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Springer Proceedings in Materials

T. Rajmohan
K. Palanikumar
J. Paulo Davim Editors

Advances in
Materials and
Manufacturing
Engineering
Select Proceedings of ICMME 2019
Springer Proceedings in Materials

Volume 7

Series Editors
Arindam Ghosh, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore,
India
Daniel Chua, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National
University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Flavio Leandro de Souza, Universidade Federal do ABC, Sao Paulo, São Paulo,
Brazil
Oral Cenk Aktas, Institute of Material Science, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu
Kiel, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Yafang Han, Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, Beijing, Beijing, China
Jianghong Gong, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua
University, Beijing, Beijing, China
Mohammad Jawaid, Laboratory of Biocomposite Tech., INTROP,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Springer Proceedings in Materials publishes the latest research in Materials
Science and Engineering presented at high standard academic conferences and
scientific meetings. It provides a platform for researchers, professionals and
students to present their scientific findings and stay up-to-date with the development
in Materials Science and Engineering. The scope is multidisciplinary and ranges
from fundamental to applied research, including, but not limited to:
• Structural Materials
• Metallic Materials
• Magnetic, Optical and Electronic Materials
• Ceramics, Glass, Composites, Natural Materials
• Biomaterials
• Nanotechnology
• Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
• Energy Materials
• Materials Processing
To submit a proposal or request further information, please contact one of our
Springer Publishing Editors according to your affiliation:
European countries: Mayra Castro ([email protected])
India, South Asia and Middle East: Priya Vyas ([email protected])
South Korea: Smith Chae ([email protected])
Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand: Ramesh Nath Premnat
([email protected])
The Americas: Michael Luby ([email protected])
China and all the other countries or regions: Mengchu Huang
([email protected])

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/16157

T. Rajmohan K. Palanikumar J. Paulo Davim
• •

Editors

Advances in Materials
and Manufacturing
Engineering
Select Proceedings of ICMME 2019

123
Editors
T. Rajmohan K. Palanikumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering
SCSVMV Sri Sairam Institute of Technology
Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

J. Paulo Davim
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Aveiro
Aveiro, Portugal

ISSN 2662-3161 ISSN 2662-317X (electronic)

Springer Proceedings in Materials
ISBN 978-981-15-6266-2 ISBN 978-981-15-6267-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6267-9
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
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to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721,
Singapore
Committee Members

Chief Patron
Pujyasri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal
Patrons
Prof. Dr. S. Jayarama Reddy, Chancellor, SCSVMV
Prof. Dr. Vishnu Potty V. S., Vice-Chancellor, SCSVMV
Prof. Dr. G. Srinivasu, Registrar, SCSVMV
Chairman
Prof. Dr. G. Sriram, Dean, Engineering and Technology, SCSVMV
Convenor
Dr. T. Rajmohan, Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, SCSVMV
Organizing Secretaries
Dr. R. Vinayagamoorthy, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, SCSVMV
Dr. S. Vijaya Bhaskar, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
SCSVMV

v
Editorial and Technical Committee

Editors
Dr. J. Paulo Davim, Professor, University of Aveiro, Portugal
Dr. T. Rajmohan, Associate Professor, SCSVMV, India
Dr. K. Palanikumar, Professor, Sri Sairam Institute of Technology, India
Technical Committee
Dr. Sridhar Idapalapati, Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Dr. B. V. R. Chowdari, Senior Executive Director, President’s Office, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore.
Dr. Kittichai Sojiphan, Welding Engineering Technology, College of Industrial
Technology, King Mongkut’s University of Technology, North Bangkok, Thailand.
Dr. Nikhil Ranjan Dhar, Professor, Industrial and Production Engineering,
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh.
Dr. Mohd Faizul Bin Mohd Sabri, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, University of Malaya, Malaysia.
Dr. X. G. Hu, Professor, Institute of Tribology, Hefei University of Technology,
China
Dr. G. Nagarajan, Professor, Anna University, Chennai
Dr. P. Ramkumar, Assistant Professor, Machine Design Section, IIT Madras
Dr. I. A. Palani, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, IIT Indore
Dr. Uday Shanker Dixit, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati
Dr. S. Jayavel, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, IIITDM, Chennai
Dr. J. Srinivas, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, NIT Rourkela
Dr. Vishal Santosh Sharma, Professor, Industrial and Production Engineering, NIT,
Jalandhar
Dr. –Ing. M. Duraiselvam, Professor, Production Engineering, NIT Trichy
Dr. A. Velayudham, Scientist ‘F’, Project Director, CVRDE, DRDO, Avadi,
Chennai
Dr. P. Kuppan, Professor, Manufacturing Engineering, VIT, Vellore

vii
viii Editorial and Technical Committee

Dr. R. Ramanujam, Associate Professor, Manufacturing Engineering, VIT, Vellore

Dr. M. Natarajan, Associate Professor, Thermal and Energy Engineering, VIT,
Vellore
Dr. M. Velu, Associate Professor, Design and Automation, VIT, Vellore
Dr. M. Vetrivel, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, SCSVMV
Dr. S. Arumugam, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, SCSVMV
Dr. A. Arun Premnath, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, SCSVMV
Dr. A. Tamilarasan, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, SCSVMV
Dr. D. Vijayan, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, SCSVMV
Dr. R. Ramesh, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Sri Venkatesawara College of
Engineering, Sriperumbudur
Dr. S. Ranganathan, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Saveetha School of
Engineering, Chennai
Dr. T. Senthilvelan, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering
College, Pondicherry
Dr. K. Pitchandi, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Sri Venkatesawara College of
Engineering, Sriperumbudur
Dr. S. Harikrishnan, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Adhi College of
Engineering, and Technology, Kanchipuram
Dr. N. Rajeswari, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, St. Peter’s Institute of Higher
Education and Research, Chennai
Preface

Advances in Materials and Manufacturing Engineering comprise selected papers

from the fourth International Conference on Materials and Manufacturing
Engineering (ICMME 2019) at Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa
Mahavidyalaya, Kanchipuram, India. This book covers a wide range of topics
within the materials and manufacturing disciplines. The content includes technical
papers and review articles mainly in two different areas, namely synthesis, devel-
opment and characterization of new materials and machining-associated studies on
different materials. In addition, the book also covers some recent advancements in
optimization techniques, computational fluid dynamics, tribology, alternate fuels,
turbomachinery, renewable energy, thermal engineering and metal forming. The
editorial team’s expertise covers a variety of aspects of mechanical engineering.
This collective expertise enabled the team to manage the editorial process efficiently
in particular by providing a high-quality review process. This book will be a
technological and scientific platform for researchers, scientists, engineers and
academicians seeking advancements in the area of materials and manufacturing
engineering.

Kanchipuram, India T. Rajmohan

Chennai, India K. Palanikumar
Aveiro, Portugal J. Paulo Davim

Acknowledgements We express our sincere gratitude to the management of Sri

Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya, for giving us the opportunity to organize
this international conference and also thank all the delegates for making this event a grand success.
We thank the keynote speakers, conference chairs, advisory, program, and technical committees,
reviewers, colleagues, college administration, our friends, students and well-wishers for making
this event a memorable one. We thank Springer publications for having consented to publish our
papers through a book. We thank one and all.

ix
About the Conference—ICMME 2019

The fourth International Conference on Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

(ICMM-2019) is organized by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri
Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya, Kanchipuram, India, dur-
ing March 21 and 22, 2019. The conference is aimed at providing a common
platform for researchers, industry personnel, academicians, students and partici-
pating professionals to interact and discuss the advances made in various areas of
Materials and Manufacturing Engineering. Special invited lectures by scientists and
experts from foreign universities, leading institutions, research organizations and
industries have been planned in addition to paper presentation. The conference will
focus on today’s technical challenges, research updates and breakthrough innova-
tions that are shaping the future of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering. The
conference convenes engineers, scientists and technologists for the purposes of
exploring solutions to global challenges and for the advancement of Materials and
Manufacturing Engineering worldwide.

xi
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xii About the Conference—ICMME 2019
Contents

Impact Model for Grinding Process in the Framework of Sustainable

Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Jigneshkumar M. Parmar, Chetankumar M. Patel, and Ajitkumar N. Shukla
Execution Analysis of Vapor-Compression Refrigeration System
Using R12, R134a, R290 and R600a as Working Medium . . . . . . . . . . . 9
M. Sivakumar and S. Mahalingam
Design, Optimization and Analysis of Baja Suspension System
Using Full Factorial Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
V. Ajay Ganesh Ram, T. S. Easwar, A. Vishal, A. Andrews,
and F. Michael Thomas Rex
Aerodynamic Analysis of a 3D Small Wind Turbine Blade
Using NACA 63415 Aerofoil with MRF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Veludurthi Ajay and Bolleddu Venkateshwarlu
Trends on the Abrasive Flow and Electric Discharge Machining
of Polymer Matrix Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
R. Vinayagamoorthy, Shubham Kumar, Suraj Kumar, Mote Sai Sharan,
G. M. D. Afzal, and T. V. Rajamurugan
Influence of Process Variables on the Ultimate Tensile Strength
of Friction Stir Welded AA6061 Matrix Composite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Arun Kumar Shettigar, Subramanya R. Prabhu B., Mervin A. Herbert,
and Shrikantha S. Rao
Mechanical Properties and Microstructural Characteristics
of Friction Stir Welded Aluminium Matrix Composite . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
B. Subramanya R. Prabhu, Arun Kumar Shettigar, Mervin A. Herbert,
and Shrikantha S. Rao

xiii
xiv Contents

Influence of Honeycomb Core on Static and Vibration Responses

of Sandwich Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Sudhansu S. Patro, Ranjan K. Behera, Nitin Sharma,
and Kamal Kishore Joshi
Influence of Point Mass Over FGM Plate for Vibration Signature
in Different Boundary Conditions Using FEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Kamal Kishore Joshi, Ranjan K. Behera, V. R. Kar, and Anugam Chakra
Design and Development of Seed Metering Device Implemented
in Power Tiller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
C. Devanathan, E. Shankar, A. Sivanand, R. Manimaran, and A. Gopinath
Pareto Optimization and Metallurgical Characterizations
of Dissimilar Friction Stir Welded AA6061–AA7075 Alloys . . . . . . . . . . 99
R. Dinesh Kumar, R. Varthini, and S. Muthukumaran
Emission Reduction in Four-Stroke S.I Engine Using EGR
and Catalytic Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Abhijith Reji, P. Anu Nair, A. K. Saurav, Insam Ismail, and Nidhin Babu
Experimental Analysis of Fuel Spray Impingement Against the Tip
on the Performance of CI Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
G. Gopeekrishnan, P. Anu Nair, Midhun Das, Sandeep Santhosh,
and Tom Mathew
Solving the Flexible Job Shop Scheduling Problem Using an Effective
Jaya Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Rylan Caldeira and A. Gnanavelbabu
Wear Analysis of Epoxy Resin Composites Reinforced
with Seashell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
A. Sivanand, C. Devanathan, E. Shankar, and P. PrasannaKumar
A Brief Review: Study of Machinability Aspects of Hard Metals
Using Micro Textured Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Indraneel Soppa and Swastik Pradhan
Optimization of Process Parameters in EDM Using Standard
Deviation and MOORA Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
J. Anitha and Raja Das
Wear Behaviour and Mechanical Properties of AA2024/Al2O3/SiC/Gr
HMMC Using Advanced Squeeze Casting Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
L. Natrayan and M. Senthil Kumar
Experimental Investigation on Machining Properties Carbon
Fibre-Reinforced Epoxy Composites with the Addition
of Nano SiC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
R. Ravi Kumar, Seshadri Sridharan, and Arun Kumar Srirangan
Contents xv

