pulse regular. The moment on 
 which hang the issues of life and eternity comes at last. The 
 silent strife is waged between sleep and death, and the gentle 
 conqueror triumphs by a hair's-breadth. Never prone to give 
 his opinion rashly, the doctor tells you that the dear one has 
 escaped " out of danger, he is happy to inform you," and you 
 wring his hand fiercely, but something gripping at your 
 throat forbids you to speak your thanks. Then the tears 
 gush freely to your eyes ; then the strong frame shakes and 
 quivers in every fibre, and down upon your knees you kneel 
 before your God, even if you never knelt before. So in all 
 the relations of life; the moment of success is the touchstone 
 to the human character. It is far more rare to find men bear 
 prosperity with equanimity than adversity. We have all 
 heard of people going mad for joy. 
 
 For an instant, Walter Maxwell had to pause and collect 
 his energies, manning himself as though about to undergo 
 some formidable trial, when he found he was at least on the 
 outside of that door which he had contemplated such a weary 
 while as the bar between himself and freedom. Stealthily, 
 and with a keen sense of delight, so overpowering as to be 
 almost painful, he pushed open the iron wicket at the foot 
 of the staircase and emerged into the garden beyond. It 
 was intoxicating to drink in the warm fragrance of the 
 summer air at every pore. It was bewildering, from sheer 
 delight, to feel the eyes ache in that dazzling sunshine, glow- 
 ing on leaf and flower, whitening the gravel walk and the 
 castle wall in its blinding glare. The prisoner paused in a 
 corner of the passage ere he came forth, accustoming sight 
 and faculties by degrees to the rapturous change. Then he 
 stole out and looked about him, taking in, with keen and 
 wary eye, the features of the surrounding scene. Well he 
 knew that in such a stronghold as that of the powerful Rothes 
 his escape had only just begun. 
 
 He found himself in a beautiful little garden, neatly kept 
 and tastefully laid out. Casting a hasty glance upward, he 
 ascertained that he was overlooked by no windows from the 
 castle ; three sides of this parterre were bounded by the great 
 blank walls of the house, the fourth was shut in by a dark 
 impervious hedge of yews. With stealthy, hasty steps he was 
 soon on the farther side of this leafy screen and traversing a 
 bowling-green on which the bowls dotted the level surface at 
 
 336
 
 THE ATTEMPT 
 
 irregular intervals denoting that a game had been recently 
 interrupted he emerged upon a beautiful little wilderness of 
 shrubs and flowers beyond. 
 
 Three or four vases and a fountain adorned this exterior 
 pleasure-ground, and the gigantic beeches of Leslie, perhaps 
 the finest trees of Scotland, shaded it with their dark gleam- 
 ing foliage. It looked like a paradise to the emancipated 
 prisoner; but, alas, a paradise from which there was no 
 escape ! Surrounded by the outer wall of the castle, any biped, 
 unprovided with wings, seemed as much a captive in those 
 sunny glades as in the darkest recesses of the dungeon. How 
 Maxwell envied the butterfly soaring into the air so freely 
 over that smooth and cruel wall ! It would be hard to turn 
 back now after tasting even for five minutes the delights of 
 liberty. 
 
 Casting about with anxious eyes and a fast-beating heart 
 for some means, however desperate, of egress, he espied a 
 portion of the masonry in which certain irregularities would 
 admit of his climbing to within a few feet of the coping. At 
 this very place, too, a friendly beech somewhat overhung the 
 garden so that one of its branches drooped downwards inside 
 the wall. 
 
 With a run and a bound, like that of a wild cat, he 
 swarmed up its slippery surface and succeeded in reaching the 
 pendant branch. It was a desperate exertion of strength, 
 and the pain that shot across his chest warned Maxwell how 
 an ounce more of weight would have turned the scale in the 
 effort by which he swung himself into the tree. Once there, 
 he paused to take breath, and looked back into the garden 
 from which he had so happily escaped. What was his dismay 
 to observe, for the first time, a tall stalwart man in the guise 
 of a labourer, shuffling into his jerkin, and making for the 
 house ! 
 
 " Of course," thought Maxwell, with a curse on his own 
 stupidity that he had not perceived the man sooner, " to give 
 the alarm and turn out the retainers for pursuit ! " 
 
 In truth there was nothing for it now but to slip down 
 from the tree and trust to a light pair of heels and the chapter 
 of accidents. Already his legs were clear of the branches, and 
 he was meditating a drop of some four or five yards upon the 
 sward, when he drew them up again with wondrous precipita- 
 tion, for the tread of feet through the grass, and the sound of 
 voices in earnest conclave, warned him that he was hemmed 
 in and beset on this side as well as the other. 
 
 Close under the tree, in which he crouched like some hunted 
 
 Y 337
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 animal, three gallants halted and carried on their conversation 
 in the deep, low, earnest tones of men who discuss those 
 matters on which they have bound themselves to secrecy, 
 and which the bird of the air itself is not to overhear. 
 Splendidly dressed, although half-armed for a Scottish 
 noble loved not to be utterly defenceless, even in the heart 
 of his own residence, and the company of his staunchest 
 friends Maxwell recognised them at once, for three of the 
 most powerful men in the kingdom the wariest of statesmen, 
 the darkest of intriguers, the most reckless of conspirators. 
 Not one of the three would have scrupled to cut the throat 
 of an unwelcome eavesdropper on the spot, whether or not he 
 thought a word of their conversation was overheard or under- 
 stood. That " makin' sicker " has been a favourite expedient 
 in the annals of our northern politicians ever since Kirk- 
 patrick left the Red Comyn weltering in his blood on the 
 steps of the altar. 
 
 It was an unpleasant predicament for poor Walter. What 
 could he do but hide himself up among the branches, keep 
 quiet and listen, expecting besides every moment that the 
 alarm of his escape would be given from the castle? The 
 little conclave continued their conversation eagerly, and as 
 they stood beneath his hiding-place, Maxwell had ample 
 leisure to observe the faces and bearing of his queen's three 
 worst and most pitiless enemies. Rothes was, as usual, gay 
 and careless in demeanour ; his handsome face flushed with 
 wine, was not out of keeping with the disordered bravery of 
 his apparel. He could break his jest on treason as on any 
 other crime ; could pass through life and its most important 
 avocations as though it were but one long feverish debauch 
 in which the merriest and wildest roisterer bore his part the 
 best. Argyle, who repressed his host's ill-timed mirth when- 
 ever opportunity offered, and listened attentively to the calm, 
 measured accents of the third person present, seemed thought- 
 ful and ill at ease. Though of a courageous character, his 
 was a nature that weighs well every scheme on which it enters, 
 and loves not to put forth its full powers unless it sees its 
 way clearly to success. He could not go hand over head 
 into a plot like Rothes, simply for the excitement and amuse- 
 ment of the turmoil. Grave in demeanour as the man to 
 whom he was now listening so attentively, and not unlike him 
 in character, he was yet far inferior in foresight and acuteness, 
 above all in that mysterious force of will which bends and 
 warps more pliant natures to its own ends. Maxwell, watch- 
 ing him intently from the tree, could not but mark how 
 
 338
 
 THE ATTEMPT 
 
 scruple after scruple disappeared, how gradually and com- 
 pletely conviction seemed to steal over his countenance, as he 
 followed, step by step, and argument by argument, the bent 
 of that master-mind which formed the third and dominant 
 element in the conclave. 
 
 And who was this third conspirator, this evil spirit so much 
 mightier and so much more daring than the two it controlled? 
 Who, but Moray, the queen's half-brother? Staid, quiet, 
 composed as usual ; less splendidly dressed, less energetic in 
 gesture, less striking in appearance than either of his com- 
 panions, yet obviously the leader whom they trusted implicitly 
 and obeyed without remorse. 
 
 One more faithful adherent to the house of Leslie com- 
 pleted the party. His honest face and loyal courage seemed 
 strangely out of place where treason was brewing ; a large 
 handsome bloodhound kept close at the heel of Rothes, 
 poking his wet nose at intervals into his master's hand. 
 
 Even in the extremity at which he found himself, Maxwell 
 could not forbear contrasting the surrounding scene with the 
 principal actors. The white stems of the beeches shone like 
 silver in the glowing afternoon sun, while thrush and black- 
 bird carolled gaily from the deep rich screen of their heavy 
 foliage. Life and light, beauty and fragrance filled the atmo- 
 sphere, peace and prosperity smiled around ; white sheep were 
 feeding on a grassy slope over against him between the trees ; 
 red roses blooming and clustering around steeped his senses 
 in their perfumes ; the bee hummed drowsily by in the warm 
 still air ; overhead the swallows flitted to and fro against the 
 blue laughing sky; and there, at his feet, within a spear's- 
 length of him, frowned the three dark pitiless faces, while 
 Moray's measured voice unfolded the plot that chilled his very 
 blood, though it roused his vindictive hatred, as he listened. 
 Not one of the others drank in every syllable as did that 
 eager fugitive, crouching like a wild cat along the arm of the 
 old beech tree. 
 
