Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, ca. 1564, oil on panel. Anglo-Netherlandish School. Waddesdon Manor. Wikimedia, public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Dudley_Leicester.jpg
Act Four
Antechamber
Scene One
Count Aubespine. Kent and Leicester.
AUBESPINE. How is Her Majesty? My Lords, you see me
Beside myself. How could this be, among her
Most loyal people?
LEICESTER. No one among the people
Did this thing. But a subject of your king,
A Frank.
AUBESPINE. A madman surely.
KENT. A papist, Count Aubespine.
Scene Two
As above. Burghley enters, speaking to Davison.
BURGHLEY. The writ of execution must be drawn up
And sealed. Be quick! Present it to the Queen to1760
Be signed. Now go.
DAVISON. It shall be done. (He goes off.)
AUBESPINE (acknowledging Burghley). My Lord,
My loyal heart shares in the rightful joy of
This Island. Heaven be praised, which turned the murderous
Blow from the royal head!
BURGHLEY. Praised, too, that it
Thwarted our enemies’ evil will.
AUBESPINE. May God
Condemn the doer of this evil deed!
BURGHLEY. Both
The doer and the author.
AUBESPINE (to Kent). Does it please
Your Honor to admit me to Her Majesty
That I may lay best wishes of my Lord
And King most humbly at her feet—1770
BURGHLEY. Don’t trouble,
Count Aubespine.
AUBESPINE (officious). I know my office, Lord Burghley.
BURGHLEY. Your office is to clear this Island at speed.
(In response to Aubespine’s expression of amazement)
Your rank shields you today, tomorrow no more.
AUBESPINE. What is my crime?
BURGHLEY. Named, it cannot be pardoned.
AUBESPINE. The right of missions, my Lord, I would hope—
BURGHLEY. Does not protect traitors—
LEICESTER and KENT. Ha! What’s this!
AUBESPIINE. My Lord,
Consider well—
BURGHLEY. A passport signed by your hand
Was found in the assassin’s pocket.
KENT. Indeed?
AUBESPINE. I issue many passports. Motives are hidden.1780
BURGHLEY. The murderer was confessed in your hotel.
AUBESPINE. My house is open.
BURGHLEY. To the enemies of England.
AUBESPINE. I demand inquest.
BURGHLEY. Fear one!
AUBESPINE. In my person
My King is injured. He’ll tear up our pact.
BURGHLEY. The Queen has torn it up already. England
Will not be wed to France. Lord Kent, you will bring
The Count in safety to the coast. The angry
Mob stormed his hotel; a great arsenal of weapons
Was found; they threaten to tear him limb from limb.
Conceal him well. I charge you with his life!1790
AUBESPINE. I leave a land where common rights are trampled
And treaties merely toyed with. My Monarch will seek
A bloody reckoning—
BURGHLEY. Let him come and fetch it!
(Kent and Aubespine go off.)
Scene Three
Leicester and Burghley
LEICESTER. Thus you dissolve the bond that you so busily
Buckled. You’ve earned yourself scarce thanks from England.
You’d better spared yourself the trouble, my Lord.
BURGHLEY. My goal was good. And God wrought otherwise.
Happy the man who knows no worse of himself!
LEICESTER. Yes, one knows Cecil’s dark and secretive bearing
When he makes chase after crimes of high treason.1800
It’s a fine season for you now, my Lord.
A truly monstrous misdeed has occurred and
Its authors still lie hidden deep in darkness.
A court of inquest will now be convened
And words and glances carefully weighed up.
Why, thoughts themselves will be called into court.
You are the very man there, our own Atlas
Of State who carries all England on his shoulders.
BURGHLEY. In you, my Lord, I recognize my master.
Such victory as your arts of persuasion gain1810
My powers never have brought home.
LEICESTER. Your meaning?
BURGHLEY. Were you not who, behind my back, knew to lure
The Queen to Fotheringhay?
LEICESTER. Behind your back!
When have I hidden my deeds from your knowledge?
BURGHLEY. You lured the Queen to Fotheringhay? Oh, no!
Surely it was the Queen who kindly lured you.
LEICESTER. What would you say, my Lord?
BURGHLEY. Oh, what a fine figure
You let the Queen cut there! The splendid triumph
Prepared her, unsuspecting. Gracious Princess!
