Act Three
A park. Trees at the front, a wide prospect behind.
Scene One
Mary emerges from among the trees, walking swiftly. Hanna Kennedy
follows more slowly.
KENNEDY. You’re rushing as if you had wings, my Lady.
I cannot keep up with you. Wait for me!
MARY. Let me but feel new-found freedom’s full measure,
Let me be a child and you be one, too!
On this green carpet embrace a new pleasure,
Striding along in weightless, winged shoe.
Have I escaped the dark dampness of prison?
Does it entrap me no longer, that lair?
Let me run after, receive in my bosom,1410
Drink in deep drafts Heaven’s free air!
KENNEDY. Oh, but my Queen, your narrow prison has been
Widened by little. You do not see how
A wall encloses us still, even here,
Because the trees’ thick foliage hides its cold heights.
MARY. Oh, endless thanks to each and every green tree,
For they conceal these prison walls from my sight.
I want to dream myself full happy and free,
Suffused as I am now in heavenly light.
Just over there, past fog-gray mountains’ display,1420
The capes of my own realm advance,
And these bright clouds, ships with sails set to midday,
Are seeking the fair coasts of France.
Hurrying clouds! Ships sailing in air!
Only to sail with you! With you to fare!
I am a captive. I am bound tight here.
I have no one else I can send right there.
Carry my love to France, precious and rare.
KENNEDY. Dear Lady, you are beside yourself. Freedom,
So painfully missed, makes you giddy with joy.1430
MARY. There a poor fisher steers his skiff toward land.
That wretched small sailboat could take me away,
Bring me to cities where my kinsmen hold sway.
What a scarce living for so poor a man!
Oh, how I’d like to load it with treasure,
Have him land a catch great as ever he can,
Find in his nets good fortune past measure,
In return for the offered help of his hand.
KENNEDY. Vain wishes! Do you not see that from a distance
Spies observe us and follow in our footsteps?1440
Some evil spell scares pitying creatures away.
MARY. No, Hanna. Believe me! Not in vain has my
Prison so suddenly been opened wide.
So small a favor foretells grander joy.
I cannot be wrong. This is love’s hand at work.
I see Lord Leicester’s strong arm acting here.
They want to widen my jail bit by bit,
Until I see the face that frees me forever.
KENNEDY. I cannot make sense of this. Yesterday they
Announced your coming death and today you1450
Know such freedom as this. They say chains fall
For those, too, whom eternal freedom awaits.
MARY. Just hear the hunting horn! How it sounds
Its plangent voice over forest and heath!
Longing now seizes me to ride to the hounds,
Gallop up hillsides, down steep glens beneath.
This voice I recall from first youth,
Memory that sweetly pierces my heart.
I rode after the stag with high hopes,
Down the Highlands’ dark hollows, up its bright slopes,1460
Hearing the horn’s far call, after the hart.
Scene Two
Paulet. As above.
PAULET. Have I at last done right, my Lady? Have I
Deserved your thanks?
MARY. It’s you, sir, found me this favor?
You?
PAULET. And why not? I was at Court, I brought
Your letter—
MARY. Freedom is a gift of the letter—
PAULET (significantly).
And not the only one! Expect something greater—
MARY. Something greater?
PAULET. Surely you hear the horns—
MARY (shrinking back).
You frighten me!
PAULET. The Queen is chasing nearby.
MARY. What?
PAULET. And quite soon she will be standing before you.
KENNEDY (rushing to Mary, who is about to faint).
Dear Lady, what is wrong? You’re white as a sheet.1470
PAULET. Is this not right? Is it not what you asked?
Granted before you knew it! You who are
Always so quick with words, now find your words.
The moment has come!
MARY. Why was I not made ready?
I’m not prepared for this. Not now. What I
Requested as high favor now seems a fright—
Come, Hanna. Lead me back in—to recover—
PAULET. No, stay. You must wait for her here. Oh, I can
Believe it is frightening—coming before your judge.
Scene Three
Earl Shrewsbury. As above.