 " I tell ye, gentlemen, it cannot fail," said the degenerate 
 Stuart, with more earnestness than usual ; " the net is so 
 spread that fly which way she will, the bird cannot but find 
 herself within its meshes. I can tell ye for as certain as if I 
 heard her say so now, that she leaves Perth after dinner 
 to-morrow and rides to Callander, for the young Livingstone's 
 baptism, direct ; she will have no following beyond her per- 
 sonal attendants, and some twenty or thirty spears. Your 
 Leslies, my lord, may surely make account of these." 
 
 He turned to Rothes while he spoke ; the latter answered 
 
 339
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 with a savage laugh, and the bloodhound murmured simul- 
 taneously a deep angry growl. 
 
 " Why, Hubert seems to be of the same opinion," pursued 
 Moray, carelessly patting the dog's wide forehead, a liberty 
 Hubert seemed hugely inclined to resent. " But I always 
 counsel force enough in these little matters of necessity. 
 ' Never stretch your hand out farther than you can draw it 
 back again,' says our Scottish proverb ; and ' Never strike 
 at your foe if your arm be not long enough to reach him,' 
 say those who know how to make war with prudence and 
 moderation. Nay, I would have no risk run of failure or 
 miscarriage for want of an odd score or two of horsemen. 
 What say you, my lord of Argyle ? " 
 
 That nobleman pondered a few moments ere he replied. 
 
 " My following moves forward to-night. I shall find four 
 hundred spears at the Paren-Well to-morrow ere the sun has 
 gone down two hours from the meridian." 
 
 " Good ! " answered Moray, nodding his head. " And you, 
 Rothes ? The Leslies are sure to be swarming when there is 
 aught stirring that promises a fight or a capture." 
 
 "You shall count them yourself to-morrow, at sunrise, 
 before we march," answered the other gaily. " If you drink 
 a cup to-night, at supper, for every hundred men, your brain, 
 my good Lord James, will hardly be so clear in the morning 
 as you like to keep it when there is business to be done. Be 
 quiet, Hubert ! the fiend's in the dog ! What ? down, man ! 
 art thou bewitched ? " 
 
 The bloodhound's bristles were rising fiercer and fiercer, 
 and he growled ominously as he snuffed the air with his 
 broad black nostrils. 
 
 " Then this is the plan of the campaign," resumed Moray. 
 " Argyle's forces and your own join at the Paren-Well, and in 
 that lone district ye may dispose them to advantage, and 
 keep the greater part out of sight from the Perth road. To 
 avoid suspicion, I would counsel that ye do not anticipate 
 the hour of rendezvous. My imprudent sister might be 
 informed even when some miles upon her journey, and turn 
 back. When her grace's palfrey enters the pass at the 
 Paren-Well, four-score men-at-arms can do the business 
 readily enough. If there is any attempt at resistance, another 
 troop or two may strike in. Be careful to keep a large force 
 fresh to protect her grace's sacred person when taken. I 
 have arranged for her lodging to-morrow night with her 
 kinswoman at Loch-Leven Castle. For the lady-faced lord, if 
 not knocked o' the head in the skirmish, he must be disposed 
 
 340
 
 THE ATTEMPT 
 
 elsewhere. You shall have him at Leslie, Rothes, an' ye will, 
 though I doubt you and Darnley are but unfriends at heart. 
 We will meet in Edinburgh next week to consult on state 
 affairs; but to-morrow being Sabbath, I have thought well 
 to explain my views to you both to-day. Gentlemen, I think 
 we understand each other ? " 
 
 Argyle murmured an assent. Rothes laughed again some- 
 what dangerously. 
 
 " If there is any resistance ? " said he. 
 
 " I will not have a hair of her grace's head ruffled, or a 
 fold of her dress," replied Moray firmly. "For the escort, 
 they must be overpowered, of course ; but her grace's person 
 shall be respected, and her immediate attendants." 
 
 " You promised me the Maries ! " urged Rothes reproach- 
 fully ; " come, man, you shall not go back from your word ; 
 you promised me the whole four, or at least my pick of them. 
 I would not have gone into it, but for the saucy Seton ; and 
 that sunny, silent lass how call you her ? Carmichael ! I 
 have ordered all sorts of toys to be here, expressly for them, 
 to-morrow. Down, Hubert ! be quiet, man !" 
 
 Maxwell's blood boiled within him, and he gripped the 
 branch of the beech as if it had been the last speaker's throat. 
 Meantime Hubert had been baying furiously, glaring up- 
 wards into the tree with flaming eyes, and springing furiously 
 against the trunk. 
 
 " The Maries must take their chance," replied Moray, in 
 the same quiet tones. "If her grace be safe, I shall ask no 
 questions. That dog hath cause for his uneasiness, my lord ; 
 take my word for it, we have been overheard. He scents a 
 fresh foot in our neighbourhood." 
 
 With a great oath Rothes drew his sword, and Argyle 
 followed his example. 
 
 341
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 FREEDOM 
 
 "So soon. But now among all the rest 
 
 The champion of a hero-band, 
 With a gleaming blade and a flashing crest, 
 And a haughty front and a ready hand. 
 
 There cometh a crash, and a cry of need, 
 A puff of smoke and no more to tell, 
 
 But a dangling rein and a plunging steed, 
 And a rider lying where he fell. 
 
 Ere the smoke hath melted in air above, 
 
 Or the blood soaked in where the hoof hath trod, 
 
 The true heart beateth its last for its love, 
 And the soul is gone home to God." 
 
 HE moment was one of intense anxiety 
 and terror. Concealed by the leaves 
 of the old beech, every leap of the 
 frantic bloodhound threatened to 
 disclose the listener's hiding-place. 
 The Earls of Rothes and Argyle, 
 with drawn swords and bent brows, 
 looked high and low for the cause of 
 the dog's fury. Besides the dread of 
 a violent death, all the more terrible 
 at this his first hour of escape from 
 captivity, Maxwell now felt that on 
 him depended the liberty of his queen ; 
 more than this, the life and honour of the woman he still so 
 dearly loved. To do him justice he would willingly have died 
 on the spot to be able to advertise his sovereign of her danger. 
 For an instant the desperate expedient darted through his 
 mind of leaping down on Argyle's upturned face, wresting 
 the sword from his grasp, and thus armed doing battle with 
 Moray and Rothes ; but, even then, he reflected, how surely 
 the former, who was never surprised or at a loss, would run 
 to the castle for assistance. If retaken, Walter shuddered to 
 think, not of his own fate, but of Mary Carmichael's capture 
 on the morrow. Nevertheless there seemed nothing else for 
 
 342
 
 FREEDOM 
 
 it ; he had even collected his breath, and nerved his muscles 
 for the spring, when a trumpet sounded in the castle, and a 
 puff of lurid smoke swept across the faces of the three noble- 
 men, who were searching about with eager looks and bare 
 blades, encouraging Hubert the while with voice and gesture. 
 Again the smoke came rolling in a dun-coloured volume 
 against the clear sky, and the bloodhound, his attention 
 distracted by the new catastrophe, or his powers of scent 
 dulled by the smell of fire, ceased to leap at the old tree, and 
 lowering his stern, began to howl in abject terror and dismay. 
 Rothes could not forbear laughing, though he coughed and 
 swore at the same time. 
 
 " 'Tis the alarm ! " said he, as the trumpet again rang out 
 in the castle-yard. " Faith, Moray, I cannot but think they 
 are burning the old house about our heads. Gentlemen 
 both, I counted not to give ye so warm a reception as this ! " 
 Nothing escaped Moray's quick eye. While they hurried 
 back towards the building, he observed the smoke and flames 
 issuing from the turret Maxwell had so recently quitted. 
 
 " The wind is favourable," said the earl, as another cloud 
 rolled over them, " and you need not fear for more than the 
 prison tower ; for the sake of humanity, I trust, my lord, that 
 it may be empty ! " 
 
 Rothes did not answer ; truth to say, he had quite forgotten 
 Walter Maxwell, and even had he remembered him, would 
 have thought the life of one poor prisoner mattered but little 
 at such a time. The three noblemen addressed themselves 
 to the task of quenching the fire with characteristic energy. 
 Backed by the exertions of Rothes' disciplined followers, they 
 soon succeeded in subduing the flames, and, ere nightfall, 
 Leslie House had resumed its usual appearance of security, 
 having suffered but little damage save the scorching of its 
 outer wall. Poor old Ralph, however, was found dead in the 
 dungeon, probably stifled by the smoke. But it is not with 
 the inmates of Leslie that we have now to do. 
 