Such shameless mockery, such unsparing exposure!1820
This therefore is the large mind and the mercy
That overcame you suddenly in Council!
That’s why this Stuart is a foe so feeble
And nil one does not spot oneself with her blood!
LEICESTER. Wretch! Come with me. You’ll answer me at the throne.
BURGHLEY. Expect me there. Let your persuasion not fail you!
(He goes off.)
Scene Four
Leicester alone, then Mortimer
I am discovered, seen through. How did he
Get on my track? If he has proofs, I am done.
And if the Queen learns of my understanding
With Mary—God! How guilty I’ll be in her eyes!1830
My counsel, leading her to Fotheringhay—it
Will all seem a ruse, a trick. And she will feel mocked,
Betrayed to her worst enemy! Never will she
Forgive me. It all seems a plot: the turn in
The conversation, Mary’s triumph and scorn,
Even the murder that surprised us—I will
Have set it up! It is hopeless! — Who is coming?
MORTIMER (entering, uneasy and wary).
Earl Leicester? We’ve no witnesses?
LEICESTER. What’s this?
What do you want?
MORTIMER. They’re on our track, on yours, too.
LEICESTER. Be gone!1840
MORTIMER. The secret meeting at Aubespine’s—
LEICESTER. Not my concern!
MORTIMER. The murderer’s presence there—
LEICESTER. Your care and not mine! Leave me out of this!
MORTIMER. But listen—
LEICESTER (very angry). Go to hell! Why hang yourself on
My heels? I do not know you, with assassins
I have no traffic.
MORTIMER. Your steps, too, are betrayed.
LEICESTER. Ha!
MORTIMER. The Lord High Treasurer was at Fotheringhay.
There was a great search, where they found—
LEICESTER. Found what?
MORTIMER. A letter to you that the Queen had begun—
LEICESTER. Ah!
MORTIMER. —asking you to keep your word, renewing
The promise of her hand, remembering the likeness—1850
LEICESTER. Death and damnation!
MORTIMER. Burghley has the letter—
LEICESTER. I’m lost!
(During Mortimer’s next speech Leicester walks up and down.)
MORTIMER. Act quickly! Act first! Save yourself! Save her!
Swear your way out of this. Invent excuses.
I myself can do nothing more. Our band is
Scattered. I go to Scotland to find friends.
It comes down to you. Use all your prestige,
Use quick wits—
LEICESTER (stands still, then, suddenly resolved).
I shall do exactly that.
(He goes to the door, opens it, and calls)
Hey! Guards! (To the Officer who enters with armed Guards)
A traitor! Seize him! Guard him well!
A foul plot come to light. Now straight to the Queen! (He goes off.)
MORTIMER (stunned at first, recovers himself and gazes after Leicester).
Scoundrel! But I deserve this! Who said to trust him?1860
I fall, become a bridge that he will walk over.
Save yourself! I’ll not take you down in my fall.
Even in death I do not like your league.
Life is the only good thing bad men have.
(To the Officer who steps forward to seize him)
Don’t touch me, you slave. I am free. (He draws a dagger.)
OFFICER. He’s armed!
Disarm him!
(They press around him, he fends them off.)
MORTIMER. Free, too, heart and soul, in death.
A curse on those who deny God and their Queen,
Turn from the earthly as from the heavenly Mary!
OFFICER. Treason and blasphemy! Lay hand on him!
MORTIMER. Mary, my love, I could not bring you release.1870
Mary, sweet Mother, fold me into your peace.
(He stabs himself and falls into the arms of the Guard.)
Room of the Queen
Scene Five
Elizabeth, a letter in her hand. Burghley.
ELIZABETH. To take me there! Show me in triumph to
His mistress! Never such a betrayal, Burghley!
BURGHLEY. I cannot grasp how he—by what arts—could
Surprise the good sense of my Queen so badly.
ELIZABETH. I’m dying of shame! How he must laugh at me!
I thought I would humiliate her, and myself
Became an object of scorn.
BURGHLEY. Now you see how
Faithfully I advised you!
ELIZABETH. I am punished.
But should I not have believed him? Who suspects1880
A trap among great oaths of love? Dear God!
Who can I trust? I raised him above all others,
Gave him the place next to my heart, let him
Carry himself like a king at this Court!