Process Parameter Optimization Using TOPSIS for Electric Discharge

Machining of Incoloy 800HT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Paul Joshua Samuel, K. C. Aswinkumar, Arunkumar Ganesan,
and Arun Kumar Srirangan
Analysis on Thermal Properties of Polyethylene–Vinyl Acetate
(PEVA) Matrix with Polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE)
Particle-Reinforced Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
R. Mahesh Kumar, N. Rajini, K. Mayandi, Nadir Ayrilmis,
M. Srisuryadharan, P. Venkatesh, and M. Vijayakumar
A Study on Wire Electrical Discharge Machining Process Parameters
and Performances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
P. S. Gowthaman and S. Jeyakumar
Investigation of Tensile and Morphological Properties
of Kevlar/S-Glass/Jute Fibre-Reinforced Epoxy Hybrid
Composite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
G. Manoj Kumar, S. Kavin Raj, K. S. Ajai Bhalaji, and J. Karthik
Optimization of Roller Burnishing Parameters of Al(SiC)p Metal
Matrix Composite with TiAlN-Coated Roller Using Response Surface
Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
E. Shankar, T. Sampath Kumar, M. R. Stalin John, and C. Devanathan
Optimization of Machining Parameters During Turning of AISI 316L
Stainless Steel Under Nanocutting Fluid Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
S. D. Sathishkumar and T. Rajmohan
Surface Integrity Studies on WEDM of Magnesium Matrix Nano-SiC
Reinforced Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
S. Vijayabhaskar, T. Rajmohan, K. Lalitesh, and S. Sai Vivek
Acoustic, Rheological and Optical Properties of Binary Mixtures
of Aqueous Solutions of PEG 200—A Comparative Analysis . . . . . . . . . 239
P. Dhivya, R. Padmanaban, A. Gayathri, and K. Venkatramanan
Comparative Analysis on Mechanical Properties of Luffa and Coconut
Coir Fiber Reinforced Polyester Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
T. V. Rajamurugan, A. Baskaran, S. Matheswaran, and S. Epriya Lavanya
Experimental Analysis on the Effect of Cu-ZSM5 on the Control
of SI Engine Exhaust Emissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
A. Ananthu, P. Anu Nair, Anand K. Raj, Arjun K. Nair, K. G. Gokul,
Arun Ajith, and K. S. Amruthunandu
Optimization of SI Engine Cycle with Variable Composition
and Specific Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Akhil Sukumaran, P. Anu Nair, S. Sourabh Gopal, P. S. Sabin,
Jithu M. Suredran, and Yadhu P. Mohan
xvi Contents

Experimental Studies on the Effect of Mixed Metal Oxide DeNox

Catalyst on the Control of CI Engine Exhaust Emission . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Jimin Reji, P. Anu Nair, Aravind B. Nair,
S. Anas, Rahul Reji, and A. S. Akshay
Injection and Exhaust Gas Recirculation Strategies for Reducing
Emissions of Cyclohexanol-Diesel Blends in CI Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
S. Boopathi, J. Ravikumar, R. Devanathan, and S. A. Arokya Anicia
A Brief Review: Study on Mechanical Properties of Polycarbonate
with Different Nanofiller Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Prudhvi Raj and Ravi Kumar
Determination of Impact and Hardness Properties of Neem-Kenaf
Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
B. Vijaya Ramnath, S. Rajesh, C. Elanchezhian, and G. Pon Senthil Kumar
Study on Wear and Corrosion Behaviour of Aluminium
Hybrid MMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
B. Vijaya Ramnath, E. Naveen, S. Abhishek Subramanian, R. Rakesh,
and S. Sharun Krishnan
Effect of Pineapple/Coconut Sheath Fiber Reinforced with Polyester
Resin Matrix on Mechanical and Microstructure Properties of Hybrid
Polyester Composite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
L. Natrayan and M. S. Santhosh
Chemical Treatment, Influence of Fiber Content, and Optimization
of Hybrid Natural Fiber-Reinforced Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
G. Venkatesha Prasanna, Tirunagari Jayadeep, and Nikhitha Poornabhodha
Intelligent Automatic Guided Vehicle for Smart Manufacturing
Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
S. Chandramohan and M. Senthilkumaran
Sensitivity Analysis for Welding Parameters in Dissimilar Friction Stir
Welded Joints Using Response Surface Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
K. Palani, C. Elanchezhian, B. Vijaya Ramnath, and A. Adinarayanan
Experimental Investigation of Welding Parameters on Microhardness
and Tensile Behaviour of Similar and Dissimilar Submerged FSWed
Aluminium Alloy Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
K. Palani, C. Elanchezhian, B. Vijaya Ramnath, D. Charan,
Ch. Divya Prakash, R. Kathiravan, and O. Narendra Reddy
Study on the Influence of Nanosized Silica Reinforcement
in Microrubber Blended Epoxy Carbon Composite Laminate
Subjected Under Dynamic Mechanical Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
R. Ramesh, C. Senthamaraikannan, Niranjan Suresh, and B. Lokesh
Contents xvii

Moth-Flame Optimization Algorithm for Improving the Surface

Roughness on FDM Processed Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
A. Tamilarasan, D. Rajamani, P. Pranay, P. Manohar, A. Venkata Akhil,
and B. Thirupathi Reddy
Multi-response Optimization of AWJ Process Parameters in Cut
Quality Characteristics of Hastelloy C-276 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
A. Tamilarasan, S. Arumugam, D. Rajamani, P. Changareddy,
E. Balasubramanian, and P. Pranay
Application of Water Cycle Algorithm for Optimizing the PAC
Process Parameters in Cutting Ti–6Al–4V Alloy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
A. Tamilarasan, T. Rajmohan, S. Arumugam, A. Arunpremnath,
K. Mohan, and P. Manohar
Butterfly Optimization Algorithm for Optimization of Roller
Burnishing Process Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
A. Tamilarasan, S. Arumugam, D. Rajamani, S. Vijayabhaskar,
R. Balakumar, and B. Thirupathi Reddy
Multi-objective Optimization of WEDM Process Parameters Using
NSGA-II Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
A. Tamilarasan, G. Sriram, S. Arumugam, D. Vijayan, D. Rajamani,
and A. Venkata Akhil
Water Quality Index and Correlation Study of Temple Ponds
in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
P. Meenakshi and G. Sriram
Comparative Corrosion Behaviour of Ferrous and Non-ferrous
Metals in Bio-lubricant and Bio-diesel Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
R. Ellappan, S. Arumugam, R. Sundararajan, and K. Venkatesh
Multi-response Optimization and Mechanical Behaviour
of Al–Cu/Al–Mg–Si Alloys by Dissimilar Friction Stir Welding . . . . . . . 433
R. Dinesh Kumar, S. Pradeep, and S. Muthukumaran
Tribological Behaviour of Al 7075 Alloy Reinforced
with Nano-Alumina and Silicon Carbide Particulates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
T. S. A. Suryakumari, S. Ranganathan, B. Mahendra Reddy, G. Nethaji,
and Challam Naveen Kumar
Optimization of Process Parameters on Sliding Wear Behavior
of Aluminum 7075 Hybrid Nanocomposite Analyzed Using
Desirability Approach-Part II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
T. S. A. SuryaKumari and S. Ranganathan
xviii Contents

Investigation of Process Parameters on Sliding Wear Behaviour

of Aluminium 7075 Hybrid Nanocomposite Analyzed Using Response
Surface Methodology-Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
T. S. A. SuryaKumari and S. Ranganathan
Effect of Process Parameters on Drilling of Carbon Fiber
Reinforced Polymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
D. Vijayan, A. Tamilarasan, and B. Vignesh Aravind
An Experimental Study on Drilling of Titanium Alloy Using
Taguchi-Based Fuzzy Logic Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
D. Vijayan, T. Rajmohan, and A. Raajesh Kanna
Determination of Optimum Tensile Strength of Friction Stir Welded
AA2219 Aluminum Alloys Using Taguchi’s Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
D. Vijayan, V. Seshagiri Rao, and V. S. Anirudh
Analysis of Thrust Force in Drilling of Titanium Alloy Using
Taguchi’s Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
D. Vijayan, T. Rajmohan, and V. Nithin
RSM-Based Optimization of Process Parameters in Synthesis
of Pentaerythritol Ester of Rapeseed Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
P. Vithya, G. Sriram, and S. Arumugam
Physical Characteristics of Keyhole in 316L Stainless Steel Joint
During an Autogenous Pulsed Laser Beam Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
A. Jayanthi, K. Venkataramanan, and K. Suresh Kumar
Influence of Chemical Treatment on Natural Fibers: A Review . . . . . . . 533
G. Venkatakoteswara Rao, R. Vinayagamoorthy, K. Abinesh,
M. Sudharsan, S. Ponmeganathan, and L. S. Deepak Kumar
Optimization on Tribological Characteristics of Waste Ayurvedic Oil
Blends as an Engine Lubricant Additive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
R. Balakumar, G. Sriram, S. Arumugam, S. Jagannath, R. Vamsi Krishnaa,
and P. Venkatesh
Effect of MWCNT on Mechanical Properties of Glass-Jute Fiber
Reinforced Nano Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
K. Mohan, T. Rajmohan, and R. Prasath
Effect of Stacking Sequence on Mechanical Properties of MWCNT
Filled Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561
K. Mohan and T. Rajmohan
Optimization of Effective Process Parameters During Pentaerythritol
Ester Production Using Taguchi Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
P. Chengareddy, S. Arumugam, G. Sriram, and M. Bhanu Prakash
Contents xix

A Review on Ultrasonicated Transesterification Process . . . . . . . . . . . . 579

