July 26, 2025 • 28 mins
Celebrated Crimes is a unique series of historical narratives by a young, rising Alexandre Dumas, before he became renowned as the author of DArtagnan or Monte Cristo. The third volume focuses on the tumultuous life and tragic end of Mary Queen of Scots. Dumas meticulously delves into the controversial aspects of her reign, yet maintains a sympathetic perspective towards her. Remembered for her strong ties to France through education and marriage, Marys fate has been a subject of unending debate, especially in light of the role Elizabeth played in her downfall.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter two of Celebrated Crimes, Volume three by Alexandre Duma,
translated by George Burnham Ives. This LibriVox recording is in
the public domain. Chapter two. Among the lords who had
followed Mary Stuart to Scotland was, as we have mentioned,
a young nobleman named Chatelaud, a true type of the
nobility of that time, a nephew of Bayard on his
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mother's side, a poet and a knight, a talented and
courageous an attached to Marshal d'Anville, of whose household he
formed one Thanks to this high position, Chatelaud, throughout her
stay in France, paid court to Mary Stuart, who, in
the homage he rendered her in verse, saw nothing more
than those poetical declarations of gallantry customary in that age,
and with which she especially was daily overwhelmed. But it
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happened that about the time when Chatelard was most in
love with the Queen, she was obliged to leave France.
As we have said, then, Marshal d'amville, who knew nothing
of Chatelard's passion, and who himself encouraged by Mary's kindness,
was among the candidates to succeed Francis the second. This
husband set out for Scotland with the poor exile, taking
Chatelard with him, and not imagining he would find a
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rival in him, he made a confidant of him and
left him with Mary when he was obliged to leave her,
charging the young poet to support with her the interests
of his suit. This post as confidante brought Mary and
Chatelard more together, and as in her capacity as poet,
the Queen treated him like a brother, he made bold
in his passion to risk all to obtain another title. Accordingly,
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one evening he got into Mary Stuart's room and hid
himself under the bed. But at the moment when the
Queen was beginning to undress a little dog, she had
began to yelp so loudly that her women came running
at his barking, And led by this indication, perceived Chatealard
a woman easily pardons a crime for which too great
love is the excuse. Mary Stuart was a woman before
being queen. She pardoned. But this kindness only increased Chatelard's confidence.
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He put down the reprimand he had received the presence
of the Queen's women and supposed that if she had
been alone, she would have forget given him still more completely,
so that three weeks after this same scene was repeated,
but this time Chatealard, discovered in a cupboard when the
Queen was already in bed, was placed under arrest. The
moment was badly chosen. Such a scandal just when the
Queen was about to remarry, was fatal to Mary, let
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alone to Chatealard. Murray took the affair in hand, and,
thinking that a public trial could alone save his sister's reputation,
he urged the prosecution with such vigor that Chatelard, convicted
of the crime of leis majeste, was condemned to death.
Mary entreated her brother that Chatelard might be sent back
to France, but Murray made her see what terrible consequences
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such a use of her right of pardon might have,
so that Mary was obliged to let justice take its course.
Chatelard was led to the execution, arrived on the scaffold,
which was set up before the Queen's palace. Chatelard, who
had declined the services of a priest, had Ronsard's owed
on death read, and when the reading which he followed
with evident pleasure was ended. He turned towards the Queen's windows, and,
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having cried out for the last time, adu loveliest and
most cruel of princesses, he stretched out his neck to
the executioner, without displaying any repentance or uttering any complaint.
This death made all the more impression upon Mary that
she did not dare to show her sympathy openly. Meanwhile,
there was a rumor that the Queen of Scotland was
consenting to a new marriage, and several suitors came forward,
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sprung from the principal reigning families of Europe, first the
Archduke Charles third, son of the Emperor of Germany, then
the Duke of Anjou, who afterwards became Henry the Third.
But to what a foreign princess was to give up
her claims to the English crown? So Mary refused, and
making a merit of this to Elizabeth, she cast her
eyes on a relation of the latters, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley,
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son of the Earl of Lennox. Elizabeth, who had nothing
plausible to urge against this marriage, since the Queen of
Scotland not only chosen Englishman for a husband, but was
marrying into her own family. Allowed the Earl of Lennox
and his son to go to the Scotch court, reserving
it to herself if matters appeared to take a seatious
turn to recall them both, a command which they would
be constrained to obey, since all their property was in England.
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Darnley was eighteen years of age. He was handsome, well made, elegant.
He talked in that attractive manner of the young nobles
of the French and English courts, that Mary no longer
heard since of exile in Scotland. She let herself be
deceived by these appearances, and did not see that under
this brilliant exterior Darnley hid utter insignificance, a dubious courage,
and a fickle and churlish character. It is true that
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he came to her under the auspices of a man
whose influence was as striking as the risen fortune which
gave him the opportunity to exert it. We refer to
David Rizzio. David Rizzio, who played such a great part
in a life of Mary Stuart, whose strange favor for
him has given her enemies probably without any cause such
cruel weapons against her. Was the son of a Turran musician,
burdened with a numerous family, who, recognizing in him a
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pronounced musical taste, had him instructed in the first principles
of the art. At the age of fifteen, he had
left his father's house else and had gone on foot
to Nis, where the Duke of Savoy held his court.
There he entered the service of the Duke of Moreto,
and this lord, having been appointed some years afterwards to
the Scottish embassy, Rizzio followed him to Scotland. As this
young man had a very fine voice, and accompanied on
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the viol and fiddle songs of which both the heirs
and the words were of his own composition, the ambassador
spoke of him to Mary, who wished to see him. Rizzio,
full of confidence in himself, and seeing in the Queen's desire,
rode to success, hastened to obey her command, sang before
her and pleased her. She begged him then of Moreto,
making no more of it than if she had asked
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of him a thoroughbred dog or a well trained falcon.
Moreto presented him to her, Delighted at finding such an
opportunity to pay his court. But scarcely was Rizzio in
her service than Mary discovered that music was the least
of his gifts that he possessed. Besides that education, if
not profound, at least varied a supple mind, a lively imagination,
gentle ways, and at the same time much boldness and presumption.
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He reminded her of those Italian artists whom she had
seen at the French court, and as spoke to her
the tongue of Maroan Rozzard, whose most beautiful poems he
knew by heart. This was more than enough to please
Mary Stuart. In a short time he became her favorite,
and meanwhile, the place of secretary for the French dispatches
falling vacant Rizzio, was provided for. With it Darnley, who
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wished to succeed at all costs enlist Rizzio in his interests,
unconscious that he had no need of this support, and
as on her side, Mary, who had fallen in love
with him at first sight, fearing some new intrigue of Elizabeth's,
hastened on this union. So far as the proprieties permitted,
the affair moved forward with wonderful rapidity, and in the
midst of public rejoicing, with the approbation of the nobility,
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except for a small minority with Murray at its head,
the marriage was solemnized under the happiest auspices twenty ninth
July fifteen sixty five. Two days before Darnley and his father,
the Earl of Lennox, had received a command to return
to London, and as they had not obeyed it, a
week after the celebration of the marriage, they learned that
the Countess of Lennox, the only one of the family
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remaining in Elizabeth's power, had been arrested and taken to
the tower. Thus, Elizabeth, in spite of her dissimulation, yielded
to that first impulse of violence that she always had
such trouble to overcome. Publicly displayed her resentment. However, Elizabeth
was not the woman to be satisfied with useless vengeance.
