The Thistle and the Rose (34 page)

“You are looking disturbed,” said the Queen tenderly.

“I have just been warned,” he replied, “that the Douglases have sworn to murder me and my brother James this night—if we remain in Holyrood.”

“Harry!” cried Margaret, and she began to tremble. “But,” she went on quickly, “they must not find you in Holyrood. You must leave at once.”

“Leave you and the King!”

“I know you would stay to defend us, but these Douglases are a ruthless clan. Harry, you must leave at once. Take your brother with you. I shall not know a moment's peace while you are here.”

“But to leave you…”

“It is a command,” said Margaret firmly.

Harry looked from her to the King, who said: “Yes, Harry, you must go. My mother and I would be deeply grieved if harm should befall you.”

Harry bowed and retired, but Margaret followed him to his apartment and they remained some seconds in a close embrace.

“My love, how can I go?” demanded Harry.

“How can you stay when it might mean your death?”

“I would not care…”

“But I would. Nay, Harry, this is farewell but not for long. Go to Stirling and remain there. I shall be with you erelong, for I cannot bear to live apart from you.”

There was another passionate embrace which was interrupted by the arrival of Harry's young brother James.

Margaret regarded him sadly—such a handsome boy!—then she kissed him on the brow.

“Take care of each other,” she cautioned. “And now …go quickly.”

They both kissed her hands and, when they were gone, Margaret was for a time cast down.

Her lover gone to Stirling; her son in the care of Angus. This was a day of mourning; but it was not her way to accept defeat.

She was certain that soon she would be divorced from Angus and married to Harry; soon the power of the Douglases would be overcome; soon her son would rule in truth with herself and Harry in the background to guide him.

The rule of the Douglases had begun.

When the period of Angus's guardianship had elapsed, he simply refused to give up the King. He had by this time set the members of his clan in the highest posts and as Douglases from all over Scotland rallied to his banner his followers grew in number. Any ambitious man who hoped for honors placed himself in the service of the Douglas; Angus had the King, and although it was said that James V ruled Scotland now, the real ruler was Angus.

Margaret, angry and alarmed at her husband's growing power, watched events from the shelter of Stirling where she had joined Harry and his brother. The subject which dominated her mind was the divorce. She longed for it passionately and she was desperately afraid that the growing power of Angus would enable him to prevent her obtaining it.

James himself was fast growing away from boyhood. He was going to be as handsome as his father; he was strong-willed; very skilled in the joust and the hunt, he surpassed his companions in these fields. In order that he should not allow himself to become a mere tool of ambitious men, Margaret had impressed on him his need to assert himself, and James had learned that lesson thoroughly.

He had learned also to hate Angus, and the arrogance of his stepfather did nothing to endear him to the young boy. Deeply he resented firstly being made Angus's prisoner, for that was how he regarded himself, and secondly being obliged to give his assent to matters with which they scarcely bothered to acquaint him.

While he was under the care of Angus he was continually plotting as to how he could escape. He believed that, once he could rid himself of Angus's rule and escape to his mother, he would rally the loyal lords against the Douglases who must be hated because they were feared so much.

When an opportunity came to speak to Lennox of his feelings he did so; and although Lennox was cautious there was a tacit agreement between them that when the time was ripe the King should escape from Angus's care.

Angus made a habit of taking the King about the country with him; and on one occasion when they had traveled to the Border in order to suppress the robbers there, they were intercepted by two thousand men who, under a certain Scott of Branxton, made an attempt to kidnap the King and free him from Angus. This attempt was defeated.

Lennox was present when it took place, but he made no effort to ward off the kidnappers; and it was not due to him that they were repulsed.

Shortly afterward Lennox joined the Queen, who was always ready with plans for escape. They decided that next time an attempt to free the King should not fail, and they began to plan.

It was agreed that Lennox should ride to Borough Moor near Edinburgh with only a few horsemen, and take with him eight spare horses which would be for the King and seven of his trusty servants who would escape with him. It should not be difficult for a message to be conveyed to the King at Holyrood, and with the help of certain members of his suite, who were in league with Lennox, for James to make his way out of the Palace.

Margaret, with Harry, waited impatiently at Stirling to receive James.

“And once he is with us and we have raised the lords against Angus, the power of the Douglases will be no more,” she announced confidently.

James was at the window ruefully looking out at Arthur's Seat. Each day he grew more restive. He often told his attendants that he would like to have Angus hanged on the nearest tree. How much longer was the Douglas going to be allowed to rule Scotland? Was
there no one in the land who had enough love of his King to set him free?

He knew some who loved him enough to attempt it. There was his mother for one. There was Lennox for another. He knew now that Lennox was his friend. He could not long remain a prisoner. Then let Angus beware. He would hound him from Scotland. For, he thought, there will not be room in this country for Scotland's King and the Earl of Angus.

One of his pages was plucking at his sleeve.

“Your Grace. there is someone at the door.”

James started up and said: “Who?”

But before the page could answer, the door was opened and a man burst unceremoniously into the room. His eyes were wild and, seeing the King, he came straight to him.

“Your Grace,” he said, “forgive this intrusion. I am the Master of Kilmorris and I come from my lord Lennox.”

“Speak on,” said James eagerly.

“My lord Lennox is at Borough Moor; he has horses waiting. If, under cover of darkness, you can leave the Palace and find your way to him, he will conduct you to safety and the Queen.”

