Act Two
The Palace of Westminster
Scene One
Earl Kent and Sir William Davison meet.
DAVISON. Is that you, Lord Kent? Back from the lists so soon?750
The festival’s done?
KENT. Were you not at the games?
DAVISON. I could not get away.
KENT. A brilliant spectacle!
A feat of good taste and good manners. Just listen!
A virginal stronghold of Beauty is
Assaulted by Desire. Lord Marshal, Chief Judge,
The Seneschal and other knights of the Queen
Defend it. France’s cavaliers attack.
A Herald in a madrigal had called out
The fortress, the Chancellor answered from the wall.
Artillery now comes into play, fires bouquets and perfumes.760
In vain! The storm repulsed, Desire must withdraw.
DAVISON. An evil augury for the French suit, I fear.
KENT. Oh, only jest. The fort will yield in the end.
DAVISON. You think so? I doubt it.
KENT. The difficult points are
Settled, admitted all: Monsieur34 will worship
In a closed chapel, honor our Church, defend it
Abroad. Had you but seen how all men rejoiced!
Eternal fear in this Kingdom is that she
Die without issue and this Stuart, a Catholic,
Succeed her. 770
DAVISON. England need fear such a succession
No longer. She goes into the bridal chamber,
My Lady Mary to the steps of the scaffold.
KENT. The Queen is coming!
Scene Two
As above. Elizabeth, escorted by Leicester. Count Aubespine, Bellievre, Earl Shrewsbury, Lord Burghley, with other French and English Lords, enter.
ELIZABETH (to Aubespine). Count! I do lament
These noble lords, whom gallant zeal has brought us
Across the waters, that they not find the courtly
Glories of Saint Germain35 here at my Court.
Magnificent feasts of the gods the Queen Mother
Of France36 invents are all beyond me. A
Contented, mannerly folk thronging my litter
Wherever I appear—this spectacle I780
Can offer strangers’ gaze with some pride. Brilliance
Of noble damsels all abloom in Catherine’s
Gardens of beauty simply would eclipse my
Less glorious deserts along with their author.
AUBESPINE. Westminster’s court shows but one lady, to the
Stranger’s surprise, but all that pleases in
The charming sex is gathered up in this one.
BELLIEVRE. Exalted Majesty of England, grant
That we take leave, to delight Monsieur, our royal
Lord, with the much-desired news. His heart’s impatience790
Has driven him from Paris. He awaits
The messengers of his good fortune in Amiens,
And he has sent his posts as far as Calais
To bring acceptance that your royal mouth speaks
With lightning speed to his ecstatic ear.
ELIZABETH. Count Bellievre, do not press me. It is not time, I
Repeat, to light the wedding torch. A cloud
Hangs over England, mourning would become me
Far more than blinding bridal display. A painful
Blow is about to strike my heart and my House.800
BELLIEVRE. A promise to be honored in happier times, then.
ELIZABETH. Kings are the slaves of their rank, never free
To follow their heart. Ever have I wished
To die unmarried, have inscribed on my tomb:
“Here lies the virgin Queen.” That had been fame!
My subjects will have none of it. They only
Think of when I am gone. Not enough that now
Blessing lies on this land. I’m taxed with their future.
My virgin freedom I’m to give for my people,
A lord and master they would force on me, too. 810
He will make clear that I am a mere woman,
And I thought I’d ruled like a man and a king.
I understand God is not served when one
Departs from Nature’s order. All praise to those
Before me who opened cloisters, restored whole thousands
To Nature’s duties.37 But a queen who does
Not spend her days in idle reflection, rather
Takes up the heaviest duties undiscouraged—
Let her be excepted from the natural purpose
That makes one half our kind submit to the other.820
AUBESPINE. With every virtue glorified on your throne,
My Queen, you need but light the way of the sex
Of which you are the glory by offering it
A model of its signal deserts. To be sure,
There lives no man on earth who is worthy of
Your bringing him the sacrifice of your freedom.
But if high birth, high rank, heroic virtues
And manly beauty should make a mortal worth
That honor—
ELIZABETH. There’s no doubt, Ambassador,
That marriage to a royal son of France does830
Me honor! I confess most frankly if it
Must be, if I must yield to my people’s insistence,
Which, as I fear, will prove yet stronger than I am,
I know no prince in Europe whom I would give
My greatest treasure, freedom, with less reluctance.