MARY. Oh, Shrewsbury! Sent me like an angel from Heaven!1480
I cannot see her, cannot. Save me from this!
SHREWSBURY. Recover yourself, Queen. Take courage. Stand firm.
This is the moment, the hour of decision.
MARY. I’ve waited years for this, prepared myself,
Rehearsed, recited, learned by heart just how
I wanted to move her, to touch her feelings.
Forgotten, vanished! It all escapes me now.
Only my suffering remains. My heart turns
Against her, full of hatred. Hellish spirits
Surround me, shaking their coiled, tangled hair.1490
SHREWSBURY. Master your bitterness, compose yourself.
It brings no good when hate and hatred collide.
She’s the one who wields power. Humble yourself!
MARY. Before her? I cannot.
SHREWSBURY. Do so nonetheless.
Speak with respect. Appeal to her great heart.
Do not defy her. This is not the moment.
MARY. I have requested this thing to my ruin.
Never, no, never should we see one another.
I have been injured far too deeply. Her doing!
We never ever can be reconciled!1500
SHREWSBURY. Calm yourself. Only see her face to face.
Hard-hearted she is not. I saw that myself:
She read your letter and she wept. Have trust.
For this I came ahead: to guide and prepare you.
MARY (seizing his hand). Oh, Talbot, you were always fair and my friend.
If only I’d remained safe in your keeping!
It has been so hard—
SHREWSBURY. Do not think of that now.
MARY. Burghley is with her?
SHREWSBURY. Only Leicester—
MARY. Lord Leicester!
SHREWSBURY. You need fear nothing of him. He moved the Queen
To grant this meeting.1510
MARY. Oh, I knew it!
SHREWSBURY. What’s that?
PAULET. The Queen is coming!
(All move to the side. Only Mary remains, leaning on Kennedy.)
Scene Four
As above. Elizabeth. Earl Leicester. Retinue.
ELIZABETH (to Leicester). How is the country seat called?
LEICESTER. Fotheringhay, Madam.
ELIZABETH (to Shrewsbury). Send our hunting party
Ahead to London. Crowds there throng the streets.
Let us take refuge in this quiet park.
(Talbot dismisses the Retinue. Elizabeth fixes Mary, as she addresses Paulet.)
My people love me too much. They show their joy
In excess, as if it were meant for an idol.
Such worship is right for a god, not a woman.
(Mary, who has been leaning on Hanna, now stands straight. She meets Elizabeth’s steady gaze, shudders, and throws herself again into the arms of her Nurse.)
MARY. Dear God! No heart can be found in that face!
ELIZABETH. Who is the lady?
(General silence)
LEICESTER. You’re at Fotheringhay, Queen.
ELIZABETH (showing surprise, then glowering at Leicester).
Who has done this to me? Lord Leicester!1520
LEICESTER. It
Has happened, Queen. Now Heaven has directed
You here, let pity and large mind prevail.
SHREWSBURY. Be so good, royal Mistress, as to turn
Your eye upon misfortune here before you.
(Mary pulls herself together and starts toward Elizabeth, then stops halfway, unable to go forward.)
ELIZABETH. Who led me to expect a woman humbled?
Unsoftened pride is what I see.54
MARY (resolved at last). So be it!
I’ll submit even to this. Helpless pride of
A noble soul, be gone! I will forget who
I am and what I suffered at her hand.
(She turns to the Queen.)
Heaven decided for you, Sister! Your head1530
Is crowned. I worship the Godhead that raised you.
(She drops to her knees.)
But you be noble-minded, too, my sister!
Extend your hand, the royal right hand, and
Raise me from these depths.
ELIZABETH (stepping back). I see you at your right
Place, Lady Mary! And praise God, who would not
Put me at your feet, like you now at mine.
MARY (with rising emotion).
Think of the flux of all things that are human!
Fear the unyielding gods that punish pride!
It’s they who have thrown me down at your feet.
Honor yourself in me before these nobles,1540
Honor the blood of Henry Tudor’s house,
The blood that flows through my veins as through yours.
