1 March begins to whether she had anything to hope from Spain. If the CHAP VIII Prince of Spain failed, her friends in England wished that 1564 she should marry Lord Darnley. She now proposed to play with the position, to affect submission, to induce the Mary Stuart Queen of England herself if possible to propose Darnley think to her; and by accepting him with deferential and seem-seriously of ing reluctance to obtain the long-desired recognition. Darnley. Once married to Darnley and admitted by Parliament as heir presumptive, her course would then be easy. At the Lord bottom of her heart she had determined that she would never cease to be Elizabeth's enemy; never for a moment had she parted with the conviction that the English crown was hers, and that Elizabeth was a usurper. But without support from abroad she was obliged to trust to her address; could she win her way to be second person,' and were she married with Elizabeth's consent to the favourite of the insurrectionary Catholics, she could show her colours with diminished danger; she could extort concession after concession, make good her ground inch by inch and yard by yard, and at last when the favourable moment came, seize her rival by the throat and roll her from her throne into the dust. Elizabeth had offered her the choice of any English nobleman. Darnley's birth and person marked him out as the one on whom her choice, if anywhere, might naturally be expected to rest. It was with some expectation of hearing his name, at least as one among others, that she at last pressed Elizabeth to specify the person whom she had in view for her. It was with some real and much affected surprise that Elizabeth she found the name when it came at last-to be that Lord Robert of Lord Robert Dudley-and of Lord Robert Dudley Dudley. alone. 1 Mary Stuart to Granvelle.-LABANOFF, vol. i. p. 200. offers her CHAP VIII 1564 April Mary and Ran dolph. Randolph conveyed Elizabeth's wishes to her, and with them a distinct promise that as Dudley's wife the Queen of England would have her named as successor. She commanded herself so far as to listen cautiously. She objected to Dudley's inferiority of rank, and said that a marriage with him would impair her honour. It was honour enough, Randolph replied, to inherit such a kingdom as England. She looked not,' she said, for the kingdom, for her sister might marry, and was likely to live longer than herself; she was obliged to consider her own and her friends' expectations, and she did not think they would agree that she should abase her state so far.' So far she answered in public; but Mary Stuart's art was to affect a peculiar confidence in the person whom she was addressing. She waited till she was alone, and then detaining Randolph when the courtiers were gone, she said: 'Now, Mr. Randolph, tell me, does your mistress in good earnest wish me to marry my Lord Robert ?' Randolph assured her that it was so. Is that,' she said, 'conform to her promise to use me as a sister or daughter to marry me to her subject?' Randolph thought it was. 'If I were a sister or a daughter,' she said, 'were it not better to match me where some alliance or friendship might ensue, than to marry me where neither could be increased ?' The alliance which his sovereign desired, Randolph answered, was the perpetual union of the two realms in a single monarchy. 'The Queen your mistress,' she said, 'being assured of me might let me marry where it may like me; and I always should remain friend to her; she may marry herself and have children, and what shall I have CHAP VIII gained ?' Randolph said his mistress must have provided for that chance and would act honourably. But Mary Stuart replied justly that she could take no step of so great consequence without a certainty to rely upon; she bade him tell Elizabeth that the proposal was sudden-she could give no answer without longer thought; she had no objection to Lord Robert's person-but the match was unequal: commissioners on both sides might meet to consider it; more she could not say. She left Randolph with an impression that she had spoken as she felt, and Maitland bade him not be discouraged. If Elizabeth would pay the price she might obtain what she wished. Yet some secret friend warned Randolph to be on his guard in the following remarkable words :'Wheresoever she hovers and how many times soever she doubles to fetch the wind, I believe she will at length let fall her anchor between Dover and Berwick, though perchance not in that fort, haven, or road that you wish she should.'1 Elizabeth either satisfied from Randolph's report that the Queen of Scots was on the way to compliance, or determined to leave her nothing to complain of, at once gave a marked evidence that on her part she would adhere to her engagement. Although the debate in Parliament had gone deeply into the succession question, yet it had been carried on with closed doors; and the turn which it had taken was unknown except by rumour to the public. Lady Catherine Grey was still though pining in captivity the hope of the Protestants; and 1 Randolph to Cecil, March 20 and April 13, 1564.-Scotch MSS. Rolls House. 1564 April CHAP VIII John Hales, Clerk of the Hanaper-report said with Cecil's help and connivance-collected the substance of 1564 April and the Lady Catherine. the arguments in her favour; he procured opinions at the John Hales same time from Italian canonists in favour of the title of the validity of her marriage with Lord Hertford; and out of these materials compiled a book in defence of her title, which was secretly put into circulation. The strongest point in Lady Catherine's favour-the omission of the Scottish line in the will of Henry the Eighth-could only be touched on vaguely, the will itself being still concealed; but the case which Hales contrived to make out, representing as it did not only the wishes of the ultra-Protestants but the opinions of Lord Arundel and the Howards, was strong enough to be dangerous. Elizabeth, who in addition to her political sympathies cherished a vindictive dislike of her cousin, sent Hales to the Fleet, and inflicted on Cecil the duty of examining and exposing what she chose to regard as conspiracy.1 The imprisonment of Hales was accepted as little less than a defiance of the Protestant party in England, and as equivalent to a public declaration in favour of the Queen of Scots. The long-talked-of meeting of the Queens was again expected in the approaching summer, and the recognition of Mary Stuart was anticipated with more certainty than ever as the result of the interview. The Queen of Scots however was growing impatient with hopes long deferred. She either disbelieved Elizabeth's honesty or misinterpreted her motives into fears. As Darnley was not offered to her she more than ever In this matter I am by com- ad sinistram; and yet I am not free mandment occupied, whereof I could from suspicion.'- Cecil to Sir Thobe content to be delivered; but I will mas Smith, May, 1564. WRIGHT'S go upright, neither ad dextram non Elizabeth, vol. i. 1564 inclined towards getting possession of him; and antici- CHAP VIII pating a storm she would not wait to let events work for her, and showed her intentions prematurely in preparing the way for his acceptance in Scotland. in Scotland of Lennox. The Earl of Lennox, it will be remembered, had lost Objections his estates in the interests of England. For some years to the Earl past he had pressed for their restoration, and his petition had been supported by Elizabeth. So long as Mary had hopes elsewhere she had replied with words and excuses. The lands of Lennox had been shared among the friends of the Hamiltons. The lands of Angus which he claimed in right of his wife were in the grip of the dark Morton, whom the Queen of Scots durst not quarrel with. The law in Scotland was the law of possession, and the sword alone would have reinstated the exiled earl. The position of his family had hitherto been among the greatest objections to her thinking seriously of Lord Darnley as a husband. If Elizabeth offered him she would have less to fear; if to gratify the English Catholics she was to marry him against Elizabeth's will, she would have in the first instance to depend on her subjects to maintain her, and among them the connexion might prove an occasion of discord. So long as the Hamiltons were strong the marriage would have been absolutely impossible. Chatelherault however was now in his dotage; the Earl of Arran was a lunatic; the family was enfeebled and scattered; and Mary Stuart was enabled to feel her way towards her object, by allowing Lennox to return and sue for his rights. Could the House of Lennox recover its rank in Scotland the next step would be more easy. Had she affected to consult Elizabeth-had she openly admitted her desire to substitute Darnley for Lord Robert -affecting no disguise and being ready to accept with ELIZ. II. G |