of the policy of her later years may be questioned, but her conduct during her widowhood forms a strange contrast to that of her Tudor mother-in-law in similar circumstances.  It is probable that her intentions were honest enough, and that the Protestant indignation at her “falsehoods” was based on invincible misunderstanding.  Her gracious charm of manner was the concomitant of a tolerance rare in the sixteenth century; and she died at peace with all men, and surrounded by those who had been in arms against her, receiving “all her nobles with all pleasure, with a pleasant countenance, and even embracing them with a kiss of love”.

Her death set the lords of the congregation free to carry out their ecclesiastical programme.  In August Roman Catholicism was abolished by the Scottish Parliament and the celebration of the mass forbidden, under severe penalties.  There remained the question of the ratification of the Treaty of Edinburgh, the final form of the agreement by which peace had been made.  The young Queen of Scots objected to the treaty on the ground that it included a clause that “the most Christian King and Queen Mary, and each of them, abstain henceforth from using the title and bearing the arms of the kingdom of England or of Ireland".[61] She interpreted the word “henceforth” as involving an absolute renunciation of her claim to the English throne, and so prejudicing her succession, should she survive Elizabeth.  Cecil had suggested to the Scots that it might be advisable to raise the claim of the Lord James Stewart, an illegitimate son of James V, and afterwards Earl of Moray, to the throne, or to support that of the House of Hamilton.  The Scots improved on this suggestion, and proposed that Elizabeth should marry the Earl of Arran, the eldest son of the Duke of Chatelherault, who might succeed to the throne.  There were many reasons why Elizabeth should not wed the imbecile Arran, and it may safely be said that she never seriously considered the project although she continued to trifle with the suggestion, which formed a useful form of intrigue against Mary.

The situation was considerably altered by the death of Francis II, in December, 1560.  That event was, on the whole, welcome to Elizabeth, for it destroyed the power of the Guises, and Mary Stuart[62] had now to face her Scottish difficulties without French aid.  She was not on good terms with her mother-in-law, Catherine de Medici, who now controlled the destinies of France, and it was evident that she must accept the fact of the Scottish Reformation, and enter upon a conflict with the theocratic tendencies of the Church and with the Scottish nobles who were the pensioners of Elizabeth.  On the other hand, although Francis II was dead, his widow survived, young, beautiful, charming, and a queen.  The dissolution of her first marriage had removed an actual difficulty from the path of the English queen, but, after all, it only meant that she might be able to contract an alliance