Читать книгу Bess of Hardwick and Her Circle - Maud Stepney Rawson - Страница 10

After a portrait at Rufford Abbey GEORGE TALBOT, EARL OF SHREWSBURY

After a portrait in the possession of the Duke of Portland ELIZABETH COUNTESS OF SHREWSBURY Page 38

The marriage of Mary and Darnley, the exciting news of the force raised by the rebellious Earls of Moray and Arran against their Queen immediately after the ceremony, the perilous position of Mary betwixt her enemies—between Moray’s force on one side, secretly encouraged by Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s forces, supplemented by two thousand Irish and the Earl of Argyle’s company, on the other—the details of field-pieces and “harquebusses,” all these events and matters passed in review under the eyes of the splendid and cautious Earl of Shrewsbury. Scarcely a day went by but some important paper or letter, official or private, was put into his hands. At every turn he was helping to “make history,” while he was a keen spectator of the Scottish drama up to the point when Mary fled out of her own country to implore the aid and protection of her sister sovereign.

It is now that the plot—Elizabeth’s plot which she had kept up her sleeve—begins to peep out. The first authentic news of it apparently went to the other Elizabeth, the newly made Countess of Shrewsbury, in the following letter from the English Court. The signature is torn off, but the correspondent has weighty news to tell, in spite of his deprecatory attitude towards mere rumours:—

“My most humble duty remembered unto your honourable good Ladyship. If it were not for my bounden duty’s sake I would be loth to write, because there is so small certainty in occurrences, but (seeing I am bound to write) it is but small that I see with my own eyes that is worth writing, and therefore I am forced to supply by that I do hear; which I write as I hear by credible report, otherwise I should not write at all, and therefore if I do err it is pardonable. The news is here that my Lord your husband is sworn of the Privy Council; and that the Scottish Queen is on her journey to Tutbury, something against her will, and will be under my Lord’s custody there.”

The rest of the letter is perhaps worth quoting, because it gives a picture of public events and suggests such a spacious background for the present life of Bess Hardwick. It deals with the war now beginning between Spain and the Netherlands, owing to the barbarous treatment of the latter by the Duke of Alva, and the commotion occasioned by it in France.

“The report is that the Duke of Alva hath for the lack of money disarmed the most part of his army; and they are not paid for that is past; but rob and steal, and much molest the country. And being divers garrisons at Maestricht of the Walloons the Duke sent to discharge them and sent Spaniards in their place, who have shut the gates of the Spaniards and refuse to deliver the town before they are paid their due.... In France there is a great stir to let the Prince of Condé to join with the Prince of Orange, so that the King divides his force, the Duke of Anjou to stop the passage of the Prince of Condé, etc., etc.”

The letter ends with intimate details:—

“And so eftsoons Jesus preserve you and send my cousin Frances a good hour and your honour a glad grandmother.

“Scribbled at London... January, 1568.”

Evidently this “Frances” is the eldest daughter of the Countess, who married Sir Henry Pierrepoint, and whose child is awaited.

Matters as regards the Earl of Shrewsbury did not move so fast as one would expect. It was not till June of 1568 that the final orders reached the Earl to make ready his “castle” of Tutbury for the reception of his romantic royal prisoner. Mary was now at Carlisle, and the part which the Earl was to play in her entourage as suggested in contemporary letters has more the character of that of a prominent cavalier in a princely retinue than that of a military gaoler. The description in the French ambassador’s letter reads well:—

“A castle named Tutbury, which is only one hundred miles from here”—London—“and is a very beautiful place as they say, especially for hunting, in which, whenever it takes place, the Earl of Shrewsbury, who has a portion of his estate in that neighbourhood, is ordered to give her his company, along with other Lords and gentlemen thereabout.”

The Queen was feeling her way, slowly sounding the Shrewsburys’ relatives, careful always to assert her appreciation not only of lord, but of lady. My Lord came to Court, and still her Majesty beat about the bush.

