whether she was to come as their captive or as their
queen. The event showed that it was in the former capacity that they
intended to receive her, though they were probably willing that she
should understand that it was in the latter. At all events, the
proposition itself did not make it very clear what her position would
be; and the poor queen, distracted by the difficulties which
surrounded her, and overwhelmed with agitation and fear, could not
press very strongly for precise stipulations. In respect to Bothwell,
they compromised the question by agreeing that, as he was under
suspicion in respect to the murder of Darnley, he should not
accompany the queen, but should be dismissed upon the field; that is,
allowed to depart, without molestation, wherever he should choose to
go. This plan was finally adopted. The queen bade Bothwell farewell,
and he went away reluctantly and in great apparent displeasure. He
had, in fact, with his characteristic ferocity, attempted to shoot
Grange pending the negotiation. He mounted his horse, and, with a few
attendants, rode off and sought a retreat once more upon his rock at
Dunbar.

From all the evidence which has come down to us, it seems impossible
to ascertain whether Mary desired to be released from Bothwell's
power, and was glad when the release came, or whether she still loved
him, and was planning a reunion, so soon as a reunion should be
possible. One party at that time maintained, and a large class of
writers and readers since have concurred in the opinion, that Mary
was in love with Bothwell before Darnley's death; that she connived
with him in the plan for Darnley's murder; that she was a consenting
party to the abduction, and the spending of the ten days at Dunbar
Castle, in his power; that the marriage was the end at which she
herself, as well as Bothwell, had been all the time aiming; and then,
when at last she surrendered herself to the prince's lords at
Carberry Hill, it was only yielding unwillingly to the necessity of a
temporary separation from her lawless husband, with a view of
reinstating him in favor and power at the earliest opportunity.

Another party, both among her people at the time and among the
writers and readers who have since paid attention to her story, think
that she never loved Bothwell, and that, though she valued his
services as a bold and energetic soldier, she had no collusion with
him whatever in respect to Darnley's murder. They think that