Let this confession be enough for you.
BELLIEVRE. It is the loveliest of hopes but only
A hope. My Lord would wish more—
ELIZABETH. What would he wish?
(She draws a ring from her finger and contemplates it.)
In nothing the queen exceeds the commoner’s wife!
One and the same sign points to one same duty,840
And one same servitude. A ring makes a marriage.
It’s rings, too, that make chains. Present His Highness
This gift. It is no chain yet, does not bind me,
But it can yet become a link that does bind.
BELLIEVRE (kneeling to receive the ring).
In his name, great Queen, I receive this gift
And press the kiss of homage on my Queen’s hand.
ELIZABETH (to Earl Leicester, at whom she gazed throughout this last speech).
My Lord, permit me!
(She removes his blue sash38 and drapes it on Bellievre.)
Drape this ornament
About His Highness as I drape you here and
Receive you into the duties of my Order.
850Honny soit qui mal y pense! All suspicion
Between our nations vanish, let a sash
Of trust embrace the Crowns of France and Britain!
AUBESPINE. Great Queen, this is a day of joy for all.
May no afflicted soul on this Island feel pain!
Mercy shines on your brow. Oh, that a glimmer
Of its joyful light fall upon an unhappy
Princess of equal interest to both Britain
And France—
ELIZABETH. No more, Count. Let us not mix two
Affairs that can in no way be related.
If France desires alliance with me in earnest,860
It must take part in every concern of mine.
It cannot be the friend of my foe—
AUBESPINE. Unworthy
In your eyes, too, were it, should it forget in
This bond an unhappy soul of its confession
And widow of its king.39 Mere honor, human
Feeling—
ELIZABETH. In this sense I know how to value
Its plea. France answers to its duty of friendship.
It shall be granted me to act as a queen.
(She bows to the French Lords, who withdraw respectfully with the other Lords.)
Scene Three
Elizabeth. Leicester. Burghley. Talbot.
The Queen takes her seat.
BURGHLEY. Most glorious Queen! Today you answer the wishes
Of all your people. Now at last we can870
Enjoy the blessed days you grant us, no longer
Staring into a stormy future. But one
Thing more would all demand. Grant this and today
Has founded England’s welfare for all time.
ELIZABETH. What more do my people want? Tell me, my Lord.
BURGHLEY. They
Demand the head of Mary Stuart. If you
Would give them precious freedom, the light of Truth,
She must no longer be. If we are not to
Fear for your life, your foe must perish. You know
Not all our Britons think alike. Full many 880
Pay secret tribute to Roman idolatry.
Sworn to the brothers Lorraine,40 they have vowed you
War to the death. The Bishop’s seat at Reims is
Their arsenal. There they forge hot thunderbolts,
Teach regicide and send out missions, fanatics
In all kinds of disguise. Three times they’ve attempted
Your life. They hatch more of their likes in this pit.
At Fotheringhay sits the Ate41 of this war,
Enflaming the Realm with the torch of love.
She flatters youths with hope, to certain destruction.890
The lure is to free her, to replace you their purpose.
Lorraine believes you a usurper, crowned by chance.
They led the foolish Mary to call herself queen.
There’ll be no peace with her, none with her House!
Or you must strike the blow or you must receive it.
Her life is death to you, her death your life!
ELIZABETH. My Lord, yours is a dismal office. I know
Your chaste zeal, know the solid wisdom you speak.
This wisdom, though, demands blood, which I loathe.
Find milder counsel. Lord Shrewsbury, what say you?900
TALBOT. You justly praise the zeal inspiring loyal
Burghley’s breast. I, though far less eloquent,
Nurture a heart no less true. Long live my Queen,
The joy of her folk, long live the peace that she brings us!
This Island has not seen such days since ruled
By its own princes. May it not redeem its
Good fortune at the price of its good name.
May Talbot’s eyes be closed if ever this be!
ELIZABETH. God save us if we ever blot our good name!
TALBOT. You then will think of other means of saving 910
The Realm. For executing Mary Stuart
Is no lawful means. You cannot pronounce
Judgment against one who is not your subject,
As she is not.