BURGHLEY. And he betrayed you to the false Queen of Scotland!
ELIZABETH. She’ll pay with her blood! Is the warrant drawn up?
BURGHLEY. Done as you ordered.
ELIZABETH. She shall die! And he shall
See her fall and fall after. I have cast
Him from my heart, filled it with vengeance. Let him
Fall deep as he was lofty, monument to1890
My rigor as he was to my weakness.
Into the Tower! I shall name peers to judge him
After the strictest sense of the law.
BURGHLEY. Oh, but
He’ll reach you, justify himself—
ELIZABETH. How so? The
Letter convicts him—
BURGHLEY. But your kindness, the mere
Sight of him—
ELIZABETH. Never will I see him again!
You’ve ordered him refused if he comes?
BURGHLEY. Just so.
PAGE (entering). My
Lord Leicester!
QUEEN. I am not to be seen. Tell him that.
PAGE. I dare not!
QUEEN. My servants fear him more than me!
BURGHLEY (1900to the Page). The Queen forbids his approach.
(The Page goes out reluctantly.)
QUEEN (after a pause). Could it be—if he justified himself—
Could it not be a trap to estrange us?
If Mary wrote the letter to make me
Suspect him? To bring him to fall—
BURGHLEY. But, my Queen—
Scene Six
As above. Leicester.
LEICESTER (tears open the door and strides in).
I’ll just see the one who forbids me my Queen!
ELIZABETH. Such insolence!
LEICESTER. To turn me away! If she
Is present for a Burghley, she’s present for me.
BURGHLEY. Quite bold, my Lord, to burst in here without
Asking.
LEICESTER. Quite pert, my Lord, to speak first. Asking!
There’s no one at this Court whom Leicester asks,1910
Whom he obeys. (Approaching Elizabeth, submissive)
I’ll hear from my own Queen—
ELIZABETH (refusing to look at him).
Out of my sight, worthless—
LEICESTER. I hear, not my kind
Elizabeth, but this Lord, whose— My appeal is
To my Elizabeth— You lent him your ear, I
Lay claim to nothing less.
ELIZABETH. Speak! Own or deny it!
LEICESTER. First let this burdensome third take his leave.
Step out, my Lord. What I have to discuss with
My Queen requires no witness. Go now!
ELIZABETH (to Burghley). Stay here!
LEICESTER. What business has a third between you and me?
I claim the rights of my place—sacred rights!1920
The Lord remove himself!
ELIZABETH. How haughtiness
Becomes you!
LEICESTER. Becomes me well. I am the chosen
One. Your great favor lent me this rank, and
What love has given I shall assert. Two minutes—
ELIZABETH. Of chatter—
LEICESTER. Chatter is for him. I speak to
Your heart! What I have dared do by your favor
I’ll justify to your heart. I know no court but
Your heart!
ELIZABETH. And that is what damns you. Lord Burghley,
I bid you show him the letter.
LEICESTER (reading the letter, unruffled). That is her hand.
ELIZABETH. Read and fall silent.1930
LEICESTER (calmly). All appearance is
Against me. I hope not to be judged by that.
ELIZABETH. Do you deny a secret understanding
With Mary Stuart? You received her likeness
And gave her hope of rescue.
LEICESTER. I could discount
My enemy’s words if I felt guilty, but
My conscience is clear. What she writes is true.
ELIZABETH. Now then!
BURGHLEY. He damns himself!
ELIZABETH. Out of my sight!
Into the Tower, you traitor!
LEICESTER. I am none.
My error was to make a secret of it.
This was my effort to discover—1940
ELIZABETH. Excuses!
LEICESTER. I’ve played a dangerous game. Only Earl Leicester
Could be so bold at this Court. All the world knows
How I hate Mary Stuart. My high rank, the
Trust of my Queen remove all doubt. The man picked
Out by your favor can risk a bold path.
BURGHLEY. And why the silence?
LEICESTER. You hang a bell on your deeds,
My Lord. I act, then talk.
BURGHLEY. You talk since you must.
LEICESTER (fixing him contemptuously).
You claim the fame of having put into action
A fabulous deed, saved your Queen, unmasked a
Great treason. You know it all, nothing escapes you.1950
Braggart! For all your keen nose, Mary Stuart
Were free as of today, had I not blocked it
BURGHLEY. You?