She soon released the Countess and turned her eyes towards Murray,
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the most discontented of the nobles in opposition, who by
this marriage was losing all his personal influence. It was
thus easy for Elizabeth to put arms in his hand.
In fact, when he had failed in his first attempt
to seize Darnley, he called to his aide the Duke
of Chatelleraut, glen Cairn, Argyll and Rothus, and collecting what
partisans they could, they openly rebelled against the Queen. This
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was the first ostensible act of that hatred which was
afterwards so fatal to marry. The Queen on her side
appealed to her nobles, who in response hastened to rally
to her, so that in a month's time she found
herself at the head of the finest army that ever
a king of Scotland had raised. Darnley assumed the command
of this magnificent assembly, mounted on a superb horse, a
rayed and gilded armor, and accompanied by the Queen, who,
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in riding habit with pistols at her saddle bow, wished
to make the campaign with him, that she might not
quit his side for a moment. Both were young, both
were handsome, and they left Edinburgh amidst the cheers of
the people in the army. Murray and his accomplices did
not even try to stand against them, and the campaign
consisted of such rapid and complex marches and counter marches
that this rebellion is called the runabout raid, that is
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to say, the run in every sense of the word.
Murray and the Revels withdrew to England, where Elizabeth, while
seeming to condemn their unlucky attempt, afforded them all the
assistance they needed. Mary returned to Edinburgh, delighted at the
success of her first two campaigns, not suspecting that this
new good fortune was the last she would have, and
that there her short lived prosperity would cease. Indeed, she
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soon saw that in Darnley she had given herself not
a devoted and very attentive husband, as she had believed,
but an imperious and brutal master, who, no longer having
any motive for concealment, showed himself to her just as
he was, a man of disgraceful vices, of which drunkenness
and debauchery was the least. Accordingly, serious differences were not
long in springing up in this royal household. Darnley and wedding.
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Mary had not become king, but merely the queen's husband.
To confer on him authority nearly equaling of regents, it
was necessary that Mary should grant him what was termed
the crown matrimonial, a crown Francis the Second had worn
during his short royalty, and that Mary, after Darnley's conduct
to herself, had not the slightest intention of bestowing on him. Thus,
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to whatever entreaties he made, in whatever form they were wrapped,
Mary merely replied with an unvaried and obstinate refusal. Darnley,
amazed at this force of will, and a young queen
who had loved him enough to raise him to her, and,
not believing that she could find it in herself, sought
in her entourage for some secret and influential adviser who
might have inspired her with it. His suspicions fell on Rizzio.
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In reality, to whatever cause Rizzio owed his power, and
to even the most clear sighted historians, this point has
always remained obscure. Be it that he ruled as lover,
be it that he advised as minister, his counsels, as
long as he lived, were always given for the greater
glory of the queen sprung from so low, he at
least wished to show himself worthy of having risen so high,
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And owing everything to Mary, he tried to repay her
with devotion. Thus, Darnley was not mistaken, and it was
indeed Rizzio, who, in despair at having helped to bring
about a union which he foresaw must become so unfortunate,
gave Mary the advice not to give up any of
her power to one who already possessed much more than
he deserved in possessing her person. Darnley, like all persons
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of both weak and violent character, disbelieved in the persistence
of will and others unless this will was sustained by
an outside influence. He thought that in ridding himself of Rizzio,
he could not fail to gain the day, since, as
he believed, he alone was opposing the grant of this
great desire of his the crown matrimonial. Consequently, as Rizzio
was disliked by the nobles in proportion as his merits
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had raised him above them, it was easy for Darnley
to organize a conspiracy, and James Douglas of Morton, Chancellor
of the Kingdom, consented to act as chief. This is
the second time since the beginning of our narrative that
we inscribed this name Douglas, so often pronounced in Scottish history,
and which at this time, extinct in the elder branch
known as the Black Douglases, was perpetuated in the younger branch,
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known as the Red Douglases. It was an ancient, noble
and powerful family, which, when the descent in the male
line from Robert Bruce had lapsed, disputed the royal title
with the First Stuart, and which since then had constantly
kept alongside the throne, sometimes its support, sometimes its enemy.
Envying every great house for greatness made it uneasy, but
above all envious of the House of Hamilton, which, if
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not its equel, was, at any rate after itself, the
next most powerful. During the whole reign of James the Fifth,
thanks to the hatred which the king bore them, the
Douglas had had not only lost all their influence, but
had also been exiled to England. This hatred was on
account of their having seized the guardianship of the young
Prince and kept him prisoner till he was fifteen. Then,
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with the help of one of his pages, James the
Fifth had escaped from Falkland and had reached Stirling, whose
governor was in his interests. Scarcely was he safe in
the castle than he made proclamation that any Douglas who
should approach within a dozen miles of it would be
prosecuted for high treason. This was not all. He obtained
a decree from Parliament declaring them guilty of felony and
condemning them to exile. They remained proscribed then during the
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King's lifetime, and returned to Scotland only upon his death.
The result was that although they had been recalled about
the throne, and though thanks to the past influence of
Murray who won members was a Douglas on the mother's side,
they filled the most important posts there they had not
forgiven to the daughter the enmity borne them by the father.
This was why James Douglas, Chancellor as he was and
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consequently entrusted with the execution of the laws, put himself
the head of a conspiracy which had for its aimed
the violation of all laws human and divine. Douglas's first
idea had been to treat Rizzio as the favorites of James.
The third had been treated at the Bridge of Louder,
that is to say, to make a show of having
a trial and to hang him afterwards. But such a
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death did not suffice for Darley's vengeance, as above everything
he wished to punish the Queen in Rizzio's person. He
exacted that the murder should take place in her presence.
