as Morton knew would not be very acceptable to her," but it was mooted by the Parliament of Scotland. Monsieur de Beaufort When his father turned Protestant in June 1559, James was at his father's French estates at Châtellerault, perhaps at the Chateau de la Brelandiere, and became a fugitive from the French authorities. He made his way to safety in Switzerland by July, reportedly spending 15 days hiding in a wood on the way. His escape from France was masterminded by Elizabeth's counsellor William Cecil and the English ambassador in Paris, Nicolas Throckmorton. Hamilton went first to Geneva, then to Zurich where he was the guest of Peter Martyr, and then to Lausanne. There he met Thomas Randolph (alias Barnaby). They travelled incognito to England via Flanders. In London he stayed at Cecil's Westminster home. He had an interview with the Queen herself in the garden at Hampton Court. At the end of June 1559, Throckmorton wrote to Cecil describing how James had been unkindly handled in France. After James had left some of his Scots Guards had brawled with some French soldiers. One of the French commissioners charged with his arrest tried to apologise to Mary, Queen of Scots, as he was her close relation. Throckmorton heard that Mary had denounced James as an "arrant traitor," and he hoped that this news would advance pro-English policy in Scotland. Throckmorton hoped the Scottish bearer of the letter, Sandy Whytelaw, would do this, and though Whytelaw was not a friend of James's father, he would raise support for the marriage of James and Elizabeth. Although Elizabeth was personally sympathetic to James's plight, for English policy the rescue was a step towards the objective of ending the Auld Alliance, knowing that on Arran's return his father as 'second person' of the realm would become leader of the Lords of the Congregation. William Cecil acknowledged Chatelherault's thanks for the rescue, writing on 24 August 1559, "this one thing I covet, to have this isle well united in concord" The name used by James while travelling through England was "Monsieur de Beaufort". His journey to Scotland was noted in the letters of Bishop Jewel to Peter Martyr and Henry Bullinger. In their correspondence, Arran was known by the codename Crito, Randolph as Pamphilus and Elizabeth as Glycerium. Despite this secrecy, the English commander at Berwick, Sir James Croft was aware of the plan