Mary, Queen of Scots (11 page)

Darnley was beginning to reveal his true colours, but Mary was too infatuated to notice. Even Randolph felt pity for the lamentable estate of this poor Queen, whom ever before I esteemed so worthy, so wise, so honourable in all her doings, and at this present do find so altered with affection towards the Lord Darnley that she hath brought her honour in question, her estate in hazard, her country to be torn in pieces. Woe worth the time that ever the Lord Darnley did set his foot in this country. This Queen in her love is so transported, and he is grown so proud, that to all honest men he is intolerable, and almost forgetful of his duty to her already, that hath ventured so much for his sake. What shall become of her, or what life with him she shall lead, that taketh already so much upon him to control and to command her, I leave it to others to think.

He had noted a great change in Mary: “Her majesty is laid aside, her wits not what they were, her beauty other than it was, her cheer and countenance changed into I wot not what—a woman more to be pitied than I ever saw.” She no longer heeded “the counsel of such as can best advise her, nor giveth ear to any than such who follow her fantasy.”
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It seemed that, in her obsession with Darnley, she was rushing headlong into disaster.

Darnley’s conduct was both inappropriate and intolerable. Having expected to receive the dukedom of Albany, he exploded in temper and brandished his dagger at Justice Clerk Bellenden, who had been delegated to inform him of the deferment of this honour.
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Randolph judged Darnley “the most unworthy to be matched” with Mary, and wrote of the Scots’ belief “that God must send him a short end, or themselves a miserable life,” opining: “A greater benefit to the Queen’s Majesty [Elizabeth] could not have chanced, than to see this dishonour fall upon [Mary], and her so matched where she shall ever be assured that she can never attain to what she so earnestly looked for”—the English succession.
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It seemed that she had cast aside all rational considerations in order to gratify her passion for Darnley and her need to be revenged upon Elizabeth.

On 23 May, Randolph reported that Chatelherault had paid Darnley a visit in a spirit of reconciliation, but that Darnley had threatened “to knock his pate.”
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By now, Darnley had made many enemies, and they were beginning to align against him.

Nor were the Guises happy about the marriage. The Cardinal of Lorraine had heard rumours about Darnley, and on 23 May wrote to Mary in the hope of dissuading her from marrying such “an amiable prat” (“un gentil huteaudeau”). Mary, however, made it clear to her uncle that she meant to do so, and he conceded defeat, agreeing to support her request for a papal dispensation.
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Rizzio, as Randolph reported on 3 June, continued to support the marriage. He “now worketh all [as] chief Secretary to the Queen and only governor to her good man.” This was perhaps another reason why “the hatred towards Lord Darnley and his House [was] marvellously great.” Mainly, however, it was because Darnley’s pride was “intolerable [and] his words not to be borne.” To those who dared not answer back, “he spareth not, in token of his manhood, to let blows fly. The passions and furies I hear say he will sometimes be in are strange to believe.” Randolph was convinced that the only remedy for the “mischiefs” that would almost certainly follow upon the marriage was for Darnley to “be taken away, or those he hates so supported that what he intends for others may light upon himself.”
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An anonymous Scot asked Randolph whether, if Darnley and Lennox were seized and carried off to Berwick, the English would take custody of them. Randolph replied that they would.

Early in June, Mary summoned a convention of her nobles to meet at Perth “to persuade those present to allow her to marry with Lord Darnley.”
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She knew she could count on the support of several lesser magnates, but needed to secure that of her chief Lords. From Lochleven, Moray sent a message that he was too ill with diarrhoea to attend the convention,
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which met on 10 June, but in truth he was still implacable in his opposition to the marriage, ostensibly on religious grounds, and he was powerfully backed by Argyll (who also absented himself), Glencairn, Rothes, Ochiltree, Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange and the Hamiltons.

