Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/537

 1567.] THE MURDER OF DARNLEY.' 517 ing that his own life might pay the forfeit of his in- terference, either received a hint that he might buy his pardon by doing the work himself, or else denied his words and offered to make the King maintain them at the sword's point. A duel, could it be managed, would remove all difficulty; and Bothwell would take care how it should end. Something of this kind was in contemplation on the Saturday night, and the explosion was deferred in con- eequence. The Queen that evening at Holyrood bade Paris tell Bothwell ' that the Abbot of St Cross should go to the King's room and do what the Earl knew of.' Paris carried the message, and Bothwell answered, ' Tell the Queen that I will speak to St Cross and then I will see her/ 1 But this too came to nothing. Lord Robert went, and angry words, according to some accounts, were ex- changed between him and Darnley ; but a sick man un- able to leave his couch was in no condition to cross swords; and for one more night he was permitted to survive. So at last came Sunday, eleven months exactly from the day of Rizzio's murder ; and Mary Stuart's words, that she would never rest till that dark business was revenged, were about to be fulfilled. The Earl of Murray, knowing perhaps what was coming, yet unable to interfere, had been long waiting for an opportunity to leave Edinburgh. Early that morning he wrote to his sister to say that Lady Murray Examination of Paris : ANDERSON.