In 1603 the celebrated trial of Sir Walter Raleigh took place, in which, among numerous counts, he was accused of plotting to place Arabella Stuart on the throne. But when her name was mentioned in Court, Robert Cecil, her friend, rose and said, ‘Let us not scandal the innocent by confusion of speech; the Lady Arabella is as innocent of these things as I, or any man here,’ and then followed an able defence.
Arabella, who was much attached to her uncle, Lord Shrewsbury, was always striving, at least by letter, to make peace between him and her grandmother, which was perhaps the reason that she lost favour with that irascible old lady.
We hear of ‘the Lady Arabell riding in a procession through the city, next to the Queen, on a crimson velvet caparisoned horse, acting in masques and pageants, sumptuously arrayed; but the poor lady was deep in debt, and her uncle of Shrewsbury in the like plight, unable to help her.’ She was, however, much liked at Court, and chosen sponsor to little Princess Mary, (who died young,) and, says Birch, ‘she was very dear to Prince Henry, not less for her near relation to him, than for her accomplishments of mind, both natural and acquired.’ The Duke of Holstein was a zealous suitor, ‘but the Lady Arabella will not hear of marriage.’ The King of Denmark, when on a visit to the Queen, his sister, was captivated by her, and they corresponded in Latin.
In 1608 died Bess of Hardwicke, Countess of Shrewsbury, ‘feared by many, flattered by some, beloved by none,’ having disinherited the grandchild whom she professed to love. Arabella’s favour at Court lasted up to 1609, at the close of which year she was placed in restraint, and her servants arrested, and early in the ensuing year she was accused of having entered into a secret treaty of marriage with her old love, William Seymour. A fitter husband could scarcely be found, but what availed that fitness, if the match did not please the tyrant who ruled his unfortunate kinswoman’s destinies?
Seymour was ‘a quiet, steady young man,’ loving his book above all other exercise. They are supposed to have met frequently when the youth was at College, and the lady at Woodstock with the Court; be this as it may, the lovers met, and solemnly plighted their troth. Twice they saw each other, at the houses of confidential friends, and ere a third interview could be effected, they were both summoned before the Privy Council, admonished, forgiven, and betrayed into promises impossible to keep. They were separated for a time, and Arabella, with a heavy heart, was called upon to parade her comeliness and her talent in a Court masque, where she enacted a nymph of Trent, her costume, most elaborate and minutely described, of gold, silver, seaweeds, sedges, and cloth of both metals, all embroidered, and shells and coral on the crest of a helm. That was the end of her grandeur and her prosperity, and now came tribulation of all kinds. At Whitsuntide, Seymour, accompanied by a friend and confidant, by name Rodney, went down to Greenwich, where they arrived at midnight. They waited till morning, and then found access to Lady Arabella’s apartment, where the lovers were united; Rodney and two servants serving as witnesses. The secret soon transpired, and the luckless bride was placed in the custody of Sir Thomas Parry at a house in Lambeth, ‘opposite a capital mansion called Fauxhall,’ to remain there with one or two of her women, without access of any other person till His Majesty’s further pleasure should be known.
Hence she addressed letters which seemed indeed to soften the King’s hard heart; the Queen, it appears, frequently interceded, as did many other influential persons, but without effect. The bridegroom was lodged in the Tower; Arabella continued to write letters to her uncle, to her husband, and innumerable petitions to the Council in most pathetic terms, ‘that had not God for some high purpose steeled the hearts of men, they must perforce have pitied her.’
James now ordered her off into the custody of the Bishop of Durham, who repaired to Sir Thomas Parry’s house to receive his charge.
Arabella’s grief at the prospect of a long journey far from the city which held the beloved of her heart was intense. Her agitation was terrible to witness, and much affected the good Prelate, who used all his poor skill to comfort her, and make her submit to the royal decree by exhorting her to follow the patient example of holy saints, and that in the presence of Mr. Chancellor, Dr. Mountford, (a trusty friend of the poor prisoners,) and others. But Arabella would accept no comfort, and on the journey to Highgate, the physician was called on three times to administer cordials, so faint and sick was his fair charge.
He took upon himself next day (when after passing a miserable night at the house of Sir William Bond, Arabella woke up from a few hours’ sleep in great exhaustion) to forbid her proceeding any further. The Bishop having the King’s displeasure before his eyes, went to her bedside and besought her to rise, ‘telling her of the sweet air, the beautiful day, and the duty of her journey.’ But the good physician braved all for her health’s sake, though this step entailed the necessity of a letter from Bishop and doctor too, to the Lords in Council.
James, anxious to ascertain if the illness were feigned, sent his own physician to see Arabella, and consult with Dr. Mountford, who told him plainly ‘remedies were useless, and that he could warrant no amendmente of her health, or continuance of lyfe if some contentment of minde be not granted. His aim,’ he said, ‘was to cherish her into life.’ Nevertheless cruel orders came to hurry her on her way, and during a ride of six miles, she was attacked by deadly sickness and faintness, and was carried almost insensible to the house of a gentleman named Thomas Conyers, resident at East Barnet. Letters again passed from the travellers to high quarters, and the physician wrote to Lady Shrewsbury, (Arabella’s aunt,) who was most uneasy on the sufferer’s account.