DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

and implored Elizabeth’s protection ; but Elizabeth, who was delighted at this result of her intrigues, ordered her to be imprisoned. The ill-fated Queen of Scots was sent from castle to castle, from prison to prison, and lingered in confinement for fifteen dismal years. In vain she besought the Queen's mercy ; in vain she pleaded for an interview. The Queen undoubtedly feared unpleasant personal com- parisons, as the following conversation between her and Sir James Melville helps to prove. ‘She inquired,’ relates Melville, one of Mary Stuart’s envoys, ‘what coloured hair was reputed best, whether my Queen’s hair or her own was the best, and which of the two was the fairest.’ Melville answered, ‘You are the fairest Queen in England, and ours the fairest Queen in Scotland.’ Elizabeth inquired which was of the highest stature. Melville answered, ‘Our Queen.’ ‘Then she is over high,’ returned Elizabeth, ‘for I am neither too high nor too low.’ ‘I was detained,’ continued Melville, ‘to see the Queen dance. This being done, she inquired whether she or my Queen danced best. Whereas to Lady Jane Melville she showed herself with her tresses all unbraided and in the unadorned splendour of her stately form, and then demanded of her if the Queen of Scots could boast of such a head of hair.’ Despite her long and rigorous imprisonment, Mary