Soon after, the queen received letters from the pope and her uncles the Guises of France, requesting her to put the earl of Moray out of the way, because, they found by experience, that their interest in Scotland could not prosper while he was alive; upon this the faction against him became more insolent and appeared in arms: they were at first suppressed, but soon assembled again, to the number of eight hundred men: This body he was obliged to fight, with little more strength, in which he could confide, than an hundred horse; notwithstanding this disparity, by the divine blessing, he obtained a complete victory, killing of them a hundred and twenty, and taking a hundred prisoners, among whom were Huntly himself and his two sons; it is said he did not lose a single man. He returned to Aberdeen with the prisoners, late in the night, where he had appointed a minister of the gospel to meet him, with whom he returned thanks to God for such a deliverance, exceeding the expectations of all men. The earl of Bothwel was soon after this recalled by the queen from France; upon his arrival, Moray accused him for his former treasonable practices, and commenced a process at law against him. Bothwel knew he could not stand an open scrutiny, but relied upon the queen's favour, which he knew he possessed in a very high degree, and which increased so much the more as her enmity to Moray on account of his popularity was augmented. This led her to join more warmly in the conspiracy with Bothwel against his life; a new plot was the result of their joint deliberations, which was to be executed in the following manner; Moray was to be sent for, with only a few attendants, to speak with the queen at Perth, where Lord Darnly (then in suit to her for marriage) was; they knew that Moray would speak his mind freely, upon which they were to quarrel with him, in the heat of which David Rizzio was to strike the first blow, and all the rest were to follow: But of this design also he got previous intelligence by a friend at the court, nevertheless he resolved to go, until advised by one Patrick Ruthven; he turned aside to his mother's house, and there staid till this storm was over also. The earl of Moray foreseeing what would be the consequence of the queen's marriage with Lord Darnly[28], set himself to oppose it, but finding little attention paid to any thing he said on that subject in the convention of estates, he chose rather to absent himself for some time, and accordingly retired to the border, where he staid until the queen's marriage with Darnly was over.