's heart. As he was galloping from the battle-field the
news was brought him that his wife had given birth to a daughter. He
took little notice of the message; and in a few days he had died,
moaning with his last breath the mysterious words:

"It came with a lass--with a lass it will go!"

The child who was born at this ill-omened crisis was Mary Stuart, who
within a week became, in her own right, Queen of Scotland. Her mother
acted as regent of the kingdom. Henry of England demanded that the
infant girl should be betrothed to his young son, Prince Edward, who
afterward reigned as Edward VI., though he died while still a boy. The
proposal was rejected, and the war between England and Scotland went on
its bloody course; but meanwhile the little queen was sent to France,
her mother's home, so that she might be trained in accomplishments
which were rare in Scotland.

In France she grew up at the court of Catherine de' Medici, that
imperious intriguer whose splendid surroundings were tainted with the
corruption which she had brought from her native Italy. It was, indeed,
a singular training-school for a girl of Mary Stuart's character. She
saw about her a superficial chivalry and a most profound depravity.
Poets like Ronsard graced the life of the court with exquisite verse.
Troubadours and minstrels sang sweet music there. There were fetes and
tournaments and gallantry of bearing; yet, on the other hand, there was
every possible refinement and variety of vice. Men were slain before
the eyes of the queen herself. The talk of the court was of intrigue
and lust and evil things which often verged on crime. Catherine de'
Medici herself kept her nominal husband at arm's-length; and in order
to maintain her grasp on France she connived at the corruption of her
own children, three of whom were destined in their turn to sit upon the
throne.

Mary Stuart grew up in these surroundings until she was sixteen, eating
the fruit which gave a knowledge of both good and evil. Her
intelligence was very great. She quickly learned Italian, French, and
Latin. She was a daring horsewoman. She was a poet and an artist even
in her teens. She was also a keen judge of human motives, for those
early years of hers had forced her into a womanhood that was premature
but wonderful. It had been proposed that she should marry the eldest
son of Catherine, so that in time the kingdom of Scotland and that of
France might be united, while if Elizabeth of E