The following letters^[11] from the Earl belong to this epoch of the lives of the newly wedded pair:—

“My dear none, being here arrived at Wingfield late yesternight from Rofford, though very weary in toiling about, yet thinking you would be desirous to hear from me, scribbled these few lines to let you understand that I was in health and wished you anights with me. I picked out a very good time, for since my coming from home I never had letters but these this morning from Gilbert, which I send you. I mind to-morrow, God willing, to be with you at Chatsworth: and in the meantime as occurrences [befall] to me you shall be partaker of them. I thank you, sweet none, for your baked capon, and chiefest of all for remembering of me. It will be late to-morrow before my coming to Chatsworth, seven or eight of the clock at the soonest: and so farewell, my true one.

“This 28th June.

“Your faithful husband,

“G. Shrewsbury.”

“My dear none, having received your letter of the first of December which came in very good time, else had I sent one of these few remaining with me to have brought me word of your health, which I doubted of for that I heard not from you of all this time till now, which drove me in dumps, but now relieved again by your writing unto me. I thank you, sweet none, for your puddings and venison. The puddings have I bestowed in this wise: [a] dozen to my Lady Cobham, and as many to my L. Steward and unto my L. of Leicester: and the rest I have reserved to myself to eat in my chamber. The venison is yet at London, but I have sent for it hither.

“I perceive Ned Talbot hath been sick, and [is] now past danger. I thank God I have such a none that is so careful over me and mine. God send me soon home to possess my greatest joy: if you think it is you, you are not deceived.

“I will not forget to deal with the Master of the Rolls for young Knifton. He seems to be much my friend, and is now in dealing between Denenge and me, for the lease of Abbot Stake, agreed upon by me and Tamworth he should so do. He holds it at a thousand marks: and the Master of the Rolls hath driven it to five hundred pounds, which methinks too much for such a lease, yet because it lies so, as I am informed, amongst Gilbert’s lands, I have made my steward to offer four hundred pounds, and to get [delay] till the next term, because I would have your advice therein. And for that I live in hope to be with you before you can return answer again, you shall understand that this present Monday in the morning finding the Queen in the garden at good leisure, I gave her Majesty thanks that she had so little regard to the clamorous people of Bolsover^[12] in my absence. She declared unto me what evil speech was against me, my nearness and state in housekeeping, and as much as was told her, which she now believes with as good words as I could wish, declaring that ere it were long I should well perceive she did so trust me as she did few. She would not tell me therein, but [I] doubt [not] it was about the custody of the Scottish Queen. Here is private speech that Gates and Vaughan should make suit to have her, but this day I perceive it is altered. I think before Sunday these matters will come to some pass, that we shall know how long our abode shall be, but howsoever it falls out, I will not fail but be with you before Christmas, or else you shall come to me.

“The plague is dispersed far abroad in London, so that the Queen keeps her Christmas here, and goeth not to Greenwich as it was meant. My Lady Cobham, your dear friend, wishes your presence here: she loves you well. I tell her I have the cause to love her best, for that she wished me so well to speed as I did: and as the pen writes so the heart thinks, that of all earthly joys that hath happened unto me, I thank God chiefest for you: for with you I have all joy and contentation of mind, and without you death is more pleasant to me than life if I thought I should long be from you: and therefore, good wife, do as I will do, hope shortly of our meeting, and farewell, dear sweet none. From Hampton Court this Monday at midnight, for it is every night so late before I go to my bed, being at play in the privy chamber at Premiro, where I have lost almost a hundred pounds, and lacked my sleep.

“Your faithful husband till death,

“G. Shrewsbury.

“Wife, tell my daughter Maule that I am not pleased with her that she hath not written to me with her sister: yet will I not forget her and the rest, and pray God to bless them all.

“To my wife the Countess of Shrewsbury at Tutbury give this.”

The daughter “Maule” here named is evidently Mary. Besides Gilbert and Grace Talbot, married as stated to the Cavendish daughter and son of Lady Shrewsbury, the Earl’s children were Francis, the eldest (who married Anne Herbert, daughter of William Earl of Pembroke, and did not inherit, since he died in 1582); Mary, who married Sir George Saville, Kt.; Catherine, who married Henry Earl of Pembroke; Edward, who married Jane (elder daughter of Cuthbert Lord Ogle, co-heiress with the wife of Charles Cavendish), and succeeded to his father’s title, after Gilbert, as eighth earl; and Henry Talbot, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Rayner, and left two daughters.

