[CHAPTER XI]
THE END

"He is not worthy of the joys of heaven whose body cannot suffer the stroke of the executioner."—Queen Mary to Kent, Camden, p. 454.

IT was Tuesday morning, the 8th of February.

When the Queen heard six o'clock strike she called her women to her, reminding them that she had but two hours to live.[132] Then rising, she dressed herself with unusual care and magnificence, as in preparation for some great and solemn occasion. Her robes—the only ones she had reserved of former splendours—were such as were then worn by queens-dowager. The skirt and bodice of black satin were worn over a petticoat of russet-brown velvet; while the long regal mantle, also of black satin, embroidered with gold and trimmed with fur, had long hanging sleeves and a train. The Queen's head-dress was of white crape, from which fell a long veil of the same delicate material, edged with lace. Round her neck she wore a chain of scented beads with a cross, and at her waist a golden rosary.

Contemporary Drawing of the Execution of Mary Queen of Scots at Fotheringay.
From the Calthorpe MS.
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