Do not stand like a rock against the sea,
Against a castaway lost in a storm.
Extend your hand, touch my heart, let me touch yours
With words, with tears on which my life depends.
Your cold stare freezes my heart, words die in my throat.
ELIZABETH (cold and stern).
What have you to say to me, Lady Stuart?
I shall forget the queen, so deeply offended,
To meet the duty of a sister to you.1550
You have the comfort of the sight of me.
I risk reproach for bounty such as this, for
You know it was your wish to have me murdered.
MARY. Where to begin? How to place words, so that
They seize your heart, yet do not offend you!
Since I cannot speak for myself and not
Gravely accuse you—something I would not do.
— You have treated me unjustly, for
I am a queen no less than you are a queen.
I came to you a supplicant, and you, a-1560
Gainst law and sacred hospitality,
Locked me behind walls, seized my servants and friends.
I am delivered over to sorry want,
Tried for my life before an unworthy court—
Enough! Eternal silence cover my suffering.
— But see! We’ll call it fate. An evil spirit
From the abyss enflamed our hearts with hate that
Estranged us. It grew as we grew, bad men fanned
The flame, zealots armed others. Such is the fate
Of kings: They, set at odds, loose Furies of discord.1570
(Approaching Elizabeth, confiding, flattering)
No stranger stands between us here. We have met.
Speak, Sister. Tell me my offense. I’ll give you
Full satisfaction. Had you heard me before!
It never would have come to this sad encounter.
ELIZABETH. Not fate should you accuse, but your black heart,
The wild ambition of your native house. Hear
Me! Unprovoked, your uncle, priest who reaches
For every crown in Europe, launched a feud.
He turned your head, led you to take up my arms,
Appropriate my royal title, enter1580
Battle against me, at the risk of your life.
What did he not call out against me! Priests’ words,
Civil war, arms of pious delusion deep in
My peaceful kingdom—fanatics’ weapons! Why,
My very head was threatened. God is with me.
Yours falls.
MARY. I am in God’s hands. You would not—
ELIZABETH. Who hinders me? At Saint Bartholomew
Your uncle set the example for all kings.55
Thus one makes peace with one’s foes! What is blood kinship?
What natural law? The Church breaks all bonds, sanctions1590
Perfidy, regicide. What pledge have I for
You once I free you? What lock on your good faith
That the keys of Saint Peter cannot open?56
MARY. You’ve always seen me as a foe, a stranger.
Had you declared me your heir,57 you would have found
A friend, a kinswoman.
ELIZABETH. Out there, Lady Stuart,
Is friendship for you. Your house is the papacy,
The monk your brother, and your family that Church.
You as my heir! Who in my lifetime seduced
My people, caught the noble youth in the toils of1600
Your charms, so that all turned to this rising sun—
MARY. Rule now in peace! I give up claim to this realm.
I have been broken, you’ve wrecked me in my bloom!
Now make an end, just say the word to release me.
For surely you have not come here to gloat. Say,
“Mary, I grant your freedom. You have felt my
Power, now learn to honor my noble heart.”
I will receive my freedom and my life as
Gift from your hand. But if not, woe betide you!
Not for this Island, not for all lands on earth1610
Would I stand before you as you now before me.
ELIZABETH. Do you confess you have been defeated? Is there
An end now to your scheming? No new murderer
Dispatched? And no adventurer willing to risk
This dismal knighthood for you ever again?
Yes, Lady Mary, it is over. None more
Will you seduce. The world has other concerns.
No one longs to become your fourth husband—you
Who kill your suitors as those husbands you killed!
MARY (1620taking offense). Oh, Sister, Sister! Oh, God give me restraint!
ELIZABETH (gazing at her contemptuously).
Such are the charms that no man glimpses unpunished,
Beside which no other woman dare stand.
Fame acquired at small price, Lord Leicester, for to
Be an uncommon beauty one need but be
A beauty common to all—
MARY. That is too much!
