Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/412

392 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 44. ' Wlio chose the Lords of the Articles ? ' Ruthven answered with a smile, ' you chose them all.' At this moment the boom was heard of the alarm bell in Edinburgh. A page rushed in to say that there was fighting in the quadrangle ; and the Earl, leaning heavily on a servant's arm, rose and went down. Huntly, Sutherland, and Both well, hearing the noise and confusion, had come out of their rooms to know what it meant. Morton's followers required them to surrender : they had called a few servants about them and were defending themselves against heavy odds when Ruthven appeared. Ill as he was he thrust himself into the melee, commanded both sides to drop their arms, and by the glare of a torch read to them Darn- ley's bond. ' The banished earls,' he said, ' would be at Holyrood in the morning, and he prayed that all feuds and passions might be buried in the dead man's grave.' The Queen's friends, surprised and outnumbered, affected to be satisfied ; the leaders on both sides shook hands ; and Both well and Huntly withdrew to their own apartments, forced open the windows, dropped to the ground and fled. This disturbance was scarcely over when the Pro- vost of Edinburgh came out of the Canon gate with four hundred of the town guard, and demanded the meaning of the uproar. The Provost was a supporter of the Queen ; Mary dashed from her seat, wrenched back the casement, and cried out for help. 'Sit down,' some ruffian cried. 'If you stir you