“This is good news,” cried James. “Kilmorris, my friend, I shall remember this when I am free of Angus.”

“Your Grace, I serve you with my life.”

“I thank you. Now tell me of the whereabouts of Lennox, and I will summon those whom I can trust to help me.”

There was a commotion at the door and another of the King's pages ran into the apartment.

“Your Grace,” he cried, “it is known that a stranger has entered the Palace. The guards are being called out. They are coming now.”

Kilmorris turned pale, guessing what his fate would be if he were discovered. James looked at him with horror, for he also knew. It was clear to them both that there could be little chance of escape now, but James was not going to allow the faithful Kilmorris to be taken if he could help it.

He looked about him eagerly and said: “Quick! Follow me.”

He ran from the apartment with Kilmorris at his heels; he slipped through a door and they ran down a spiral staircase. They were both breathless when they came to a door which the King
pushed open. “This is the coining house,” said James. “You can get away through here. They will not think you could go this way. Go at once and I will return to my apartment.”

Kilmorris thanked his King and James hurried back to his apartment to find that Angus had already arrived with some of the guards. When the Earl saw the King he gave a shout of relief.

“Your Grace,” he cried, “thank God you are safe. I heard that our enemies had invaded the Palace.”

“Is that so?” answered James coolly.

“It was doubtless a false alarm. So eager are my men to preserve Your Grace's safety that they are sometimes overzealous.”

James inclined his head and walked somewhat haughtily to the window.

He stood there looking out, glad that Angus could not hear how loudly his heart was beating.

He will have left the Palace by now, James was thinking. Now he will be safe.

But although Kilmorris escaped, Angus did not believe that it had been a false alarm. He doubled the guards about the King, and the result of that little escapade was that James was more of a prisoner than ever.

But James was not going to endure such conditions. Hearing that his mother had come to Linlithgow, he sent for Angus and told him that it was long since he had seen the Queen and he wished to do so.

Angus, realizing that his enemies were gathering against him and that Arran was only with him because he was the enemy of Lennox, decided that the King must be humored; and he gathered together a small army to accompany the King to Linlithgow.

On the road between Edinburgh and Linlithgow Angus's army met Lennox and his, and a skirmish ensued. Lennox and his men were determined to take possession of the King; Angus and his were equally determined not to let James go.

“Keep the King in the rear,” Angus ordered, and the bridle of James's horse was taken by George Douglas, whom Angus could trust as he could few others.

James, watching the battle, was looking for the opportunity to
slip out of George Douglas's grasp and make his way to the other side, when George, realizing this, laughed grimly.

“You should bide where you are, sir,” he warned. “For if they get a hold of you, be it by one of your arms, we will seize you by the leg; and we'll pull you into two pieces rather than part with you.”

“I'll not forget that, George Douglas,” said James.

“‘Twill be well if you'll remember it, sir,” was the answer.

Rarely had the young King known such fury as that which now gripped him. He, the King, to be so treated, to be told they would rather see him dead than in the possession of their enemy. Indeed he would remember this. As long as he lived there would be no place in his kingdom for a Douglas.

But when he heard that Lennox had fallen, his anger changed to sorrow. Lennox, the guardian he had loved, the man who he had believed would rescue him from the hated Douglases.

Angus, triumphant with victory, was riding toward him. The battle was over, and James was a prisoner still.

Margaret was in despair. The power of the Douglases was as great as ever, James remained in the custody of his stepfather, and the Douglases were in all the important posts of Scotland.

She hated the cold of December in Stirling Castle, and she was beginning to despair of ever attaining her freedom, proclaiming Harry as her husband and enjoying the company of her son.

Then the miracle happened, when dispatches from Rome arrived for the Queen.

From Rome!

Margaret cried out that the messengers should be brought to her without a moment's delay.

She read the documents and felt the hysterical laughter rising within her.

It had happened at last. The Cardinal of Ancona, whom Clement VII had appointed to judge her case, had given judgment in her favor.

She had her divorce.

She was no longer married to Angus.

Those were wonderful weeks which followed. Harry was constantly in her company; they planned their future and her first act was to redeem her promise.

She and Harry were married.

But, she reminded him, there would be opposition to the marriage, for there was bound to be jealousy among the lords, and they must act cautiously. She remembered how disastrous life had become when she had secretly married Angus, and they agreed that they must be more cautious this time.

Her divorce was being discussed above and below the Border. Her brother Henry wrote of how the news had shocked him. He wanted her to remember that the divine ordinance of inseparable matrimony was first instituted in Paradise, and he could only protest against this shameful verdict which had been sent from Rome.

Margaret laughed hilariously.

“Do you know, Harry,” she said, “my brother Henry is the biggest hypocrite living. He is seriously thinking of ridding himself of poor Katharine. Of course he is going to say that he was never truly married to Katharine. Well, nor was I to Angus. He was betrothed previously to that woman of his. Henry should remember that.”

But she and Harry were too happy to care. The glorious thing had happened. She was free and she had married the man she would love as long as she lived.

Of course they could not keep the marriage a secret forever.

The news that her divorce had been granted reached her in December. In March she made a declaration to the country: “Now that I am free I have married again; and my husband is Henry Stuart.”

Angus was furious when he heard that Margaret had been granted the divorce, but when he learned of her marriage to Henry Stuart he could not control his rage.

“How dare she so demean herself!” he shouted. “She shall be sorry for this. It is an insult to me and to Scotland.”