ELIZABETH. My Council of State then
Is wrong, and wrong my Parliament and the law courts
Of England, which all recognized this right—
TALBOT. Vote of majority is no proof of justice.
England is not the world, your Parliament
No union of all humankind. Nor is
Present-day England to be our England in future920
As it is not the England of the past.
As inclination rises, then falls, so judgment,
Too, rises and falls, a wandering wave on the sea.
Do not claim you must yield to what is needful,
To your people’s clamor. Every moment you
Can prove your will free. But try it. Declare
That you loathe blood, wish to see your sister saved.
Show those of different counsel truth of king’s anger.
Necessity you’ll see vanish, justice become
Injustice. 930You must judge, you only. You
Cannot lean on this broken reed. Heed your goodness.
God laid no rigor in a woman’s heart,
Our Forebears, who let women rule, too, decreed
That rigor be no virtue among our kings.
ELIZABETH. Lord Shrewsbury gives warm counsel for my foe.
I would hear counsel in my favor instead.
TALBOT. One granted her no counsel, no one dared speak
In her behalf, expose himself to your wrath.
Grant me, an old man on the brink of the grave
Whom earthly hope no longer seduces, right to940
Protect her now she is abandoned. Let
One not say passion and self-seeking spoke
Loudly in your State Council, mercy was silent.
The world entire unites in league against her,
And you yourself have never seen her face.
Nothing in your heart speaks for this stranger.
I do not speak here in defense of her guilt.
They say she had her husband murdered. Proven
Is that she wed the murderer—a grave crime!
These things took place in dark times—civil war.950
Beset by hostile vassals, in her weakness
She threw herself into a bold man’s strong arms.
Who knows what artful force had mastered her?
For woman is but weak and easily broken.
ELIZABETH. Woman is not weak. There are strong souls among us.
I’ll not hear weakness spoken of in my presence.
TALBOT. Ill fortune served you as a hard school. You saw
No far-away throne, but a grave at your feet.
At Woodstock, in the Tower you were brought up
In sorrow, without flatterers.96042 Far from the world,
You learned reflection, insight, life’s true goods.
She, still a child, was brought to France, to the court
Of thoughtless pleasure and frivolity,
Dazzled by brilliant vice and swept toward ruin.
She had received the idle gift of beauty,
She outshone all her kind in rank and figure—
ELIZABETH. Come to yourself, Lord Shrewsbury! We sit in Council.
What charms must they be to enflame an old man!
Lord Leicester, you alone are silent? What
Makes 970him so eloquent, does it strike you dumb?
LEICESTER. Surprise dumbfounds me, Queen. One fills your ear
With horrors, tales that terrify the riffraff
Of London’s back lanes make their way into your
State Council, occupy the minds of grave men.
Amazement seizes me that the landless Queen
Of Scotland, powerless to keep her own throne,
Derision of her vassals, dregs of her land,
Should terrify you now she is in prison!
What makes her so frightful? That she claims your realm? That
The House of Guise will not know you as Queen?980
Can their dispute reach a right yours from birth?
Confirmed by act of Parliament? Is she
Not silently refused by Henry’s last will?
Will England, content in this new Light, now throw
Itself into a papist’s arms, desert its
Adored Queen for the one who murdered Darnley?
What do they want, these men who torment you, yet
Alive, with this heir? Cannot marry you soon
Enough to save both Church and Kingdom from danger?
Are you not still in the first bloom of youth?990
Does she not fade daily into the grave?
By God! I hope you tread that grave yet many
A year without having to cast her into it.
BURGHLEY. Lord Leicester has not always judged things so.
LEICESTER. It’s true, before the court I voted her death.
In Council I say otherwise. We speak
Here not of justice but of our advantage.
Is now the time to fear her? France, her sole shield,
Deserts her, now that you would give the king’s son
Your hand and hope of new heirs blooms in the land.1000
Why kill her? She is dead! Contempt is true death.
Beware lest pity bring her back to life!
My counsel: Let the sentence stand in full force.
She live, but under the keen blade of the axe.
An arm raised in her behalf and the axe falls.
ELIZABETH (rising). My Lords, I thank you. I have heard your counsel.
