13, 1567), but she was with him by January 21. From Glasgow, at this
time, was written the long and fatal letter to Bothwell, which places
Mary's guilt in luring Darnley to his death beyond doubt, if we accept
the letters as authentic. {129}

Darnley was carried in a litter to the lonely house of Kirk o' Field, on
the south wall of Edinburgh. Here Mary attended him in his sickness. On
Sunday morning, February 9, Murray left Edinburgh for Fife. In the night
of Sunday 9-Monday 10, the house where Darnley lay was blown up by
gunpowder, and he, with an attendant, was found dead in the garden: how
he was slain is not known.

That Bothwell, in accordance with a band signed by himself, Huntly,
Argyll, and Lethington, and aided by some Border ruffians, laid and
exploded the powder is certain. Morton was apprised by Lethington and
Bothwell of the plot, but refused to join it without Mary's written
commission, which he did not obtain. Against the queen there is no
trustworthy direct evidence (if we distrust her alleged letters to
Bothwell), but her conduct in protecting and marrying Bothwell (who was
really in love with his wife) shows that she did not disapprove. The
trial of Bothwell was a farce; Mary's abduction by him (April 24) and
retreat with him to Dunbar was collusive. She married Bothwell on May
15. Her nobles, many of whom had signed a document urging her to marry
Bothwell, rose against her; on June 15, 1567, she surrendered to them at
Carberry Hill, while they, several of them deep in the murder plot, were
not sorry to let Bothwell escape to Dunbar. After some piratical
adventures, being pursued by Kirkcaldy he made his way to Denmark, where
he died a prisoner.

Mary, first carried to Edinburgh and there insulted by the populace, was