the city. This, however, was only a temporary change. That
night they came into the palace, and directed Mary to rise and put on
a traveling dress which they brought her. They did not tell her where
she was to go, but simply ordered her to follow them. It was
midnight. They took her forth from the palace, mounted her upon a
horse, and, with Ruthven and Lindsay, two of the murderers of Rizzio,
for an escort, they rode away. They traveled all night, crossed the
River Forth and arrived in the morning at the Castle of Loch Leven.

The Castle of Loch Leven is on a small island in the middle of the
loch. It is nearly north from Edinburgh. The castle buildings covered
at that time about one half of the island, the water coming up to the
walls on three sides. On the other side was a little land, which was
cultivated as a garden. The buildings inclosed a considerable area.
There was a great square tower, marked on the plan below, which was
the residence of the family. It consisted of four or five rooms, one
over the other. The cellar, or, rather, what would be the cellar in
other cases, was a dungeon for such prisoners as were to be kept in
close confinement. The only entrance to this building was through a
window in the second story, by means of a ladder which was raised and
let down by a chain. This was over the point marked _e_ on the plan.
The chain was worked at a window in the story above. There were
various other apartments and structures about the square, and among
them there was a small octagonal tower in the corner at _m_ which
consisted within of one room over another for three stories, and a
flat roof with battlements above. In the second story there was a
window, _w_, looking upon the water. This was the only window having
an external aspect in the whole fortress, all the other openings in
the exterior walls being mere loop-holes and embrasures.

The following is a general plan of Loch Leven Castle:[H]

[Illustration: PLAN OF LOCH LEVEN CASTLE.]

[Footnote H: Compare this plan with the view of the castle, page
236.]

This castle was in possession of a certain personage styled the Lady
Douglas. She was the mother of the Lord James, afterward the Earl of
Murray, who has figured so conspicuously in this history as Mary's
half brother, and at first her friend and counselor, though afterward
her foe. Lady Douglas was commonly called the Lady of Loch Leven. She
maintained that she had been lawfully married to James V