Douglas associated with himself Lord Ruthven, an idle and dissolute Sipparite,
who under the circumstances, promised to push his devotion so
far as to wear a cuirass. Then, sure of this
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important accomplice, he busied himself with finding other agents. However,
the plot was not woven with such secrecy, but that
something of it transpired, and Rizzio received several warnings that
he despised. Sir James Melville, among others, tried every means
to make him understand the perils the stranger ran, who
enjoyed such absolute confidence in a wild, jealous court like
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that of Scotland. Rizzio received these hints as if resolved
not to apply them to himself, and Sir James Melville,
satisfied that he had done enough to ease his conscience,
did not insist further. Then a French priest, who had
a reputation as a clever astrologer, got himself admitted to
Rizzio and warned him that the stars predicted that he
was in deadly peril, and that he should beware of
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a certain bastard above all. Rizzio replied that from the
day when he had been honored with his sovereign's confidence,
he had sacrificed in advance his life to his position.
That since that time, however, he had had occasion to
notice that in general the Scotch were ready to threaten,
but slow to act. That as to the bastard referred to,
who was doubtless the Earl of Murray, he would take
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care that he should never enter Scotland far enough for
his sword to reach him, were it as long as
the Dumfries to Edinburgh, which in other words, was as
much as to say that Murray should remain exiled in
England for life, since Dumfries was one of the principal
frontier towns. Meanwhile, the conspiracy proceeded, and Douglas and Ruthven,
having co elected their accomplices and taken their measures, came
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to Darnley to finish the compact. As the price of
the bloody service they rendered the King, they exacted from
him a promise to obtain the pardon of Murray and
the nobles compromised with him in the affair of the run.
In every sense, Darnley granted all they asked of him,
and a messenger was sent to Murray to inform him
of the expedition in preparation, and to invite him to
hold himself in readiness to re enter Scotland at the
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first notice he should receive. Then this point settled, they
made Darnley sign a paper in which he acknowledged himself
the author and chief of the enterprise. The other assassins
were the Earl of Morton, the Earl of Ruthven, George Douglas,
the Bastard of Angus Lidley, and Andrew Carew. The remainder
were soldiers simply murderer's tools, who did not even know
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what was afoot. Darnley reserved it for himself to appoint
the time two days after these conditions were agreed upon. Darnley,
having been notified that the Queen was alone with Rizzio,
wished to make himself sure of the degree of her
favor enjoyed by the minister. He accordingly went to her
apartments by a little door of which he always kept
the key upon him but though the key turned in
the lock, the door did not open. Then Darley knocked,
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announcing himself. But such was the contempt into which he
had fallen with the Queen, that Mary left him outside,
although supposing she had been alone with Rizzio, she would
have had time to send him away. Darnley, driven to
extremities by this, summoned Morton, Ruthven, Lennox, Linley, and Douglas's bastard,
and fixed the assassination of Rizzio for two days later.
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They had just completed all the details and had distributed
the parts that each must play in this bloody tragedy,
when suddenly, and at the moment when they least expected it,
the door opened and Mary Stuart appeared on the threshold.
My lords said, she, you are holding these secret counsels
as useless. I am informed of your plots, and with
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God's help, I shall soon apply a remedy with these words,
And before the conspirators hid had time to collect themselves,
she shut the door again and banished, like a passing
but threatening vision, all remained thunderstruck. Morton was the first
to find his tongue. My lords said he, this is
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a game of life.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
And death, and the winner who will not be the
cleverest or, the strongest, but the readiest. If we do
not destroy this man, we are lost. We must strike
him down this very evening, not the day after tomorrow.
Everyone applauded, even Ruthven, who still pale and feverish from
the riotous living, promised not to be behindhand. The only
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point changed on Morton's suggestion was that the murder should
take place next day, for in the opinion of Awe,
not less than a day's interval was needed to collect
the minor conspirators, who numbered not less than five hundred.
The next day, which was Saturday, March ninth, fifteen sixty six,
Mary Stewart, who had inherited from her father James the fifth,
a dislike of ceremony and the need of liberty, had
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invited to supper with her six persons, Rizzio among the number. Darnley,
informed of this in the morning, immediately gave notice of
it to the conspirators, telling them that he himself would
let them into the palace between six and seven o'clock
in the evening. The conspirators replied that they would be
in readiness. The morning had been dark and stormy, as
nearly all the first days of spring are in Scotland,
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and towards evening the snow and wind redoubled in depth
and violence. So Mary had remained shut up with Rizzio
and Darnley, who had gone to the secret door several times,
could hear the sound of instruments and the voice of
the Favorite, who was singing those sweet melodies which have
come down to our time, and which Edinburgh people still
attribute to him. These songs were for Mary a reminder
of her say in France, where the artists in the
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train of the Medicis had already brought echoes from Italy.
But for Darnley they were an insult, and each time
he had withdrawn strengthened in his design. At the appointed time,
the conspirators, who had been given the password during the day,
knocked at the palace gate and were received there so
much the more easily than Darley himself, wrapped in a
great cloak, awaited them at the postern, by which they
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were admitted. The five hundred soldiers immediately stole into an
inner courtyard, where they placed themselves under some sheds, as
much to keep themselves from the cold as that they
might not be seen on the snow covered ground. A
brightly lighted window looked into this courtyard. It was that
of the Queen's study. At the first signal give them
from this window, the soldiers were to break in the
door and go to the help of the chief conspirators.
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These instructions given, Darnley led Morton, Ruthven, Lennox Lindley, Andrew Carew,
and Douglas's bastard into the room adjoining the study, and
only separated from it by a tapestry hanging before the door.
From there one could overhear all that was being said,
and at a single bound fall upon the guests. Darnley
left them in this room, enjoying silence, then giving them
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as a signal to enter the moment when they should
hear him cry to me Douglas, he went round by
the secret passage, so that seeing him come in by
his usual door, the Queen's suspicions might not be roused
by his unlooked for visit. Mary was at supper with
six persons, having seed too, and Melville Rizzio seated on
her right, while on the contrary, karab Den assures us
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that he was standing at a sideboard. The talk was
gay and intimate, for all were giving themselves up to
the ease one feels at being safe and warm at
a hospitable board, while the snow is beating against the
windows and the wind roaring in the chimneys. Suddenly, Mary
surprised that the most profound silence had succeeded to the
lively and animated flow of words among her guests since
the beginning of supper, and suspecting from their glances that
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the cause of their uneasiness was behind her, turned round
and saw Darnly leaning on the back of her chair.
The queen shuddered, for although her husband was smiling when
looking at Rizzio, this smile led assumed such a strange
expression that it was clear that something terrible was about
to happen. At the same moment, Mary heard in the
next room a heavy, dragging step drew nearer to the cabinet.
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Then the tapestry was raised, and Lord Ruffin, in armor
of which he could barely support the weight, pale as
a ghost, appeared on the threshold, and, drawing his sword
and silence, leaned upon it. The queen thought he was delirious.
What do you want my Lord, she said to him,
And why do you come to the palace like this?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Ask the king. Madam replied Ruthven in an indistinct voice.