 As may be imagined, directly the coast was clear, Maxwell 
 lost no time in slipping out of the tree. With a fervent 
 thanksgiving in his heart, he dropped upon the sward, and 
 ran as hard as his legs could carry him in the direction of the 
 open country. Yet, even now, his situation was one of no 
 ordinary hazard and embarrassment. He was unarmed ; he 
 was in an enemy's country ; he might meet, at any moment, 
 with retainers of Lord Rothes, who would recognise him at 
 once for an escaped prisoner. Moreover, he was weaker than 
 ordinary, from his long confinement, and, even had it been 
 
 343
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 otherwise, he could not expect to reach Perth on foot in time 
 to warn the queen of the plot laid against her person ; and 
 how was he to procure a horse? Cogitating these matters 
 with considerable anxiety, he hurried on nevertheless, and 
 was dismayed to find limbs and breath failing him as he ran. 
 
 To add to his discomfiture he heard footsteps approach- 
 ing rapidly from behind. Turning his head, he espied the 
 countryman whom he had already observed in the garden, 
 nearing him with every stride. Maxwell would have given 
 ten years of his life ungrudgingly to have had as many inches 
 of steel in his belt. 
 
 " 'Od sake, man, ye can run as weel as fight ! " exclaimed 
 a familiar voice close to him, as the fugitive slackened speed 
 to collect his strength for the desperate struggle he antici- 
 pated. " Keep wast, hinny ! keep wast ! down yon burnie- 
 side. I can hear Wanton Willie nickerin' at us the noo ! " 
 
 Though they still kept on at a rapid pace, between 
 running and walking, Maxwell's hand was fast locked in 
 that of Dick-o'-the-Cleugh, whilst the borderer, pointing to 
 a neighbouring brake in which a confederate, with two led 
 horses, was concealed, in a tone of suppressed triumph 
 assured his friend that he was safe. 
 
 It took but little time to mount Wanton Willie, the 
 redoubtable bay that Dick affirmed was the pride of his lord's 
 stable, and less to inform the borderer of the plot against her 
 Majesty, and the necessity for reaching Perth with the utmost 
 speed they could command. As they swung along at a 
 hand-gallop, Dick, with many a smothered laugh and quaint 
 allusion, for he looked on the whole performance, from first 
 to last, as an unparalleled jest, detailed to his companion the 
 measures he had adopted to effect his delivery. Translated 
 from his own vernacular, the borderer's account was as 
 follows : After his interview with the queen and her ladies 
 in Edinburgh, he had ridden on to Leslie with the intention 
 of rescuing Walter with the strong hand ; but on arriving 
 in Fife he found that country in so alarmed a state, and 
 Leslie House itself so securely watched and strongly 
 garrisoned, that such a project was utterly impracticable. 
 His predatory habits had taught Dick, long ago, that where 
 force was useless, resort must be had to stratagem, and he 
 set about his task with all the quiet energy of his character 
 and the craft of his profession. 
 
 In the first place it was necessary to diminish his retinue, 
 in order to avoid suspicion. Lang Willie and Jock-o'-the- 
 Hope accordingly were despatched back to Hermitage, 
 
 344
 
 FREEDOM 
 
 leaving one of their horses for the use of the prisoner, 
 and Ralph Armstrong, a sedate and cautious old jackman, 
 remained at a considerable distance from Leslie with the 
 three horses, which he kept well exercised, and fit for a trial 
 of speed and endurance at any moment. Dick then disguising 
 himself like a countryman, applied for a day's work or two in 
 the gardens and pleasure-grounds of Leslie, and ere long his 
 great strength and inexhaustible good-humour so won upon 
 the gardener, that he was installed as a regular labourer 
 about the place. Here he soon made himself acquainted 
 with the passages and entrances of the stronghold, more 
 especially with the geography of the dungeon tower. 
 Nevertheless, study it as he would, he could find no means 
 of communicating with the captive, much less of liberating 
 him from thraldom. A thick iron door between massive 
 stone walls is no ineffectual barrier, if only it be kept locked. 
 
 Turning matters over and over in his own mind, while he 
 worked away in the flower-garden, Dick had arrived at the 
 conclusion that the shortest method would be to set the 
 whole place on fire, seize his keys, after braining old Ralph 
 the jailer in the confusion, and thus make his escape with the 
 prisoner through the flames. To his great relief he had long 
 since ascertained, amidst the gossip of the servants, that 
 Maxwell was still alive. It was necessary, however, to 
 choose a judicious moment for this exploit, and Dick, under- 
 standing that the Lord Rothes and a large force were to 
 move on the Sabbath from Leslie, had selected that day, 
 when the house would be less strictly guarded than usual, 
 for his undertaking. His plan was to fire the place about the 
 hour of curfew, when the retainers were sauntering abroad in 
 the summer evening, and were less easily collected than at 
 any other hour ; but as our borderer was a man of great 
 rapidity in action, and kept himself ready at any moment to 
 take an advantage, Armstrong had strict directions whenever, 
 by day or night, he should see a wreath of smoke or a red glare 
 above the old beeches,that instant the horses should be brought 
 to a certain secluded coppice within half a mile of the castle. 
 
 Thus our friend laid his plans, and with equal judgment 
 disposed his combustibles, straw by straw, as it were, and 
 fagot by fagot, even as the bird of the air builds her nest, 
 with secrecy and perseverance. Everything was ready, and 
 the borderer went about his work in the garden, as he said 
 to himself, " with a clear conscience." On this very afternoon, 
 when Maxwell made his unaided escape from confinement, 
 Dick had just returned from attending the three noblemen to 
 
 345
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 their game at bowls the very game which Maxwell had 
 remarked unfinished as he crossed the green. It was with no 
 small surprise that he saw the prisoner escaping across the 
 garden which was his own peculiar charge. 
 
 The borderer was somewhat disconcerted ; nevertheless, he 
 reflected for a moment. " If," thought he, " Mr. Maxwell can 
 surmount the outer wall he will but light down plump 
 amongst the three earls who are walking in the avenue 
 beyond ; if he remain concealed here in the garden, he is sure 
 to be missed when old Ralph visits the prison, discovered, 
 and retaken ; nay, if Rothes be the least out of humour, 
 probably put to death. The fagots are all laid. I have a 
 flint and steel in my belt ; I had best set fire to the place at 
 once, and have done with it" 
 
 Moreover, Dick was not very sure on his own account that 
 he might not be himself suspected. In getting the bowls 
 ready for the three noblemen, Moray's piercing glance had 
 not failed to detect a face he seemed to recognise. With a 
 brief effort of memory the earl recalled that thrust on the 
 causeway of Edinburgh from mad Arran's blade, and the 
 interposition of Earl Bothwell's henchman, which saved his 
 own life. 
 
 " Good fellow," said he, as Dick raised his face from setting 
 the jack in its place, " I have seen you before ; I owe you 
 a debt for saving my life a while ago, during a brawl in the 
 High Street." 
 
 Argyle and Rothes were at the other end of the green, 
 poising their bowls to begin ; Dick answered hastily, and in 
 a whisper " I've been in trouble on the border ; I'm in 
 trouble yet ; but I'm no kent in Fife. Your honour can best 
 pay it by no lettin' on l that ye've ever seen me before ! " 
 
 Moray was a good-natured man enough ; he nodded an 
 understanding, and put a piece of gold in the gardener's hand ; 
 but, nevertheless, Dick felt none the more sanguine, after this 
 recognition, for the success of his enterprise. No sooner, 
 however, had he seen Maxwell swing himself into the old 
 beech tree, a gymnastic feat which called forth his warmest 
 approval, then he hastened back to put his long-laid scheme 
 in practice, with what success we have already learned ; for 
 the bloodhound's sagacity must unquestionably have led to a 
 discovery of the fugitive, had it not been for the diversion 
 occasioned by the fire. 
 
 " An' noo," said the borderer, with a sad, wistful expression 
 on his honest face, very different from the roguish humour 
 1 " Lettin' on," Scottice for disclosing a secret. 
 346
 
 FREEDOM 
 
 with which he had narrated the detail of his adventure, " an* 
 noo, I'm easy in my mind, whichever way the bowl may rin. 
 I've paid my debt, Maister Maxwell, ye ken ; I'm thinking 
 it'll no be lang or I get my quittance." 
 
 Maxwell was somewhat puzzled ; he could not quite fathom 
 the meaning of his honest friend. Alas ! ere a few hours were 
 past he understood it but too well. 
 
 Time of course was the chief object with the three 
 cavaliers ; it was indispensable to arrive in Perth at as early 
 an hour as possible, so as to warn the queen of her danger, 
 and to raise the country for the punishment of her foes. The 
 party, however, were right well mounted ; Dick had not 
 selected the worst of Bothwell's horses for an expedition 
 in which speed was so likely to be an essential element of 
 success ; and Wanton Willie, once the property of Lord 
 Scrope himself, and stolen from the English warden by a series 
 of stratagems, remarkable alike for ingenuity and audacity, 
 was an animal of extraordinary power, metal, and endurance. 
 