On the day the convention met, Elizabeth herself commanded Lennox and Darnley, on their allegiance, to return to England. Mary wept when the summons arrived, and Lennox was worried, but Darnley insolently refused to obey, declaring that he “acknowledged no duty or obedience save to the Queen of Scots. I find myself very well where I am, and so purpose to keep me.”
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On 14 June, Mary wrote to Elizabeth, protesting that she had chosen Darnley “to meet her dearest sister’s wishes,” but when Elizabeth received this letter, she vented her wrath on the messenger, John Hay. Meanwhile, Mary had told Randolph that she now saw what all Scotland had seen, that Darnley had been sent to degrade her by an unworthy marriage, but she cared nothing for that, and would snap her fingers at all who opposed her, and have her way despite them.
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On 20 June, in retaliation for Darnley’s and Lennox’s defiance, and on the advice of Throckmorton, who was concerned about England’s security in the face of this new Catholic threat, Elizabeth sent Lady Lennox to the Tower, where she was not even allowed to receive letters from her husband and son. By the end of June, Elizabeth was covertly supporting Moray’s party, having instructed Randolph to inform them that her assistance was conditional upon their undertaking only to act “to uphold the true religion [and] support their Queen with good advice.” Although she was angry with Mary, she would not countenance rebellion against their lawful sovereign.
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Mary was doing her best to build up her own party in order to counteract the threat from Moray. On 23 June, she promised to John, Lord Erskine, a Privy Councillor and Keeper of Edinburgh Castle, the earldom of Mar, which his family had been claiming in vain since 1435, and which had hitherto been held by Moray. The new Earl, a former Catholic priest who had renounced his vows and turned Protestant, was “a true nobleman,”
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a fair-minded man of integrity who was respected by all, but his wife, Annabella Murray, who was sister to Tullibardine and a Catholic, was detested by Knox, who called her “a very Jezebel.” Mar’s sister Margaret was Moray’s mother, but this did not affect his loyalty to the Queen.

From 25 to 27 June, Mary was a guest of the sinister Patrick, 3rd Lord Ruthven at Ruthven (now Huntingtower) Castle near Perth. Ruthven was Darnley’s uncle by marriage and, although a staunch Protestant, was a strong supporter of Mary’s marriage plans and was said to be “stirring coals as hot as fire to have these matters take effect.”
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In 1561, Mary had told Knox that she could not love Ruthven “for I know him to use enchantment,” yet in 1563 she admitted him to her Privy Council.
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He was an educated man, but a highly unsavoury character because of his involvement with the black arts. Yet Mary could not afford to be too nice about such matters: she and Darnley, who seems to have regarded Ruthven in an avuncular light, now needed all the support they could get. On 30 June, Mary appointed the loyal Lord Fleming Lord Great Chamberlain. She knew she could also count on several other Lords, including the appalling Lindsay, who was linked to Darnley by marriage.

That same day, Mary learned that Charles IX and Catherine de’ Medici approved of her proposed marriage. Armed with this knowledge, she felt she could go ahead and risk the consequences. But the very next day, Moray, with the backing of Chatelherault, Glencairn and Randolph, was convening a meeting with Argyll and the Protestant Robert, 5th Lord Boyd at Lochleven to formulate a protest against her marriage and plot rebellion. More ominously, Elizabeth now seemed prepared to back them, and at Moray’s request, transmitted through Randolph, soon afterwards secretly sent him £3,000, in the hope of ensuring his continuance in power. Knox and other Protestant ministers were already condemning the marriage from their pulpits, and were ready to take up arms if need be to defend the reformed faith.
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Word of Moray’s activities had reached Mary, along with a warning that, with the connivance of England, he was planning the kidnap and possible assassination of both her and Darnley. That this was not mere rumour is confirmed by Cecil’s assumption on 7 July that the plot had been successful: “The bruit is abroad that the Queen of Scotland has been taken by the Earls of Moray and Argyll.” Moray was aware that on 1 July, Mary was to travel with Darnley from Perth to Callendar House near Falkirk, to be godmother to the child of Lord Livingston; Moray had been invited to attend, but had declined. Instead, he was planning to ambush the royal party on the way to Callendar and send Mary, Darnley and Lennox as captives to England. Bothwell later claimed that they meant to murder Darnley.
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Forewarned, Mary left Perth at 5 a.m., accompanied by Atholl, Ruthven, Mar and an escort of 2–300 men, and rode the thirty miles to Callendar without stopping, arriving an hour before Moray had expected her to set out.
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On 2 July, however, Randolph reported that it had been Darnley and Rizzio who were plotting against Moray, and that he had stayed away from Perth because he had been warned that he would be slain there. It seems that Moray had himself put this rumour about, in order to deflect suspicion from himself. Of Darnley, Randolph wrote: “What shall become of him I know not, but it is greatly to be feared that he can have no long life among these people.” He added that Mary, “being of better understanding,” was trying “to frame and fashion him to the nature of her subjects,” but it was an impossible task because Darnley was “proud, disdainful and suspicious. A greater plague to her there cannot be. He is of an insolent temper, and thinks that he is never sufficiently honoured. The Queen does everything to oblige him, though he cannot be prevailed upon to yield the smallest thing to please her. He claims the Crown Matrimonial, and will have it immediately. The Queen tells him that it must be delayed till he be of age, and done by consent of Parliament, which does not satisfy him.”
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The Crown Matrimonial was to become a bone of contention between Mary and Darnley, and would permanently sour their relationship. Mary’s excuse did not satisfy Darnley, since Francis II had been granted the Crown Matrimonial when he was younger than Darnley, but it was unlikely, given Darnley’s conduct and immaturity, that Parliament would agree to it being bestowed on him as yet, for it brought with it the right of succession, in the event of the sovereign dying childless. To Darnley, it represented the pinnacle of his ambition, and he would never rest until it was his.

