But the pattern was clear. Morton had allied with Darnley in a Faustian pact to murder Rizzio. When Darnley betrayed him, Morton allied with Bothwell to take his revenge. Then Bothwell became too powerful. When he threatened the interests of the other lords, Morton broke with him, leading a revolt that was all the more deadly in that Bothwell had enough inside information to condemn all of his accomplices in Darnley’s murder, while he himself had been acquitted of the crime. There could be only one survivor of this, Bothwell’s final feud with Morton.