 It was no ordinary sensation of delight that Maxwell 
 experienced as he swept through the evening air, borne 
 onwards by the long untiring stride of the powerful bay 
 stallion. It was like grasping the hand of an old friend 
 to stroke and smooth that swelling crest as Wanton Willie 
 tossed his head and snorted, champing the bit and snatching 
 playfully at the rein. He had always loved a good horse 
 well. Now with the fate of a kingdom dependent on his 
 speed, he could not prize too highly the merits of his charger. 
 Also Maxwell's heart was even yet sore and empty ; it was 
 soothing to rely on the honest fidelity of a brute. How many 
 men are there who lavish on horse and hound the affections 
 that were hoarded, it may be, long ago, elsewhere ; given 
 unreservedly, accepted with glee, and returned after a while 
 to the dejected owner with the sap dried up, the core extracted, 
 and the virtue gone ! So he learns to content himself per- 
 force with that which is real and substantial, at least as far as 
 it goes ; learns to thrill at the note of a hound, forget the 
 past in the glowing excitement of a gallop ; and the well- 
 judging world opines that he has a grovelling soul which 
 soars not above the stables and the kennel, and is fit for no 
 better things. 
 
 The moon was coming up from the horizon, and still the 
 three rode swiftly and steadily on. They were many miles 
 from Leslie now, but, alas ! they were not yet clear of Leslie's 
 influence. At a small hamlet where they stopped to water 
 and refresh their horses, Maxwell was recognised ere he 
 
 347
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 touched the ground by a scion of the house of Rothes, even 
 then on the march with a party of horse to join his kinsman's 
 forces at the Paren-Well. 
 
 David Leslie started with surprise as the bay was pulled 
 up at the stone trough before the village inn, but the young 
 soldier was prompt in action and saw at a glance he had but 
 three men to deal with, and one of those unarmed. His own 
 retainers were numerous and on the spot. 
 
 " Walter Maxwell ! " he exclaimed, seizing Wanton Willie 
 at the same instant by the bridle, " you are my prisoner ! 
 Ho ! a Leslie ! a Leslie ! to the rescue ! " 
 
 His men came pouring out at the well-known cry. Stout 
 troopers all of them, and armed besides to the teeth. There 
 was nothing for it but a quick and determined resistance. 
 Dick spurred his horse without hesitation against the assailant 
 on foot, dealing him at the same moment a heavy buffet with 
 his gauntleted hand, for he had no time to draw his sword. 
 Armstrong protected Maxwell's other flank. There were 
 several fierce oaths, a pistol-shot, a smothered groan, much 
 trampling of hoofs, a plunge or two, and Maxwell found 
 himself again careering along between his two defenders over 
 the open plain at a pace that set pursuit at defiance. 
 
 " Well out of that, Dick ! " said he cheerily, as they pulled 
 their horses at last into a trot, and listened for the enemy who 
 came not. " Well out of that ! we'll win the race and be 
 home now before midnight, I expect. These are rare stuff, 
 these border nags of yours ; it's no wonder men should be 
 tempted to steal such cattle as we are riding to-night ! " 
 
 But Dick answered nothing, only he seemed to hold his 
 horse in a rigid immovable grasp, and the three broke into 
 a gallop even swifter than before. The moon was up now, 
 riding clear and high in the mid-heaven. Was it only her 
 light that made the borderer's face so pale ? Dick spoke at 
 last in a thick, hoarse voice, and the others pulled up simul- 
 taneously as he did so. 
 
 "I'll light doun, I'm thinkin'," said he. "Ride you on, 
 Maister Maxwell ! I'll just bide where I am awee. It's a 
 kin' o' dwam Mike that's come over me." 
 
 He dismounted while he spoke. He was scarce clear of 
 
 the saddle ere he staggered and fell heavily to the ground. 
 
 Armstrong unbuckled his corselet and opened the buff jerkin 
 
 beneath. It was light enough for Maxwell to see the little 
 
 round mark that soldiers know so well. Large drops were 
 
 standing on the borderer's forehead, and his lips were turning 
 
 1 Dwam a swoon. 
 
 348
 
 FREEDOM 
 
 white. Maxwell took his hand, and the dying man smiled a 
 feeble, ghastly smile, as he returned the grasp. 
 
 " I'll no win back to Liddesdale," said he faintly. " I'll no 
 get the length o' Perth the nicht. I'll be meat for the corbies l 
 the morn. Gude speed ye, my canny lad ! Pit yer foot intill 
 the stirrup again. A queen's erran's munna stan' still for the 
 like o' me!" 
 
 Maxwell's tears fell thick and fast. While Armstrong 
 held the horses, he propped the borderer's head upon his 
 knee, and whispered a few broken words, he knew not what, 
 of grief and hope, that seemed a mockery even then. The 
 mossy turf on which they rested was not more clammy than 
 the pale forehead in its damps of death ; he was bleeding 
 inwardly, and every breath he drew exhausted more and 
 more the shallow stream of vitality that was left. 
 
 " Ride you on," he whispered, " ride you on ! leave Ralph 
 wi' me, I'll no keep him lang. Ye'll win to the Court the 
 morn, lad, an' ye'll see bonny Mistress Seton, an' ye'll tell 
 her frae me " 
 
 He was getting very weak now ; twice or thrice he strove 
 to speak, but no sound came. Maxwell bent over him, and 
 held his breath to catch the sacred accents of the dying man. 
 He raised himself a little with an effort, and his voice was 
 stronger now. 
 
 " Tell her," said he, " that if ever she can win to Liddes- 
 dale, she maun walk afoot through the bonny glens, and 
 hearken to the lilt of the lavrock, an' pu' a sprig o' the red 
 heather, just to mind her o' Dick-o'-the-Cleugh rough, 
 rantin' Dick, that wadna ha' evened himself to kiss the very 
 ground beneath her feet. Eh ! lad, an' she hadna been a born 
 leddy, I wad hae lo'ed yon lassie weel ! " 
 
 Then Dick's head sank lower and lower ; nor, although he 
 lived for a short space afterwards, was he heard to speak again. 
 Maxwell was forced to leave him, however loth, in charge of 
 his comrade ; his own duty would admit of no delay. Sadly 
 and slowly he mounted Wanton Willie once more ; sadly and 
 slowly he loitered away at a foot's-pace, turning his head 
 often to gaze wistfully back where Ralph Armstrong was 
 stooping in the moonlight over the long prostrate figure of 
 the henchman. At last he saw Ralph lay the head gently 
 down upon the sward, and walk a few paces away. Then he 
 knew that it was over, and galloped on towards Perth with 
 wet eyes and a heavy heart. 
 
 1 Corbies crows. 
 
 349
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 HYMEN 
 
 " For though her smiles were sad and faint, 
 
 And though her voice was low, 
 She never murmured a complaint, 
 
 Nor hinted at her woe, 
 Nor harboured in her gentle breast 
 
 The lightest thought of ill ; 
 Giving all, forgiving all, 
 
 Pure and perfect still, 
 
 Confiding when the world was hard, 
 
 And kind when it was cold, 
 What wealth of Love was stored and barred 
 
 Within that Heart of Gold ! 
 Exulting every grief to share, 
 
 And every task fulfil ; 
 Giving all, forgiving all, 
 
 Fond and faithful still. 
 
 And when upon that patient brow 
 
 The storm had broke at last, 
 And all her pride was shatter'd now, 
 
 And all her power was past, 
 She meekly kissed the hand that smote, 
 
 And yielded to its will ; 
 Giving all, forgiving all, 
 
 True and tender still." 
 
 " T T APPY'S the wooing that's not long of doing," says 
 11 a hopeful Scottish proverb. " Marry in haste, and 
 repent at leisure," is a wholesome English warning, that may 
 be considered the converse of the above. 
 
 " Some, by construction, deem these words misplaced, 
 At leisure marry, and repent in haste," 
 
 quoth Congreve, or one of the old dramatists. We may take 
 our choice of maxims on the important topic of wedlock, 
 satisfied that, ponder on it as we may, it is a matter in which 
 blind fortune concerns herself more than in any other of our 
 human affairs. Yes, your marriage goes by destiny, no doubt, 
 and sometimes the fates draw you off nectar, and sometimes 
 
 350
 
 HYMEN 
 
 wholesome bitters, and sometimes weak, insipid, flat, and stale 
 small beer. Under any circumstances it is better not to pull 
 a wry face at the draught. If the fairest woman the earth 
 ever saw could not make sure of conjugal happiness, who has 
 a right to complain ? 
 
 Darnley was now Duke of Albany the handsomest duke 
 in Christendom and on the evening before her nuptials his 
 affianced bride had somewhat prematurely caused him to be 
 proclaimed King of Scotland. Two religions had prepared 
 to consecrate the tie ; the Pope's dispensation, inasmuch as 
 the lovers were blood relations, had been obtained from Rome, 
 and the banns by which, according to the Reformed Persua- 
 sion, " Harry Duke of Albany and Earl of Ross should be 
 united to Mary, by the grace of God, Queen of Scots, and 
 Sovereign of the Realm," had been proclaimed in the Parish 
 Church of the Canongate. 
 