LEICESTER. I, my Lord. The Queen confided in Mortimer.
She went so far as to give him against
Mary a bloody charge the uncle refused.
(The Queen and Burghley look at one another, appalled.)
BURGHLEY. How did you—
LEICESTER. Is it not so? Where did you have
Your thousand eyes, not to see this Mortimer was
Double? He was a raging papist, a tool of
The Guises, Stuart’s creature, scheming fanatic
Come to free Stuart and to murder our own Queen—1960
ELIZABETH (utterly astonished).
Mortimer?
LEICESTER. He was go-between for Mary
With me. That’s how I came to know him. Today
Yet she was to be snatched out of her prison.
He told me himself. I had him arrested.
Despairing, he took his own life.
ELIZABETH. Deceived! Deception
Beyond words!
BURGHLEY. And all this just since I left you?
LEICESTER. A poor outcome. His witness would have cleared me.
That’s why I turned him over to the courts.
Strict justice was to prove my innocence.
BURGHLEY. He killed himself, you say—1970
LEICESTER. Unworthy suspicion!
Question the Guards—
(He goes to the door and calls. The Officer of the Bodyguard enters.)
Submit report to the Queen how
That Mortimer died!
OFFICER. I held the watch in the
Anteroom when my Lord threw open the door
And ordered me to seize the Knight as a traitor.
He pulled a dagger, raged, insulted the Queen,
And stabbed himself before we could stop him—
LEICESTER. That will do. You may go.
(The Officer goes off.)
ELIZABETH. What an abyss—
LEICESTER. Who was it saved you? Was it my Lord Burghley?
He saw the danger? And turned it aside?
BURGHLEY. This Mortimer died timely for you, my Lord.1980
ELIZABETH. What should I say? I believe you, I don’t believe you.
I believe you guilty, don’t believe it. Oh, hateful
Woman! To cause me such pain!
LEICESTER. She must die.
Now I, too, say so. Not till an arm is raised, I
Had said. That has now happened. Judgment must
Be executed forthwith. The Queen’s safety
Demands this bloody extreme, much as it grieves me.
BURGHLEY (to the Queen). Since my Lord’s meaning is so earnest and true
I would propose that execution of judgment
Be removed onto him.1990
LEICESTER. Me!
BURGHLEY. You! No better
Way to lay suspicion that rests on you than
That you, accused of loving her, should see her
Beheaded.
ELIZABETH (fixing Leicester). Well advised, Lord. Let it be so.
LEICESTER. My rank should free me of a charge so dismal,
Suited in all respects much better to Burghley.
One nearest my Queen ought do nothing baneful.
To prove my zeal and satisfy my Queen I
Renounce the privilege of my rank, assume
This loathsome duty.
ELIZABETH. Lord Burghley share it with you.
(2000To Burghley) See that the order be issued right away.
(Burghley goes off. Sounds of a disturbance off-stage.)
Scene Seven
Earl Kent to join the others
ELIZABETH. What is it Lord, Kent? What’s the noise?
KENT. The people
Queen. They surround the palace, demand to see you.
ELIZABETH. What does my folk want?
KENT. Rumor goes through London
That your life is threatened and assassins
Are sent by Rome, that Catholics are in league to
Free Lady Stuart by force, proclaim her queen.
The mob believes it. They are demanding her head. They
Refuse to go home until judgment is signed.
ELIZABETH. What? Shall I be forced to?
Scene Eight
Burghley and Davison with a writing. As above.
ELIZABETH. What’s this, Davison?
DAVISON (approaching, grave).
Your orders, my Queen.2010
ELIZABETH (reaches for the sheet, then shrinks back).
Oh, God!
BURGHLEY. Heed the voice of
The people, it is the voice of God.
ELIZABETH (struggling with herself). Oh, but
My Lords, who says if I indeed hear the voice
Of all my people, of the world? Oh, how
I fear, if I obey the voice of the mob,
Another voice will make itself heard, those who
Drive me to act now will blame me when it’s done.
Scene Nine
Earl Shrewsbury to join the others. Kent goes off.
SHREWSBURY (very aroused).
They’re rushing you, Queen. Stand fast—(He notices Davison with the writing.)
Is it too late?
Let that not come before the eyes of my Queen!
