Series 1 > Papal negotiations with Mary Queen of Scots during her reign in Scotland, 1561-1567

INTRODUCTION
CXXl
some importance in determining whether the poor prince was
blown up, or strangled and carried out before the explosion of
the mine (p. 361).
After this (March 12) there is more speculation as to the
author of the outrage, and the unpopularity of Murray’s party
is shown by the rumours current in his disfavour. We also
get some interesting views from du Croc, as to what might
have been, and he was a man who knew Mary and her position
better than most of his contemporaries (p. 365).
At last (March 15) Father Edmund Hay and Moretta,
whom the nuncio had been expecting for so long, reached
Paris. They had little fresh news of the murder to impart.
They confirmed the previous report, that Darnley had been
strangled by a numerous band of assassins, and repeated the
assurance that he had preserved his religion until the end. For
the rest, Laureo’s attention was now chiefly occupied with the
problem of the practicability of going to Scotland, a question
to which we shall return later. Suffice it here to say, that in
his survey of the state of Scotland he lets us see something of
the favour in which Bothwell was held by the queen, and was
evidently much impressed by the dangers which were gather¬
ing round her (p. 369). As often happens in such cases, his
practical conclusion was correct, though several of his state¬
ments appear to be unreliable.
In conclusion he says: ‘ As to the reason of the murder,
the truth has not yet been discovered, except that which I
sent you on suspicion by two notes a parte' (p. 371). The
significance of these words is this. He has nothing more to
add to what he reported at first. Even at the end of his stay
in Paris there was no news to be obtained more reliable than
the suspicions, which he had reported to Rome after the
arrival of the first inaccurate and unauthoritative news of the
murder episode, which he had repeated (and possibly supple¬
mented) a day or two later (p. 353, note 1).