As they went up, both Rollo and Waldron asked Mr. George to explain to them something about the murder, so that they might know a little what they were going to see.
"Well," said Mr. George, "I will. Let us sit down here, and I will tell you as much as I can tell in five minutes. Really to understand the whole affair, you would have to read as much as you could read in a week. And I assure you it is an exceedingly interesting and entertaining story.
"Darnley, you know, was the queen's husband. Her first husband was the young Prince of France; but he died before Queen Mary came home. So that when she came home she was a widow; very young, and exceedingly beautiful. There is a very beautiful painting of her, I am told, in the castle."
"Let us go and see it," said Waldron.
"To-morrow," said Mr. George.
"After Queen Mary had been in Scotland some little 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.