not for conspiracy. Sometimes her fears drive her to the wildest of beliefs. “Your Grace, they would not submit the letters as evidence for full scrutiny; they would not show them to the Queen Mary’s advisors. I would not see them secretly. It did not seem to be…just.”
Her dark eyes are piercing. “There are those who say she does not deserve justice.”
“But I was appointed judge, by you.” It is a feeble response, but what else can I say? “I have to be just if I am representing you, Your Majesty. If I am representing the queen’s justice, I cannot listen to gossip.”
Her face is as hard as a mask and then her smile breaks through. “You are an honorable man indeed,” she says. “And I would be glad to see her name cleared of any shadow of suspicion. She is my cousin; she is a fellow queen; she should be my friend, not my prisoner.”
I nod. Elizabeth is a woman whose own innocent mother was beheaded for wantonness. Surely, she must naturally side with a woman unjustly accused? “Your Grace, we should have cleared her name on the evidence that was submitted. But you stopped the inquiry before it reached its conclusions. Her name should be free of any slur. We should publish our opinions and say that she is innocent of any charge. She can be your friend now. She can be released.”
“We will make no announcement of her innocence,” she rules. “Where would be the advantage to me in that? But she should be returned to her country and her throne.”
I bow. “Well, so I think, Your Grace. Your cousin Howard says she will need a good advisor and a small army at first to secure her safety.”
“Oh, really? Does he? What good advisor?” she asks sharply. “Who do you and my good cousin nominate to rule Scotland for Mary Stuart?”
I stumble. It is always like this with the queen: you never know when you have walked into a trap. “Whoever you think best, Your Grace. Sir Francis Knollys? Sir Nicholas Throckmorton? Hastings? Any reliable nobleman?”
“But I am advised that the lords of Scotland and the regent make better rulers and better neighbors than she did,” she says restlessly. “I am advised that she is certain to marry again, and what if she chooses a Frenchman or a Spaniard and makes him King of Scotland? What if she puts our worst enemies on our very borders? God knows her choice of husbands is always disastrous.”
It is not hard for a man who has been around the court for as long as I have to recognize the suspicious tone of William Cecil through every word of this. He has filled the queen’s head with such a terror of France and Spain that from the moment she came to the throne she has done nothing but fear plots and prepare for war. By doing so, he has made us enemies where we could have had allies. Philip of Spain has many true friends in England and his country is our greatest partner for trade, while France is our nearest neighbor. To hear Cecil’s advice you would think one was Sodom and the other Gomorrah. However, I am a courtier, I say nothing as yet. I stay silent till I know where this woman’s indecisive mind will flutter to rest.
“What if she gains her throne and marries an enemy? Shall we ever have peace on the northern borders, d’you think, Talbot? Would you trust such a woman as her?”
“You need have no fear,” I say. “No Scots army would ever get past your Northern lords. You can trust your old lords, the men who have been there forever. Percy, Neville, Dacre, Westmorland, Northumberland, all of us old lords. We keep your border safe, Your Grace. You can trust us. We keep armed and we keep the men levied and drilled. We have kept the Northern lands safe for hundreds of years. The Scots have never defeated us.”
She smiles at my assurance. “I know it. You and yours have been good friends to me and mine. But do you think I can trust the Queen of Scots to rule Scotland to our advantage?”
“Surely, when she goes back she will have enough to do to reestablish her rule? We need not fear her enmity. She will want our friendship. She cannot be restored without it. If you help her back on her throne with your army, she will be eternally grateful. You