 The queen had escaped the plot laid against her by her 
 enemies at Leslie House, and, it is needless to say, how royal 
 favour and ladies' smiles were showered upon the daring rider 
 who foundered Wanton Willie for ever by the speed with 
 which he brought his timely intelligence to Perth, a speed 
 that enabled the queen to sweep down to her capital with a 
 strong, well-mounted escort, in advance of all the preparations 
 made for her capture. She had quelled an insurrection at St. 
 Leonard's Craigs since then ; she had strengthened her party 
 by all the means at her disposal, and even striven hard to 
 listen without anger to the ill-timed remonstrances of Elizabeth, 
 forwarded through Randolph, who, somewhat to his dismay, 
 and much to his disgust, found his importance waning, hour 
 by hour, at the Scottish Court. 
 
 Everything a woman could do by persuasion, by policy, 
 by forbearance, by her own intrinsic fascination, Mary had 
 done to attain, if possible, a few months or even weeks of 
 repose for the enjoyment of the present ; happy, as she fancied 
 herself, in her love, and willing to be at peace with all the 
 world. And while the young queen looked about her for 
 friends and partisans in every direction, was it likely that she 
 would forget her stout champion on the border, the warlike 
 Earl of Bothwell ? It may be that she had long sought an 
 excuse to pardon him ; it may be that, like the rest of her sex, 
 though prone to commit it in haste, her heart smote her sore, 
 after a while, for an act of injustice. She recalled him, she 
 forgave him, she brought him back to her dangerous presence, 
 and the flame that was consuming this wild and tameless heart, 
 only burned all the fiercer that he must stifle it for a while, 
 
 351
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 Moray kept aloof from the sister whom he had deceived, 
 and the queen against whom he had conspired. Accustomed 
 as Mary had been for so long to depend upon her brother 
 whenever she needed counsel or assistance, no doubt she felt 
 his estrangement very keenly; but even Moray, notwith- 
 standing all his offences, she would have received once more 
 with open arms, had he abjured his devotion to the interests 
 of the astute Elizabeth, and returned to his natural duty and 
 allegiance. The fairest daughter of the Stuarts was always, 
 alas ! more of the woman than the queen. Had she been less 
 frank, less trusting, less kindly, less affectionate, above all, 
 less beautiful, the crown of Scotland would have sat more 
 firm upon her head, the head itself would not at last have 
 been severed by the cruel axe at Fotheringay. 
 
 But that dainty head never looked more nobly than to-day. 
 With the glory of love and happiness shining round it ; with 
 the royal diadem resting on the white and gentle brow ; with 
 the soft rich hair gathered into such a coronet of splendour as 
 no other princess as no other woman in Europe, could boast ; 
 with a majestic form set off by the sweeping robes of black in 
 which, as a royal widow, etiquette bade her approach the 
 altar ; above all with the atmosphere of beauty that surrounded 
 Mary as with a charm. Old Thomas the Rhymer had never 
 such a vision of the Fairy Queen herself as burst upon the 
 sight of loyal Lennox and devoted Athol, when she emerged 
 from her chamber and suffered them to conduct her to the 
 Chapel Royal of Holyrood, at six of the clock on the summer 
 Sabbath morning that smiled with such well-omened brilliancy 
 upon the bride. 
 
 Could black fate be hovering over that gay and sparkling 
 throng, marking them out, as it were, one by one, for her 
 future shafts ? There they stood so many of them ; the 
 brave, the beautiful, the loyal, the gentle and the true, glow- 
 ing in youth and health, towering in the pride of manhood 
 and the pride of place ; radiant in silks and velvets, blazing 
 with gold and gems ; and the red mark scored in the book of 
 destiny against two out of every three illustrious names, and 
 the little cloud, though still below the horizon, yet waiting 
 none the less surely to break in fatal tempest over the proud 
 unconscious brows, and shatter the guilty and the innocent 
 in one indiscriminate ruin to the dust. Even crook-backed 
 Riccio could not forbear an exultant song of rejoicing when 
 the ceremony was concluded, that gave his indulgent mistress 
 to the handsome, petulant boy she had chosen for her lord. 
 
 " Glory to God ! " exclaimed the secretary, in his deep, 
 
 352
 
 HYMEN 
 
 rich tones, as the rites were finished with a burst of chanted 
 thanksgiving. How long was it ere those same lips, writh- 
 ing in their death-pang, were gasping for mercy in hoarse, 
 gurgling whispers choked in blood ? In the meantime, the 
 queen is conducted back from the chapel to the palace, and 
 the ceremony takes place of unrobing her Majesty, who is now 
 no longer a widow, but a bride, with all the established jests 
 and noisy glee such an occasion is calculated to call forth. 
 
 First Darnley takes out a pin, then Athol, then Lennox, 
 then each of the gentlemen of the household as he can 
 approach the royal person, while her ladies like a guard of 
 Amazons close round her more and more as the spoliation 
 proceeds. The process, as is natural, soon degenerates into 
 something like a romp, and Walter Maxwell, with a heavy 
 heart, finds himself, to his own dismay, mixed up with such 
 merry fooleries. 
 
 While her Majesty proceeds with a few of her tiring- 
 women into another chamber, whence she will presently 
 reappear in dazzling apparel suited to the occasion, we will 
 return to the humbler personages of the scene, who may now, 
 like the supernumeraries in a theatre, come up to the foot- 
 lights and display their antics, whilst their betters are off the 
 stage. 
 
 To begin with the Maries, whom we have too much 
 neglected whilst taken up with ruder and less engaging 
 natures. Those young ladies, by the very act to which they 
 have even now been lending their assistance, have become 
 freed from their self- imposed obligations of celibacy, and 
 might marry, if it so pleased them, one and all to-morrow. 
 To the philosopher who fancies he understands the nature 
 of the sex, it will not appear surprising that at this juncture 
 none of them should show the slightest disposition for enter- 
 ing that holy state, from which it has hitherto been considered 
 such an extreme hardship they should be debarred. Hilarious, 
 as it was their duty to appear during the performance of her 
 Majesty's nuptials hilarious, of course, be it understood, 
 with the proper admixture of tears for ladies esteem a 
 wedding to be essentially an April performance of showers 
 and sunshine yet no sooner was the principal excitement 
 over, no sooner were the four young beauties released from 
 their respective attitudes of attention, and at liberty to 
 receive the compliments and reply .to the bantering con- 
 gratulations of the courtiers, than a cloud seemed to come 
 over each of them, and they looked far less inclined to laugh 
 than to cry. 
 
 z 353
 
 Mary Beton, perhaps, kept her spirits up with more deter- 
 mination and a greater show of indifference than either of 
 her sisters in sorrow ; nevertheless, Mary Beton, while she 
 certainly enjoyed an advantage over the others, was in an 
 uncomfortable state of uncertainty and transition. 
 
 Although it is doubtless a wise and wholesome precaution 
 for a lady to have two strings to her bow, yet the instrument 
 is apt to get somewhat warped and out of order in the process 
 of taking off the old and fitting on the new. There is some- 
 thing softening as well as soothing in the attentions of the 
 recent capture, and they remind us rather touchingly at times 
 .of those other looks and tones which made such fools of us 
 not so long ago. We cannot do the same things, say the 
 same words, go through the same exercises (and in truth there 
 is, we believe, but little variety in the drill by which the human 
 heart is disciplined), without experiencing very much the 
 same kind of sensations as heretofore, and it is not always 
 easy to distinguish between the old feelings and the new. 
 The former come over us with an overwhelming rush when 
 we least expect them, and our only chance is to credit the 
 fresh account with as much of the balance as we can. That 
 same tenant-right is a very difficult matter to get rid of when 
 once it has been firmly established in the breast. 
 
 Mary Beton had broken with her old lover for good and 
 all. She had convicted him of treason to her queen ; and 
 although this offence she might possibly have forgiven, she 
 had found him out in treachery to herself. It is needless to 
 say that she would have nothing more to do with Randolph, 
 and was prepared to listen with no unwilling ear to the suit 
 of Alexander Ogilvy. But the latter was distant and offended 
 still. He had not forgotten certain rebuffs, certain black looks 
 and cold answers, that had piqued and irritated him long ago. 
 He loved her indeed very dearly, therefore he did not mean 
 to hold out for any great length of time, but still it was his 
 turn now, and he could not be expected to forego his share 
 of advantage in the merciless game. It is an old saying that 
 " many a heart is caught on the rebound," and perhaps he 
 was sure of his prey, and content to wait a little and enjoy 
 the excitement of the capture. Proud Mistress Beton, too, 
 had become far more docile and womanly of late. Pained 
 and humbled by the treatment she had experienced from 
 Randolph, it would have been inexpressibly soothing and 
 delightful to encourage and return an attachment she could 
 trust, and on which she could lean, so to speak, without fear 
 of mortification. Great liberties are sometimes taken, great 
 
 354
 
 HYMEN 
 
 risks run, in these affairs. Tempers that are imperturbable 
 on all other topics, blaze up with reckless violence against 
 the nearest and dearest. When the wild bird has ruffled her 
 plumes in anger, and broken her jesses in pique, the observ- 
 ant fowler, who watches his opportunity, finds every facility 
 afforded for his lure. There is no time at which the human 
 heart is so susceptible to kindness as when writhing under a 
 sense of injustice and ill-treatment which it has not deserved. 
 So Mary Beton was less haughty, less overbearing, and con- 
 sequently looked ten times lovelier than usual on her mistress's 
 wedding-day. 
 
