$86 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 67. charged in a body upon the English, firing their har- quebusses in their faces as they came up. Utterly un- prepared, Foster's followers broke and scattered. Many fell, the rest fled for their lives. Foster himself was taken and carried to Jedburgh. Lord Russell was killed killed evidently with intention by one of Ker's servants. The Russells were known to be especially dear to Elizabeth. The old Earl of Bedford, at that moment on his deathbed, had been distinguished among the handful of peers who had been true, heart and soul, to the Re- formation. It appears to have been calculated that the murder of his heir would exasperate Elizabeth into re- taliation, and that the treaty would be at an end. 1 Suspicion pointed at once to Arran. The Scotch Court was at St Andrews. Edward Wotton, without waiting for orders, went at once to the King, ' who shed tears like a child newly beaten,' protesting, by his honour and crown, that he was himself innocent, ' hoping the Queen would not condemn him for other men's faults, and wishing all the Lords of the Border were dead, so Lord Russell was alive again.' Wotton demanded Ar- ran's arrest. The King made no difficulty, sent him under a guard to Edinburgh Castle, and offered, if the 1 The Catholics paid the Russells the compliment of being especially delighted. A correspondent of Lady Morley writes to her : ' The Earl of Bedford is dead, and gone to his great master, the devil, I fear me. His son is dispatched in a conflict upon the frontiers. The fear in England is so great that we are much to rejoice thereat. Good Madam, be of all comfort ; your Ladyship's deliverance is at hand.' to the Lady Morley, August 29, 1585 : MSS. Domestic.
