After a long while, the Duke of Guise sighs and could not help complaining,
"I really don't know what to say, but Mary, even if the merchant family is indeed humble and far inferior to us princes and nobles, you should not have looked down on Catherine Medici so blatantly. I swear that woman's hatred for you is probably second only to that of Madame Diana de Poitiers."
Mary Stuart does not speak.
Mary Stuart now feels quite regretful about this, but it was a pity that she had offended someone, just like she had offended Elizabeth because of the legitimate right to the throne, and there was no chance to redeem it.
The Duke of Guise frowns, taps his fingers on the back of the chair a few times, and says, "... But no matter what, you have to try it first. The Queen Mother's prestige in the court is not as high as mine!"
Mary Stuart is still not optimistic, and tries her best to persuade him a few more times, hoping that the Duke of Guise would let go when he should, and focus his energy on religious struggles, especially the Huguenots in the future. Unfortunately, he did not receive the attention he deserved.
Once a person gets stuck in a dead end, he cannot be persuaded back.
The days of being in power for more than a year have fostered the ambition of the Duke of Guise, making him no longer willing to continue to be an ordinary noble. There was no choice but to watch the Duke of Guise pat his gold-embroidered robe and leave, wanting to start planning this marriage with great enthusiasm.
Before leaving, the Duke of Guise suddenly says,
"Your words today are beyond my expectations, Mary. It seems that this funeral has made you grow a lot. If my sister is alive and sees this scene, she must be very relieved."
When saying this, the Duke of Guise's bearded face finally reveals a trace of sincere emotion.
…
After the Duke of Guise leaves, Mary Stuart asks the four maids around her who are looking forward,
"Do you think I will marry Charles IX again?"
Without waiting for the maids to answer, Mary Stuart says calmly, "Not at all."
"Why, Your Majesty?" Fleming asks boldly.
They all want to restore their previous status, so they are particularly looking forward to the success of the Duke of Guise.
Mary Stuart does not answer and continues to study the information of Scotland.
Mary Stuart does not remember whether anyone has mentioned the marriage with Charles IX in her previous life, but she believes that it would definitely not succeed, because Queen Mother Catherine Medici is also not easy to mess with.
At least in the next few years, the power of France will be concentrated in the hands of this woman who has always been humble and submissive when her husband is alive, and the Guise family will quickly lose its power and prestige in a few months and will never return to the peak.
The Queen Mother Medici, whose son is young and has a legitimate reason to be regent, will only let her son marry Mary Stuart again unless she is crazy, so that the Guise family can take the opportunity to come to France again.
As expected, in the days that followed, the Duke of Guise never mentions the latest progress of the marriage, as if the conversation that day was just a bubble.
In contrast, some nobles no longer obey the Duke of Guise's orders and the news that the Guise family is dismissed from their positions continues to spread into the palace, which greatly disappoints Mary Stuart.
Later, two more visitors visit Mary Stuart, one is a princess of the French royal family, and the other is Lord Darnley, a relative from England.
Among them, the comfort of Margaret de Valois, the future famous Queen Margot, makes Mary Stuart feel the most heartbroken.
This little girl is at an age where she doesn't know anything. Even though she is in the royal family, she knows nothing about political struggles. In just over a year, she lost her father and elder brother one after another, which made Margaret cry uncontrollably. But even so, after hearing that Mary Stuart was so sad that she had a high fever, she still runs over with her mother on her back to comfort Mary Stuart in a low voice, and also shares her candy with Mary Stuart.
The little girl's comfort is sincere, without any interference from interests and power. Perhaps she is the only one in the entire Louvre who is devoted to mourning the death of Francois.
Mary Stuart touches Margaret's head and thanks her for her special little gift.
As for Lord Darnley, Mary Stuart is not ready to face this second husband in her previous life. She only meets him from a distance and then excuses herself from being unwell and asks him to leave first.
…
The forty-day mourning period passes in a flash. After more than a month of staying in the Louvre, all preparations for the funeral have been made, waiting for the king's coffin to be officially placed in the royal cemetery.
Inside and outside the palace, black veils and petals are hung everywhere, which sets off a sad scene in the once magnificent palace.
When the queen's bedroom is reopened and Mary Stuart, wearing a white dress and black veil, walks out, all the nobles and ladies who see the former queen inside and outside the palace could not help but be stunned.
The beauty of the former queen was once praised by many French poets.
At that time, people praised her as the goddess of the muse, beautiful and elegant like the lily of the valley, with impeccable beauty in every move, which made people feel fresh and happy.
But at this moment, what appears in front of everyone seemed to be a cold ghost wandering in the world, with pale skin and expressionless face. When she walks through the Louvre covered with black gauze under the follow of the maid, even if she is still graceful, it would only make people feel pity in their hearts.
"Bang bang bang!"
Outside the church, the salute rumbles, and the Requiem is sung slowly under the command of the musicians, and Francois's pure black coffin stops in the center of the chapel. A beam of light falls from the top glass window, illuminating the angel decoration painted with gold powder.
The bishop salutes immediately when he sees the arrival of the former queen. Mary Stuart has a clear goal, walks past him, stands in silence in front of the coffin for a while, then lifts her skirt, bends her knees, bows her head deeply, and gently kisses the cold coffin.
"I come to say goodbye to you, Francois." Mary Stuart says,
"God is kind and gave me a chance to start over, but I am still greedy and resentful of God. Why didn't the Lord let me come back earlier, even one day earlier, so that I could see you again.
My closest friend, my most distant lover, gave me the purest love in my life at my most youthful age.
Dear Francois, I really miss you."
Please allow me to be weak for a just little while.
The funeral is carried out in an orderly manner in a solemn atmosphere. After the mass, the crowd surrounds the king's coffin and walks to the cemetery.
Just when the royal ladies step out of the church door, Mary Stuart, who is walking in the front row, pauses for a moment, waiting for the Queen Mother of Medici to step out of the church steps first.
"Please go, respected Queen Mother." Mary Stuart says.
This is not because Mary Stuart considers herself inferior, but because of the clear hierarchy in France. According to custom, in various formal celebrations and banquets, only the legitimate Queen of France and the first hostess of the court have the right to lead the crowd first.
Charles IX has not yet married, and Mary Stuart is now the former queen, so this power has once again returned to the hands of Queen Mother Catherine Medici.
The Queen Mother Medici immediately laughs, watching her opponents who used to be proud of their status or pampering, one after another, have to lower their proud heads and give in to her. Is there anything more satisfying in the world than this?
"What a familiar scene, Mary, more than a year ago, when Henry just died, I had to slow down and get used to letting you go first, but now, the situation has changed again, and you have to get used to standing behind me." The Queen Mother Medici jokes maliciously.
Around the Queen Mother, some noble ladies who have never gotten along with Mary and the Guise family, such as the women of the Duke of Montmorency, immediately laugh softly and whisper to each other, watching the former queen's embarrassment directly.
Mary Stuart glances at them expressionlessly, and under the residual power of the former queen, the laughter stops again, and several people lower their heads in guilt.
Mary Stuart pauses for a few seconds to breathe, suppresses the slight anger in her heart, and then says calmly in the same tone as before,
"Yes, I stand behind you, because in this funeral, I am not standing here as the monarch of Scotland, but as the wife of François, a woman who has just lost her husband, and I stand here to follow etiquette. Out of love for him, I am willing to respect you very much."
"Monarch of Scotland? Over the years, without the years of assistance from France and the Vatican, Scotland would probably have become part of England long ago."