With God’s help, who lights kings’ way on this earth,
I shall consider and choose what seems best.
Scene Four
As above. Knight Paulet with Mortimer.
ELIZABETH. Here’s Amias Paulet. What do you bring, sir?
PAULET. My glorious Queen, my nephew, newly returned from1010
Far travels, throws himself at your feet and swears
Allegiance. Pray receive him into your favor.
MORTIMER (dropping to one knee).
Long live my royal Lady, crowned in glory!
ELIZABETH. Stand up. I welcome you in England, sir.
You have made the Grand Tour, crossed France to Rome,
And stopped at Reims. What are our foes plotting now?
MORTIMER. Confusion fog their minds and turn their arrows
Back on their bowmen!
ELIZABETH. You saw Morgan and Ross?43
MORTIMER. I met all Scottish exiles plotting against us
At Reims and gained their trust.1020
PAULET. They gave him letters
In cipher for the Scottish Queen. He has
Delivered them all into our hands, my Queen.
ELIZABETH. And what are they preparing for us now?
MORTIMER. They were all thunderstruck that France forsakes them
And binds itself to England. They put their hopes now
In Spain.
ELIZABETH. As Walsingham has written me.44
MORTIMER. A bull against you, hurled from Rome by the Pope,
Arrived at Reims just as I left. The next ship
Brings it to England.45
LEICESTER. England fears such no longer.
BURGHLEY. A fearful weapon in fanatics’ hands.1030
ELIZABETH (with a searching look at Mortimer).
At Reims, they say, you studied and converted?
MORTIMER. I’ll not deny that I gave myself the air.
My great desire to serve you went so far!
ELIZABETH (to Paulet, who presents papers).
What’s this?
PAULET. A letter from the Queen of Scotland.
BURGHLEY (reaching for the letter). Give it to me.
PAULET (giving the letter to the Queen).
Pardon, my Lord High Treasurer! Into the Queen’s
Own hands. These are my orders. She always says
That I am her foe. I am not. I oppose
Only her vices. What agrees with my duties
I gladly render her.1040
(While the Queen reads the letter, Mortimer and Leicester speak secretly.)46
BURGHLEY (to Paulet). What’s in that letter?
Complaints that should be spared the Queen’s soft heart.
PAULET. That she has told me. She begs as a great favor
To see the Queen face to face.
BURGHLEY (quickly). Not on my life!
TALBOT. Why not? She asks for nothing unlawful.
BURGHLEY. The favor of the Queen’s face she has undone
As one who plotted murder. No true and faithful
Counsel would give such treasonous advice.
TALBOT. If our Queen wishes to oblige her, would
You hamper such a merciful impulse?
BURGHLEY. She is condemned. Her head is under the axe.1050
It ill becomes Her Majesty to see
A head condemned to death. And judgment cannot
Be carried out. The royal presence brings mercy—
ELIZABETH (having read the letter, drying her tears).
Oh, what is man? What earthly happiness?
How far this queen has fallen, who set out
With proud hopes, was called to the oldest throne
In Christendom, and thought to wear three crowns!47
How different her words from when she assumed
The arms of England and let herself be called
Queen of the British Isles!106048 Your pardon, my Lords.
Sorrow and sadness seize me, seeing earthly
Things stand no faster, feeling human fate,
The terrifying, brush just past my head.
TALBOT. Oh, merciful Queen, God has touched your heart.
Obey this heavenly urging! Gravely she has
Atoned a grave crime. Let her trials now end!
Give her your hand, descend, a light in her darkness.
BURGHLEY. Stand fast, great Queen. Let no grand feeling mislead you.
Do not rob yourself of your freedom to do
What must be. Pardon her you 1070cannot, nor save her.
Do not invite blame that you looked in triumph
Upon your victim, feasted on the sight.
LEICESTER. Let’s keep ourselves in proper bounds, my Lords.
The Queen has no need of our wisdom to choose
The worthiest course. Meeting of the two queens
Is unrelated to proceedings at court.
Mary’s condemned by England’s law, not the Queen’s will.
Becoming to Elizabeth’s great soul
Is that she follow urgings of her heart,
So far the law keeps to its proper course.1080
ELIZABETH. Go now, my Lords. Leave us to find means, duly
To join requirements mercy makes of us
With what necessity imposes upon us.
