Nigel Tranter - The Wisest Fool

'Two things, I think, Madam. We must send an immediate letter to His Grace, telling him of the plot and requesting written authority to release the Prince. As indeed Lady Mar said…"

"He will never give it. He is a cruel, unnatural man 1 He does not want me to have my son."

"He will not refuse you at the cost of his Scots throne, I think. I shall write also. He commanded me to keep him informed." He could scarcely say that James would pay more attention to his plea than to the Queen's. "And the other? You said, two things."

"That I might go again to Stirling. Myself. Alone, to see the Countess privily. Perhaps she would see me, hear me…" "Go deal with her? My enemy 1 Behind my back!"

"Scarce that, Highness, surely. Rather to test her. Discover if she knows of the plot. Warn her, if she does not, and seems against it"

"I will not have you having secret talks with that woman! Discussing me and my husband and son. I will not!"

"If you do not trust me, Highness, send one of your ladies with me. Lady Huntly, here…"

"I will not have any dealing with that she-devil," that lady declared. 'Then another. Merely to accompany me." "Not the Duchess, on my soul!"

"No. That might be unwise. The young woman Primrose, perhaps? She would not seem to rival Lady Mar in status, yet could represent Your Grace well enough. It could do no harm, and might achieve something. While we wait for the King's authority. We might even have word with the Prince…"

That same night an officer of the Queen's guard, with one of Heriot's grooms, set off for the South, with instructions not to spare themselves, or horseflesh, in getting their letters to the King with all speed. The other groom rode with them as far as Edinburgh, with a message for Mary Gray. And in the morning, their master, with Alison Primrose, headed westwards once more for Stirling at the crossing of Forth.

It was extraordinary how different was their reception from the previous day's. The castle drawbridge was down, and although it was strongly guarded and could have been raised at short notice, a single man and woman represented no threat They were civilly received and a messenger sent to inform the Countess of their identity.

With no undue delay they were conducted up from the gatehouse to a wing of the palace building on the crown of the rock, where in a small, bright room in a tower they found Annabel of Mar hunched over a fire. Close up, and in the cold morning light, she looked a very old and frail woman.

"Well, Master Heriot 1 You are a bold man, I think, to return thus to Stirling! And who is this slip of a lassie you have brought to support you against an auld done woman?"

"She is one of the Queen's Maids-in-Waiting, Countess. And I need all the support I can get!"

"Say you so, goldsmith? Perhaps you speak truth. You havena come offering me more o' your Edinburgh gold today, I'm thinking?" "No. That was badly done. A man may make one mistake, may he not?" "With me, only one, sirrah."

"He made apology, Lady Mar. Not all men would have done that," Alison Primrose said. "Nor required to, since gold speaks loudly!"

"Ho-so that's the style o' you, minx! The Queen's service must have changed since my day! Aye, then, goldsmith-to what do I owe this courtesy? No' love on Queen Anne's part, I wager."

"It is more on the King's behalf that I come, than the Queen's," Heriot said carefully. "His Grace was uneasy in his mind, and sent me North. I have discovered, with some reason."

"So? But it was his goldsmith that he sent North. Not one o' his Council, or lords. Such as my son. So I'm thinking that His Grace wasna just sae greatly concerned."

"I agree that he might have sent a more, er, resounding servant had he known what I now know."

"Come man-no riddles. I am ower auld for suchlike. Out with it. What have you come for? " "Seeking the safety of Prince Henry, Countess. That is what." "Prince Henry is very safe in Stirling Castle." The old woman leaned forward. "Was King Jamie concerned about that? In England? Has he been hearing stories?"

'Perhaps His Court ever seethes with rumours, as your ladyship well knows. And you? Have you been hearing stories?"

"What stories would I hear, up on this bit rock halfway to heaven?"

"I should think plenty. At Stirling. Where all men must come to cross Forth. And only thirty-five miles from Edinburgh-where stories start!"

'You'll need to be mair explicit, man. A deal mair explicit." It was not difficult to see where King James had picked up his fashion of speech.

"Very well. But I think that you will know of what I speak. There is a plot to take Prince Henry and declare him King of Scots. In room of his royal father. On the pretext that the King has deserted his Scottish kingdom for another."

She considered him steadily, from beady eyes. "You tell me so? And does King Jamie know o' this supposed fell plot?"

"I think not. Not yet But… I have little doubts that you did, Lady." She made no answer. "It is a damnable plot. And might well succeed." "Not while I hold the laddie here in Stirling Castle, goldsmith." He fingered his little beard thoughtfully.

"Perhaps that is why the Countess would not yield the Prince up yesterday." Alison Primrose put in, smiling. "Perhaps she believes the Queen also to be in this plot!" They both stared at her.

"Insolent jade!" the old woman said, but as it were automatically, without vehemence.

"Her ladyship would not think that!" Heriot declared, frowning-

"Would she no'?" the Countess snapped swiftly. "I've heard stranger ploys. All ken Anne cares little for her husband. Her sire, in yon Denmark, was a tyrant. She has the same spirit in her, I swear, the woman. She would perhaps prefer to be mother o' a powerless king who would do her will, than wife o' one who will not!"

"But…" The man floundered. "You do not truly believe that? That the Queen, in child again, could plot to bring down her own husband 1" "Mary did-James's mother."

Such a thought had just never occurred to George Heriot. Quite shaken for a moment, he groped in his mind. Then he shook his head.

"No. This is folly. The Queen desires only to win back her children into her own care, have this new baby, and then rejoin her husband in London. She is appalled by word of this plot" Annabel of Mar said nothing. "How do you see it, lady? This conspiracy."

"I see it as wholly evil," the old woman said. "And moreover, highest treason. Men should hang for this."

Heriot tried to swallow a sigh of relief. "Then… then you will yield up the boy to none? Until the King commands it, in writing?"

"None-the Queen, or other." The Countess hesitated. "Save for my son, to be sure. My Lord of Mar. He is the Prince's lawful guardian, no' myself. I but hold the laddie and castle in his name."

Heriot's intaken breath this time was scarcely of relief. "The Earl's loyalty… is not in doubt," he got out. "I thank you for the expression o' confidence, goldsmith!"

"I but meant, ladyship, that the Prince therefore is in no true danger. Since only the King and the Earl can win into this great fortress without breaking the walls down with cannon. Which even the Master of Gray, I think would scarce contemplate." "That popinjay!"

"He is no popinjay, Countess-but the most dangerous man in two kingdoms. Not to be underestimated." He paused, and considered the other speculatively. "See you, Countess-here is a thought. The Queen's main desire, I know, is to be with her firstborn, the Prince Henry. She pines for him. This castle is a royal palace. She has as much right to be here as at Linlithgow or Holy-roodhouse. I know that you do not greatly love her, nor she you. But if she was here, biding in this castle with the Prince, she would be better and the King's cause nothing weakened."