It is for him to answer. Explain, my lord, demanded Mary,
turning again towards Darnley, What does such a neglect of
ordinary propriety mean? It means, Madame returned Darnley, pointing to Rizzio,
that that man must leave here this very minute. That
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man is mine, my Lord, Mary said, rising proudly, and
consequently takes orders only from me to me. Douglas, cried Darnley.
At these words, the conspirators, who for some moments had
drawn nearer Ruthven, fearing so changeable was Darley's character, lest
he had brought them in vain, and would not dare
to utter the signal. At these words, the conspirators rushed
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into the room with such haste that they overturned the table.
Then David Rizzio, seeing that it was he they alone
they wanted, threw himself on his knees behind the queen,
seizing the hem of her robe and crying an Italian aguistisia,
a guistisia. Indeed, the Queen, true to her character, not
allowing herself to be intimidated by this terrible eruption, placed
herself in front of Rizzio and sheltered him behind her majesty.
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But she counted too much on the respect of a
nobility accustomed to struggle hand to hand with its kings
for five centuries. Andrew carew held a dagger to her
breast and threatened to kill her if she insisted on
defending any longer him, whose death was resolved upon. Then Darnley,
without consideration for the queen's pregnancy, seized her round the
waist and bore her away from Rizzio, who remained on
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his knees, pale and trembling, while Douglas's bastard, confirming the
prediction of the astrologer who had warned Rizzio to beware
of a certain bastard, drawing the king's own dagger, plunged
it into the breast of the minister, who fell wounded
but not dead. Morton immediately took him by the feet
and dragged him from the cabinet into the larger room,
leaving on the floor that long track of blood which
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is still shown there. Then arrived there each rushed upon him,
as upon a quarry and set upon the corpse, which
they stabbed in fifty six places. Meanwhile, Darnley held the queen, who,
thinking that all was not over, did not cease crying
for mercy. But Ruthven came back paler than at first,
and at Darnley's inquiry if Rizzio were dead, he nodded
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in the affirmative. Then, as he could not bear further
fatigue in his convalescent state, he sat down, although the queen,
whom Darnley had at last released, remained standing on the
same spot. At this Mary could not contain herself. My lord,
cried she who has given you permission to sit down
in my presence? And whence comes such insolence? Madam Ruthven answered,
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I act thus not from insolence, but from weakness, For
to serve your husband, I have just taken more exercise
than my doctors allow. Then, turning round to a servant,
give me a glass of wine, said he, showing Darnley
as a bloody dagger before putting it back in its sheath,
for he was the proof that I have well earned it.
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The servant obeyed, and Ruffin drained his glass with as
much calmness as if he had just performed the most
innocent act. My lord, the Queen then said, taking a
step towards him. It may be that, as I am
a woman, in spite of my desire and my will,
I never find an opportunity to repay you what you
are doing to me, But she added, energetically striking her
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womb with her hand, he whom I bear there and
whose life you should have respected. Since you respect my majesty,
so little will one day revenge me for all these insults. Then,
with a gesture at once superb and threatening, she withdrew
by Darnley's door, which she closed behind her. At that
moment a great noise was heard in the Queen's room. Huntly,
Athol and Bothwell, who we are soon about to see
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play such an important part in the sequel of this history,
were supping together in another hall of the palace, when
suddenly they had heard outcries in the clash of arms,
so that they had run with all speed, when Athol,
who came first, without knowing whose it was, struck against
the dead body y of Rizzio, which was stretched at
the top of the staircase. They believed, seeing someone assassinated
that the lives of the King and Queen were threatened,
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and they had drawn their swords to force the door
that Morton was guarding. But directly Darnley understood what was
going on. He darted from the cabinet, followed by Ruthven,
and showing himself to the newcomers. My lords, he said,
the persons of the Queen and myself are safe, and
nothing has occurred here. But by our orders withdraw then
you will know more about it in time. As to him,
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he added, holding up Rizzio's head by the hair, whilst
the bastard of Douglas lit up the face with a torch,
so that it could be recognized. You see who it is,
and whether it is worth your while to get into
trouble for him. And in fact, as soon as Huntley,
Athol and Bothwell had recognized the musician minister, they sheed
their swords, and, having saluted the king, went away. Mary
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had gone away with a single thought in her heart vengeance.
But she understood that she could not revenge herself at
one and the same time on her husband and his companions.
She set to work, then, with all the charms of
her wit and beauty, to detach the kind from his accomplices.
It was not a difficult task when that brutal rage
with so often carried Darnley beyond all bounds was spent.
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He was frightened himself at the crime he had committed,
and while the assassins assembled by Murray were resolving that
he should have the greatly desired crown matrimonial, Darnley, as
fickle as he was violent, and as cowardly as he
was cruel, in Mary's very room before the scarcely dried blood,
made another compact in which he engaged to deliver up
his accomplices. Indeed, three days after the event that we
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have just related, the murderers learned a strange piece of
news that Darnley and Mary, accompanied by Lord Satan, had
escaped together from Hollywood Palace. Three days later still a
proclamation appeared, signed by Mary and dated from Dunbar, which
summoned round the Queen in her own name and the Kings,
all the Scottish lords and barons, including those who had
(26:55):
been compromised in the affair of the run, in every sense,
to whom she not only great ran a fool and
complete pardon, but also restored her entire confidence. In this
way she separated Murray's calls from that of Morton and
the other assassins, who, in their turn, seeing that there
was no longer any safety for them in Scotland, fled
to England, where all the Queen's enemies were always certain
(27:16):
to find a warm welcome. In spite of the good
relations which reigned in appearance between Mary and Elizabeth, as
to Bothwell, who had wanted to oppose the assassination, he
was appointed Warden of all the marches of the Kingdom.
Unfortunately for her honor, Mary always more the woman than
the Queen, while on the contrary, Elizabeth was always more
the Queen than the woman. Had no sooner regained her
(27:37):
power than her first royal act was to exhume Rizzio,
who had been quietly buried on the threshold of the
chapel nearest Hollywood Palace, and to have him removed to
the burial place of the Scottish Kings, compromising herself still
more by the honor she paid him deb than by
the favor she had granted him. Living. Such an imprudent
demonstration naturally led to fresh quarrels between Mary and Darnley
(27:57):
these quarrels were the more bitter that, as one can
well understand, the reconciliation between the husband and wife, at
least on the latter side, had never been anything but
a pretense, so that, feeling herself in a stronger position
still on account of her pregnancy, she restrained herself no longer,
and leaving Darnley, she went from Dunbar to Edinburgh Castle,
where on June nineteenth, fifteen sixty six, three months after
(28:20):
the assassination of Rizzio, she gave birth to a son,
who afterwards became James. The sixth end of Chapter two
recording by John van Stan Savannah Georgia
Chapter two of Celebrated Crimes, Volume three by Alexandre Duma,
translated by George Burnham Ives. This LibriVox recording is in
the public domain. Chapter two. Among the lords who had
followed Mary Stuart to Scotland was, as we have mentioned,
a young nobleman named Chatelaud, a true type of the
nobility of that time, a nephew of Bayard on his
(00:21):
mother's side, a poet and a knight, a talented and
courageous an attached to Marshal d'Anville, of whose household he
formed one Thanks to this high position, Chatelaud, throughout her
stay in France, paid court to Mary Stuart, who, in
the homage he rendered her in verse, saw nothing more
than those poetical declarations of gallantry customary in that age,
and with which she especially was daily overwhelmed. But it
(00:45):
happened that about the time when Chatelard was most in
love with the Queen, she was obliged to leave France.