Now take your leave.
(The Lords go off. She calls Mortimer back from the threshold.)
Sir Mortimer! One word!
Scene Five
Elizabeth. Mortimer.
ELIZABETH (having measured him with her gaze).
You showed bold courage and rare self-restraint for
Your years. A man who masters arts of deception
So young matures soon, shortens his probation.
Destiny calls you to a grand career.
I prophesy it of you and, to your
Good fortune, I can make my prophecy come true.1090
MORTIMER. Exalted Mistress, what I am and can do
Is dedicated to your service only.
ELIZABETH. You, who have come to know the enemies of England,
Know, too, their fierce hate cannot be reconciled,
Nor can their murderous projects be exhausted.
Almighty God has shielded me until now, but
The crown on my head trembles while she lives,
Giving fanatics a pretext, feeding their hopes.
MORTIMER. She lives no longer once you give the order.
ELIZABETH. I believed that once and I have gotten no further.1100
I wanted to let the law act and keep
My hands clean. Judgment has been passed. What have
I gained? A verdict must be executed.
And I must give the order. Mine is the deed.
It’s I must own it. There’s no saving appearance.
MORTIMER. What harm appearance where the cause is just?
ELIZABETH. How little you know the world, Knight!
What one appears has everyone for a judge,
What one is has none. Of my justice I’ll
Persuade no one. My part in this must be doubtful.1110
Darkness alone protects so double a deed.
Most foolish of all is to own to a thing.
One does not lose what one does not give away.
MORTIMER (feeling his way).
The best thing then would be—
ELIZABETH (swiftly). Of course it would!
My guardian angel speaks through you. Go on!
You grasp the matter, unlike Paulet, your uncle.
MORTIMER (startled). You put it to the Knight?
ELIZABETH. To my great regret.
MORTIMER. Forgive the old man. Age makes him uncertain.
Such daring demands youth.
ELIZABETH (quickly). From you I may—
MORTIMER. I lend you my hand. Save your name as you’re able—1120
ELIZABETH. If you should wake me with the news one morning:
The Stuart Queen has gone out of this life—
MORTIMER. Count on me.
ELIZABETH. When shall I sleep peacefully again?
MORTIMER. Let the next new moon bring you peace.
ELIZABETH. Farewell, sir.
My gratitude must take the colors of night.
But silence is the god of men of good fortune.
Secrecy fastens tenderest bonds warm and tight. (She goes off.)
Scene Six
Mortimer alone
Go now, dissembling Queen. As you, the world
Just so will I deceive you. Do I look like
A murderer? Is there ruthlessness in my face?1130
Just you trust in my arm, hold yours back, take on
A merciful air, and wait for my aid—
And we’ll gain time to join force for her rescue!
Advance me, dangle a great prize— And were you
That great prize—you and all your woman’s favors!
Who are you? What can you give? The one highest good,
Life’s greatest ornament, when one heart, self-
Forgetting, rapt, gives itself to another—
This crown of womanhood you’ve never known
Nor ever been the happiness of a man.1140
I must await Lord Leicester—odious errand!
I’ll save her, I alone, by my design,
Danger, fame and the prize— They shall be mine!
(As he is about to go, Paulet enters.)
Scene Seven
Mortimer. Paulet. Then Leicester.
PAULET. What did the Queen say?
MORTIMER. Nothing, Uncle, nothing
At all important.
PAULET (fixing him). Listen, Mortimer!
You’re stepping onto a slippery slope. A king’s
Favor seduces, youth craves honor. Don’t let
Ambition draw you down the wrong path!
MORTIMER. But Uncle—
Were you not the one who brought me to court?
PAULET. And how I wish I had not! 1150Our house did not
Gain its good name at this Court. You stand firm,
My nephew. Do not pay too high a price!
Do not offend your conscience!
MORTIMER. What are you thinking?
PAULET. However great the Queen would make you, mistrust
Her flatteries. When you have done her bidding, she will
Deny you and avenge the bloody deed
To keep her name spotless.
MORTIMER. You say, bloody deed—
PAULET. Enough such shamming! I know what she has
Presumed of you. She hopes to find your youthful
Ambition willing as my brittle old age1160
Was not. Did you consent? Did you?