P. Chengareddy, S. Arumugam, P. H. Pavan Kumar Reddy,
and P. Madhan Mohan Reddy
Tribological Investigation of Waste Plastic Oil-Based Methyl Ester
Blended Synthetic Lubricant Using Four-Ball Tribometer . . . . . . . . . . . 587
S. Baskar, S. Arumugam, G. Sriram,
and Venkata Sai Satyanarayana Sastry Sistla
Mechanical Properties of Biodegradable Calotropis Gigantea–Jute
Fibre Hybrid Composite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
A. Arun Premnath, Ankur Sharma, A. Arun Kumar, S. Dinesh Kumar,
and K. Raghul
The Concept of Metamaterial Used for the Fabrication
of Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
K. Sugapriya and S. Omkumar
Modeling of Potentially Implementable Configurable Logic Block
in Quantum Dot Cellular Automata for Nanoelectronic Device
Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
R. Jayalakshmi and M. Senthil Kumaran
Application of CuO Nanoparticles as Biodegradable Lubricant
Additive for Domestic Refrigerator Compressors—An Experimental
Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
P. Vithya, G. Sriram, S. Arumugam, R. Sundararajan, and A. Manikanta
Study on Emission Analysis of Tamarind-Based Ground-Level
Pyrotechnics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
Manikandan Rajendran, Rajesh Shanmugavel,
and Rajajeyaganthan Ramanathan
Tribological Characteristics of Aluminum with Volumetric Fractions
of Nano-Boron Nitride Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
M. Ekambaram, M. Vetrivel, and D. Balaji
Powder Metallurgy Fabrication, Characterization and Wear
Assessment of Al-BN-TiO2 Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
M. Ekambaram, M. Vetrivel, D. Balaji, Mandala Praveen Kumar,
K. Venkatesh, S. Sudarsan Reddy, and Shaik Ahammad Basha
Optimization in Tribological Behaviour of Al-BN-TiO2 Composites
Using D-Optimal Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
M. Ekambaram, M. Vetrivel, and D. Balaji
Influence of Aroma Skin Reinforcement on Erosive Behavior
of Polyester Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
Jayamani Manivannan, Shanmugavel Rajesh, Kalimuthu Mayandi,
and Nadir Ayrilmis
xx Contents

Optimization of Wear Reduction on Al–TiO2–Gr Powder Metallurgy

Composites Using D-Optimal Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
D. Balaji, M. Vetrivel, and M. Ekambaram
Effect of Welding Speed on Advanced CMT-Welded AA 6061 Grade
Aluminum Alloy Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
S. T. Selvamani, S. Velmurugan, S. J. Hariharan, and K. Palanikumar
Heat Transfer Analysis on Advanced CMT Welded Low Carbon
Steel Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683
S. T. Selvamani, S. Velmurugan, and K. Palanikumar
About the Editors

Dr. T. Rajmohan is currently working as an Associate Professor and Head for the
Department of Mechanical Engineering, SCSVMV Deemed to be University,
Kancheepuram. He obtained his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from the
University of Madras and Masters in Production Engineering from Annamalai
University, Chidambaram. He did his research in the area of Machining of com-
posites and received his Doctoral degree from SCSVMV Deemed to be University.
His major areas of research includes material processing, machining and tribolog-
ical behaviour of composite materials etc. He has published more than 75 research
articles in refereed international journals and conferences and he is also serving as
an editorial member for several journals in Elsevier, Sage, Taylor & Francis and
many other reputed publications. He has more than 20 years of teaching experience
and has more than 8 research scholars under guidance.

Dr. K. Palanikumar is currently working as Professor and Principal in Sri Sairam

Institute of Technology, Chennai. He obtained his A.M.I.E in Mechanical
Engineering from the Institution of Engineers, India and Masters in Production
Engineering from Annamalai University, Chidambaram. He received his Doctoral
degree from Anna University, Chennai and did his Post-Doctoral in the University
of Averio, Portugal. His major areas of research include material processing and
applications of composite materials, natural fibers, total quality management and
optimization. He has published more than 260 research articles in refereed inter-
national journals and conferences and he is also serving as an editorial member for
several journals in Elsevier, Sage, Taylor & Francis and many other reputed pub-
lications. He has more than 28 years of teaching experience and he has successfully
guided more than 14 research scholars. He has successfully completed several
funded research projects from ISTE, AICTE and DST and has more than 10 patents
to his credits. He is being honoured with several awards during his carrier like Best
Principal Award, Publons Peer review Award, Certified Sentinel of Science Award,
Outstanding Reviewer Award, Best Teacher Award, Best Academic Researcher
Award etc.

xxi
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xxii About the Editors

Dr. J. Paulo Davim, received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1997,
M.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering (materials and manufacturing processes)
in 1991, Mechanical Engineering degree (5 years) in 1986, from the University of
Porto (FEUP), the Aggregate title (Full Habilitation) from the University of
Coimbra in 2005 and the D.Sc. from London Metropolitan University in 2013. He
is Eur Ing by FEANI-Brussels and Senior Chartered Engineer by the Portuguese
Institution of Engineers with an MBA and Specialist title in Engineering and
Industrial Management. Currently, he is Professor at the Department of Mechanical
Engineering of the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He has more than 30 years of
teaching and research experience in Manufacturing, Materials, Mechanical and
Industrial Engineering with special emphasis in Machining & Tribology. He has
also interest in Management, Engineering Education and Higher Education for
Sustainability. He has guided large numbers of postdoc, Ph.D. and master's students
as well as coordinated & participated in several financed research projects. He has
received several scientific awards. He has worked as evaluator of projects for
international research agencies as well as examiner of Ph.D. thesis for many
universities.
He is the Editor in Chief of several international journals, Guest Editor of
journals, books Editor, book Series Editor and Scientific Advisory for many
international journals and conferences. Presently, he is an Editorial Board member
of 25 international journals and acts as reviewer for more than 80 prestigious Web
of Science core collection journals. In addition, he has also published as editor (and
co-editor) more than 100 books and as author (and co-author) more than 10 books,
80 book chapters and 400 articles in journals and conferences (more than 200
articles in journals indexed in Web of Science core collection/h-index 45+/6500+
citations and SCOPUS/h-index 53+/8500+ citations).
Impact Model for Grinding Process
in the Framework of Sustainable
Manufacturing

Jigneshkumar M. Parmar, Chetankumar M. Patel,

and Ajitkumar N. Shukla

Abstract Exposure to metalworking fluids (MWF) and grinding process is common

in machining processes across the globe and leads to skin and respiratory disease to
the operator. The aim of the study is to propose an impact model resulting due to the
exposure and adverse effect of the grinding process on the health of the operator as
studied in Rajkot, India. The impact model generated gives the guideline to perform
grinding process safely and make it more sustainable. Pulmonary function test (PFT)
and peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SP O2 ) were taken for building this model,
performed on 100 grinding operators and 100 control group subjects to compare the
results. Various parameters considered for the study are forced expiratory volume in
1 s (FEV1 ), forced vital capacity (FVC), ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 s to
forced vital capacity (FEV1 /FVC), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and peripheral
capillary oxygen saturation (SP O2 ). It successfully shows that 80 grinding operators
and 12 control group subjects have low lung functions. This is the first investigation
describing the exposure to MWF and grinding process and its adverse effect on the
health of the grinding operators in Rajkot, India. In general working condition in the
companies were acceptable, but the negligence of the safety and health precautions
was a major reason behind the adverse effect.

Keywords Metalworking fluid · Grinding process · Occupational hazards ·

Pulmonary function test · Peripheral capillary oxygen saturation

1 Introduction

Grinding process is the primary finishing process, which performed on all the
machined parts to get the better surface finish. To get better results, metalworking
fluid (MWF) is used in the grinding process. During the grinding process, material

J. M. Parmar (B) · C. M. Patel

RK University, Rajkot 360020, India
e-mail: [email protected]
A. N. Shukla
Pranveer Singh Institute of Technology, Kanpur 209305, India

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 1

T. Rajmohan et al. (eds.), Advances in Materials and Manufacturing Engineering,
Springer Proceedings in Materials 7, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6267-9_1
2 J. M. Parmar et al.

removed in the form of powder and due to the use of MWF mist gets generated,
which may enter into the respiratory system of the operator. This is a prime hazard
for the grinding operators, as it led to respiratory disease. The accuracy obtained
from the grinding process and the surface finish is far better than the turning and
milling operation [1].
The MWF limits heat generation by reducing the amount of friction in the grinding
area as a result of its lubricating properties. It reduces the heat by putting some energy
into the liquid instead of the workpiece. Thus, cold fluid is more effective for heat
transfer [2]. In addition, the MWF is used to remove the chip from the grinding
operation [3, 4]. The grinding process is either dry or wet. The material removed
through the dry process is in the form of a powder which generally enters into the
respiratory of the operator. The wet grinding process laden with MWF is even more
dangerous as it produces mist during the operation of the process but gives the
better surface and extended tool life. During the grinding process, such a situation
leads to hazards like skin irritation and respiratory issues to the operators. Such
symptoms are common in the grinding operators after long exposure to a similar
working environment. The study on agate grinders shows the risk of digestive and
respiratory during the grinding [5, 6].

2 Material

The present study is performed to know the adverse effect of the grinding process
on the grinding operators of a diverse age group and build a model. Hence, two
different groups of subjects are examined, (i) subjects employed in the grinding shop
of various industries of diverse age group and (ii) subjects having no exposure of the
grinding process.
To perform this study, an ethical approval (RKU/SPT/2016/08/27, Dated
05/08/2016) was taken prior to the performance from the ethics committee of School
of Physiotherapy, RK University (ECR/259/Indt/GJ/2016).
This study is performed in accord with the consent of the organization to retain
confidentiality and the consent taken from each subject to participate in this study.
The study begins with the identification of the subjects on the random sampling basis,
for which the whole process in depth was explained to the subject. They were made
aware of the consequence as well as the purpose of the study.
All the subjects were examined using tools as under:
• Pulmonary Function Test (PFT): This test is a practical examination of lung func-
tion. It determines forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 ), forced vital capacity
(FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s to forced vital capacity (FEV1 /FVC), peak
expiratory flow rate (PEFR).
• Peripheral Capillary Oxygen Saturation (SP O2 ): This test gives the oxygen
saturation rate in the blood of the subject.
• Weighing Machine
• Measure Tape
Impact Model for Grinding Process in the Framework … 3

3 Method

In this study, spirometric data of 200 persons were employed, as 100 grinding oper-
ators, working for 8–10 h a day on grinding machine and 100 subjects having no
grinding exposure of the grinding process formed the control group. Subjects were
called randomly, and a demo performance was given. The hygienic mouthpiece was
employed to train the subject for the exhalation and inhalation under normal condi-
tion. Later, they were requested to inhale through the mouthpiece connected with the
apparatus to get the result of the test in a minimum of three trials. Afterward, they
were asked to make inhalation under slow maneuver condition. The value of FEV1 ,
FVC, FEV1 /FVC, and PEFR was recorded and examined. Statistical analysis was
performed using Office 365. Mean values and SD of age, height, weight, and expo-
sure to the grinding environment (EGE) were computed for both groups. Statistical
significance was evaluated using analysis of variance (ANOVA).

