“Don’t cry, Grandfather. She will be very happy in her new resting place with the other kings and queens.”
Thomas nodded his head again and squeezed little Mary’s hand once more. “You are right, my child. She will be very happy. The daughter of a king, wife of a king, and mother of a king; she will be taking her place amongst the majestic kings and queens of England. Right where she deserves to be.”
At that, the procession began to move forward once more, and Thomas and little Mary watched as the carriage carrying the queen of Scotland meandered away. It wasn’t until the carriage had faded out of sight completely that Thomas noticed that the weight in his chest, the heaviness that he had carried since that fateful February day so long ago, had lifted and he was able to breathe easier once again. He knew that Mary would finally rest in a sepulcher worthy of her name, and now, he too could rest easier, knowing that she was finally at home.
~Separating Fact from Fiction~
Although Thomas Broune is a fictional character, his and Mary’s story is woven around many of the events that happened in Mary’s life. The ill-fated life of Mary Stuart reveals that she was doomed from the very beginning of her return to Scotland. At the time of her return, she was without a mother or father, and without a consort to consult. She was thrown into a role for which she had been ill-prepared. Raised to be the wife of a king, one must question whether she was truly prepared to single-handedly take up the reins of the monarch and rule with the grit required of a sixteenth century sovereign.
Many comparisons have been made between Mary and her successful cousin, Queen Elizabeth of England. Their upbringings were quite different and so were their philosophies on how to rule a kingdom. Where Elizabeth was strong-willed, used her head and ruled with the heart of a king (as she is attributed to have said), Mary was renowned for her kindness and her actions prove that she thought more with her heart than with her head. Ruling during a time of great upheaval of reformation within the church, she is the voiceless victim of many a greedy and ambitious man. I can accept that she may have been a weak ruler, but I refuse to accept that she was the conniving, conspiring harlot that many attribute her to be. From her half-brother Lord James Stewart, to her third and final husband, James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell and every man in between (and even those after her arrest in England which I do not mention in my story at all) she came in contact time and time again with smart, strong men that could have been of great assistance to her, had they chosen to do so.
Out of this belief was born the character of Thomas Broune. I was determined to give Mary someone who could guide her and love her through all her missteps in the courts of Scotland. I wanted someone who might shed light on why Mary may have made some of her decisions. However, for the sake of true history, he ultimately could not save her. As much as I contemplated the idea of writing an alternate historical ending for Mary, in the end, I just couldn’t do it. I hope that I have represented respectfully, the spirit and personality that I imagine Mary Stuart to have had. Right or wrong, this is the person I believe her to have been, and the person that I have chosen to present her as. I hope the reader is not too disappointed.
Just a few facts to go with the fiction:
George Gordon, the Fourth Earl of Huntly
George Gordon was actually a cousin of Mary Stuart, his mother being an illegitimate daughter of Mary’s grandfather, James IV. He was a wealthy land owner that lived in the northern part of Scotland and enjoyed much influence and respect from other clans. It didn’t take long for Mary to get on Gordon’s bad side, however. She took the prestigious title of the Earl of Moray, which Gordon had claimed, and gave it to her half-brother, James Stewart. Gordon rebelled and it came to a head at the Battle of Corrichie, near Aberdeen. The battle was a victory for Mary and her forces, albeit Gordon was not killed in battle. Rather, he dropped dead on the field, having died from what historians believe to be a heart attack. His body was apprehended, embalmed, and prepared for burial, then stood trial, in his coffin many months later. When Gordon was found guilty of treason posthumously, his lands and titles were seized. Another of his sons, also called George, came back into favor with the crown years later, and the title and lands were restored. One of George Gordon’s daughters was married to James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell. Bothwell divorced her in order to marry the queen.
For the sake of my story, I tinkered with the timing of a few of the events regarding the Gordon family. Sir John Gordon was actually not arrested until after the Battle of Corrichie. He was, however, still found guilty of treason and hanged accordingly. Adam Gordon was also arrested after the battle but went on to become a faithful supporter of the queen. Elizabeth Gordon, Countess of Huntly, became a trusted attendant of Mary Stuart’s as well, after her husband’s death. There is much rhetoric on the Gordon family, and many believed the earl to be a faithful servant of Mary and that the battle of Corrichie was all a result of self-defense on the part of the Gordon clan. Some historians relay that Mary was strongly influenced by her brother, Lord James Stewart, who was an ardent opponent of George Gordon, and poisoned her thinking against him. In the end, I chose a side and wrote from that slant. Hopefully, I haven’t offended too many Gordons along the way.
Mary’s White Wedding Dress
Thomas has a dream in which Mary is dressed in a white wedding dress. It was not the custom in the sixteenth century for women to wear white on their wedding day. In fact, that custom did not start until Queen Victoria wore a white satin dress on her special day almost 300 years later. However, Mary’s favorite color was white, and she chose to wear that color when she married her first husband, Francis, the Dauphin of France. This was a bold move, as white was the color of mourning among royals in France at that time.