MORTIMER. My uncle!
LEICESTER (entering).
Good sir, permit a word with your nephew here.
The Queen is well-disposed toward him, she wishes
That Lady Stuart’s person be committed
To him without condition. She puts her trust
In his good faith.
PAULET. In his good faith—well, fine!
LEICESTER. You say—
PAULET. Her trust in his good faith! And I,
My Lord, put my trust in my two open eyes. (He goes off.)
Scene Eight
Leicester. Mortimer.
LEICESTER (astonished). What has come over the Knight?
MORTIMER. I do not know. The unexpected trust—1170
LEICESTER (with a searching gaze).
Tell me, Knight, do you deserve to be trusted?
MORTIMER (equally searching).
I put the same question to you, Lord Leicester.
LEICESTER. You wished to speak to me in confidence.
MORTIMER. Assure me first that I dare do so, my Lord.
LEICESTER. And who gives me assurance for you, sir?
Let my mistrust not be thought an insult! I
See you assume two faces at this Court.
One necessarily is false. Which is it?
MORTIMER. That is just as I find it with you, Earl Leicester.
LEICESTER. Who is to make a start?1180
MORTIMER. One with less to lose.
LEICESTER. Well, then. That’s you!
MORTIMER. It’s you. The witness of one
So eminent and powerful can destroy me.
Mine’s null and void against your rank and favor.
LEICESTER. Quite wrong! In all else I am powerful,
But not on the sore point I am about to
Betray to you. There I can be brought to fall.
MORTIMER. If almighty Lord Leicester condescends
To make such a confession to me, then I
Can think more highly of myself and set an
Example.1190
LEICESTER. Go before me. I will follow.
MORTIMER (producing the letter).
A letter sent you by the Queen of Scotland.
LEICESTER (starts and reaches for the letter).
Speak softly, sir. What’s this? Oh! It’s her likeness!
(He kisses it, then contemplates it in silence.)49
MORTIMER (having observed Leicester sharply while he reads).
My Lord, I believe you now.
LEICESTER (having read). You know what this says?
MORTIMER. Not in the least.
LEICESTER. She will have told you—
MORTIMER. Nothing
At all. I’m baffled that Elizabeth’s
Favorite, Earl Leicester, Mary’s sworn enemy,
One of her judges, is the man from whom
That Queen hopes rescue. Yet your eyes tell me
Too clearly what you feel for her.
LEICESTER. First tell me
Why her fate interests you so hotly, sir, how1200
You gained her trust.
MORTIMER. In few words: I was converted
At Rome, allied with the Guises, and commended
By the Archbishop to the Queen of Scotland.
LEICESTER. I know of your conversion. It stirred my trust.
Your hand, sir. Pardon my doubts. I cannot be
Too careful. Walsingham and Burghley hate me.
You could have been their tool—
MORTIMER. What small steps a great
Lord must take at this Court—
LEICESTER. What happiness to
Confess to a friend how I was constrained!
I never hated Mary. Force of events1210
Set me against her. Long before Darnley,
She was intended for me—favor I scorned.
I seek her now, imprisoned, at death’s door,
At risk of my life.
MORTIMER. An act that calls for courage.
LEICESTER. The shape of things has changed in the meanwhile, sir.
Ambition made me cold to youth and beauty.
I hoped yet to possess the Queen of England.
MORTIMER. And it is known to all that she preferred you.
LEICESTER. It seemed so. But after ten lost years of an
Unflagging courtship, hated constraint— Oh, sir,1220
My heart swells! Why, if only they knew what chains
They envy me for! After ten years of burning
Incense to her vanity, submitting
To every ripple in her sultan’s moods,
A plaything of her whims and stubbornness,
Caressed now by her tenderness, now repulsed
By her stiff pride, tormented equally
First by her favor, then by her cold rigor,
Watched like a prisoner by her Argus-eyed
Jealousy, cross-examined like a child,1230
Shamed like a servant—words fail for this hell—
I’m cheated at the post of my prize. Another
Comes and I lose my long-possessed rights to a
Blossoming young bridegroom, am pushed off the stage.
Her hand and favor I lose—he is lovable.
MORTIMER. He’s Catherine’s son and pupil. He knows to please.