ELIZABETH (scornful).
There! The mask falls. You show me your true face!
MARY (furious, but with dignity).
My fault was human, was a fault of youth.
Power seduced me, I made it no secret.
I scorned appearance with king’s candor, and
The world knows the worst of me. I can safely1630
Say I am better than repute has me.
The worse for you should it draw back the cloak
Of honor from your many secret hot passions.
Honor’s not something you acquired from your mother.
The world all know why Anne Boleyn climbed the scaffold.58
SHREWSBURY (stepping between the two Queens).
Oh, God in heaven! Must it come to this?
Is that restraint, submission, Lady Mary?
MARY. Restraint? I have endured beyond all endurance.
Enough lamb-like composure! Patient suffering!
Now break your bonds, cold rage, long stifled, burst from1640
Your pit! And you who gave the basilisk
Its gaze, arm my tongue—
SHREWSBURY. She is beside herself!
Forgive her! She’s mad, she’s too badly provoked!
(Elizabeth stares speechless at Mary.)
LEICESTER (anxiously trying to lead Elizabeth away).
Don’t listen. Come away from this grim place!
MARY. The throne of England is profaned by a bastard,
The noble British duped by a mountebank.
If justice ruled, you would be lying before me.
I am your king.59
(Elizabeth goes off quickly. The Lords follow in dismay.)
Scene Five
Mary. Kennedy.
KENNEDY. What have you done? She goes away enraged.
MARY (still beside herself).
She goes enraged! She carries death in her heart!1650
(Falling into Kennedy’s arms)
What a relief! At last! At last! Whole years
Of suffering, of abasement! Now at last
A moment of revenge, a moment of triumph!
It falls from my heart like an avalanche!
KENNEDY. Oh, no! You wounded her. She’ll not forgive you.
She carries thunderbolts, she is the queen.
You mocked her before her own chosen favorite!
MARY. Before him! He saw it. He witnessed my triumph!
His presence and his nearness gave me strength!
Scene Six
As above. Mortimer.
KENNEDY. A fine outcome, sir!1660
MORTIMER. I heard everything!
(He signals the Nurse to keep watch and approaches. He is alight with desire.)
You’ve won! You were the queen and she the outlaw.
I am bewitched, adore you like a goddess.
Such courage!
MARY. You saw Leicester, brought my letter,
Gave him my gift? Oh, speak!
MORTIMER (observing her with burning eyes). Your royal anger
Shone all about you, transformed all your charms!
MARY. I beg you, sir! Do answer. What says my Lord?
What can I hope?
MORTIMER. Who? Him? He is a coward!
Hope nothing, not from him. Despise him, forget him!
MARY. What are you saying?
MORTIMER. He should save you? Possess you?
He, you? Just let him dare! He’ll have to do 1670
With me, a battle at the risk of his life!
MARY. He does not have my letter? All is lost!
MORTIMER. He loves his life.
MARY. He will do nothing for me?
MORTIMER. No more of him. I, I alone can save you.
MARY. What can you do?
MORTIMER. Do not deceive yourself.
Now all is changed. The way the Queen just left you,
All is indeed lost, there will be no mercy.
A deed is what it takes now, boldness decides.
You’ll be delivered before daybreak tomorrow.
MARY. This very night?1680
MORTIMER. Just hear what is decided.
I gathered my companions in a secret
Chapel. A priest heard our confessions, gave us
Remission of sins committed, sins to come.
We have all taken the last sacrament and
Are ready to embark on our last journey.
MARY. What frightful preparations these all are!
MORTIMER. Tonight we scale these walls. I’ve gained the keys.
We’ll murder all your keepers, snatch you from
Your chamber by force. Every living soul must
Die by our hand, that no one live to betray us.1690
MARY. Paulet, your uncle, too? Your second father?
MORTIMER. Must die by my hand!
MARY. Bloody sacrilege!
MORTIMER. All sacrilege is pardoned. I can do my
Worst and I will.
MARY. Oh, dreadful, terrible—this!
