As soon as the Earl of Marr was informed of the queen's whereabouts he hastened to pay his respects to her; but she absolutely refused to see him, and her people treated him so uncivilly that he was glad to return to Stirling Castle. It was foolish in Queen Anne to insult her husband's most faithful friend and the man who had charge of her infant, but that was not the extent of her folly.
During the king's absence on his summer travels she actually went so far as to plan an expedition, which she meant to head, for the purpose of carrying off the infant prince by force. Fortunately, James heard of it in time to reach the place where his wife was stopping and bring her back to her senses. He at once accompanied her to Stirling Castle, where she was permitted to fondle little Henry as much as she pleased.
It was not unnatural that Queen Anne should want to keep her child with her; but she showed decided want of character in insisting upon it after the king had explained to her that the safety of his own person, the child, and the kingdom required this sacrifice at her hands. Had she taken pains to inform herself she would have seen that all the misfortunes of the preceding kings of the line of Stuart had arisen on account of their having been minors at the time of their accession. The throne had in each case been claimed for the son, which necessitated the destruction of the father and the appointment of a regent. Thus the strongest party had ruled according to their own ideas of justice.
It was to prevent the recurrence of such a miserable state of affairs that King James fortified his son in a well-guarded castle, under the supervision of such tried friends and loyal subjects as the Earl of Marr and his mother.
A.D. 1596. Anne's outbursts of temper because of this arrangement were for a time appeased, when her second child was born. It was a girl, and received the name of Elizabeth for the Queen of England. The infant princess was given in charge of Lord and Lady Livingstone, though the ministers of the Episcopal Church objected on the score of the latter's adherence to Catholicism. This child afterwards became Queen of Bohemia.
There were two people among Queen Anne's court who occupied a very prominent position, and were specially favored with her protection. These were Alexander and Beatrice Ruthven, members of a family in Scotland who claimed royal descent. The Ruthven family had attained the earldom of Gowry, and its members had aided in three separate assaults on the personal liberty of the sovereign; they were, therefore, the cause of a great deal of fighting and bloodshed.
A.D. 1597. Young Alexander became the object of King James's jealousy on one occasion. It occurred in this wise: "One day, when the queen was walking in the gardens of Falkland Palace with Beatrice Ruthven, they suddenly came upon the maid-of-honor's brother, Alexander, a youth of nineteen, who lay fast asleep beneath the shade of a large tree. For a bit of fun her majesty tied a silver ribbon around his neck, which had been given to her by the king, without arousing the sleeper. Presently King James himself came along. The silver ribbon caught his attention, he stooped to examine it, frowned, and looked angrily on the youth, who was, by the way, a gentleman-of-the-bed-chamber, then hurried on without waking young Ruthven. Beatrice, who had been anxiously watching this little scene from behind a neighboring bush, rushed forward, snatched the ribbon from her brother's neck, and hastened with it through a private entrance to the queen's room. Hurriedly opening a drawer, she deposited the ribbon therein, and had just time to inform her majesty 'that her reason for so doing would be presently explained,' when the king entered, and in a threatening tone demanded the silver ribbon. Luckily Anne was able to produce it, and thus dispel the angry frown that had gathered on the brow of her lord, no doubt congratulating herself upon the possession of so sagacious a maid-of-honor."
For the time being King James's jealousy was appeased; but the Gowry conspiracy aroused it again three years later, and Alexander Ruthven was again the object of it.
A.D. 1600. The queen was awakened much earlier than usual one bright, warm morning in August by the king's preparations for a hunting expedition. She asked "why he started so early;" to which he replied, "that he wished to be astir betimes, as he expected to kill a prime buck before noon."
It was true that he was going hunting, but he had another object in view. He had been informed by Alexander Ruthven that a Jesuit with a large bag of gold had just been seized and shut up at Gowry House, in Perth, awaiting examination. It was no unusual occurrence at that era for any one besides a common robber to take possession of whatever gold might be found on the person of a traveller, and then spare no effort to prove said traveller Jesuitical. So King James set forth in high glee with the prospect of counting over a bag of gold, besides enjoying a morning hunt. Several hours were passed in the latter diversion; and at noon, accompanied by only one or two attendants, the king left the woods and entered Gowry House. He was received by the Earl of Gowry, young Ruthven's elder brother, who had just returned from the court of Queen Elizabeth. After dinner, at a sign from Alexander Ruthven, the king withdrew, expecting to be introduced to the Jesuit with the gold. Unsuspectingly he followed the young man up various winding stairs and through gloomy, intricate passages to a circular room, used by the Go wry family as a prison. He was surprised, on entering, to behold a gigantic man in a complete suit of black armor, and still more so when Alexander closed the door and locked it, cutting off all retreat.