LEICESTER. I look for a spar in this shipwreck and
Return to my first hope. Ambition drives me
No longer. Youth and beauty move me. I
Compare and see the treasure I have lost.1240
I see her plunged deep into wretchedness by
My fault. If I could save her now and possess her?
I reach her and reveal my changed heart.50 You bring
A letter saying she forgives and accepts me.
MORTIMER. But nothing have you done that would save her!
You let her be condemned and voted her death!
A miracle must happen, light of Truth
Must strike me, her guard’s nephew, Heaven must
Prepare a savior in Rome’s Vatican. Or
She’d not have found a way to contact you!1250
LEICESTER. It cost me quite enough! Just then they took her
From Talbot. Fotheringhay became her prison,
Paulet her warden. I was blocked. Before the
World I must prosecute her. Do not think
I’d let her die. I hoped, still hope to hinder
The worst until means can be found to free her.
MORTIMER. Means have been found. My secret given for yours. I
Shall be the one to free her. I’m here for that.
We’re ready. Your support assures our success.
LEICESTER. What’s that? You frighten me. You would—1260
MORTIMER. Throw open
Her prison by force. I have confederates, all’s—
LEICESTER. Confederates? Confidants? Who know my secret?
MORTIMER. Be unconcerned. Our plan was made without you,
It can be done without you.
LEICESTER. I am assured
My name will not be mentioned?
MORTIMER. Quite sure. So
Cautious, my Lord? You would save Lady Stuart,
Possess her? You find friends as if sent from Heaven,
And you show more unease than joy and relief?
LEICESTER. No use of force! Too dangerous!
MORTIMER. So is delay!
LEICESTER. Sir, I insist. It is not to be dared.1270
MORTIMER (bitter). No indeed! Not by you, who want to possess her!
We only want to save her, we don’t dither.
LEICESTER. Knight, you are hasty in a thorny cause.
MORTIMER. And you slow and cold in a case of honor.
LEICESTER. I see us caught up and entangled in nets.
MORTIMER. I feel the courage to cut all of them through.
LEICESTER. This courage is called madness, courage of fools.
MORTIMER. This prudence is less than true valor, my Lord.
LEICESTER. You’d like to find your way to Babington’s end?
MORTIMER. And you’d not imitate Lord Norfolk’s great heart?128051
LEICESTER. Norfolk’s fortune was not to lead a bride home.
MORTIMER. He proved that he was worthy of doing so.
LEICESTER. If we are lost in this, she is lost, too.
MORTIMER. And if we shy back, she will not be saved.
LEICESTER. You will spoil all that’s just now well underway.
MORTIMER. A way, no doubt, that you’ve opened before us?
What have you ever done to help or to save her?
Were I rascal enough to murder her, as
The Queen expects of me just as we speak,
What measure had you taken to save her life?1290
LEICESTER (astonished). The Queen gave you this murderous instruction?
MORTIMER. She mistook me as Mary mistook you.
LEICESTER. And you consented? Did you?
MORTIMER. As you say.
To stop her purchasing another’s hands
I offered mine.
LEICESTER. You have done well. We’ve won
Breathing space. She depends on you. The sentence
Lies idle. We gain time.
MORTIMER (impatient). We’re losing time!
LEICESTER. She counts on you. The less will she scruple to
Assume an open air of clemency.
I can perhaps lead her to come upon1300
Her rival face to face. That binds her hands,
As Burghley says.52 Yes! I’ll give it all I can!
MORTIMER. And where do you arrive? If Mary lives,
All goes on as before. It’s life-long prison,
And will come to my bold attempt after all.
Why not begin so? Bring an army together,
Just arm the nobles in your many castles!
Mary has countless secret friends, the houses
Of Howard and Percy,53 rich in heroes still,
Only attend a powerful lord’s example.1310
Enough of this deception! Act openly!
Defend, like a knight, the woman you love.
You rule the person of the Queen of England,
If you wish to. Lure her to one of your castles,
Show her a man! Keep her your captive there
Until she release Mary Stuart again!
LEICESTER. What an extravagance! Do you know this ground?
This Court? How tight this female kingdom
Has bound our spirits? You just look for the
Heroic spirit that once ruled this land!1320
Crushed! Under lock and key! And to a woman!