4 Result and Discussion

Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the grinding operators and control
group. There was no substantial change in age, height, and weight apart from
Exposure to Grinding Environment (EGE).
Table 2 shows the spirometric statistics of the grinding operators and control
group. The predicted values calculated using spirometer reading and measured values
are expressed in the absolute units and as a percentage of the predicted values. The
values of the grinding operators and control group were compared.
Table 3 shows the status of the pulmonary functions in the grinding operators
and control group. The results of the pulmonary functions propose that 80 grinding
operators suffered from some pulmonary disorder.
Table 4 shows the statistics of the SP O2 in both groups. The result suggests that
there is no impact of the EGE on oxygen saturation rate of any subjects of both
groups.

Table 1 Details of grinding

Group
operators and control group
Grinding operators (n Control group (n =
= 100) 100)
Agea , y 30 ± 10 21 ± 3
Heighta , cm 165 ± 7 170 ± 7
Weighta , kg 60 ± 11.5 60 ± 13
EGEa , y 8±8 0
Note a Indicates M ± SD
4 J. M. Parmar et al.

Table 2 Measured and predicted values of pulmonary functions in the grinding operators and
control group
FEV1 , L FVC, L FEV1 /FVC, % PEFR, L/min
Grinding operator Predictablea 2.9 ± 0.4 3.9 ± 0.4 85 ± 3 589 ± 1
Measureda 3.0 ± 0.5 3.3 ± 0.5 92 ± 7 394 ± 111
Measured 104 ± 16 97 ± 16 108 ± 8 74 ± 23
predictablea
Control group Predictablea 3 ± 0.3 4 ± 0.7 84 ± 5 467 ± 8
Measureda 4 ± 0.3 5 ± 0.3 81 ± 6 490 ± 66
Measured 86 ± 8 115 ± 10 76 ± 2 105 ± 33
predictablea
Note a Indicates M ± SD

Table 3 Status of the

Status of pulmonary functions
pulmonary functions in the
grinding operators and Normal Obstructive Restrictive
control group Grinding 20 (20) 1 (1) 79 (79)
operators (%)
Control group 88 (88) 2 (2) 10 (10)
(%)

Table 4 SP O2 indices in the

Group
grinding operators and
control group Grinding operators Control group
SP O2 , % 97.8 ± 1.5 97.8 ± 1.1

Table 5 shows that operators considered for the study from Rajkot having average
EGE are around 8 years. So, all the indicators are benchmarked with this average
value of the exposure.
Table 6 shows the comparison of F and P value between two groups, which
suggests the significant difference between the two groups.
Total 200 subjects, 100 grinding operators and 100 control group subjects satisfy
all the inclusion and exclusion criteria and participated in PFT and SP O2 .
In the restrictive lung disease, values of FVC, FEV1 , PEFR decreases, and
FEV1 /FVC increased compared to the normal value. In the obstructive lung disease,
FVC, FEV1 , FEV1/FVC, and PEFR decrease compared to the normal value. Hence,

Table 5 Details of EGE of

EGE, y
the grinding operators
Range 0.1 ± 35
Mean ± SD 8±8
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 But Ruthven waved him off. The exact hour, he said, must depend
upon events. This, however, was the plan proposed. When the
Queen was set down to cards or a late supper, Lord Morton with his
men was to hold the entry, doors, stairheads, passages, forecourt of
the palace. Traquair would be off duty, Erskine could be dealt with.
Bothwell, Huntly, Atholl, and all the rest of the Queen’s friends would
be abed; and Lindsay was to answer for keeping them there. The
King was to go into the Queen’s closet and look over her shoulder at
the game. At a moment agreed upon he would lift up her chin, say
certain words, kiss her, and repeat the words. That was to be the
signal: then Ruthven, Archie Douglas, and Fawdonsyde—Ker of
Fawdonsyde, a notorious ruffian—would do their work.
Morton listened to all this intently, with slow-travelling eyes which
followed the rafters from their spring in one wall to their cobwebbed
end in the other. He could find no flaw at first, nor put his finger
upon the damnable blot there must be in it; but after a time, as he
figured it over and over, he missed somebody. ‘Stop there! stop
there, you Ruthven!’ he thundered. ‘Tell me this: Where will
Lethington be the while?’
He was told, ‘Gone to meet the Earl of Moray.’ Moray!—his jaw fell.
‘What! will Moray no be with me?’
They said, it was much hoped. But the roads were heavy; there
was a possibility——
He jeered at them. Did they not know Moray yet? ‘Man,’ he said,
turning to Archie, ‘it’s not a possibility, it’s as certain as the Day of
Doom.’
Then they all talked at once. Moray’s name was fast to a letter;
the letter was fast in Lethington’s poke; Lethington was fast to the
band. What more could be done? Would Lethington endanger his
neck? His safety was Moray’s, and theirs was Lethington’s. And the
King? What of the King?
‘You talk of Doomsday, my lord!’ shouts Ruthven, with the slaver
of his rage upon his mouth: ‘there’s but one doom impending, and
we’ll see to it.’
Perorations had no effect upon Morton, who was still bothered. He
went over the whole again, clawing down his fingers as he
numbered the points. There was himself to keep the palace, there
was Lindsay to hold back Bothwell; the King to go into the closet—
the kiss—the words of signal—then Ruthven and——Here he
stopped, and his eyes grew small.
‘Oh, sirs,’ he said, ‘the poor lassie! Sold with a kiss! She’s big, sirs;
you’ll likely kill mother and bairn.’
Ruthven, squinting fearfully, slammed the table. ‘Whose bairn, by
the Lord? Tell me whose?’
Morton shook his head. ‘Yon’s hell-work,’ he said. ‘I’ll have nothing
to do wi’t. I guess who’s had the devising of it. ’Tis Lethington—a
grey-faced thief.’
Here Archie Douglas, after looking to Ruthven, intervened, and
talked for nearly half an hour to his cousin. Morton, very gloomy,
heard him out; then made his own proposition. He would stand by
the King, he said; he would hold the palace. No man should come in
or out without the password. But he would not go upstairs, nor
know who went up or what went on. This also he would have them
all promise before he touched the band with a pen:—Whatever was
done to the Italian should be done in the passage. There should be
no filthy butchery of a girl and her child, either directly or by
implication, where he had a hand at a job. Such was his firm
stipulation. Archie swore to observe it; Fawdonsyde, Lindsay, swore;
Ruthven said nothing.
‘Archie,’ said his cousin, ‘go you and fetch me the Scriptures. I
shall fasten down Ruthven with the keys of God.’ Ruthven put his
hand upon the book and swore. Then the Earl of Morton signed the
band.
 CHAPTER V
MIDNIGHT EXPERIENCES OF JEAN-MARIE-BAPTISTE DES-ESSARS

On that appointed night of Saturday, the 9th of March—a blowy,

snowy night, harrowing for men at sea, with a mort of vessels
pitching at their cables in Leith Roads—Des-Essars was late for his
service. He should have come on to the door at ten o’clock, and it
wanted but two minutes to that when he was beating down the
Castle hill in the teeth of the wind.
Never mind his errand, and expect fibs if you ask what had kept
him. Remember that he was older at this time than when you first
saw him, a French boy ‘with smut-rimmed eyes,’ crop-headed, pale,
shrewd, and reticent. That was a matter of three years ago: the
Queen was but nineteen and he four years younger. He was
eighteen now, and may have had evening affairs like other people,
no concern of yours or mine. Whatever they may have been, they
had kept him unduly; he had two minutes and wanted seven. He
drew his bonnet close, his short cape about him, and went scudding
down the hill as fast as the snow would let him in shoes dangerously
thin for the weather, but useful for tiptoe purposes. The snow had
been heaped upon the cawsey, but in the street trodden, thawed,
and then frozen again to a surface of ice. From it came enough light
to show that few people were abroad, and none lawfully, and that
otherwise it was infernally dark. A strangely diffused, essential light
it was, that of the snow. It put to shame three dying candles left in
the Luckenbooths and the sick flame of an oil lamp above the
Netherbow Port. After passing that, there was no sign of man or
man’s comforts until you were in the Abbey precincts.
Des-Essars knew—being as sharp as a needle—that something
was changed the moment he reached those precincts; knew by the
pricking of his skin, as they say. A double guard set; knots of men-
at-arms; some horses led about; low voices talking in strange
accents,—something was altered. Worse than all this, he found the
word of the night unavailing: no manner of entry for him.
 ‘My service is the Queen’s, honourable sir,’ he pleaded to an
unknown sentry, who wore (he observed) a steel cap of unusual
shape.
The square hackbutter shook his head. ‘No way in this night,
Frenchman.’
‘By whose orders, if you please?’
‘By mine, Frenchman.’
Here was misfortune! No help for it, but he must brave what he
had hoped to avoid—his superior officer, to wit.
‘If it please you, sir,’ he said, ‘I will speak with Mr. Erskine in the
guardroom.’
‘Mr. Airrskin!’ was the shocking answer—and how the man spoke
it!—‘Mr. Airrskin! He’s no here. He’s awa’. So now off with ye, Johnny
Frenchman.’ The man obviously had orders: but whose orders?
Des-Essars shrugged. He shivered also, as he always did when
refused anything—as if the world had proved suddenly a chill place.
But really the affair was serious. Inside the house he must be, and
that early. Driven to his last resource, he walked back far enough for
the dark to swallow him up, returned upon his tracks a little way so
soon as the hackbutter had resumed his stamping up and down;
branched off to the right, slipping through a ruinous stable, blown to
pieces in former days by the English; crossed a frozen cabbage
garden which, having been flooded, was now a sheet of cat-ice; and
so came hard upon the Abbey wall. In this wall, as he very well
knew, there were certain cavities, used as steps by the household
when the gateways were either not convenient or likely to be
denied: indeed, he would not, perhaps, have cared to reckon how
many times he had used them himself. Having chipped the ice out of
them with his hanger, he was triumphantly within the pale, hopping
over the Queen’s privy garden with high-lifted feet, like a dog in
turnips. To win the palace itself was easy. It was mighty little use
having friends in the kitchen if they could not do you services of that
kind.
 He had to find the Queen, though, and face what she might give
him, but of that he had little fear. He knew that she would be at
cards, and too full of her troubles and pains to seek for a new one.
It is a queer reflection that he makes in his Memoirs—that although
he romantically loved the Queen, he had no scruples about deceiving
her and few fears of being found out, so only that she did not take
the scrape to heart. ‘She was a goddess to me,’ he says, ‘in those
days, a remote point of my adoration. A young man, however, is
compact of two parts, an earthly and a spiritual. If I had exhibited to
her the frailties of my earthly part it would have been by a very
natural impulse. However, I never did.’ This is a digression: he knew
that she would not fret herself about him and his affairs just now,
because she was ill, and miserable about the King. Throwing a kiss
of his hand, then, to the yawning scullery-wench, who had had to
get out of her bed to open the window for him, he skimmed down
the corridors on a light foot, and reached the great hall. He hoped to
go tiptoe up the privy stair and gain the door of the cabinet without
being heard. When she came out she would find him there, and all
would be well. This was his plan.
It was almost dark in the hall, but not quite. A tree-bole on the
hearth was in the article of death; a few thin flames about the shell
of it showed him a company of men in the corner by the privy stair.
Vexatious! They were leaning to the wall, some sitting against it;
some were on the steps asleep, their heads nodding to their knees.
He was cut off his sure access, and must go by the main staircase—
if he could. He tried it, sidling along by the farther wall; but they
spied him, two of them, and one went to cut him off. A tall enemy
this, for the little Frenchman; but luckily for him it was a case of
boots against no boots where silence was of the essence of the
contract. Des-Essars, his shoes in his hand, darted out into the open
and raced straight for the stair. The enemy began his pursuit—in
riding-boots. Heavens! the crash and clatter on the flags, the echo
from the roof! It would never do: hushed voices called the man
back; he went tender-footed, finally stopped. By that time the page
was up the stair, pausing at the top to wipe his brows and neck of
cold sweat, and to wonder as he wiped what all this might mean.
Double guard in the court—strange voices—the word changed—Mr.
Erskine away! No sentry in the hall, but, instead, a cluster of waiting,
whispering men—in riding-boots—by the privy stair! The vivacious
young man was imaginative to a fault; he could construct a whole
tragedy of life and death out of a change in the weather. And here
was a fateful climax to the tragedy of a stormy night! First, the
stress of the driving snow—whirling, solitary, forlorn stuff!—the
apprehension of wild work by every dark entry. Passing the Tolbooth,
a shriek out of the blackness had sent his heart into his mouth.
There had been fighting, too, in Sim’s Close. He had seen a torch
flare and dip, men and women huddled about two on the ground;
one grunting, ‘Tak’ it! Tak’ it!’ and the other, with a strangled wail,
‘Oh, Jesus!’ Bad hearing all this—evil preparation. Atop of these
apparitions, lo! their fulfilment: stroke after stroke of doom. Cloaked
men by the privy stair—Dieu de Dieu! His heart was thumping at his
ribs when he peeped through the curtain of the Queen’s cabinet and
saw his mistress there with Lady Argyll and the Italian. ‘Blessed
Mother!’ he thought, ‘here’s an escape for me. I had no notion the
hour was so late.’ What he meant was, that the rest of the company
had gone. He had heard that Lord Robert Stuart and the Laird of
Criech were to sup that night. Well, they had supped and were
gone! It must be on the stroke of midnight.

