=11. Murder of Rizzio.=--Mary soon began to tire of her worthless husband. She had all the weakness of her family for making favourites, and no wisdom in the choice of them. At this time she had taken a fancy to an Italian, _David Rizzio_, who acted as her secretary, and who had great skill in music to recommend him. The nobles grew jealous of this foreigner and determined to get rid of him; but, to save themselves from any ill-consequences of the murder which they had planned, they persuaded Darnley to sign a bond promising to stand by them in anything they might do. At the same time he signed another bond for the recall of Murray and the other banished lords. The Queen summoned a parliament, which she expected would pronounce sentence of forfeiture on those banished lords. In order to secure compliance with her wishes, she interfered with the choosing of the Lords of the Articles, into whose hands all the real business of the parliament was thrown. One evening, as she was sitting at supper in the palace at _Holyrood_, the conspirators, who had secured the gates, burst into the room, headed by the _Lord Ruthven_. They seized on Rizzio, who clutched at the Queen for help; they dragged him into the outer room; killed him, and then threw the body downstairs, March 9, 1566. His fate was not made known to the Queen till next day. _James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell_, who already stood high in the Queen's favour, and the _Earl of Huntly_, who had been restored to the titles and estates which his father had forfeited, were in the palace when it was thus taken possession of, but they contrived to escape. =12. Flight to Dunbar.=--The Queen showed no signs of anger at first. She pretended to be reconciled to Darnley, and promised pardon to the banished lords. When they appeared before her the next day, she received Murray affectionately. But the confederates soon found that they had been mistaken in their hopes of Darnley, for in the night following he fled with the Queen to _Dunbar_. Bothwell brought up a force for her protection, and before the end of the month she re-entered Edinburgh. Rizzio's body was taken up and buried among the kings in the palace chapel, and _James Douglas, Earl of Morton, Ruthven_, and others were cited to answer for the murder of Rizzio, and, as they did not appear, they were outlawed.