Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/540

 520 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 45. She rose, and with, many regrets that she could not stay as she intended, kissed her husband, put a ring on his finger, wished him good night, and went. The lords followed her. As she left the room, she said as if by accident, 'It was just this time last year that Riz- zio was slain/ l In a few moments the gay train was gone. The Queen walked back to the glittering halls in Holyrood ; Darnley was left alone with his page, Taylor, who slept in his room, and his two servants, Nelson and Edward Seymour. Below in the darkness, Bothwell's two fol- lowers shivered beside the powder heap, and listened with hushed breath till all was still. The King, though it was late, was in no mood for sleep, and Mary's last words sounded awfully in hia ears. As soon as she was gone he went over ' her many speeches/ he spoke of her soft words and her caresses which had seemed sincere, ' but the mention of Davie's. slaughter marred all his pleasure/ " ' What will she do ? ' said he, ' it is very lonely/ The snadow of death was creeping over him ; he was no )onger the random boy who two years before had come to Scotland filled with idle dreams of vain ambition. Sorrow, suffering, disease, and fear had done their work. That night, before or after the Queen's visit, he was said to have opened the Prayer-book, and to have read over the 55th Psalm, 3 which by a strange coincidence was 1 [BUCHANAN: History of Scot- land.] 2 [CALDEUWOOD, vol. ii. p. 344.] 5 [Sir William Drury, the au- thority for this statement, says that ' he went over the 55th Psalm a few