MORTIMER. Even to have to run the Queen through— I’ve
Sworn on the Host—
MARY. Too much blood—
MORTIMER. What is all life
Against you and my love. The bonds of the world
May break, a second Flood sweep all away—
I’ll not give you up till the end of time!
MARY (stepping back).
1700
What language, sir, what looks! They frighten me!
MORTIMER (expressing a quiet madness). Life
Is but one moment, death another! They may
Drag me to Tyburn,60 tear me apart with tongs
(rushing to her with open arms)
As long as I embrace you, my Beloved—
MARY (retreating). Back, madman—
MORTIMER. On this breast, this mouth that breathes love—
MARY. For God’s sake, let me go in!
MORTIMER. I will save you,
And I shall also possess you—
MARY. Wretched Fate,
You fling me from one horror to another!
Was I born only to stir rage? Love and hate?
MORTIMER. Commit to love what you must lose to hate,
1710
Enchant a happy lover with these charms
No longer yours. This silken hair in the power
Of death—use to entwine your loving slave!
MARY. What words! My sorrows should be sacred to you,
If not my royal head.
MORTIMER. Your crown has fallen,
Nothing of earthly majesty remains.
Try it now, just speak like a ruler—if
A friend, a savior stands up? Nothing remains
But the high beauty of your touching figure.
It drives me on—
MARY. Who’ll save me from this madness?
1720
MORTIMER. Life is life’s greatest good. A fool, one who’d waste it!
Let me first lie on life’s most comforting breast—
(He presses her against him.)
MARY. Must I seek help against him who would save me?
MORTIMER. You are not cold. You let that Bothwell carry
You off and trembled while you loved him.
MARY. Shameless!
MORTIMER. If only terror wins you, I’ll make you tremble—
KENNEDY (rushing in). Someone is coming. They are getting closer.
Armed men are filling the garden.
MORTIMER (reaching for his sword). I shall defend you!
MARY. Oh, Hanna, save me from him! Where to turn?
Out here is mayhem and in there is murder.
(She flees toward the house. Kennedy follows.)
Scene Seven
Mortimer. Paulet and Drury rush in.
Attendants run onto the stage.
PAULET. Close all the gates! Draw up the bridges, all!1730
MORTIMER. Uncle, what is it?
PAULET. Where is she, that murderess?
Into the darkest dungeon with her!
MORTIMER. What has happened?
PAULET. The Queen!
MORTIMER. What Queen?
PAULET. Of England! Murdered in London’s streets!
(He rushes into the house.)
Scene Eight
Mortimer. Then O’Kelly.
MORTIMER. Did someone say the Queen’s been murdered? Or
Was it but a dream? I must have been dreaming.
Who’s coming? It’s O’Kelly. Beside himself.
O’KELLY (rushing in). Flee, Mortimer! Flee! All is lost!
MORTIMER. What is lost?
O’KELLY. Don’t ask. Just run!
MORTIMER. What is it?
O’KELLY. Savage,61 the madman,
Launched the attempt.
MORTIMER. It’s true?
O’KELLY. Too true!
MORTIMER. She’s murdered,
Mary ascends the throne of England!1740
O’KELLY. Murdered?
She lives! And you and I and all will be dead!
MORTIMER. She lives?
O’KELLY. The blow failed. Got caught in her mantel.
And Shrewsbury disarmed the murderer.
MORTIMER. She lives!
O’KELLY. To destroy
Us all. They have the park surrounded.
MORTIMER. Who did it?
O’KELLY. The Toulon cleric with us in chapel, who looked
So thoughtful when the anathema against the Queen was read.62
He meant to take the short way to martyrdom.
Told only the priest who confessed and blessed us.
MORTIMER (after a silence, to himself).
Grim fate pursues you. Now, yes, now you must die.
Your very angel has prepared your fall.1750
O’KELLY. I go to hide in the forests of the North.
MORTIMER. God keep you. I stay, make one last effort to save.
Failing, I make my last bed on her grave.
(They go off to different sides.)63