 .She stands now nearest the door, waiting for the queen, 
 and whispers gently and lovingly to Mary Seton, who seems 
 to cling to her senior as to an elder sister, and whose fair face 
 has of late assumed a sad and thoughtful expression very 
 different from that which it used to wear. The arch looks 
 are downcast now, and the merry voice is hushed and low. 
 The girl is not unhappy, only grave and saddened perhaps a 
 little by her experiences. She has bid Walter tell her over 
 and over again how poor Dick Rutherford laid him down to 
 die in the moonlight and spoke of her of her, the vain, 
 frivolous girl ! with the last breath he ever drew. What had 
 she done to win so entirely the devotion of that great honest 
 heart ? Had she suspected it ? Had she triumphed in it ? 
 Had she prized it ? Ah ! never so much as now, when all the 
 wishing in the world would fail to bring the trusting kindly 
 nature back to her feet. 
 
 She was a noble damsel, and Dick but the mere retainer 
 of a warlike lord, ranking scarce above a man-at-arms. And 
 yet it was something, surely, to have been so loved by any 
 one human heart : to have taken everything and given no- 
 thing in return. She could weep now to think that never 
 never would she be able to make him amends. 
 
 Ay, he was a man that was brave and strong and single- 
 minded, daring, patient, resolute, fearing nothing under 
 heaven, humble and childlike only with her. How often 
 might she unwittingly have wrung the gentle, uncomplaining 
 heart ; how often purposely, just to essay and feel her power ! 
 She could hate herself to think of a hundred trifles now ! 
 Ah ! too late too late ! He was gone where neither foe- 
 man's lance nor lady's look could reach ; where cold words 
 and bare steel were alike powerless to wound. Gone gone 
 altogether, and she would never see him more. 
 
 It seemed to Mary Seton, as she stood there and looked 
 at her comrades, that she alone would fulfil that vow of 
 
 355
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 celibacy from which to-day's festival had enfranchised the 
 queen's Maries. Where could she expect to find hereafter 
 such an affection as she had neglected and lost ? No ; hence- 
 forth she would devote herself heart and hand to the service 
 of her mistress ; cling to the queen through rain and shine, 
 calm and storm, good and evil. If prosperity blessed her 
 dear mistress, she would rejoice ; if adversity frowned, she 
 would console her ; if danger or calamity came, she would 
 share it Let the others marry, an' they must ; for her, she 
 would belong to her queen ! And nobly, in after years, Mary 
 Seton redeemed her vow. 
 
 But there was one of the maids-of-honour whose wedding 
 was indeed to succeed her Majesty's, who looked forward to 
 its arrival with more than maidenly longing ; who hoped for 
 it, and relied on it with more than a woman's trust. Mary 
 Hamilton, with her pale face and wasted form, had continued 
 her service with the queen, silent and uncomplaining, never 
 unbosoming herself to her companions, not even confiding 
 her sorrows to her mistress until now. To-morrow she 
 would be free ; to-morrow would be the day of her espousals, 
 and the poor weary head would lay itself to rest, the poor 
 sore heart find comfort and relief at last. It was for this 
 she had been waiting so patiently, for this she had borne 
 her burden so uncomplainingly. To - morrow she would 
 become the Bride of Heaven, and the veil she would then put 
 on must never be taken off again this side the grave ! In 
 her cell (so her religion taught her, hopeful even in death), in 
 her cell she could pray for the soul of him she had loved so 
 fondly ; could believe, when his fiery sufferings and her own 
 prayers and tears had obliterated his crimes, she would meet 
 him, never again to part, on the shining hills beyond the dark 
 shadowy valley that she feared no whit, nay, that she only 
 longed to tread. 
 
 Mary Hamilton took the vows on the day subsequent to 
 the queen's marriage, at the bright midsummer season, when 
 the blooming world should have looked fairest and most 
 captivating to her who turned her back upon it so willingly 
 for evermore. During a twelvemonth, so the Romish Church 
 enforced, she must make trial of her new profession, and at 
 the expiration of that period, should she continue in the same 
 mind, the novice was to become a nun. There is little doubt 
 she would have fulfilled her intention had the occasion ever 
 arrived. It was an early harvest that year in Scotland, but 
 ere the barley was white, Mary Hamilton had done with 
 nuns and nunneries, vows and ceremonies, withered hopes 
 
 356
 
 HYMEN 
 
 and mortal sorrows, and had gone to that place where the 
 weary heart can alone find the rest it had so longed for at 
 last. 
 
 There is but one more of the Maries with whom we have 
 to do : Mistress Carmichael must speak for herself in another 
 chapter. 
 
 357
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX 
 
 ECLAIRCISSEMENT 
 
 " For love will wear through shine and shower, 
 
 And love can bear to bide its time ; 
 Unwearied at the vesper hour, 
 As when the matins chime. 
 
 And love can strive against a host, 
 
 Can watch and wait and suffer long ; 
 Still daring more when fearing most, 
 
 In very weakness strong. 
 
 Though bruised and sore, it never dies, 
 
 Though faint and weary, standing fast ; 
 It never fails, and thus the prize 
 
 Is won by love at last." 
 
 T)ERHAPS of the four young ladies who had thus devoted 
 JT themselves to the service of the queen, Mary Car- 
 michael was the least changed in demeanour and outward 
 appearance at the auspicious period which gave them their 
 freedom, and entitled them to assume that temporary 
 dominion over the other sex which is a woman's birthright. 
 She was still beautiful as ever ; her sorrows, if she had any, 
 did not veil an atom of brilliancy in her eye, or take a shade 
 of colour from her cheek ; her figure was no less rounded 
 and symmetrical in its full flowing lines, her step no less firm 
 and haughty, her manner, if anything, colder and more self- 
 reliant. If there was any change observable in Mary Car- 
 michael, it was that she seemed to become harder, prouder, 
 less sympathising and less womanly day by day. 
 
 On some natures anxiety and distress produce a bracing, 
 and as it were a petrifying effect ; they will not have it 
 thought that they can be affected by such morbid influences 
 as the feelings. There are women of ice and women of fire, 
 women of wax and women of marble. It is possible that, if 
 the truth were known, these strong beauties suffer as much 
 as their more impressionable sisters, and yet the proud face 
 never falls, the hard eyes never soften. Try her with words 
 
 353
 
 ECLAIRCISSEMENT 
 
 that ought to stab, each of them, to the quick ; if she winces 
 you never know it, for the white bosom heaves no higher, the 
 colour neither fades nor deepens on the fair, provoking cheek. 
 It is maddening to the assailant ; perhaps also the one 
 attacked is not quite so comfortable as she looks ; perhaps if 
 you were to alter your tactics, to change your mood, and take 
 up the cool, indifferent line yourself, she might be goaded out 
 of this unnatural calm into a tempest that, if it did break out, 
 would probably be very terrible. It is better not to try. 
 " Touch not the cat but a glove," says the motto of a noble 
 Scottish family ; " Never drive a woman into a corner," is the 
 maxim of every philosopher who would escape scathless 
 from those contests in which the rougher and honester nature 
 is almost sure to come by the worst. 
 
 Walter Maxwell was not the man to persevere in a wooing 
 that he once had reason to believe was unwelcome ; he, too, 
 could hide a warm, loving heart, under a grave, impenetrable 
 brow could bear the pain of seeing the idol of his fancy day 
 by day more and more estranged, yet never wince nor writhe 
 under the torture, far less upbraid or complain. For weeks 
 he had been habitually in her society, himself the hero of the 
 hour, the man whom the queen favoured as her deliverer, 
 whom lords and ladies greeted as her champion, yet never 
 hazarded a word nor look that could lead Mary Carmichael 
 to believe he still cared for her, far less sought an interview, 
 as doubtless she often hoped he would, that should bring 
 about reproaches, tears, a quarrel, an explanation, and a 
 reconciliation. 
 
 These two proud dispositions were like the parallel lines 
 which, similar in all their properties, are for that reason 
 incapable of meeting. How the woman's heart swelled and 
 ached when she watched him always so calm, so courteous, so 
 impassible, so indifferent ; how she longed for him to be rude, 
 fierce, angry, even unjust and unreasonable ! she would 
 rather he had struck her than thus passed her by with that 
 studiously gentle manner, that hateful iron smile. Oh ! it 
 was hard to bear hard to bear ; and yet she must bear it, 
 and none must know her weakness or her sufferings. 
 
 And he, too, longing only to forgive everything in which 
 he felt himself aggrieved, believing he could be quite content 
 now if they were but friends and nothing more, thirsting for 
 one kind look from her eyes, one cordial word from her lips, 
 felt bound perforce to treat her with the calm, courteous, 
 defiant bearing of those who are enemies to the death. 
 