The next letter from the Earl gives the Queen’s important decision:—

“My dear none, I have received your letter of the 8th of December, wherein appeareth your desire for my soon coming. What my desire is thereunto, I refer the same to your construsion.^[13] If I so judge of time, methinks time longer since my coming hither without you, my only joy, than I did since I married you: such is faithful affection, which I never tasted so deeply of before. This day or to-morrow we shall know great likelihood of our despatch. I think it will be Christmas Even before I shall arrive at Tutbury. Things fall out very evil against the Scots’ Queen. What she shall do yet is not resolved of.

“As it chances, I am glad that I am here: for if I were not I were like to have most part of my leases granted over my head: there is such suit for leases in reversion of the Duchy. My park that I have in keeping called Morley Park is granted in reversion for thirty years, wherein I have made some stir. My good neighbour hath a promise of it, and if I can get it put in I am about to get a friend of mine to put the forest of the Peak in his book. I have offered a thousand pounds for a lease in reversion for thirty years. I must pay Denege five hundred and forty-one for his lease of Stoke. How money will be had for these matters assure you I know not. I will make such means to Mr. Mildmay for the stay of Tutbury tithe, as I will not be prevented: for it is high time, for there was never such striving and prancing for leases in reversion as be now at this present.

“My L. Steward hath been sick and in danger, but now well. My L. Sheffield is departed this life; and my L. Paget just after. Your black man is in health.

“Your faithful husband till my end,

“G. Shrewsbury.

“From the Court this Monday the 13th of December. Now it is certain the Scots’ Queen comes to Tutbury to my charge. In what order I cannot ascertain you.

“To my wife the Countess of Shrewsbury

at Tutbury give this.”

It was not till just the close of 1568 that Shrewsbury was certain of his new duty and in a position to write that triumphant postscript. Within a month, in the beginning of the New Year, he had taken over from Sir Francis Knollys the task which was to prove so engrossing, stupendous, so provocative of every imaginable complication, official and domestic.

Imagine the excitement of my Lady at such a juncture! She knew the Scottish Queen only by hearsay, and her curiosity must have been kept at boiling pitch while her heart swelled with importance in the anticipation of the additional chatelaine’s duties thrust upon her by the august guest. She had known what it was to deal with a princess in captivity, for she had been acquainted with Elizabeth before her accession. The present matter was far more vital, more portentous. The Queen who rode wearily from Bolton Castle to Sheffield and thence to Tutbury must be humoured as Queen, served as queens are served, but a network of rules were being prepared, not only for her own retinue and the household, but for earl and lady.

The Earl, foreseeing all such domestic complications, had asked the Council for directions as to the treatment of his prisoner. “Remembrances for my L. of Shrewsbury” stands at the head of notes, in his handwriting, all duly numbered. Of these No. 5 reads, “For my wife’s access unto her, if she send for her.”

To this the reply in Cecil’s handwriting is, “The Queen of Scots may see the Countess, if she is sick, or for any other necessary cause, but rarely. No other gentlewoman must be allowed access to her.” The remainder of the rules are strict enough, and the pleasant country-house picture drawn by the French Ambassador, De la Forest, in the letter quoted, is rudely effaced by these details. Shrewsbury is to be well fortified by an array of facts against the Scottish Queen, lest her pleading should win his sympathies and her captive condition arouse his indignation too deeply. How the regulations at every turn reveal Elizabeth of England—at once autocratic and apprehensive of her own importance, at once trustful and suspicious! The document is so vital a part of the household appanage of the Shrewsburys from this moment until the close of their wardership that it is worth quoting in the concise form in which, partly in the original and partly as abstract, it is given in Leader’s admirable Mary Queen of Scots in Captivity.

“A memorial of certain thinges imparted by the Q. Matie to the erle of Shrewsbery, for the causes following. Gyven at Hampton Courte, the xxvjth day of January 1568, the xjth year of her Mates reign. The Q. has chosen him in consequence of his approved loyalty and faithfulness, and the ancient state and blood from which he is descended, to have the custody of the Queen of Scots.

“The Earl is to treat her, being a Queen, of the Queen Elizabeth’s blood, with the reverence and honour meet for a person of his state and calling and for her degree. He must ask Lord Scrope and the Vice Chamberlain [Knollys] about the ceremonies used by them towards her, that ‘she may not find herself to be in the usage of herself abused, nor by this removing to have her State amended.’

