"Why, one was," said Mr. George, "that of murdering her husband. It was her second husband, one that she married after she came to Scotland. They did not live happily together. He killed one of Mary's friends, named Rizzio, and afterwards he was killed himself. The house that he was in was blown up in the night with gunpowder."
"My!" exclaimed Waldron; "I should like to read about it."
"It is a very interesting and curious story," said Mr. George.
"And could not they find out who did it?" asked Waldron.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "they found out who did it; but what they could not find out was, whether Mary herself took any part in the crime or not. There was no direct proof. They could only judge from the circumstances."
"What were the circumstances?" asked Waldron.
"O, I could not tell you very well," said Mr. George. "It would take me half a day to tell the whole story. You must get some life of Mary, Queen of Scots, and read it for yourself. You will have to begin at the beginning, and read it all carefully through, and remember all the persons that are mentioned, and consider their characters and motives, and then you will be able to judge for yourself about it. There have been a great many histories of her life written."
"And what about her being imprisoned in the castle that we are going to see?" asked Waldron.
"O, you must read and find out for yourself about that, too," said Mr. George. "The country got into great difficulty, and two parties were formed, one of which was in favor of Mary, and one was against her. Her enemies proved to be the strongest, and so they shut her up in this castle. But she got away."
"How?" asked Waldron.