Book, Hardcover with dust jacket Sarah Gristwood Published in: 2003 Publisher: Bantam Press Language: English An extraordinary life lost in history: the compelling biography of Arbella Stuart spans both Tudor and Stuart courts, and encompasses espionage, a clandestine marriage, imprisonment and eventual death in the Tower of London. Arbella Stuart was the niece of Mary Queen of Scots and first cousin to James VI of Scotland. Acknowledged as her heir by Elizabeth I, Arbellas right to the English throne was equaled only by James. Kept under close supervision by her grandmother, but still surrounded by plots -- most of them Roman Catholic in origin -- she became an important pawn in the struggle for succession, particularly during the long, tense period when Elizabeth I lay dying. Her fate was sealed however when, upon Jamess succession and having been invited back to court, Arbella made a treasonous marriage for which she was forced to flee England. She was intercepted off the coast of