“Whatever honour he gives her he must take care that by no pretence she finds any means to gain any rule over him to practise for her escape. She must have no opportunity either to escape nor yet to practise with anyone to help her to escape. He doubtless knows how important it is to the Queen’s honour and reputation and quietness that Mary does not depart without the Queen’s assent. No persons must be in conference with her except those already placed about her as her ordinary servants, and those who have special licence from the Queen. The latter for no longer time than is mentioned in the licence.

“If any persons coming to visit the Earl or anyone in his household, proffer to come to her presence, or to have conference with any belonging to her, or if she invites them to come to her presence in the house or abroad, under colour of hunting, or other pastime, he shall warn them to forbear, and if needful use his authority to make them desist, and send their names to the Queen.

“Persons coming out of Scotland to see her, if of degrees above that of servants, or if noted to be busy men and practicers, must be remitted to the Queen for licence. If they are mean servants or persons coming only to have relief of her, he shall not be so straight towards them as to give her occasion to say she is kept a prisoner, and yet he must understand their errands and not suffer them to abide where she shall be, or to hover about the country.

“He must make a view of all her ordinary servants when he first takes the charge, and cause a household roll to be made of those necessary and of those who were with her at Bolton. With the advice of the Vice Chamberlain, he must reduce the number, omitting those who are superfluous and who are fit rather for practices than service.... Her diet must be kept at the former rate, and payments made by the clerk who was sent for that purpose from the Queen’s household. He (my Lord Shrewsbury) must consult the Vice Chamberlain as to the watching of the house, as he knows her condition and the disposition of those about her. The Queen intended her first to be placed at Tutbury Castle but as the house is not fit, if she is nearer the Earl’s house of Sheffield than Tutbury, she shall remain there till further orders. If she is at Tutbury, it is left to the Earl’s discretion to allow her to remain, or to remove her to Sheffield or any other of the Earl’s houses.

“Because it is thought that she will try to make the Earl think her cause worthy of favour, and that she is not well used in being restrained from liberty, the Queen has ordered, that beside the knowledge which the Earl has of the presumptions produced against her for the murder of her husband, and her unlawful marriage with the principal murderer Bothwell, he shall also be informed of other particulars too long to write here, that he may answer her and her favourers. He may say, as of himself, that if she is known to utter any speeches touching the Queen’s honour or doings, it may be an occasion to publish all her actions, which once being done cannot be revoked, but many things must follow to her prejudice.

“The Earl will be allowed wages for 40 persons at 6d. a day, to be used at his discretion.”

As a matter of fact the house at Tutbury was certainly “not fit” for the reception of any guest. The Shrewsburys made application to the Queen for hangings and necessaries in the way of furniture; and these were promised. But they did not arrive. Mary was growing obstreperous and visited all her misery and annoyance on her present gaoler, Sir Francis Knollys. He, poor man, was in despair, with his wife dying, and his piteous requests for discharge from duty unheeded by Elizabeth. No wonder he wrote at last to say that he would take the matter into his own hands, “and as sure as God is in heaven, repair to Court, and suffer any punishment that may be laid upon him, rather than continue in such employment.”

And still the much-needed furniture was not in its place. At last my Lady Shrewsbury, no doubt in desperation, took down such hangings as there were at Sheffield, and with the help of the borrowed details set to work to prepare Tutbury. A supplementary instalment of household articles from Court helped to complete the necessaries. The journey from Bolton began on January 25th, in morose, biting weather. It brought Mary of Scotland to the single gate in the wall surrounding Tutbury on the afternoon of February 4th, a Friday. The position of this place was fair enough in the beautiful valley of the Dove, but it was not all the French Ambassador imagined it, and my lady and her household were sore put to it to make it habitable. The scene of commotion and bustle must have palpitated with drama. With messengers bringing letters and the rumours and counter-rumours which filtered through from the country folk the ten days of Queen Mary’s journey southward must have been a period of extraordinary tension for all immediately concerned. The condition of that busy, expectant household at Tutbury under my Lady’s command is best suggested in the imaginary dialogue overleaf.