Every heart’s mainspring unwound! Heed my example.
Nothing imprudent. — Someone’s coming. Go now!
MORTIMER. Mary has hopes! What am I to bring her?
LEICESTER. Bring her the vow of my undying love!
MORTIMER. Bring that yourself! I offered to serve in
Her rescue, not to serve you as your Cupid! (He goes off.)
Scene Nine
Elizabeth. Leicester.
ELIZABETH. Who left you just now? I thought I heard talking.
LEICESTER (whirling around at her entrance).
It was Sir Mortimer.
ELIZABETH. What is it, my Lord?
You’re startled?1330
LEICESTER (composing himself).
At the sight of you, my Lady.
I’m dazzled by your beauty and your charm.
Ah, me!
ELIZABETH. You sigh?
LEICESTER. Have I not reason to sigh?
To see your beauty renews nameless pain, my
Sadness at coming loss.
ELIZABETH. But what do you lose?
LEICESTER. Your heart I shall lose and your lovable self.
Your youthful husband will hold you in fiery
Embrace. He will possess your heart entirely,
Though none on earth adores you as I do.
The Duc d’Anjou has never seen you, loves
Only your glory. In his place I’d lay down a crown.1340
ELIZABETH. Pity me, Dudley. Do not scold me. I
May not consult my heart. Oh, it had chosen
Otherwise. How I envy other women,
Those who may love as they choose. I may not
Award a crown to the man whom I treasure.
To Lady Stuart it was granted to give
Her hand as she chose, she permitted herself
Everything, drained pleasure’s cup to the lees.
LEICESTER. Now she must drain the cup of sorrow instead.
ELIZABETH. She scorned opinion, chose to live at her ease.1350
Never did she assume the yoke of duty
That I bent under. She won all men’s favor
Because her sole aim was to be a woman,
And she is courted by both young and old.
Such are men. All are mere slaves of their senses.
This Talbot—did he not become young again
Just as he came to speak of her great charm?
LEICESTER. Forgive him. He was once her keeper, and her
Flattery and fawning, her wiles turned his head.
ELIZABETH. And 1360is she then the beauty that they say?
Portraits will flatter and descriptions lie.
Only my eyes would tell me what to believe.
Why the strange look?
LEICESTER. I pictured you next to Mary.
I’d like to have that pleasure, if it’s secret.
The pleasure of a victory then would be yours.
She, too, would see how you exceed her in
Your noble figure as in every virtue,
For envy has sharp eyes.
ELIZABETH. But she is the younger.
LEICESTER. Younger! Her suffering aged her before her time.
And then to see you as a bride—and bride of1370
The French king’s son—she who made so much of her
French marriage, boasts of help from mighty France.
ELIZABETH (with a shrug). They’re pressing me to see her.
LEICESTER (vivid). She asks it as
Favor, grant it as penalty! When she sees
Your beauty, guarded by your honor, made more
Glorious by spotless reputation and heightened
Again by a bright crown, and graced by the chaste
Wreath of a bride, the hour of her destruction
Has struck. No, never were you better armed for
Triumph of beauty. If you went straight before her1380
Just as you are?
ELIZABETH. Now? No, oh no. Not now.
No. That I must think through, consult with Burghley—
LEICESTER (breaking in). Burghley! He reckons only reasons of state.
You have rights as a woman, too. A point so
Tender is for you only to judge. — But no!
Reasons of state also require that you meet—to
Persuade your people of your greatness of heart.
Then you can rid yourself of her as you please.
ELIZABETH. It’s unbecoming that I see her in want
And need. They say she is not royally kept.1390
LEICESTER. Chance
Comes to our aid. Today the great chase leads
Past Fotheringhay, and Lady Stuart can be
Found walking in the park. You happen by,
Nothing appears to have been planned in advance.
Should it offend you, you need not address her.
ELIZABETH. If this is foolishness, then, Leicester, it’s yours.
Today I’d not deny you any request.
Of all my subjects I’ve hurt you the most.
(Looking at him tenderly)
Even if it’s an idle notion of yours,
Honest affection shows itself by permitting1400
That which it knows neither wise nor befitting.
(Leicester throws himself at her feet.)
The curtain falls.