ELIZABETH. My noble Shrewsbury, they are forcing me!
SHREWSBURY. But who can force you? You are our ruler,2020
Now is the time to show your majesty!
Order those voices to fall silent that
Make bold to force your royal will, your judgment.
Fear moves the crowd; you, too, are beside yourself.
You are but human, cannot pass judgment now.
BURGHLEY. Judgment has long since been passed. No decision
Is to be reached, but executed rather.
KENT (returning). The crowd is growing, and the mob will not
Let itself be held back!
ELIZABETH (to Shrewsbury). See how they press me!
SHREWSBURY. Only delay. This pen stroke will decide your2030
Happiness and your peace. You’ve pondered for years;
A moment should rip you along? Collect
Yourself, attend a quiet hour.
BURGHLEY (impatient). Oh, wait
And hesitate, waste time, until the Realm
Stands in flames and your rival meets with success.
Three times a god has shielded you, today it
Came close. To invite a fourth is to tempt God.
SHREWSBURY. The God whose wonder-working hand has
Kept you four times and enabled this old man
To crush a madman—2040He is to be trusted!
I shall not speak of justice. This is not the moment.
Merely this: You tremble at the living
Mary and not before the dead one? She will
Rise from the grave, a goddess of strife, and swoop
Over your Kingdom, turn your people against you.
The Briton hates her now, soon he’ll avenge her,
Enemy no longer of his one true faith, but
Granddaughter of his kings and victim of hate.
Process through London when the deed is done,
Show yourself to your people— You’ll find them changed.2050
Your element is justice no longer, but fear,
Making a desert every street where you pass.
What head is safe if this one must fall!
ELIZABETH. Ah, Shrewsbury, you saved my life. To what effect?
All strife were at an end, all doubt resolved, and
Unstained by guilt, I would lie in my grave.
For truly! I have tired of living and ruling.
Must one queen fall? Can that not be me? Let
My people choose. I lived for it, God knows,
And not for myself. If it hopes for this Mary,2060
The younger queen, I’ll seek the stillness of Woodstock.
I am not born to rule—alas I am not!
A ruler must be hard and my heart is soft.
I’ve ruled this Island happily, needing but to
Make happy. Come the first hard royal duty,
And I feel my weakness—
BURGHLEY. By all that’s holy!
When I hear such unkinglike words from my Queen,
It were betrayal of my duty and land to
Keep silent here among you any longer.
You say you love your people more than yourself. 2070
Show us that love. Do not choose peace for yourself
And give the Realm up to these raging storms.
Think of the Church. Is Mary Stuart to bring the
Old idols back? The Roman legate to come close
Our churches and dethrone our anointed kings?
I yet require your subjects of you—saved or lost
In consequence of what you choose to do now.
This is no time for soft heart and compassion.
Shrewsbury saved your life—I would save England!
ELIZABETH. Let me be left to myself! There’s no counsel2080
Among men in this matter. I go before
A higher Judge to do His bidding. Leave me,
My Lords! (To Davison) You, sir, I’d have remain close by.
(The Lords go off. Shrewsbury lingers before the Queen, then follows slowly, expressing great pain.)
Scene Ten
Elizabeth alone
Serving the people—slavery, bondage! How it
Revolts me, flattering this false god I despise!
When shall I ever stand free upon this throne!
Honor opinion, court praise from the mob,
And make it right to those who want to be fooled!
Oh, he’s no king who still must please the world!
Why have I always been just, never despotic,2090
Only to tie my own hands at the first
Forced act of violence! My example damns me!
A tyrant like the Spanish Mary64 before me,
I could shed king’s blood. Did I so choose? I
Am forced. Necessity imposes forbearance.
Surrounded by foes, I am held on my
Contested throne by public favor alone.
The powers of the Continent conspire to destroy me.
From Rome the Pope renews his ancient ban,
From France, betrayal in a Judas kiss, and2100
From Spain the threat of war on the high seas.65
With spotless virtue I must mask a stain on
My birth, a defect in my rights. In vain!
The enemy sets this Stuart up against me.
Where I have planted pleasure or hope, I find her
Across my path, a snake sent me from Hell!
My lover she seduces, costs me my bridegroom,
My every sorrow is called Mary Stuart!
This fear must end. Her head must fall. I will have peace!