 Ludicrous as it might have been to the bystanders, it was 
 
 359
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 an uncomfortable state of things to the performers themselves 
 in the little drama tragedy, comedy, farce, call it what you 
 will, and your nomenclature will probably depend upon your 
 time of life : lovers' quarrels look so different as the decades 
 roll by. An uncomfortable state of things, doubtless, and 
 it might have gone on for a lifetime but for one of those 
 accidents to which such sufferers are peculiarly susceptible. 
 
 Accidents, like the fresh breeze that springs up on a 
 sultry summer's day. The heavens are dark and lowering, 
 there is an oppressive weight in the atmosphere, the very 
 birds sit hushed and sullen behind the motionless leaves, and 
 the earth looks saddened and weary, mourning as if she had 
 made up her mind that the sun was never to shine again. 
 Suddenly the breeze wakes up and comes laughing out of 
 the west ; the clouds fly scattered before him, the young 
 leaves flicker in the golden sunshine, the birds burst forth in 
 those joyous strains which, to do them justice, they are ever 
 ready to strike up on the slightest provocation, and the whole 
 landscape shines and smiles and quivers in life and light 
 once more. 
 
 When the queen emerged from her tiring-room in the 
 magnificent apparel best befitting such a bride, another 
 courtier, in addition to the party that had thronged the 
 chapel, entered the royal circle to tender his homage as in 
 duty bound, and congratulate her Majesty on her nuptials. 
 This new arrival was a tall, handsome man of middle age, 
 perhaps a little past that delusive epoch, yet still bearing the 
 traces of considerable beauty of feature, and distinguished for 
 peculiar fascination of manner and grace of bearing. He 
 was dressed, too, with the utmost splendour, and obviously in 
 the very latest fashion of the French Court. Several of the 
 queen's immediate attendants seemed to know him well, and 
 greeted him with a warm assumption of cordiality and 
 interest, although in the outer circle, so to speak, inquiring 
 glances were shot at the welcome stranger, and whispers of 
 " Who is he ? who is he ? " passed unanswered from mouth to 
 mouth. 
 
 It was chiefly among the younger courtiers and those 
 whose rank did not entitle them to share the secret councils 
 of her Majesty that this curiosity was observed to manifest 
 itself. Two or three of the seniors accosted him with obviously 
 suppressed warmth and mirthful looks that denoted a world 
 of intelligence only known to themselves, but Mary Car- 
 michael's eyes rested on the distinguished stranger with an 
 expression of the utmost love and confidence those very 
 
 360
 
 ECLAIRCISSEMENT 
 
 expressive eyes could convey. Had it not been for this, 
 Maxwell might never have remarked the late addition to the 
 royal circle, so absent was he and preoccupied, truth to say, 
 so utterly weary and sick at heart. Watching, however, as 
 he had accustomed himself to do, by stealth, the direction of 
 his mistress's glances, he could not but be aware of the 
 stranger's presence, and it needed no second look to satisfy 
 him that this was the identical cavalier whom he had seen 
 that starlight night in the Abbey garden, whose face and 
 figure he was not likely to forget should he live for a hundred 
 years. On that memorable occasion he remembered to have 
 experienced a vague and puzzling sensation that he had met 
 his rival before. To-day, in the queen's presence-chamber, 
 it came back again ; but he was in no mood now to speculate 
 on such random fancies and probabilities. No, in five seconds 
 of time he had made up his mind to the worst, and had 
 resolved upon the line of conduct he should adopt. Of course 
 it was all over at last. Never till this moment, when it 
 crumbled and fell to ashes, had he been aware how much 
 of hope there was mingled with his suspicions and his pique. 
 Hope ! the word itself seemed an absurdity now. Neverthe- 
 less, there is no such utter composure as a brave mind borrows 
 from the total annihilation of all it has loved and cherished 
 most. Men can have no anxieties when there is nothing left to 
 lose, and even a coward will sometimes die gracefully enough 
 if there be an obvious impossibility of escape. The most 
 accomplished gallant of the French Court could not have moved 
 through the circle of ladies that crowded the queen's ante- 
 room with a more assured air than did Walter Maxwell ; the 
 most consummate fop could not have shown less agitation 
 than was betrayed in the few words he addressed then and 
 there to Mistress Carmichael. 
 
 " We were old friends once," said he, " though now we 
 seldom even speak. Shall I find you in the gallery before the 
 banquet ? I should like to be friends again once for all." 
 
 He might have been criticising the pattern of her dress, so 
 cold and quiet were his tones. The lady did not show quite 
 so much self-command. She turned very pale, and her lip 
 trembled so that she did not dare trust her voice ; but she 
 bowed her head in the affirmative, and was glad to screen 
 herself from observation meanwhile amongst the ample dresses 
 of her companions. You see she had by no means made up 
 her mind that all was over ; perhaps, too, a horrible misgiving 
 came across her that she might have driven him too far. 
 
 While the rest of the household were preparing for the
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 banquet, they had the gallery to themselves. Strange to say, 
 the lady reached the trysting-place first. Though the colour 
 deepened on her cheek when she heard his step, she never 
 turned her head till he came close to her, and by that time 
 she had recovered her self-command. They were standing on 
 the very spot where she had dropped the roses long ago. If 
 this coincidence occurred to her, be sure she did not think it 
 worth while to mention it. He spoke first, very gravely and 
 kindly, in the tone of a man who feels he has a reparation 
 to make. 
 
 " Mistress Carmichael," said he, " I have treated you un- 
 fairly and unlike a friend. I may have thought I had a right 
 to be angry with you ; now I know for certain that is all over. 
 I am no longer angry. I ask you to forgive me, and to shake 
 hands before we part." 
 
 She scarcely dared look at him, standing there tall and 
 manly before her, with his kind eyes, and bold, frank brow. 
 No fopling lover to be given up lightly and at a moment's 
 notice, forsooth ! Over, was it ? Perhaps she did not see it 
 at all in that light ! 
 
 " What do you mean ? " she gasped, trying hard not to 
 tremble, nor to laugh, nor indeed to cry. 
 
 " I am reconciled to it all," was his answer, " because I see 
 you love him, and that you are happy. It is but a selfish 
 affection that cannot rejoice in the welfare of its object. To- 
 day," he added, with rather a sad smile, " the maidens' vow is 
 at an end. Never mind what follies may have once crossed 
 my brain. Prove to me that you forgive them by confiding 
 in me as if I was your brother." 
 
 She looked up at him with a quick, searching glance. 
 
 " You mean you think I am going to be married ? " said 
 she, " and you are wishing me joy ? " 
 
 " I am indeed," he replied, with another smile yet sadder 
 than the last. " Somewhat awkwardly, I fear, yet none the 
 less honestly for that. Listen ! I shall never tell you so 
 again. I loved you as dearly as it is possible for man 
 to love woman ; so dearly that even now I can rejoice 
 that you are happy. I can give you up to one you love. 
 I can ask you now at this moment, when everything is 
 at an end between us except friendship, the purest and 
 most loyal, to let me serve you all my life ; though it will 
 be years before I shall have courage to look on your face 
 again." 
 
 The last sentence came out in spite of him. It spoke 
 volumes to a woman's perceptions. Perhaps she liked that 
 
 362
 
 ECLAIRCISSEMENT 
 
 involuntary confession of weakness better than all the strength 
 and self-denial she had so admired a while ago. 
 
 "You do really love me," said she, trembling indeed still, 
 but pale no longer, " so well, that for my happiness you would 
 give up everything, even myself? " 
 
 " Had it not been so," he answered, " do you think I 
 should have been so angry with you for what I saw in the 
 Abbey garden ? Well, he may claim you now before them 
 all. God bless you and him \ Farewell ! Will you not give 
 me your hand once more for the last time?" 
 
 She must have been a strangely unfeeling lady, Mistress 
 Mary Carmichael, to resist such an appeal, and yet the tears 
 were brimming in her eyes despite of a roguish, happy smile 
 on her red lips. She withheld her hand, however. Perhaps 
 she did not wish to part quite so abruptly. 
 
 " You are generous," said she, between tears and laughter, 
 " and you used to be obedient at least sometimes. Wilful 
 always, you know, or I should not have had to chide you so 
 often. Will you shake my my future husband by the hand, 
 and assure him of your goodwill ? " 
 
 He thought she might have spared him this, but he 
 assented cordially. What mattered it, a little suffering, more 
 or less ? At least it would put off the parting for a few 
 minutes. 
 
 " Wait here an instant while I bring him ! " said she, and 
 darted off, leaving Walter in that frame of mind which is best 
 described by the metaphor of not knowing whether he stood 
 on his head or his heels. 
 
 He had not long to wait, though in truth he kept no 
 account of time. A light hurrying footstep trod the gallery 
 once more, followed by a heavier and manlier stride. Max- 
 well turned round to confront his lost love, closely followed 
 by the individual she had promised to bring. 
 