Having failed in his design against Mary, Moray was preparing to take up arms, and on 6 July, Argyll began raising troops on his behalf. Four days later, Elizabeth sent Moray a letter of encouragement, and Mary one containing a strong warning.

On 9 July, Mary and Darnley went to Seton Palace as the guests of Lord Seton. Situated ten miles east of Edinburgh, near the Firth of Forth, the palace had been largely rebuilt since its sacking by the English in 1544, and boasted fine, lofty state rooms set around a triangular courtyard.
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On 16 July, Randolph reported to Elizabeth that Mary and Darnley had been secretly married at Holyrood on 9 July, with “not above seven persons present,” and had consummated their marriage that night at Seton. “If true, Your Majesty sees how her promise is kept.”

Mary and Darnley stayed two nights at Seton, then returned to Edinburgh Castle, where they hosted a dinner. “That afternoon, [they] walked up and down the town disguised till supper time, and lay that night at the Abbey.”
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Rumours were flying fast; if they had not been secretly married, then they may well have taken part in a betrothal ceremony, and it is more likely that this took place now rather than in May, as the French ambassador had alleged. But although Randolph initially claimed that Mary and Darnley consummated their union at this time, he later declared that, although suspicious men supposed they were lovers, “the likelihoods are so great to the contrary that, if it were possible to see such an act done, I would not believe it.” Coming from Mary’s enemy, this must be the truth.

On 12 July, and again on the 15th, in order to allay the fears of the Protestants, Mary issued a proclamation declaring that she did not intend to make any alteration in the state of religion. Her second proclamation also summoned her lieges to arms, for she had learned that Moray was now in the west, raising a rebel army with intent to march on Edinburgh. The following day, in an act of defiance against Moray, Mary summoned Bothwell back to Scotland. But Bothwell, then in Paris, never received her letter, for it was intercepted by Bedford at Berwick.

Moray, Argyll, Chatelherault and several other rebel Lords met at Stirling on 18 July, whence they sent a plea to Elizabeth for military aid, which in itself constituted an act of treason. Elizabeth sent them £10,000.

Two days later, Parliament was due to meet, but Mary deliberately did not summon it, not wishing to create a forum for opposition. On 22 July, without consulting her Lords, she at last created Darnley Duke of Albany. Given the political situation, and Elizabeth’s hostility,
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Mary was not minded to wait for a dispensation, and on that same day took the irrevocable step of ordering the marriage banns to be published in St. Giles’s Kirk, the Canongate Kirk and the chapel royal at Holyrood. In so doing, she risked making an invalid marriage and jeopardising the legitimacy of any issue of it,
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but she must have felt that this was the lesser of two evils for, once married, she would be in a far stronger position to deal with her rebels. In order to win the support of the Pope, Mary wrote to him protesting her determination to restore the Catholic faith in Scotland, ignoring the fact that she had proclaimed her intention to maintain the reformed faith only a week earlier. In this resolve, she had the support of Darnley, Lennox, Rizzio and the Clerk Register, Sir James Balfour, a friend of Darnley’s.
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