As we have said, then, Marshal d'amville, who knew nothing
of Chatelard's passion, and who himself encouraged by Mary's kindness,
was among the candidates to succeed Francis the second. This
husband set out for Scotland with the poor exile, taking
Chatelard with him, and not imagining he would find a
(01:06):
rival in him, he made a confidant of him and
left him with Mary when he was obliged to leave her,
charging the young poet to support with her the interests
of his suit. This post as confidante brought Mary and
Chatelard more together, and as in her capacity as poet,
the Queen treated him like a brother, he made bold
in his passion to risk all to obtain another title. Accordingly,
(01:28):
one evening he got into Mary Stuart's room and hid
himself under the bed. But at the moment when the
Queen was beginning to undress a little dog, she had
began to yelp so loudly that her women came running
at his barking, And led by this indication, perceived Chatealard
a woman easily pardons a crime for which too great
love is the excuse. Mary Stuart was a woman before
being queen. She pardoned. But this kindness only increased Chatelard's confidence.
(01:54):
He put down the reprimand he had received the presence
of the Queen's women and supposed that if she had
been alone, she would have forget given him still more completely,
so that three weeks after this same scene was repeated,
but this time Chatealard, discovered in a cupboard when the
Queen was already in bed, was placed under arrest. The
moment was badly chosen. Such a scandal just when the
Queen was about to remarry, was fatal to Mary, let
(02:16):
alone to Chatealard. Murray took the affair in hand, and,
thinking that a public trial could alone save his sister's reputation,
he urged the prosecution with such vigor that Chatelard, convicted
of the crime of leis majeste, was condemned to death.
Mary entreated her brother that Chatelard might be sent back
to France, but Murray made her see what terrible consequences
(02:36):
such a use of her right of pardon might have,
so that Mary was obliged to let justice take its course.
Chatelard was led to the execution, arrived on the scaffold,
which was set up before the Queen's palace. Chatelard, who
had declined the services of a priest, had Ronsard's owed
on death read, and when the reading which he followed
with evident pleasure was ended. He turned towards the Queen's windows, and,
(02:58):
having cried out for the last time, adu loveliest and
most cruel of princesses, he stretched out his neck to
the executioner, without displaying any repentance or uttering any complaint.
This death made all the more impression upon Mary that
she did not dare to show her sympathy openly. Meanwhile,
there was a rumor that the Queen of Scotland was
consenting to a new marriage, and several suitors came forward,
(03:20):
sprung from the principal reigning families of Europe, first the
Archduke Charles third, son of the Emperor of Germany, then
the Duke of Anjou, who afterwards became Henry the Third.
But to what a foreign princess was to give up
her claims to the English crown? So Mary refused, and
making a merit of this to Elizabeth, she cast her
eyes on a relation of the latters, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley,
(03:43):
son of the Earl of Lennox. Elizabeth, who had nothing
plausible to urge against this marriage, since the Queen of
Scotland not only chosen Englishman for a husband, but was
marrying into her own family. Allowed the Earl of Lennox
and his son to go to the Scotch court, reserving
it to herself if matters appeared to take a seatious
turn to recall them both, a command which they would
be constrained to obey, since all their property was in England.
(04:07):
Darnley was eighteen years of age. He was handsome, well made, elegant.
He talked in that attractive manner of the young nobles
of the French and English courts, that Mary no longer
heard since of exile in Scotland. She let herself be
deceived by these appearances, and did not see that under
this brilliant exterior Darnley hid utter insignificance, a dubious courage,
and a fickle and churlish character. It is true that
(04:29):
he came to her under the auspices of a man
whose influence was as striking as the risen fortune which
gave him the opportunity to exert it. We refer to
David Rizzio. David Rizzio, who played such a great part
in a life of Mary Stuart, whose strange favor for
him has given her enemies probably without any cause such
cruel weapons against her. Was the son of a Turran musician,
burdened with a numerous family, who, recognizing in him a
(04:52):
pronounced musical taste, had him instructed in the first principles
of the art. At the age of fifteen, he had
left his father's house else and had gone on foot
to Nis, where the Duke of Savoy held his court.
There he entered the service of the Duke of Moreto,
and this lord, having been appointed some years afterwards to
the Scottish embassy, Rizzio followed him to Scotland. As this
young man had a very fine voice, and accompanied on
(05:14):
the viol and fiddle songs of which both the heirs
and the words were of his own composition, the ambassador
spoke of him to Mary, who wished to see him. Rizzio,
full of confidence in himself, and seeing in the Queen's desire,
rode to success, hastened to obey her command, sang before
her and pleased her. She begged him then of Moreto,
making no more of it than if she had asked
(05:36):
of him a thoroughbred dog or a well trained falcon.
Moreto presented him to her, Delighted at finding such an
opportunity to pay his court. But scarcely was Rizzio in
her service than Mary discovered that music was the least
of his gifts that he possessed. Besides that education, if
not profound, at least varied a supple mind, a lively imagination,
gentle ways, and at the same time much boldness and presumption.
(06:00):
He reminded her of those Italian artists whom she had
seen at the French court, and as spoke to her
the tongue of Maroan Rozzard, whose most beautiful poems he
knew by heart. This was more than enough to please
Mary Stuart. In a short time he became her favorite,
and meanwhile, the place of secretary for the French dispatches
falling vacant Rizzio, was provided for. With it Darnley, who
(06:21):
wished to succeed at all costs enlist Rizzio in his interests,
unconscious that he had no need of this support, and
as on her side, Mary, who had fallen in love
with him at first sight, fearing some new intrigue of Elizabeth's,
hastened on this union. So far as the proprieties permitted,
the affair moved forward with wonderful rapidity, and in the
midst of public rejoicing, with the approbation of the nobility,
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except for a small minority with Murray at its head,
the marriage was solemnized under the happiest auspices twenty ninth
July fifteen sixty five. Two days before Darnley and his father,
the Earl of Lennox, had received a command to return
to London, and as they had not obeyed it, a
week after the celebration of the marriage, they learned that
the Countess of Lennox, the only one of the family
(07:04):
remaining in Elizabeth's power, had been arrested and taken to
the tower. Thus, Elizabeth, in spite of her dissimulation, yielded
to that first impulse of violence that she always had
such trouble to overcome. Publicly displayed her resentment. However, Elizabeth
was not the woman to be satisfied with useless vengeance.