 'Tis strange how a vague, misty idea, that has puzzled us 
 for long, will sometimes shine out on a sudden as clear as 
 day. There was a frank, joyous expression on the stranger's 
 brow, a sparkle of excitement in his eye, that brought back 
 to Maxwell's recollection for the first time where he had seen 
 him before the well-remembered night in the Abbey garden. 
 It was the same tall cavalier who had spurred his horse so 
 gallantly into the skirmish near Hermitage, shouting his war- 
 cry the while. It was a kinsman, then, whom she was going 
 to marry after all. Mary Carmichael stood silent for an 
 instant looking from one to the other. Then she spoke out 
 very quick, as if anxious to tell her story while she could. 
 
 363
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 " Farewell, Master Maxwell ! farewell, if indeed you mean 
 to leave us all at such short notice. You shall not go, how- 
 ever, without knowing my father, my dear father, who has 
 never dared show himself openly in Scotland till to-day. 
 And none of you ever found him out not even you, with 
 your sharp, suspicious eyes," here she began to laugh ; " and 
 and Walter, if I have seemed unkind to you, I am sorry 
 for it now," here she began to cry, "and I hope you will 
 forgive me, and love my father as well as I do. My dear, 
 dear father, who has got home safe at last ! " 
 
 And then she flung herself on the paternal breast and hid 
 her face there, laughing and crying together, in a strange, 
 wild mood, very unlike the proud, self-reliant Mary Car- 
 michael whose tears Walter had so often wished he had the 
 power to call forth, if only for the pleasure of drying them ; 
 but then these natures, like frozen streams melting in the 
 sun, are proof against everything but the warmth of a great 
 happiness. 
 
 Sir Patrick Carmichael, for such was the name of Mary's 
 adventurous father, had probably some inkling of how matters 
 stood. Whether she had explained to him that she had a 
 slight regard for this loyal servant of the queen, or whether, 
 as is more likely, she had confined herself to talking of him 
 on all occasions, and constantly finding fault with him most 
 unjustly rather than not mention his name, is matter for con- 
 jecture ; but Sir Patrick, grasping Maxwell warmly by the 
 hand, assured him of his own good feelings towards him, and 
 his sincere respect for so brave and devoted an adherent of 
 their sovereign. 
 
 It was this latter quality that had won its way so tri- 
 umphantly into Sir Patrick's heart. A staunch Catholic 
 himself, Walter Maxwell was probably the only Protestant 
 in Scotland to whom he would have entrusted the happiness 
 of his daughter, but the stout queen's man was only bigoted 
 in his loyalty, and he could have refused nothing to the man 
 who saved Mary Stuart from the treachery of her intriguing 
 brother, and the violence of her own subjects. He had him- 
 self been carrying on a secret correspondence with the Guises 
 on the part of his sovereign for years, a correspondence that 
 involved continual disguises and many hair-breadth 'scapes 
 from the emissaries of those unscrupulous statesmen, who 
 would not have hesitated for an instant to take his life. Such 
 an exploit as the attempt to rob Randolph of his despatches 
 was but an amusing interlude in a career like his, but it was 
 seldom indeed Sir Patrick could enjoy a ride, either for sport 
 
 364
 
 ECLAIRCISSEMENT 
 
 or strife, in the society of his own countrymen. His daily 
 existence was one of imminent peril, only warded off by 
 constant vigilance and acuteness : his only pleasures, and even 
 these were subservient to political purposes, the stolen visits 
 to his daughter, which had so excited Maxwell's jealousy and 
 distrust. He was a bold, nay, a reckless man enough, but he 
 loved that daughter in the corner of his fearless heart better 
 than anything on earth, except the cause of his queen ; also, 
 Sir Patrick was a person of delicacy and kind feeling withal, 
 owning that sympathy for a love-affair which those cannot 
 but entertain who have themselves passed, more or less 
 scorched, through the fire. 
 
 So he left his daughter and Maxwell together in the 
 gallery, and when they all met at the queen's table an hour 
 afterwards, he observed that the pair never exchanged a 
 word, but looked as if they had some mutual understanding 
 nevertheless, and were so happy they could neither eat, nor 
 drink, nor converse rationally, nor sit still. 
 
 365
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 EXEUNT OMNES 
 
 " I watched her in the morning hour, 
 
 So pure and fresh and fair ; 
 A blossom bursting into flower 
 To gladden all the air. 
 
 I marked her shedding sweets around 
 
 Beneath the noontide ray ; 
 The glory of the garden ground, 
 
 And the pride of the summer's day. 
 
 But long before that daylight's close 
 
 The southern blast awoke, 
 And crushed and tore the queenly rose 
 
 Beneath its pelting stroke. 
 
 Alas ! her petals strew the bower ; 
 
 Yet mangled tho' she lie, 
 The fragrance of the perished flower 
 
 Floats upward to the sky." 
 
 SO the Maries were disposed of at last. The roses were un- 
 bound from the chaplet and set free. Two of the flowers 
 bloomed happy and beautiful on the manly breasts in which 
 they had not spared on occasion to drive their thorns ; one 
 clung obstinately to the person of her queen ; and one, per- 
 haps not the least fragrant and fair of the posy, drooped in a 
 cloister, and so withered untimely away. 
 
 Mary Hamilton went peacefully to her rest. Mary Seton 
 vowed eternal constancy to her sovereign, and wished for 
 nothing better than to live and die a maiden in the queen's 
 service. Mary Beton took her loyal soldier at last, and made 
 him amends, doubtless, for the pain she had inflicted during 
 his probation. Randolph, a little disgusted and a good deal 
 amused, drank a posset to the health of the newly-wedded 
 pair, and even addressed a neatly-turned compliment to the 
 bride, which met with a colder reception than its ingenuity 
 deserved ; but then the diplomatist consoled himself by re- 
 flecting that a continuance of his attentions to " worthy 
 Mistress Beton," as he called her, would be a sad waste of 
 
 366
 
 EXEUNT OMNES 
 
 time when she ceased to furnish him with the intelligence he 
 required ; and as for marrying her himself, why that of course 
 was out of the question. Ambition is a bride who brooks 
 no rival, and, in good truth, her worshippers cannot have too 
 few ties connecting them with their kind, for they must turn 
 their hands to strange jobs on occasion. Altogether he was 
 well satisfied to see her so comfortably disposed ; for Ran- 
 dolph, as has already been stated, was a good-natured man. 
 
 Having got over all their differences before marriage, 
 Walter Maxwell and his Mary quarrelled but little after that 
 welcome event. Tried, as their affection had been, in the fire, 
 and proved through so many years of anxiety, sorrow, and 
 estrangement, it would have been unreasonable to doubt it, 
 and madness indeed to hazard such a treasure for the sake 
 of a light word or a moment's discontent. So they went on 
 caring for each other as fondly, though not so uncomfortably, 
 as before. Neither of them were people to make much demon- 
 stration of their feelings, but a calm happiness of repose to 
 which it had long been a stranger seemed to have settled on 
 the husband's brow, and the love-light still shone soft and 
 lambent in the wife's blue eyes when they turned upon 
 the man she had trusted so long and so feared to lose at 
 last. 
 
 Their time, too, was fully occupied. Plenty to do at 
 home; troubles and strife and stirring news day by day 
 abroad ; constant anxiety for the beloved mistress whom they 
 were still prepared to serve with zealous loyalty ; and no 
 small share of ill-will to sustain from the many disaffected 
 and intriguing, who were never quiet for a day throughout 
 the length and breadth of the land. Nevertheless, of all 
 the Maries, perhaps Walter Maxwell's bride flourished the 
 happiest and the best'cared-for of the blooming cluster. 
 
 But what of the Queen of the Roses, the Mary of Maries, 
 the noblest princess in Europe, the loveliest woman in the 
 world ? Alas for the fairest flower in the garden ! rain or 
 shine, storm or calm, there was to be no domestic peace, no 
 permanent repose for her. The man who should have tended 
 and cherished her to the death, proved but a selfish profligate, 
 and left her to pine and languish, weary, sorrowing, and 
 alone. The man who would once have shed his heart's blood 
 freely to shield her from the slightest injury, goaded into 
 madness, ere long snatched wildly at her beauty, soiling her 
 petals with unknightly hand, and dragging the beloved one 
 with him ruthlessly and shamelessly to the dust. 
 
 Yet still the stately flower bloomed on, fair and fragrant 
 
 367
 
 THE QUEEN'S MARIES 
 
 under the pure air of heaven, fair and fragrant in the close 
 confinement and the darkened daylight of a prison-house. 
 
 But the storm was brewing the while low down in the 
 southern sky ; the storm that was about to gather so dark 
 and pitiless, to burst at last in its fury over the Queen of the 
 Roses, and lay that lovely head upon the cold earth, beauti- 
 ful and majestic even in the pale agony of death. 
 
 THE END 
 
 PRINTED UY MOHKl&ON AND GIBB LIMITED, EDINBURGH
 
 DATE DUE
 
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