Series 3 > Foreign correspondence with Marie de Lorraine, Queen of Scotland, from the originals in the Balcarres papers > Volume 7

INTRODUCTION
xix
little Queen, he was certain to desire the change even
more. The Cardinal de Lorraine, in a long letter 1 to his
sister, discussed the new arrangements which would be
necessary ; he proposed that the Dowager should consider
the provision of a separate establishment for her daughter,
promised to enclose a draft of the possible expense, and
informed her that there was no possibility of assistance
from the King of France. Although, from the financial
point of view, the moment did not appear propitious, some
change was inevitable, since the Dauphin would be served
by his private household and the Queen Catherine pro¬
posed taking her two elder daughters, Elisabeth and
Claude, into her own charge until they should marry,
under the pretext that the daughters of France had their
own establishments only when they were motherless. It
was obviously unsuitable that the Queen of Scots, an
independent sovereign, should be treated like them, and
it was also suggested by her uncle that Mary perceived and
resented the ill-feeling in the joint household and shared
his desire to be free of such guardianship. But there the
matter rested for some time, apart from a suggestion of
M. d’Urfe 2 that the Queen of Scots needed another gen¬
tleman in charge of her stable, and a complaint from
Puiguillon 3 that the Queen’s household was as poor as
usual. So it is not clear what establishment she had
between 1552 and 1554, except that it was undeniably
scanty and impoverished.
In 1553 M. d’Urfe 4 wrote that the Queen of Scots had
been a little unwell, and towards the end of the year the
Duchess Antoinette 5 expected to see her in February and
would do for her all that she could. A change made in
her attendants, hinted at by Anne d’Est, was passed over
1 Partly printed in Labanoff, vol. vii. p. 8. Letter CIII.
2 Letter CL 3 Letter CXVIII.
4 Letter CXV. * Letter CXXVI.