She soon released the Countess and turned her eyes towards Murray,
(07:25):
the most discontented of the nobles in opposition, who by
this marriage was losing all his personal influence. It was
thus easy for Elizabeth to put arms in his hand.
In fact, when he had failed in his first attempt
to seize Darnley, he called to his aide the Duke
of Chatelleraut, glen Cairn, Argyll and Rothus, and collecting what
partisans they could, they openly rebelled against the Queen. This
(07:47):
was the first ostensible act of that hatred which was
afterwards so fatal to marry. The Queen on her side
appealed to her nobles, who in response hastened to rally
to her, so that in a month's time she found
herself at the head of the finest army that ever
a king of Scotland had raised. Darnley assumed the command
of this magnificent assembly, mounted on a superb horse, a
rayed and gilded armor, and accompanied by the Queen, who,
(08:09):
in riding habit with pistols at her saddle bow, wished
to make the campaign with him, that she might not
quit his side for a moment. Both were young, both
were handsome, and they left Edinburgh amidst the cheers of
the people in the army. Murray and his accomplices did
not even try to stand against them, and the campaign
consisted of such rapid and complex marches and counter marches
that this rebellion is called the runabout raid, that is
(08:32):
to say, the run in every sense of the word.
Murray and the Revels withdrew to England, where Elizabeth, while
seeming to condemn their unlucky attempt, afforded them all the
assistance they needed. Mary returned to Edinburgh, delighted at the
success of her first two campaigns, not suspecting that this
new good fortune was the last she would have, and
that there her short lived prosperity would cease. Indeed, she
(08:56):
soon saw that in Darnley she had given herself not
a devoted and very attentive husband, as she had believed,
but an imperious and brutal master, who, no longer having
any motive for concealment, showed himself to her just as
he was, a man of disgraceful vices, of which drunkenness
and debauchery was the least. Accordingly, serious differences were not
long in springing up in this royal household. Darnley and wedding.
(09:19):
Mary had not become king, but merely the queen's husband.
To confer on him authority nearly equaling of regents, it
was necessary that Mary should grant him what was termed
the crown matrimonial, a crown Francis the Second had worn
during his short royalty, and that Mary, after Darnley's conduct
to herself, had not the slightest intention of bestowing on him. Thus,
(09:40):
to whatever entreaties he made, in whatever form they were wrapped,
Mary merely replied with an unvaried and obstinate refusal. Darnley,
amazed at this force of will, and a young queen
who had loved him enough to raise him to her, and,
not believing that she could find it in herself, sought
in her entourage for some secret and influential adviser who
might have inspired her with it. His suspicions fell on Rizzio.
(10:03):
In reality, to whatever cause Rizzio owed his power, and
to even the most clear sighted historians, this point has
always remained obscure. Be it that he ruled as lover,
be it that he advised as minister, his counsels, as
long as he lived, were always given for the greater
glory of the queen sprung from so low, he at
least wished to show himself worthy of having risen so high,
(10:23):
And owing everything to Mary, he tried to repay her
with devotion. Thus, Darnley was not mistaken, and it was
indeed Rizzio, who, in despair at having helped to bring
about a union which he foresaw must become so unfortunate,
gave Mary the advice not to give up any of
her power to one who already possessed much more than
he deserved in possessing her person. Darnley, like all persons
(10:44):
of both weak and violent character, disbelieved in the persistence
of will and others unless this will was sustained by
an outside influence. He thought that in ridding himself of Rizzio,
he could not fail to gain the day, since, as
he believed, he alone was opposing the grant of this
great desire of his the crown matrimonial. Consequently, as Rizzio
was disliked by the nobles in proportion as his merits
(11:06):
had raised him above them, it was easy for Darnley
to organize a conspiracy, and James Douglas of Morton, Chancellor
of the Kingdom, consented to act as chief. This is
the second time since the beginning of our narrative that
we inscribed this name Douglas, so often pronounced in Scottish history,
and which at this time, extinct in the elder branch
known as the Black Douglases, was perpetuated in the younger branch,
(11:28):
known as the Red Douglases. It was an ancient, noble
and powerful family, which, when the descent in the male
line from Robert Bruce had lapsed, disputed the royal title
with the First Stuart, and which since then had constantly
kept alongside the throne, sometimes its support, sometimes its enemy.
Envying every great house for greatness made it uneasy, but
above all envious of the House of Hamilton, which, if
(11:50):
not its equel, was, at any rate after itself, the
next most powerful. During the whole reign of James the Fifth,
thanks to the hatred which the king bore them, the
Douglas had had not only lost all their influence, but
had also been exiled to England. This hatred was on
account of their having seized the guardianship of the young
Prince and kept him prisoner till he was fifteen. Then,
(12:11):
with the help of one of his pages, James the
Fifth had escaped from Falkland and had reached Stirling, whose
governor was in his interests. Scarcely was he safe in
the castle than he made proclamation that any Douglas who
should approach within a dozen miles of it would be
prosecuted for high treason. This was not all. He obtained
a decree from Parliament declaring them guilty of felony and
condemning them to exile. They remained proscribed then during the
(12:34):
King's lifetime, and returned to Scotland only upon his death.
The result was that although they had been recalled about
the throne, and though thanks to the past influence of
Murray who won members was a Douglas on the mother's side,
they filled the most important posts there they had not
forgiven to the daughter the enmity borne them by the father.
This was why James Douglas, Chancellor as he was and
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consequently entrusted with the execution of the laws, put himself
the head of a conspiracy which had for its aimed
the violation of all laws human and divine. Douglas's first
idea had been to treat Rizzio as the favorites of James.
The third had been treated at the Bridge of Louder,
that is to say, to make a show of having
a trial and to hang him afterwards. But such a
(13:17):
death did not suffice for Darley's vengeance, as above everything
he wished to punish the Queen in Rizzio's person. He
exacted that the murder should take place in her presence.
Douglas associated with himself Lord Ruthven, an idle and dissolute Sipparite,
who under the circumstances, promised to push his devotion so
far as to wear a cuirass. Then, sure of this
(13:38):
important accomplice, he busied himself with finding other agents. However,
the plot was not woven with such secrecy, but that
something of it transpired, and Rizzio received several warnings that
he despised. Sir James Melville, among others, tried every means
to make him understand the perils the stranger ran, who
enjoyed such absolute confidence in a wild, jealous court like
(14:00):
that of Scotland. Rizzio received these hints as if resolved
not to apply them to himself, and Sir James Melville,
satisfied that he had done enough to ease his conscience,
did not insist further. Then a French priest, who had
a reputation as a clever astrologer, got himself admitted to
Rizzio and warned him that the stars predicted that he
was in deadly peril, and that he should beware of
(14:20):
a certain bastard above all. Rizzio replied that from the
day when he had been honored with his sovereign's confidence,
he had sacrificed in advance his life to his position.