Once she’s removed from this world, I’m free as the wind.2110
(She falls silent.)
Bastard you’d call me? Your misfortune, that!
(She goes to the table and seizes a pen.)
Only as long as you live am I so,
If I destroy you, I destroy all doubt.
And when the Briton can no longer choose,
Then I was born and bred in lawful bed!
(She signs firmly and rapidly, drops the pen, and steps
back, horrified. After a pause, she rings.)
Scene Eleven
Elizabeth. Davison.
ELIZABETH. Where are their lordships?
DAVISON. They have gone to calm
The mob. It fell still when it saw Earl Shrewsbury.
He used soft words, reproached their violence,
And calmed them till they crept away from the square.
ELIZABETH. The fickle crowd! Do not lean on this reed!2120
You may go. Very good.
(As Davison turns toward the door)
Here, this. Take it back.
DAVISON (casting a glance at the writing she has given him).
My Queen! Your name here! You have decided?
ELIZABETH. I was to sign. I have signed. A sheet of paper
Does not decide yet. A mere name does not kill.
DAVISON. Your name, Queen, on this writing decides all,
Kills, is a thunderbolt. This sheet commands
The sheriff and commissioners to Fotheringhay to
The Queen of Scotland to announce her death and
To execute the warrant before day.
No respite. She 2130has lived when I release this.
ELIZABETH. God lays a heavy fate in your weak hands.
Beseech Him that He shine the light of his
Wisdom on you. I’ll leave you to your duty.
DAVISON (blocks her path).
Tell me your wishes first, my Queen. Is
It wisdom just to follow your command? You
Give me this writing for swift execution?
ELIZABETH. That you with your good sense—
DAVISON (breaking in, frightened). Oh, not with mine!
That God forbid! Obedience is my good sense.
Your servant should be left to decide nothing.
A small mistake and a queen dies. Tell me2140
Clearly: What should I do with this death warrant?
ELIZABETH. Its name says it—
DAVISON. You wish it executed right away?
ELIZABETH (hesitating). That I don’t say and tremble to think it.
DAVISON. You want me then to keep it for the moment?
ELIZABETH (quickly). What? At your peril! You answer for it.
DAVISON. Me? Holy God! Speak, Queen! What is it you want?
ELIZABETH (impatient). I want this foul case never thought of again,
I want to have peace at last and forever!
DAVISON. It costs you only one word. Tell me, decide:2150
What is to be done with this writing, my Queen?
ELIZABETH. I’ve said it. Torment me no further with this.
DAVISON. You’ve said it? You’ve said nothing to me. It please
My Queen to recall—
ELIZABETH (stamping her foot). Unbearable!
DAVISON. Have patience
With me. I came into this office only
A few months ago. I do not know the language
Of court and kings. I grew up with plain manners.
Have patience, teach me what my duty is—
(He approaches her, entreating; she turns her back;
he stands despairing; then, in a firm tone)
Take this back! Take it! It burns my hands. Do not
Choose me to serve you in this frightful business.2160
ELIZABETH. You do your duty! (She goes off.)
Scene Twelve
Davison. Then Burghley.
DAVISON. She’s gone. What shall I do?
Am I to keep it? Am I to hand it over?
(To Burghley, who enters)
Oh, good! Good that you come, my Lord. It was you
Who brought me to this office. Free me of it!
I did not know its reach. Let me go back
Into obscurity. I do not belong here.
BURGHLEY. What’s this? Compose yourself. Where is the warrant?
The Queen had you called.
DAVISON. She left me in a rage.
Advise me! Help me! Here is the warrant. It’s signed.
BURGHLEY (in haste).
Signed? Give it here! Give here!2170
DAVISON. I’m not allowed.
BURGHLEY. What?
DAVISON. She has not told me clearly what she wants—
BURGHLEY. Not told you? She has signed it. Give it here!
DAVISON. I am to have it executed, not have
It executed—God knows what I’m to do.
BURGHLEY (pressing).
Right now, this minute have it executed.
Give here! You’re lost forever if you delay.
DAVISON. I’m lost if I rush ahead and act too soon.
BURGHLEY. You are a fool! Give here!
(He snatches the writing from Davison and rushes off.)
DAVISON (hurrying after). Oh, stop! I’ll be ruined!