The Queen, as he could see, lay back in her elbow-chair, obviously

suffering, picking at some food before her, but not eating any. Her
lips were chapped and dry; she moistened them continually, then bit
them. Lady Argyll, handsome, strong-featured, and swarthy, sat bolt
upright and stared at the sconce on the wall; and as for the Italian,
he did as he always did, lounged opposite his Queen, his head
against the wainscot. Reflective after food, he used his toothpick,
but no other ceremony whatsoever. He wore his cap on his head,
ignored Lady Argyll—half-sister to the throne—and when he looked
at her Majesty, as he often did, it was as a man might look at his
wife. She, although she seemed too weary or too indifferent to lift
her heavy eyelids, knew perfectly well that both her companions
were watching her: Des-Essars was sure of that. He watched her
himself intensely, and only once saw her meet Davy’s eye, when she
passed her cup to him to be filled with drink, and he, as if thankful
to be active, poured the wine with a flourish and smiled in her face
as he served her. She observed both act and actor, and made no
sign, neither drank from the cup now she had it; but sank back to
her wretchedness and the contemplation of it, being in that pettish,
brooding habit of mind which would rather run on in a groove of
pain than brace itself to some new shift. As he watched what was a
familiar scene to him, Des-Essars was wondering whether he should
dare go in and report what he had observed in the hall. No! on the
whole he would not do that. Signior Davy, who was a weasel in such
a field as a young man’s mind, would assuredly fasten upon him at
some false turn or other, never let go, and show no mercy. Like all
the underlings of Holyrood he went in mortal fear of the Italian,
though, unlike any of them, he admired him.
The little cabinet was very dim. There were candles on the table,
but none alight in the sconces. From beyond, through a half-open
door, came the drowsy voices of the Queen’s women, murmuring
their way through two more hours’ vigil. Interminable nights! Cards
would follow supper, you must know, and Signior Davy would try to
outsit Lady Argyll. He always tried, and generally succeeded.
The Queen shifted, sighed, and played hasty tunes with her
fingers on the table: she was never still. It was evident that she was
at once very wretched and very irritable. Her dark-red gown was cut
low and square, Venetian mode: Des-Essars could see quite well
how short her breath was, and how quick. Yet she said nothing.
Once she and Lady Argyll exchanged glances; the Mistress of the
Robes inquired with her eyebrows, the Queen fretfully shook the
question away. It was an unhappy supper for all but the graceless
Italian, who was much at his ease now that he had unfastened some
of the hooks of his jacket. The French lad, who had always been in
love with his mistress and yet able to criticise her—as a Protestant
may adore the Virgin Mary—admits that at this moment of her life, in
this bitter mood, he found her extremely piquant. ‘This pale,
helpless, angry, pretty woman!’ he exclaims upon his page. He would
seldom allow that she was more than just a pretty woman; and now
she was a good deal less. Her charms for him had never been of the
face—she had an allure of her own. ‘Mistress Seton was lovely, I
consider, my Lady Bothwell most beautiful, and Mistress Fleming not
far short of that: but the Queen’s Majesty—ah! the coin from Mr.
Knox’s mint rang true. Honeypot! Honeypot! There you had her
essence: sleepy, slow, soft sweetness—with a sharp aftertaste, for all
that, to prick the tongue and set it longing.’
More than nice considerations, these, which the stealthy opening
of a door and a step in the passage disturbed. Des-Essars would
have straightened himself on that signal, to stand as a page should
stand in the view of any one entering. Then he saw, out of the
corner of his eye, the King go down the little stair. It must be the
King, because—to say nothing of the tall figure, small-headed as it
was,—he had seen the long white gown. The King wore a white
quilted-silk bedgown, lined with ermine. At the turning of the stair
Des-Essars saw him just glance backwards over his shoulder towards
the cabinet, but, being stiff within the shadow of the curtain, was
not himself seen. After that furtive look he saw him go down the
privy stair, his hand on the rope. Obviously he had an assignation
with some woman below.
Before he had time to correct this conclusion by the memory of
the cloaked men in the hall, he heard returning steps—somebody,
this time, coming up the steps; no! there were more than one—two
or three at least. He was sure of this—his ears had never deceived
him—and yet it was the King alone who appeared at the stair-head
with a lighted taper in his hand, which he must have got from the
hall. He stood there for a moment, his face showing white and
strained in the light, his mouth open, too; then, blowing out his
taper, he came directly to the curtain of the Queen’s cabinet, pulled
it aside and went in. He had actually covered Des-Essars with the
curtain without a notion that he was there; but the youth had had
time to observe that he was fully dressed beneath his gown, and to
get a hot whiff of the strong waters in his breath as he passed in.
Urgent to see what all this might mean, he peeped through the
hangings.
Lady Argyll rose up slowly when she saw the King, but made no
reverence. Very few did in these days. The Italian followed her
example, perfectly composed. The Queen took no notice of him. She
rested as she had been, her head on the droop, eyebrows raised,
eyes fixed on the disordered platter. The King, whose colour was
very high, came behind her chair, stooped, and put his arm round
her. His hand covered her bosom. She did not avoid, though she did
not relish this.
‘Madam, it is very late,’ he said, and spoke breathlessly.
‘It is not I who detain you,’ said she.
‘No, madam, no. But you do detain these good servants of yours.
Here is your sister of Argyll; next door are your women. And so it is
night after night. I think not of myself.’
She lifted her head a little to look up sideways—but not at him.
‘You think of very little else, to my understanding. Having brought
me to the state where now I am, you are inclined to leave me alone.
Rather, you were inclined; for this is a new humour, little to my
taste.’
‘I should be oftener here, believe me,’ says the King, still
embracing her, ‘if I could feel more sure of a welcome—if all might
be again as it was once between you and me.’
She laughed, without mirth; then asked, ‘And how was it—once?’
The King stooped down and kissed her forehead, by the same act
gently pushing back her head till it rested on his shoulder.
‘Thus it was once, my Mary,’ he said; and as she looked up into his
face, wondering over it, searching it, he kissed her again. ‘Thus it
was once,’ he repeated in a louder voice; and then, louder yet,
‘Thus, O Queen of Scots!’
 Once more he kissed her, and once more cried out, ‘O Queen of
Scots!’ Then Des-Essars heard the footsteps begin again on the privy
stair, and saw men come into the passage—many men.
Three of them, in cloaks and steel bonnets, came quickly to the
door, and passed him. They went through the curtain. These three
were Lord Ruthven, Ker of Fawdonsyde, and Mr. Archibald Douglas.
Rigid in his shadow, Des-Essars watched all.
Seeing events in the Italian’s eyes, rather than with her own—for
Signior Davy had narrowed his to two threads of blue—the Queen
lifted her head from her husband’s arm and looked curiously round.
The three stood hesitant within the door; Ruthven had his cap on his
head, Fawdonsyde his, but Archie showed his grey poll. Little things
like these angered her quickly; she shook free from the King and sat
upright.
‘What is this, my Lord Ruthven? You forget yourself.’
‘Madam——’ he began; but Douglas nudged him furiously.
‘Your bonnet, man, your bonnet!’
The Queen had risen, and the fixed direction of her eyes gave him
understanding.
‘Ah, my knapscall! I do as others do, madam,’ he said, with a
meaning look at the Italian. ‘What is pleasant to your Majesty in
yonder servant should not be an offence in a councillor.’
‘No, no, ma’am, nor it should not,’ muttered Fawdonsyde, who,
nevertheless, doffed his bonnet.
The King was holding her again, she staring still at the scowling
man in steel. ‘What do you want with me, Ruthven?’ she said. She
had very dry lips.
He made a clumsy bow. ‘May it please your Majesty,’ he said, ‘we
are come to rid you of this fellow Davy, who has been overlong
familiar here, and overmuch—for your Majesty’s honour.’
 She turned her face to the King, whose arm still held her—a white,
strong face.
‘You,’ she said fiercely, ‘what have you to do in this? What have
you to say?’
‘I think with Ruthven—with all of them—my friends and well-
wishers. ’Tis the common voice: they say I am betrayed, upon my
soul! I cannot endure—I entreat you to trust me——’ He was
incoherent.
She broke away from his arm, took a step forward and put herself
between him and the three. She was so angry that she could not
find words. She stammered, began to speak, rejected what words
came. The Italian took off his cap and watched Ruthven intently. The
moment of pause that ensued was broken by Ruthven’s raising his
hand, for the Queen flashed out, ‘Put down your hand, sir!’ and
seemed as if she would have struck him. Fawdonsyde here cocked
his pistol and deliberately raised it against the Queen’s person.
‘Treason! treason!’ shrieked Des-Essars from the curtain, and
blundered forward to the villain.
But the Queen had been before him; at last she had found words,
and deeds. She drew herself up, quivering, went directly towards
Fawdonsyde, and beat down the point of the pistol with her flat
hand. ‘Do you dare so much? Then I dare more. What shameless
thing do you here? If I had a sword in my hand——’ Here she
stopped, tongue-tied at what was done to her.
For Ruthven, regardless of majesty, had got her round the middle.
He pushed her back into the King’s arms; and, ‘Take your wife, my
lord,’ says he; ‘take your good-wife in your arms and cherish her,
while we do what must be done.’
The King held her fast in spite of her struggles. At that moment
the Italian made a rattling sound in his throat and backed from the
table. Archie Douglas stepped behind the King, to get round the little
room; Ruthven approached his victim from the other side; the Italian
pulled at the table, got it between himself and the enemy, and
overset it: then Lady Argyll screamed, and snatched at a candlestick
as all went down. It was the only light left in the room, held up in
her hand like a beacon above a tossing sea. Where was Des-Essars?
Cuffed aside to the wall, like a rag doll. The maids were packed in
the door of the bedchamber, and one of them had pulled him into
safety among them.
All that followed he marked: how the frenzied Italian, hedged in
between Douglas and Ruthven, vaulted the table, knocked over
Fawdonsyde, and then, whimpering like a woman, crouched by the
Queen, his fingers in the pleats of her gown. He saw the King’s light
eyelashes blink, and heard his breath come whistling through his
nose; and that pale, disfigured girl, held up closely against her
husband, moaning and hiding her face in his breast. And now
Ruthven, grinning horribly, swearing to himself, and Douglas,
whining like a dog at a rat-hole, were at their man’s hands, trying to
drag him off. Fawdonsyde hovered about, hopeful to help. Lady
Argyll held up the candle.
Douglas wrenched open one hand, Ruthven got his head down
and bit the other till it parted.
‘O Dio! O Dio!’ long shuddering cries went up from the Italian as
they dragged him out into the passage, where the others waited.
It was dark there, and one knew not how full of men; but Des-
Essars heard them snarling and mauling like a pack of wolves; heard
the scuffling, the panting, the short oaths—and then a piercing
scream. At that there was silence; then some one said, as he struck,
‘There! there! Hog of Turin!’ and another (Lindsay), ‘He’s done.’
The King put the Queen among her maids in a hurry, and went
running out into the passage as they were shuffling the body down
the stair. Des-Essars just noticed, and remembered afterwards, his
naked dagger in his hand as he went out helter-skelter after his
friends. Upon some instinct or other, he followed him as far as the
head of the stair. From the bottom came up a great clamour—howls
of execration, one or two cries for the King, a round of welcome
when he appeared. The page ran back to the cabinet, and found it
dark.
It was bad to hear the Queen’s laughter in the bedchamber—
worse when that shuddered out into moaning, and she began to wail
as if she were keening her dead. He could not bear it, so crept out
again to spy about the passages and listen to the shouting from the
hall. ‘A Douglas! a Douglas!’ was the most common cry. Peeping
through a window which gave on to the front, he saw the snowy
court ablaze with torches, alive with men, and against the glare the
snowflakes whirling by, like smuts from a burning chimney. It was
clear enough now that the palace was held, all its inmates prisoners.
But what seemed more terrifying than that was the emptiness of the
upper corridors, the sudden hush after so much riot—and the
Queen’s moan, haunting all the dark like a lost soul.

