Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/410

390 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 44. knowing that Rizzio actually was dead, had struggled into her bedroom, and was there left with Ruthven and her husband. Ruthven had followed the crowd for a moment, but not caring to leave Darnley alone with her had returned. She had thrown herself sobbing upon a seat ; the Earl bade her not be afraid, no harm was meant to her ; what was done was by the King's order. ' Yours ! ' she said, turning on Darnley as on a snake ; ' was this foul act yours ? Coward ! wretch ! did I raise you out of the dust for this ? ' Driven to bay he answered sullenly that he had good cause ; and then his foul nature rushing to his lips he flung brutal taunts at her for her intimacy with Rizzio, and complaints as nauseous of her treatment of himself. 1 'Well/ she said, 'you have taken your last of me and your farewell ; I shall never rest till I give you as sorrowful a heart as I have at this present.' Ruthven tried to soothe her, but to no purpose. Could she have trampled Darnley into dust upon the spot she would have done it. Catching sight of the 1 The expressions themselves are better unproduced. The conversa- tion rests on the evidence of Euthven, which is considerably better than Darnley 's, and if it was faithfully related might justify Randolph's view of the possible parentage of James the Sixth. But the recollec- tion of a person who had been just concerned in so tremendous a scene v,s not likely to be very exact. Bedford and Randolph believed the worst : * It is our part,' they said in a despatch to the English council, " rather to pass the matter over in silence than to make any rehearsal of things committed to us in secret; but we know to whom we write ; ' and they went on to describe the supposed conversation word for word as Ruthven related it. Those who are curious in Court scandals may refer to this letter, which has been printed by Mr Wright in the first volume of Elizabeth and her Times.