It was impossible for him to keep a secret, and the queen was forced to adopt a line of action which prematurely disclosed her real aims. Maitland and Moray, when they had fathomed Darnley's character, must have been convinced—even apart from their knowledge of the queen's purposes—that the results of the marriage would be calamitous. Scarcely had Darnley set foot in Scotland when he began to manifest his folly. He chose as his special friends Lord Robert Stewart (afterwards Earl of Orkney) [q. v.] and other nobles notoriously disreputable (Randolph to Cecil, 20 March 1564–5, in Keith, ii. 272). To those who were not his special friends ‘his pride’ was ‘intolerable,’ and ‘his words not to be borne, except where no man dare speak again’ (Randolph to Leicester, 3 June 1565, Cal. State Papers, For. 1564–5, No. 1221). Moreover he imprudently expressed his surprise at, and disapproval of, the extent of Moray's possessions, and made no secret of his conviction that his power would need to be curbed. It was thus almost inevitable that Moray, since he was backed by Elizabeth, should do his utmost against an alliance which foreboded his ruin.
Their common dangers and difficulties tended for the time being to foster cordiality between husband and wife; but the essential unhappiness of the union was manifest almost from the beginning. That Darnley was mentally and morally weak was not in itself a fatal objection; but this imbecility was conjoined with reckless courage, strong animal passions, intolerable pride, and fatal obstinacy. In September Randolph reported that he had shown himself altogether unworthy of what the queen had called him to (ib. No. 1519); and this judgment the sequel more than justified. On one occasion when the queen, during a visit to an Edinburgh merchant, tried to dissuade him from drinking too much and encouraging others to do so, he not only declined to listen to her advice, but ‘gave her such words that she left the house in tears’ (Drury to Cecil, 12 Feb. 1565–6, in Keith, ii. 403). Other vicious habits are also alluded to (see especially ib. ii. 405); and while it is quite clear that his conduct to the queen was such as rapidly to dissipate any illusion she may at first have cherished, she quickly recognised that he was unfit not merely to aid her with his advice in matters of state, but even to share her political confidence. Thus being compelled to refuse him the matrimonial crown, she found it needful to elevate Riccio to the place in her political counsels which properly belonged to her husband.
Riccio had been the main assistant of the queen in arranging the marriage with Darnley, and he was now engaged with her in a conspiracy for realising its full political fruits. The queen had no reason for ignoring Darnley more than was essential to the success of the scheme; and for its full success it was necessary not merely that the marriage should be maintained in its entirety, but that there should be cordial relations between them. But it was scarcely possible for Darnley to play any other political part than that of dupe; and he never was more a dupe than when he imagined himself engaged in the circumvention of his enemies. Lacking in modesty as in other gifts and graces, he never had a doubt as to his fitness to grapple with the most difficult emergencies; and he seems to have thoroughly convinced himself that his exclusion from the queen's counsels was primarily due to Riccio, and that Riccio's influence with the queen was rooted in his own dishonour. In any case the opponents of Riccio recognised the supreme importance of convincing Darnley of this. It was advisable that he should be utilised as a dupe and tool; and without doubt or misgiving he was, up to a certain point as compliant as could be wished. The conspirators against Riccio were nominally his agents, acting less in their own behalf, or even in behalf of protestantism, than in behalf of an outraged husband. Thus, on 6 March, three days before the murder, Bedford and Randolph wrote to Cecil that Darnley had determined to be present at Riccio's apprehension and execution; and this because the crime of Riccio was that he had done Darnley ‘the most dishonour that could be to any man’ (Cal. State Papers, For. Ser. 1566–8, No. 162). This meant that the conspirators intended to give such a complexion to the assassination; and in token that they were acting on Darnley's behalf, Darnley's dagger was left by George Douglas sticking in his body [for further details of the plot and its execution see under Douglas, James, fourth Earl of Morton; Mary Queen of Scots; and Riccio, David]. But not merely was Darnley bent on revenge; he was resolved on the reality of kingship, and it suited the plotters to flatter his ambition; for they meant, for the time being, to set him up as the nominal head of the government. And thus it was that the chief enemies of Darnley—Moray, Argyll, and others, who had risen in rebellion on account of the marriage—now appeared in the guise of his friends and succourers. These nobles without scruple now engaged to be true subjects to him, to guarantee him the