It was so bad up there that the lad, his brain on fire, felt the need
of any company—even that of gaolers. No one hindering, he crept
down the privy stair,—horribly slippery it was, and he knew why,—
hoping to spy into the hall; and this also he was free to do, since the
stair-foot was now unguarded. He found the hall crowded with men;
great torches smoking to the rafters; a glow of light on shields and
blazonry, the banners and achievements of dead kings. In the stir of
business the arras surged like the waves of the sea. A furious
draught blew in from the open doors, to which all faces were turned.
Men craned over each others’ backs to look there. Des-Essars could
not see the King; but there at the entry was the Earl of Morton in his
armour, two linkmen by him. He was reading from a bill: in front of
him was a clear way; across it stood the Masters of Lindsay and
Ruthven, and men in their liveries, halberds in their hands.
‘Pass out, Earl of Atholl,’ he heard Lord Morton say; ‘Pass out, Lord
of Tullibardine’: and then, after a while of looking and pointing, he
saw the grizzled head and square shoulders of my Lord Atholl
moving down the lane of men, young Tullibardine uncovered beside
him.
 ‘Pass out, Pitcur; pass out, Mr. James Balfour; pass out, the Lord
Herries.’ The same elbowing in the crowd: three men file out into the
scurrying snow—all the Queen’s friends, observe.
Near to Des-Essars a man asked of his neighbour, ‘Will they let by
my Lord Huntly, think you?’
The other shook his head. ‘Never! He’ll keep company with the
Reiver of Liddesdale, be sure.’
The Reiver was Lord Bothwell, of course, whom Des-Essars knew
to be in the house. ‘Good fellow-prisoners for us,’ he thought.
‘Pass out, Mr. Secretary, on a fair errand.’
There was some murmuring at this; but the man went out
unmolested, with a sweep of the bonnet to my Lord Morton as he
passed. Des-Essars saw him stop at the first taste of the weather
and cover his mouth with his cloak—but he waited for no more. A
thought had struck him. He slipped back up the puddled stair, gained
the first corridor, and, knowing his way by heart, went in and out of
the passages until he came to a barred door. Here he put his ear to
the crack and listened intently.
For a long time he could hear nothing on either side the door; but
by and by somebody with a light—a man—came to the farther end
of the passage and looked about, raising and dipping his lantern.
That was an ugly moment! Crouched against the wall, he saw the
lamp now high now low, and marked with a leaping heart how
nearly the beams reached to where he lay. He heard a movement
behind the door, too, but had to let it go. Not for full three minutes
after the disappearance of the watchman did he dare put his
knuckles to the door, and tap, very softly, at the panel. He tapped
and tapped. A board creaked; there was breathing at the door. A
voice, shamming boldness, cried, ‘Qui est?’
Des-Essars smiled. ‘C’est toi, Paris?’
His question was answered by another. ‘Tiens, qui est ce drôle?’
 Paris, for a thousand pound! Knocking again, he declared himself.
‘It is I, Paris—M. Des-Essars.’
‘Monsieur Baptiste, your servant,’ then said Paris through the door.
‘My lord is a prisoner, Paris?’
‘Not for the first time, my dear sir.’
‘How many are you there?’
‘Four. My lord, and Monsieur de Huntly, myself, Jock Gordon.’
‘Well, you should get out—but quickly, before they have finished in
the hall. They are passing men out. Be quick, Paris—tell my lord.’
‘Bravo!’ says Paris. ‘We should get out—and quickly! By the
chimney, sir? There is no chimney. By the window? There is but one
death for every man, and one neck to be broke.’
‘You will break no necks at all, you fool. Below these windows is
the lions’ house.’
Paris thought. ‘Are you sure of that?’
‘Sure! Oh, Paris, make haste!’
Again Paris appeared to reflect; and then he said, ‘If you are
betraying a countryman of yours, M. Des-Essars, and your old patron
also, you shall never see God.’
Des-Essars wrung his hands. ‘You fool! you fool! Are you mad?
Call my lord.’
‘Wait,’ said Paris. In a short time, the sound of heavy steps. Ah,
here was my lord!
‘’Tis yourself, Baptist?’
‘Yes, yes, my lord.’
‘Have they finished with Davy?’
‘My God, sir!’
‘What of the Queen?’
 ‘Her women have her.’
‘Now, Baptist. You say the lion-house is below these windows.
Which windows? There are four.’
‘The two in the midst, my lord. My lord, across the Little Garden—
in a straight line—there are holes in the wall.’
‘Oho! You are a brave lad. Go to your bed.’
Jean-Marie-Baptiste Des-Essars went back to the Queen’s side. At
the door of the cabinet he found Adam Gordon in a fit of sobs. ‘Oh,
my fine man,’ says the French lad, stirring him with his foot, ‘leave
tears to the women. This is men’s business.’
Adam lifted up his stricken face. ‘Where have you been cowering,
traitor?’
Jean-Marie laughed grimly. ‘I have been saving Scotland,’ he said,
‘whilst you were blubbering here.’
Adam Gordon, being up by now, knocked Jean-Marie down.
‘I excused him readily, however,’ he writes in his Memoirs,
‘considering the agitation we all suffered at the time. And where he
felled me there I lay, and slept like a child.’

CHAPTER VI
VENUS IN THE TOILS

Sir James Melvill, whom readers must remember at Saint Andrews

as a shrewd, elderly courtier, expert in diplomacy and not otherwise
without humours of a dry sort, plumed himself upon habit—‘Dear
Mother Use-and-Wont,’ as he used to say. A man is sane at thirty,
rich at forty, wise at fifty, or never; and what health exacts, wealth
secures, and wisdom requires, is the orderly, punctual performance
of the customary. You may have him now putting his theory into
severest practice: for though he had seen what was to be seen
during that night of murder and alarm, though he had lain down to
sleep in his cloak no earlier than five o’clock in the small hours, by
seven, which was his Sunday time, he was up and about, stamping
his booted feet to get the blood down, flacking his arms, and talking
encouragement to himself—as, ‘Hey, my bonny man, how’s a’ with
you the morn?’ Very soon after you might have seen him over the
ashes of the fire, raking for red embers and blowing some life into
them with his frosted breath. All about lay his snoring fellows,
though it was too dark to see them. Every man lay that night where
he could find his length, and slept like the dead in their graves.
There seemed no soul left in a body but in his own.
He went presently to the doors, thinking to open them
unhindered. But no! a sitting sentry barred the way with a halberd.
‘May one not look at the weather, my fine young man?’ says Sir
James.
‘’Tis as foul as the grave, master, and a black black frost. No way
out the now.’
Sir James, who intended to get out, threw his cloak over his
shoulder and gravely paced the hall until the chances should mend.
One has not warred with the Margrave, held a hand at cards with
the Emperor Charles at Innspruck, loitered at Greenwich in
attendance upon Queen Elizabeth, or endured the King of France in
one of his foaming rages, without learning patience. He proposed to
walk steadily up and down the hall until nine o’clock. Then he would
get out.