That since that time, however, he had had occasion to
notice that in general the Scotch were ready to threaten,
but slow to act. That as to the bastard referred to,
who was doubtless the Earl of Murray, he would take
(14:40):
care that he should never enter Scotland far enough for
his sword to reach him, were it as long as
the Dumfries to Edinburgh, which in other words, was as
much as to say that Murray should remain exiled in
England for life, since Dumfries was one of the principal
frontier towns. Meanwhile, the conspiracy proceeded, and Douglas and Ruthven,
having co elected their accomplices and taken their measures, came
(15:02):
to Darnley to finish the compact. As the price of
the bloody service they rendered the King, they exacted from
him a promise to obtain the pardon of Murray and
the nobles compromised with him in the affair of the run.
In every sense, Darnley granted all they asked of him,
and a messenger was sent to Murray to inform him
of the expedition in preparation, and to invite him to
hold himself in readiness to re enter Scotland at the
(15:24):
first notice he should receive. Then this point settled, they
made Darnley sign a paper in which he acknowledged himself
the author and chief of the enterprise. The other assassins
were the Earl of Morton, the Earl of Ruthven, George Douglas,
the Bastard of Angus Lidley, and Andrew Carew. The remainder
were soldiers simply murderer's tools, who did not even know
(15:46):
what was afoot. Darnley reserved it for himself to appoint
the time two days after these conditions were agreed upon. Darnley,
having been notified that the Queen was alone with Rizzio,
wished to make himself sure of the degree of her
favor enjoyed by the minister. He accordingly went to her
apartments by a little door of which he always kept
the key upon him but though the key turned in
the lock, the door did not open. Then Darley knocked,
(16:09):
announcing himself. But such was the contempt into which he
had fallen with the Queen, that Mary left him outside,
although supposing she had been alone with Rizzio, she would
have had time to send him away. Darnley, driven to
extremities by this, summoned Morton, Ruthven, Lennox, Linley, and Douglas's bastard,
and fixed the assassination of Rizzio for two days later.
(16:29):
They had just completed all the details and had distributed
the parts that each must play in this bloody tragedy,
when suddenly, and at the moment when they least expected it,
the door opened and Mary Stuart appeared on the threshold.
My lords said, she, you are holding these secret counsels
as useless. I am informed of your plots, and with
(16:49):
God's help, I shall soon apply a remedy with these words,
And before the conspirators hid had time to collect themselves,
she shut the door again and banished, like a passing
but threatening vision, all remained thunderstruck. Morton was the first
to find his tongue. My lords said he, this is
(17:10):
a game of life.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
And death, and the winner who will not be the
cleverest or, the strongest, but the readiest. If we do
not destroy this man, we are lost. We must strike
him down this very evening, not the day after tomorrow.
Everyone applauded, even Ruthven, who still pale and feverish from
the riotous living, promised not to be behindhand. The only
(17:31):
point changed on Morton's suggestion was that the murder should
take place next day, for in the opinion of Awe,
not less than a day's interval was needed to collect
the minor conspirators, who numbered not less than five hundred.
The next day, which was Saturday, March ninth, fifteen sixty six,
Mary Stewart, who had inherited from her father James the fifth,
a dislike of ceremony and the need of liberty, had
(17:51):
invited to supper with her six persons, Rizzio among the number. Darnley,
informed of this in the morning, immediately gave notice of
it to the conspirators, telling them that he himself would
let them into the palace between six and seven o'clock
in the evening. The conspirators replied that they would be
in readiness. The morning had been dark and stormy, as
nearly all the first days of spring are in Scotland,
(18:12):
and towards evening the snow and wind redoubled in depth
and violence. So Mary had remained shut up with Rizzio
and Darnley, who had gone to the secret door several times,
could hear the sound of instruments and the voice of
the Favorite, who was singing those sweet melodies which have
come down to our time, and which Edinburgh people still
attribute to him. These songs were for Mary a reminder
of her say in France, where the artists in the
(18:34):
train of the Medicis had already brought echoes from Italy.
But for Darnley they were an insult, and each time
he had withdrawn strengthened in his design. At the appointed time,
the conspirators, who had been given the password during the day,
knocked at the palace gate and were received there so
much the more easily than Darley himself, wrapped in a
great cloak, awaited them at the postern, by which they
(18:55):
were admitted. The five hundred soldiers immediately stole into an
inner courtyard, where they placed themselves under some sheds, as
much to keep themselves from the cold as that they
might not be seen on the snow covered ground. A
brightly lighted window looked into this courtyard. It was that
of the Queen's study. At the first signal give them
from this window, the soldiers were to break in the
door and go to the help of the chief conspirators.
(19:18):
These instructions given, Darnley led Morton, Ruthven, Lennox Lindley, Andrew Carew,
and Douglas's bastard into the room adjoining the study, and
only separated from it by a tapestry hanging before the door.
From there one could overhear all that was being said,
and at a single bound fall upon the guests. Darnley
left them in this room, enjoying silence, then giving them
(19:39):
as a signal to enter the moment when they should
hear him cry to me Douglas, he went round by
the secret passage, so that seeing him come in by
his usual door, the Queen's suspicions might not be roused
by his unlooked for visit. Mary was at supper with
six persons, having seed too, and Melville Rizzio seated on
her right, while on the contrary, karab Den assures us
(20:01):
that he was standing at a sideboard. The talk was
gay and intimate, for all were giving themselves up to
the ease one feels at being safe and warm at
a hospitable board, while the snow is beating against the
windows and the wind roaring in the chimneys. Suddenly, Mary
surprised that the most profound silence had succeeded to the
lively and animated flow of words among her guests since
the beginning of supper, and suspecting from their glances that
(20:22):
the cause of their uneasiness was behind her, turned round
and saw Darnly leaning on the back of her chair.
The queen shuddered, for although her husband was smiling when
looking at Rizzio, this smile led assumed such a strange
expression that it was clear that something terrible was about
to happen. At the same moment, Mary heard in the
next room a heavy, dragging step drew nearer to the cabinet.
(20:45):
Then the tapestry was raised, and Lord Ruffin, in armor
of which he could barely support the weight, pale as
a ghost, appeared on the threshold, and, drawing his sword
and silence, leaned upon it. The queen thought he was delirious.
What do you want my Lord, she said to him,
And why do you come to the palace like this?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Ask the king. Madam replied Ruthven in an indistinct voice.