The Queen’s Real Almoner
Mary Stuart did have an almoner that she wrote to the evening before her execution. He was a French Jesuit named De Préau (in some accounts he is called De Préan or even, Le Préau), and she wrote to him lamenting the fact that she had been denied the opportunity to meet with him that he might administer the sacraments and receive her confession. In her final letter to him, she asks what proper prayers she should pray that night and in the morning, knowing that she was about to be executed. She assures him that she will recommend him, above all else in her household, to the king of France and begs that he advise her of anything that he can think of that would comfort her soul in her final hours.
In reality, De Préau was a Catholic clergyman, not Protestant, as I have made Thomas. And of course, there was never any romantic inclinations between Mary and her true almoner, De Préau. He was a part of Mary’s household and with her while she was under house arrest in England. Some historical accounts believe him to have been present at her execution. De Préau was also mentioned in Mary’s last will and testament, written in the early morning hours before her execution. She requested that he be allowed to continue to receive two stipends that he had previously enjoyed. She also asked that the king allow the almoner to continue in his service and be given some small allowance that he might pray for Mary’s soul for the rest of his life.
The Night before Mary’s Execution
It is this moment of Mary’s life in which I probably took the most liberty in The Queen’s Almoner. In reality, Mary spent her final evening preparing for her execution. After her sentence had been read to her, she asked when it was to be carried out. She was told that it would be the next morning, and she fretted only in the fact that it did not give her much time to prepare. She expressed relief that her troubles would finally be put to an end.
However, she also laid her hand upon a New Testament and swore to those men who had come to condemn her, that she was innocent in all the charges. One man commented that she used a “Popish Testament” (a Catholic Bible) and that her word was as worthless as the book upon which she made her oath. Mary stated that it was the book she believed to be true and asked if they would believe her more if she swore upon their (
Protestant) book, in which she did not believe. Of course, the answer would have been no. She then rallied those ladies in attendance to her, along with her doctor, entreating them to stop crying, for there was much to do.
She divided what coins and jewels she had on her and wrote out a will, dividing up the rest of her income and money owed her, to those whom she was close to, and to the many people who had served her faithfully. She also wrote to her almoner, De Préau, as explained previously. However, the letter to the King of France, in which she lays out her wishes for distribution of wealth, and her burial, was the last thing she wrote.
After all of this, Mary was extremely tired and said that she would take some rest. She lied down and one of her ladies read a parable from the Book of Hours to her. Then she closed her eyes and slept, although her ladies noticed her lips still moving as if she were in prayer. And thus the Queen of Scots passed her last night.
Tom Tom the Dog
Although Mary was an animal lover and is known to have kept dogs, Tom Tom is imaginary. However, a contemporary account reveals that on the day of Mary’s execution there was a small dog hidden in her skirts, and when she was beheaded, the dog scurried from beneath her petticoat and went to lie in the puddle of blood beside her head. I cannot pretend this would be Tom Tom, for he would not have lived to see Mary’s death. Yet, the idea of Mary finding comfort from a furry friend in her final hours is a nice thought.
Queen Elizabeth I
Several attempts were made to arrange a meeting of the two queens. However, it was never meant to be. Through her letters, Elizabeth tried to influence Mary as to whom she chose to marry, even suggesting her favorite, Robert Dudley. Mary bulked at the suggestion, but when she finally agreed to a meeting, Elizabeth began to back-peddle, withdrawing her support of such a marriage. Robert Dudley was rumored to be Elizabeth’s lover, and Mary eludes to him during her conversation with Thomas outside the inn at Inverness. Not only is Thomas a fictional character, but this scene is totally a creation of my imagination. There is no suggestion that Mary ever considered such an arrangement as that she proposed to Thomas, with any man.
Another creation of my imagination was Elizabeth’s meeting with Thomas. Elizabeth was not anywhere near Fotheringhay Castle on the day Mary was executed. In fact, she had signed Mary’s death warrant seven days earlier but had not submitted it to be carried out. She was trying desperately to finagle her way out of being held personally responsible for the regicide. Without her knowledge, her chief advisor, Sir William Cecil, took it upon himself to procure two men to carry out the warrant. This worked in Elizabeth’s favor, allowing her to claim ignorance as to the execution when it finally took place.
Many a male might have failed to assist Mary, but sadly in the end, it was a “sister”, a blood relative that brought about her demise. Whether Elizabeth was right or wrong in doing so will probably be a debate between the two sides for the rest of time. But in my opinion, this just might be the saddest fact of them all that surrounds the life of Mary Queen of Scots.
In my sad, quiet song,
A melancholy air,
I shall look deep and long
At loss beyond compare,
And with bitter tears,
I'll pass my best years.
~Mary Queen of Scots~
~Acknowledgements~
I would like to extend a special thanks to my editor, Janice Broyles, for her patience with me. Her experience and advice is priceless. Thank you for helping me to let go of some of those ideas that I tried so hard to hold on to for the sake of a better story. I really do appreciate it.
And thank you to my beta readers for their time and for sharing their opinions with me. This book is so much better because of YOU.
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