The women said afterwards that the Queen had quieted down
very soon, dried her eyes, gone to bed, and slept almost
immediately ‘as calm as a babe new-born.’ However that may be,
she awoke as early as Sir James, and, finding herself in Mary
Fleming’s arms, awoke her too in her ordinary manner by biting her
shoulder, not hard. ‘My lamb, my lamb!’ cooed the maid; but the
Queen in a brisk voice said, ‘What’s o’clock?’ The lamp showed it to
be gone seven.
The Queen said: ‘Get up, child, and find me the page who was in
the cabinet last night. I saw him try the entry, and he ran in when—
when.... It was Baptist, I think.’
She spoke in an even voice, as if the occasion had been a card
party. This frightened Mary Fleming, who began to quiver, and to
say, ‘Oh, ma’am, did Baptist see all? ’Twill have scared away his
wits.’ And then she tried coaxing. ‘Nay, ma Reinette, but you must
rest awhile. Come, let me stroke your cheek’—a common way with
them of inviting sleep to her.
But the Queen said, ‘I have had too much stroking—too much.
Now do as I bid you.’ So the maid clothed herself in haste and went
out with a lamp.
Outside the door she found the two youths asleep—Des-Essars on
the floor, Gordon by the table—and awoke them both. ‘Which of you
was on the door last night?’
‘It was I, Mistress Fleming,’ said the foreigner. ‘All the time I was
there.’
‘Come with me, then. You are sent for.’
He followed her in high excitement into the Queen’s bedchamber.
There he saw Margaret Carwood asleep on her back, lying on the
floor; and the Queen propped up with pillows, a white silk shift upon
her—or half upon her, for one shoulder was out of it. She looked
sharper, more like Circe, than she had done since her discomforts
began: very intense, very pale, very black in the eyes. And she
smiled at him in a curiously secret way—a beckoning, fluttering of
the lips, as if she shared intelligence with him, and told him so by
signs. ‘She was as sharp and hard and bright as a cut diamond,’ he
writes of this appearance; ‘nor do I suppose that any lady in the
storied world could have turned her face away from a night of terror
and blood, towards a day-to-come of insult, chains and degradation,
as she turned hers now before my very eyes.’
 She did not say anything for a while, but considered him
absorbingly, with those fever-bright eyes and that cautious smile,
until she had made up her mind. He, of course, was down on his
knee; Mary Fleming, beside him, stood—her hand just touching his
shoulder.
‘Come hither, Jean-Marie.’
Approaching, he knelt by the bed.
‘No,’ said she, ‘stand up—closer. Now give me your hand.’
He held it out, and she took it in her own, and put it against her
side. He simply gazed at her in wonder.
‘Tell me now if you feel my heart beating.’
He waited. ‘No, madam,’ said he then, whispering.
‘Think again.’
He did. ‘No, madam. Ah! pardon. Yes, I feel it.’
‘That will do.’
He whipped back his hand and put it behind him. It had been the
right hand. The Queen watched all, still smiling in that wise new way
of hers.
‘Now,’ she said, ‘I think you will serve me, since you have assured
yourself that I am not so disturbed as you are. I wish you to find out
where they have put him.’
He felt Mary Fleming start and catch at her breath; but to him the
question seemed very natural.
‘I will go now, madam.’
‘Yes. Go now. Be secret and speedy, and come back to me.’
He bowed, rose up, and went tiptoe out of that chamber of
mystery and sharp sweetness. Just beyond the door Adam Gordon
pounced on him and caught him by the neck. He struggled fiercely,
tried to bite.
 ‘Let me go, let me go, you silly fool, and worse! I’m on service.
Oh, my God, let me go!’
‘How does she? Speak it, you French thief.’
‘Dieu de Dieu!’ he panted, ‘I shall stab you.’
At once his hands were pinned to the wall, and he crucified. He
told his errand—since time was all in all—with tears of rage.
‘I shall go with you,’ says Adam. ‘We will go together.’
In the entry of the Chapel Royal, near the kings’ tombs, they
found what seemed to be a new grave. A loose flagstone—scatter of
gravel all about—the stone not level: one end, in fact, projected its
whole thickness above the floor.
‘There he lies,’ says Adam. ‘What more do you want?’
Des-Essars was tugging at the stone. ‘It moves, it moves!’ He was
crimson in the face.
They both tussled together: it gave to this extent, that they got
the lower edge clear of the floor.
‘Hold on! Keep it so!’ snapped Des-Essars suddenly.
He dropped on to his stomach and thrust his arm into the crack,
up to the elbow.
‘What are you at? Be sharp, man, or I shall drop it!’ cried Adam in
distress.
He was sharp. In a moment he had withdrawn his hand, jumped
up and away, and was pelting to the stairs. Adam let the great stone
down with a thud and was after him. He was stopped at the Queen’s
door by a maid—Seton.
‘Less haste, Mr. Adam. You cannot enter. Her Majesty is busy.’
Des-Essars had found the Queen waiting for him—nobody else in
the room.
‘Well? You saw it?’
 ‘I have seen a grave, madam.’
‘Well?’
‘It is a new grave.’
‘There’s nothing in that, boy.’
‘Monsieur David is in there, ma’am.’
Her quick eyes narrowed. How she peered at him! ‘How do you
know?’
‘Madam, I lifted up the stone. No one was about.’
‘Well?’
‘I found something under it. I have it. I am therefore quite sure.’
‘What did you find? Let me see it.’
He plucked out of his breast a glittering thing and laid it on the
bed.
‘Behold it, madam!’ Folding his arms, he watched it where it lay.
The Queen stared down at a naked dagger. A longish, lean, fluted
blade; and upon the bevelled edge a thick smear, half its length.
She did not touch it, but moved her lips as if she were talking to
it. ‘Do I know you, dagger? Have we been friends, dagger, old
friends—and now you play me a trick?’ She turned to Des-Essars.
‘You know that dagger?’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ He had seen it often, and no later than last night,
and then in hand.
‘That will do,’ said she. ‘Leave me now. Send Fleming and Seton—
and Carwood also. I shall rise.’
When he was gone her face changed—grew softer, more
thoughtful. Now she held out her hand daintily, the little finger high
above the others, and with the tips of two daintily touched the
dagger. She was rather horrible—like a creature of the woods at
night, an elf or a young witch, playing with a corpse. She laughed
quietly to herself as she fingered the stained witness of so much
terror; but then, when she heard them at the door, picked it up by
the handle and put it under the bedclothes. No one was to know
what she meant to do.
The women came in. ‘Dress me, Carwood, and quickly. Dolet, have
you my bath ready?’ ‘Mais, c’est sûr, Majesté.’ They poured out for
her a bath of hot red wine. No day of her life passed but she dipped
herself in that.

At nine o’clock, braced into fine fettle by his exercise, Sir James
Melvill went again to the hall doors. A few shiverers were about by
this time, for sluggard dawn was gaping at the windows; some knelt
by the fire which his forethought had saved for them, some hugged
themselves in corners; one man was praying aloud in an outlandish
tongue, praying deeply and striking his forehead with his palm. Sir
James, not to be deterred by prayers or spies, stepped up to the
sentry, a new man, and tapped him on the breast. ‘Now, my honest
friend,’ he said pleasantly, ‘I have waited my two hours, and am
prepared to wait other two. But he to whom my pressing errand is
must wait no longer. I speak of my lord of Morton—your master and
mine, as things have turned out.’
‘My lord will be here by the ten o’clock, sir,’ says the man.
‘I had promised him exact tidings by eight,’ replied Sir James; and
spoke so serenely that he was allowed to pass the doors, which
were shut upon him. Nobody could have regretted more than
himself that he had lied: he had no mortal errand to the Earl of
Morton. But seeing that he had not failed of Sabbath sermon for a
matter of fifteen years, it was not to be expected that the murder of
an Italian was to stay him now. Sermon in Saint Giles’s was at nine.
He was late.
The fates were adverse: there was to be no sermon for him that
Sabbath. As he walked gingerly across the Outer Close—a staid,
respectable, Sunday gentleman—he heard a casement open behind
him, and turning sharply saw the Queen at her chamber window,
dressed in grey with a white ruff, and holding a kerchief against her
neck. After a hasty glance about, which revealed no prying eyes, he
made a low reverence to her Majesty.
Sparkling and eager as she looked, she nodded her head and
leaned far out of the window. ‘Sir James Melvill,’ she called down, in
a clear, carrying voice, ‘you shall do me a service if you please.’
‘God save your Majesty, and I do please,’ says Sir James.
‘Then help me from this prison where now I am,’ she said. ‘Go
presently to the Provost, bid him convene the town and come to my
rescue. Go presently, I say; but run fast, good sir, for they will stay
you if they can.’
‘Madam, with my best will and legs.’ He saluted, and walked
briskly on over the frozen snow.
Out of doors after him came a long-legged man in black, a chain
about his neck, a staff in hand; following him, three or four lacqueys
in a dark livery.
‘Ho, Sir James Melvill! Ho, Sir James!’
He was by this time at the Outer Bailey, which stood open for him
—three paces more and he had done it. But there were a few
archers lounging about the door of the Guard House, and two who
crossed and recrossed each other before the gates. ‘Gently doth it,’
quoth he, and stayed to answer his name to the long-legged
Chamberlain.
‘What would you, Mr. Wishart, sir?’
‘Sir James, my lord of Ruthven hath required me——’ But he got
no further.
‘Your lord of Ruthven?’ cried Sir James. ‘Hath he required you to
require of me, Mr. Wishart?’
‘Why, yes, sir. My lord would be pleased to know whither you are
bound so fast. He is, sir, in a manner of speaking, deputy to the
King’s Majesty at this time.’
Sir James blinked. He could see the Queen behind her window,
watching him. ‘I am bound, sir,’ he said deliberately, ‘whither I shall
hope to see my lord of Ruthven tending anon. The sermon, Mr.
Wishart, the sermon calls me; the which I have not foregone these
fifteen years, nor will not to-day unless you and your requirements
keep me unduly.’
‘I told my lord you would be for the preaching, Sir James. I was
sure o’t. But he’s a canny nobleman, ye ken; and the King’s business
is before a’.’
‘I have never heard, Mr. Wishart, that it was before that of the
King of kings,’ said Sir James.
‘Ou, fie, Sir James! To think that I should say so!’—Mr. Wishart
was really concerned—‘Nor my lord neither, whose acceptance of the
rock of doctrine is well known. I shall just pop in and inform my
lord.’
‘Do so. And I wish you a good day, Mr. Wishart,’ says Sir James in
a stately manner, and struck out of the gates and up the hill.
He went directly to the Provost’s house, and what he learned
there seemed to him so serious, that he overstepped his commission
by a little way. ‘Mr. Provost,’ he said, ‘you tell me that you have
orders from the King. I counsel you to disregard them. I counsel you
to serve and obey your sanctified anointed Queen. The King, Mr.
Provost, is her Majesty’s right hand, not a doubt of it; but when the
right hand knoweth not what the left hand is about, it is safer to
wait until the pair are in agreement again. What the King may have
done yesterday he may not do to-day—he may not wish it, or he
may not be capable of it. I am a simple gentleman, Mr. Provost, and
you are a high officer, steward of this good town. I counsel not the
officer in you, but the sober burgess, when I repeat that what may
have been open to the King yesterday may be shut against him to-
day.’
 ‘Good guide us, Sir James, this is dangerous work!’ cried the
Provost. ‘Who’s your informant in the matter?’
‘I have told you that I am a simple gentleman,’ said Sir James, ‘but
I lied to you. I am a Queen’s messenger: I go from you to meet her
Majesty’s dearest brother, the good Earl of Moray, who should be
home to-day.’
It must be owned that, if he was an unwilling liar, he was a good
one. He lied like truth, and the stroke was masterly. The Provost set
about convening the town; and when Sir James Melvill walked back
to Holyrood—after sermon—all the gates were held in the Queen’s
name.
He did not see her, for the King was with her at the time; but Mary
Beaton received him, heard his news and reported it. She returned
shortly with a message: ‘The Queen’s thanks to Sir James Melvill. Let
him ride the English road and meet the Earl of Moray by her
Majesty’s desire.’ He was pleased with the errand, proud to serve the
Queen. His greatest satisfaction, however, was to reflect that he had
not, after all, lied to the Provost of Edinburgh.