It is for him to answer. Explain, my lord, demanded Mary,
turning again towards Darnley, What does such a neglect of
ordinary propriety mean? It means, Madame returned Darnley, pointing to Rizzio,
that that man must leave here this very minute. That
(21:28):
man is mine, my Lord, Mary said, rising proudly, and
consequently takes orders only from me to me. Douglas, cried Darnley.
At these words, the conspirators, who for some moments had
drawn nearer Ruthven, fearing so changeable was Darley's character, lest
he had brought them in vain, and would not dare
to utter the signal. At these words, the conspirators rushed
(21:50):
into the room with such haste that they overturned the table.
Then David Rizzio, seeing that it was he they alone
they wanted, threw himself on his knees behind the queen,
seizing the hem of her robe and crying an Italian aguistisia,
a guistisia. Indeed, the Queen, true to her character, not
allowing herself to be intimidated by this terrible eruption, placed
herself in front of Rizzio and sheltered him behind her majesty.
(22:13):
But she counted too much on the respect of a
nobility accustomed to struggle hand to hand with its kings
for five centuries. Andrew carew held a dagger to her
breast and threatened to kill her if she insisted on
defending any longer him, whose death was resolved upon. Then Darnley,
without consideration for the queen's pregnancy, seized her round the
waist and bore her away from Rizzio, who remained on
(22:34):
his knees, pale and trembling, while Douglas's bastard, confirming the
prediction of the astrologer who had warned Rizzio to beware
of a certain bastard, drawing the king's own dagger, plunged
it into the breast of the minister, who fell wounded
but not dead. Morton immediately took him by the feet
and dragged him from the cabinet into the larger room,
leaving on the floor that long track of blood which
(22:56):
is still shown there. Then arrived there each rushed upon him,
as upon a quarry and set upon the corpse, which
they stabbed in fifty six places. Meanwhile, Darnley held the queen, who,
thinking that all was not over, did not cease crying
for mercy. But Ruthven came back paler than at first,
and at Darnley's inquiry if Rizzio were dead, he nodded
(23:17):
in the affirmative. Then, as he could not bear further
fatigue in his convalescent state, he sat down, although the queen,
whom Darnley had at last released, remained standing on the
same spot. At this Mary could not contain herself. My lord,
cried she who has given you permission to sit down
in my presence? And whence comes such insolence? Madam Ruthven answered,
(23:40):
I act thus not from insolence, but from weakness, For
to serve your husband, I have just taken more exercise
than my doctors allow. Then, turning round to a servant,
give me a glass of wine, said he, showing Darnley
as a bloody dagger before putting it back in its sheath,
for he was the proof that I have well earned it.
(24:01):
The servant obeyed, and Ruffin drained his glass with as
much calmness as if he had just performed the most
innocent act. My lord, the Queen then said, taking a
step towards him. It may be that, as I am
a woman, in spite of my desire and my will,
I never find an opportunity to repay you what you
are doing to me, But she added, energetically striking her
(24:22):
womb with her hand, he whom I bear there and
whose life you should have respected. Since you respect my majesty,
so little will one day revenge me for all these insults. Then,
with a gesture at once superb and threatening, she withdrew
by Darnley's door, which she closed behind her. At that
moment a great noise was heard in the Queen's room. Huntly,
Athol and Bothwell, who we are soon about to see
(24:45):
play such an important part in the sequel of this history,
were supping together in another hall of the palace, when
suddenly they had heard outcries in the clash of arms,
so that they had run with all speed, when Athol,
who came first, without knowing whose it was, struck against
the dead body y of Rizzio, which was stretched at
the top of the staircase. They believed, seeing someone assassinated
that the lives of the King and Queen were threatened,
(25:07):
and they had drawn their swords to force the door
that Morton was guarding. But directly Darnley understood what was
going on. He darted from the cabinet, followed by Ruthven,
and showing himself to the newcomers. My lords, he said,
the persons of the Queen and myself are safe, and
nothing has occurred here. But by our orders withdraw then
you will know more about it in time. As to him,
(25:30):
he added, holding up Rizzio's head by the hair, whilst
the bastard of Douglas lit up the face with a torch,
so that it could be recognized. You see who it is,
and whether it is worth your while to get into
trouble for him. And in fact, as soon as Huntley,
Athol and Bothwell had recognized the musician minister, they sheed
their swords, and, having saluted the king, went away. Mary
(25:51):
had gone away with a single thought in her heart vengeance.
But she understood that she could not revenge herself at
one and the same time on her husband and his companions.
She set to work, then, with all the charms of
her wit and beauty, to detach the kind from his accomplices.
It was not a difficult task when that brutal rage
with so often carried Darnley beyond all bounds was spent.
(26:12):
He was frightened himself at the crime he had committed,
and while the assassins assembled by Murray were resolving that
he should have the greatly desired crown matrimonial, Darnley, as
fickle as he was violent, and as cowardly as he
was cruel, in Mary's very room before the scarcely dried blood,
made another compact in which he engaged to deliver up
his accomplices. Indeed, three days after the event that we
(26:35):
have just related, the murderers learned a strange piece of
news that Darnley and Mary, accompanied by Lord Satan, had
escaped together from Hollywood Palace. Three days later still a
proclamation appeared, signed by Mary and dated from Dunbar, which
summoned round the Queen in her own name and the Kings,
all the Scottish lords and barons, including those who had
(26:55):
been compromised in the affair of the run, in every sense,
to whom she not only great ran a fool and
complete pardon, but also restored her entire confidence. In this
way she separated Murray's calls from that of Morton and
the other assassins, who, in their turn, seeing that there
was no longer any safety for them in Scotland, fled
to England, where all the Queen's enemies were always certain
(27:16):
to find a warm welcome. In spite of the good
relations which reigned in appearance between Mary and Elizabeth, as
to Bothwell, who had wanted to oppose the assassination, he
was appointed Warden of all the marches of the Kingdom.
Unfortunately for her honor, Mary always more the woman than
the Queen, while on the contrary, Elizabeth was always more
the Queen than the woman. Had no sooner regained her
(27:37):
power than her first royal act was to exhume Rizzio,
who had been quietly buried on the threshold of the
chapel nearest Hollywood Palace, and to have him removed to
the burial place of the Scottish Kings, compromising herself still
more by the honor she paid him deb than by
the favor she had granted him. Living. Such an imprudent
demonstration naturally led to fresh quarrels between Mary and Darnley
(27:57):
these quarrels were the more bitter that, as one can
well understand, the reconciliation between the husband and wife, at
least on the latter side, had never been anything but
a pretense, so that, feeling herself in a stronger position
still on account of her pregnancy, she restrained herself no longer,
and leaving Darnley, she went from Dunbar to Edinburgh Castle,
where on June nineteenth, fifteen sixty six, three months after
(28:20):
the assassination of Rizzio, she gave birth to a son,
who afterwards became James. The sixth end of Chapter two
recording by John van Stan Savannah Georgia
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