tle time," continued Mr.
George, "she was married again to this Lord Darnley. He was an English
prince. The whole story of her first becoming acquainted with Darnley,
and how the marriage was brought about, is extremely interesting; but I
have not time now to tell it to you.

"After they were married they lived together for a time very happily;
but at length some causes of difficulty and dissension occurred between
them. Darnley was not contented to be merely the queen's husband. He
wanted, also, to be king."

"I don't blame him," said Waldron.

"I should have thought," said Rollo, "that Mary would have been willing
that he should be king."

"Very likely she might have been willing herself," said Mr. George, "but
her people were not willing. There were a great many powerful nobles and
chieftains in the kingdom, and about her court, and they took sides,
one way and the other, and there was a great deal of trouble. It is a
long story, and I can't tell you half of it, now. What made the matter
worse was, that Darnley, finding he could not have every thing his own
way, began to be very harsh and cruel in his treatment of Mary. This
made Mary very unhappy, and caused her to live a great deal in
retirement, with a few near and intimate friends, who treated her with
kindness and sympathy.

"One of these was David Rizzio, the man who was murdered. He was one of
the officers of the court. His office was private secretary. He was a
great deal older than Mary, and it seems he was an excellent man for his
office. He used to write for the queen when it was necessary, and
perform other such duties; and as he was very gentle and kind in his
disposition, and took a great interest in every thing that concerned the
queen, Mary became, at last, quite attached to him, and considered him
as one of her best friends. At last Lord Darnley and his party became
very jealous of him. They thought that he had a great deal too much
influence over the queen. It was as if he were the prime minister, they
said, while they, the old nobles of the realm, were all set aside, as if
they were of no consequence at all. So they determined to kill him.

"They formed their plot in the room below, where we have just been. It
was in the evening. Mary was at supper that night in a little room in
the tower up above, where we are now going. There were two or three
friends with her. The men went up the private stairway, and burst into
the little supper room, an