Now we go back to Queen Mary. Bathed and powdered, dressed

and coifed, her head full of schemes and heart high in courage, she
waited for the King, being very sure in her own mind that he would
come if she made no sign. Certainly, certainly he would come: she
had reasoned it all out as she lay half in bed, smiling and whispering
to the dagger. ‘He has been talked into this, by whom I am not sure,
but I think by Ruthven and his friends. They will never stop where
now they are, but will urge him further than he cares to go. I believe
he will wait to see what I do. He is not bold by nature, but by surges
of heat which drive him. Fast they drive him—yet they leave him
soon! When he held me last night he was trembling—I felt him
shake. And yet—he has strong arms, and the savour of a man is
upon him!’
 She sat up, with her hands to clasp her knee, and let her thought
go galloping through the wild business. ‘I felt the child leap as I lay
on his breast! Did he urge towards the King his father, glad of his
manhood? So, once upon a day, urged I towards the King my lord!’
She began to blush, but would be honest with herself. ‘And if he
came again to me now, and took me so again in his arms—and
again I sensed the man in him—what should I do?’
She looked wise, as she smiled to feel her eyes grow dim. But
then she shook her head. ‘He will come, he will come—but not so. I
know him: oh, I know him like a thumbed old book! And when I
bring out that which I have here’—her hand caressed the dagger—‘I
know what he will do. Yes, yes, like an old book! He will rail against
his betrayer, and in turn betray him. Ah, my King, my King, do I read
you aright? We shall see very soon.’
She looked out upon the snowy close, the black walls and dun pall
of air; she saw Sir James Melvill set forward upon his pious errand,
and changed it, as you know. Then she resumed her judging and
weighing of men.
Odd! She gave no thought to the wretched Italian, her mind was
upon the quick, and not the dead. Ruthven, a black, dangerous man
—scolding-tongued, impious in mind, thinking in oaths—yes: but a
man! Archie Douglas, supple as a snake, Fawdonsyde and his foolish
pistols, she considered not at all; but her mind harped upon Ruthven
and the King, who had each laid rough hands upon her—and thus, it
seems, earned her approbation. Ruthven had taken her about the
middle and pushed her back, helpless, into the other’s arms; and she
had felt those taut arms, and not struggled; but leaned there, her
face in his doublet. Pardieu, each had played the man that night!
And Ruthven would play it again, and the King would not. No, no;
not he!
Ruthven, by rights, should be won over. Should she try him? No,
he would refuse her; she was sure of it. He was as bluff, as flinty-
cored as——Ranging here and there, searching Scotland for his
parallel, her heart jumped as she found him. Bothwell, Bothwell! Ha,
if he had been there! It all began to re-enact itself—the scuffling,
grunting, squealing business, with Bothwell’s broad shoulders steady
in the midst of it. Man against man: Bothwell and Ruthven face to
face, and the daggers agleam in the candle-light:—hey, how she saw
it all doing! Ruthven would stoop and glide by the wall: his bent
knees, his mad, twitching brows! Bothwell would stand his ground in
mid-floor, and his little eyes would twinkle. ‘Play fairly with the
candle, my Lady Argyll!’ and he would laugh—yes, she could hear his
‘Ho, ho, ho!’ But she jumped up as she came to that, she panted and
felt her cheeks burn. She held her fine throat with both hands until
she had calmed herself. So doing, a thought struck her. She rang her
hand-bell and sent for Des-Essars once more.
When he came to her she made a fuss over him, stroked his hair,
put her hand on his shoulder, said he was her young knight who
should ride out to her rescue. He was to take a message from her to
the Earl of Bothwell—that he was on no account to stir out of town
until he heard from her again. He should rather get in touch with all
of her friends and be ready for instant affairs. Des-Essars went
eagerly but discreetly to work. She then had just time to leave a
direction for Melvill, that he should be first with her brother Moray,
when they told her that the King was coming in.
‘Of course he is coming,’ she said. ‘What else can he do?’
Her courage rose to meet him more than half-way. If Des-Essars
had been allowed to feel her heart again he would have found it as
steady as a man’s.
‘I will see the King in the red closet,’ she said. ‘Seton, Fleming,
come you with me.’
When he was announced he found her thus in company, sitting at
her needlework on a low coffer by the window.
The young man had thickened rims to his eyes, but else looked
pinched and drawn. He kept a napkin in his hand, with which he was
for ever dabbing his mouth: seeming to search for signs of blood
upon it, he inspected it curiously whenever it had touched him. As
he entered the Queen glanced up, bowed her head to him and
resumed her stitch-work. The two maids, after their curtseys,
remained standing—to his visible perturbation. It was plain that he
had expected to find her alone; also that he had strung himself up
for a momentous interview—and that she had not. He grew more
and more nervous, the napkin hovered incessantly near his mouth;
half-turning to call his man Standen into the room, he thought better
of it, and came on a little way, saying, ‘Madam, how does your
Majesty?’
She looked amused at the question, as she went on sewing.
‘As well, my lord,’ she told him, ‘as I can look to be these many
months more. But women must learn such lessons, which men have
only to teach.’
He knew that he was outmatched. ‘I am thankful, madam——’
‘My lord, you have every reason.’
‘I say, I am thankful; for I had a fear——’
She gave him a sharp look. ‘Do you fear, my lord? What have you
to fear? Your friends are about you, your wife a prisoner. What have
you to fear?’
‘The tongue, madam.’
She had goaded him to this, and could have had him at her mercy
had she so willed it. But she was silent, husbanding her best weapon
against good time.
He went headlong on. ‘I had words for your private ear. I had
hoped that by a little intimacy, such as may be looked for between
——But it’s all one.’
She affected not to understand, pored over his fretful scraps with
the pure pondering of a child. ‘But——! Converse, intimacy between
us! Who is to prevent it? Ah, my poor maids afflict you! What may
be done before matrons must be guarded from the maids. Indeed,
my lord, and that is my opinion. Go, my dears. The King is about to
discuss the affairs of marriage.’
They went out. The King immediately came to her, stooped and
took her hand up from her lap. She kept the other hidden.
‘My Mary,’ he said—‘My Mary! let all be new-born between us.’
She heard the falter in his voice, but considered rather his fine
white hand as it held her own, and judged it with a cool brain. A frail
hand for a man! So white, so thinly boned, the veins so blue! Could
such hands ever hold her again? And how hot and dry! A fever must
be eating him. Her own hands were cold. New-born love—for this
hectic youth!
‘New-born, my lord?’ she echoed him, sighing. ‘Alas, that which
must be born should be paid for first. And what the reckoning of that
may be now, you know as well as I. May not one new birth be as
much as I can hope for, or desire? I do think so.’
Fully as well as she he knew the peril she had been in, she and
the load she carried. He went down on his knee beside her, and,
holding her one hand, sought after the other, which she hid.
‘My dear,’ he said earnestly, ‘oh, my dear, judge me not hardly. I
endeavoured to shield you last night—I held you fast—they dared
not touch you! Remember it, my Mary. As for my faults, I own them
fairly. I was provoked—anger moved me—bitter anger. I am young. I
am not even-tempered: remember this and forgive me. And, I pray
you, give me your hand.—No, the other, the other! For I need it, my
heart—indeed and indeed.’ That hand was gripped about a cold
thing in her lap, under her needlework. He could not have it without
that which it held; and now she knew that he should not. For now
she scorned him—that a man who had laid his own hands to man’s
work should now be on his knees, pleading for his wife’s hands
instead of snatching them—why, she herself was the better man!
Womanlike, she played with what she could have killed in a flash.
‘My other hand, my lord? Do you ask for it? You had it once, when
you put rings upon it, but let it go. Do you ask for it again? It can
give you no joy.’
‘I need it, I need it! You should not deny me.’ He craved it
abjectly. ‘Oh, my soul, my soul, I kiss the one—let me kiss the other,
lest it be jealous.’
Unhappy conceit! Her eyes paled, and you might have thought her
tongue a snake’s, darting, forked, flickering out and in as she struck
hard.
‘Traitor!’ thus she stabbed him—‘Traitor, son of a traitor, take and
kiss it if you dare.’ She laid above her caught hand that other, cool
and firm, and opened it to show him the handle of his own dagger.
She took the blade by the point and held the thing up, swinging
before his shocked eyes. ‘Lick that, hound!’ she said: ‘you should
know the taste of it better than I.’
He dropped her one hand, stared stupidly at the other: but as his
gaze concentrated upon the long smear on the blade you could have
seen the sweat rising on his temples.
She had read him exquisitely. After the first brunt of terror, rage
was what he felt—furious rage against the man whom he supposed
to have betrayed him. ‘Oh, horrible traitor!’ he muttered by the
window, whither he had betaken himself for refuge,—‘Oh, Archie
Douglas, if I could be even with thee for this! Oh, man, man, man,
what a curious, beastly villain!’ He was much too angry now to be
tender of his wife—either of her pity or revenge; he turned upon her,
threatening her from his window.
‘You shall not intimidate me. I am no baby in your hands. This
man is a villain, I tell you, whom I shall pursue till he is below my
heel. He has laid this, look you for a trap. This was got by theft, and
displayed by malice—devilish craft of a traitor. And do you suppose I
shall let it go by? You mistake me, by God, if you do. Foul thief!—
black, foul theft!’
She pointed to the smear on the blade. ‘And this?’ she asked him:
‘what of this? Was this got by theft, my lord? Was this dry blood
thieved from a dead man? Or do I mistake, as you suppose? Nay,