Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/532

 512 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 45. 25th. On going to Bothwell's room the next morning he found the Earl absent, and a servant directed him to a house belonging to Sir Robert Balfour, brother of James Balfour who signed the Craigmillar bond. St Mary's-in-the-Fields, called commonly Kirk-a- Field, was a roofless and ruined church, standing just inside the old town walls of Edinburgh, at the north- western corner of the present College. Adjoining it there stood a quadrangular building which had at one time belonged to the Dominican monks. The north front was built along the edge of the slope which descends to the Cowgate ; the south side contained a low range of unoccupied rooms which had been ' priests' chambers;' the east consisted of offices and servants' rooms; the principal apartments in the dwelling into which, the place had been converted were in the western wing, which completed the square. Under the windows there was a narrow strip of grass-plat dividing the house from the town wall ; and outside the wall were gardens into which there was an opening through the cellars by an underground passage. The principal gateway faced north and led direct into the quadrangle. Here it was that Paris found Both well with Sir James Balfour. He delivered his letter and gave his message. The Earl wrote a few words in reply. ' Com- mend me to the Queen/ he said as he gave the note, ' and tell her that all will go well. Say that Balfour and I have not slept all night, that everything is arranged, and that the King's lodgings are ready for him. I have sent her a diamond. You may say I would send my