e side, "was his
bedroom; and there," pointing to another small door on the other side,
"was the passage way leading up to Queen Mary's apartments."

Having said this, the attendant turned away to answer some questions
asked him by the other visitors, leaving Mr. George and the boys, for
the moment, to look about the rooms by themselves.

The rooms were large, but the interior finishing of them was very plain.
The walls were hung with antique-looking pictures. The furniture, too,
looked very ancient and venerable.

"Who was Lord Darnley?" asked Waldron.

"He was Queen Mary's husband," replied Mr. George.

"Then he was the king, I suppose," said Waldron.

"No," replied Mr. George, "not at all. A king is one who inherits the
throne in his own right. When the throne descends to a woman, she is the
queen; but if she marries, her husband does not become king."

"What is he then?" said Waldron.

"Nothing but the queen's husband," said Mr. George.

"Hoh!" exclaimed Waldron, in a tone of contempt.

"He does not acquire any share of the queen's power," continued Mr.
George, "because he marries her. She is the sovereign alone afterwards
just as much as before."

"And so I suppose," said Rollo, "that when a king marries, the lady that
he marries does not become a queen."

"Yes," said Mr. George, "the rule does not seem to work both ways. A
lady who marries a king is always called a queen; though, after all, she
acquires no share of the royal power. She is a queen in name only. But
let us hear what this man is explaining to the visitors about the
paintings and the furniture."

So they advanced to the part of the room where the attendant was
standing, with two or three ladies and gentlemen, who were looking at
one of the old pictures that were hanging on the wall. It was a picture
of Queen Mary when she was fifteen years old. The dress was very quaint
and queer, and the picture seemed a good deal faded; but the face wore a
very sweet and charming expression.

"I think she was a very pretty girl," whispered Waldron in Rollo's ear.

"She was in France at that time," said the attendant, "and the picture,
if it is an original, must have been painted there, and she must have
brought it with her to Scotland, on her return from that country. She
brought a great deal with her on her return. There were several vessel
loads of furniture, paintings, &c. The tapestry in the bedroom was
brought. It was wrought at the Gobelins."