Enter the EARL OF SHREWSBURY.MARY.'Tis not for that, O God!Far other thoughts possess me now.Oh, worthy Shrewsbury! You come as thoughYou were an angel sent to me from heaven.I cannot, will not see her. Save me, save meFrom the detested sight!SHREWSBURY.Your majesty,Command yourself, and summon all your courage,'Tis the decisive moment of your fate.MARY.For years I've waited, and prepared myself.For this I've studied, weighed, and written downEach word within the tablet of my memoryThat was to touch and move her to compassion.Forgotten suddenly, effaced is all,And nothing lives within me at this momentBut the fierce, burning feeling of my wrongs.My heart is turned to direst hate against her;All gentle thoughts, all sweet forgiving words,Are gone, and round me stand with grisly mien,The fiends of hell, and shake their snaky locks!SHREWSBURY.Command your wild, rebellious blood;—constrainThe bitterness which fills your heart. No goodEnsues when hatred is opposed to hate.How much soe'er the inward struggle costYou must submit to stern necessity,The power is in her hand, be therefore humble.MARY.To her? I never can.SHREWSBURY.But pray, submit.Speak with respect, with calmness! Strive to moveHer magnanimity; insist not nowUpon your rights, not now—'tis not the season.MARY.Ah! woe is me! I've prayed for my destruction,And, as a curse to me, my prayer is heard.We never should have seen each other—never!Oh, this can never, never come to good.Rather in love could fire and water meet,The timid lamb embrace the roaring tiger!I have been hurt too grievously; she hathToo grievously oppressed me;—no atonementCan make us friends!SHREWSBURY.First see her, face to face:Did I not see how she was moved at readingYour letter? How her eyes were drowned in tears?No—she is not unfeeling; only placeMore confidence in her. It was for thisThat I came on before her, to entreat youTo be collected—to admonish you——MARY (seizing his hand).Oh, Talbot! you have ever been my friend,Had I but stayed beneath your kindly care!They have, indeed, misused me, Shrewsbury.SHREWSBURY.Let all be now forgot, and only thinkHow to receive her with submissiveness.MARY.Is Burleigh with her, too, my evil genius?SHREWSBURY.No one attends her but the Earl of Leicester.MARY.Lord Leicester?SHREWSBURY.Fear not him; it is not heWho wishes your destruction;—'twas his workThat here the queen hath granted you this meeting.MARY.Ah! well I knew it.SHREWSBURY.What?PAULET.The queen approaches.[They all draw aside; MARY alone remains, leaning on KENNEDY.
The same, ELIZABETH, EARL OF LEICESTER, and Retinue.ELIZABETH (to LEICESTER).What seat is that, my lord?LEICESTER.'Tis Fotheringay.ELIZABETH (to SHREWSBURY).My lord, send back our retinue to London;The people crowd too eager in the roads,We'll seek a refuge in this quiet park.[TALBOT sends the train away. She looks steadfastly at MARY,as she speaks further with PAULET.My honest people love me overmuch.These signs of joy are quite idolatrous.Thus should a God be honored, not a mortal.MARY (who the whole time had leaned, almost fainting, on KENNEDY, risesnow, and her eyes meet the steady, piercing look of ELIZABETH; sheshudders and throws herself again upon KENNEDY'S bosom).O God! from out these features speaks no heart.ELIZABETH.What lady's that?[A general, embarrassed silence.LEICESTER.You are at Fotheringay,My liege!ELIZABETH (as if surprised, casting an angry look at LEICESTER).Who hath done this, my Lord of Leicester?LEICESTER.'Tis past, my queen;—and now that heaven hath ledYour footsteps hither, be magnanimous;And let sweet pity be triumphant now.
SHREWSBURY.Oh, royal mistress! yield to our entreaties;Oh, cast your eyes on this unhappy oneWho stands dissolved in anguish.[MARY collects herself, and begins to advance towardsELIZABETH, stops shuddering at half way: her actionexpresses the most violent internal struggle.ELIZABETH.How, my lords!Which of you then announced to me a prisonerBowed down by woe? I see a haughty oneBy no means humbled by calamity.MARY.Well, be it so:—to this will I submit.Farewell high thought, and pride of noble mind!I will forget my dignity, and allMy sufferings; I will fall before her feetWho hath reduced me to this wretchedness.[She turns towards the QUEEN.The voice of heaven decides for you, my sister.Your happy brows are now with triumph crowned,I bless the Power Divine which thus hath raised you.But in your turn be merciful, my sister;[She kneels.Let me not lie before you thus disgraced;Stretch forth your hand, your royal hand, to raiseYour sister from the depths of her distress.ELIZABETH (stepping back).You are where it becomes you, Lady Stuart;And thankfully I prize my God's protection,Who hath not suffered me to kneel a suppliantThus at your feet, as you now kneel at mine.MARY (with increasing energy of feeling).Think on all earthly things, vicissitudes.Oh! there are gods who punish haughty pride:Respect them, honor them, the dreadful onesWho thus before thy feet have humbled me!Before these strangers' eyes dishonor notYourself in me: profane not, nor disgraceThe royal blood of Tudor. In my veinsIt flows as pure a stream as in your own.Oh, for God's pity, stand not so estrangedAnd inaccessible, like some tall cliff,Which the poor shipwrecked mariner in vainStruggles to seize, and labors to embrace.My all, my life, my fortune now dependsUpon the influence of my words and tears;That I may touch your heart, oh, set mine free.If you regard me with those icy looksMy shuddering heart contracts itself, the streamOf tears is dried, and frigid horror chainsThe words of supplication in my bosom!ELIZABETH (cold and severe).What would you say to me, my Lady Stuart?You wished to speak with me; and I, forgettingThe queen, and all the wrongs I have sustained,Fulfil the pious duty of the sister,And grant the boon you wished for of my presence.Yet I, in yielding to the generous feelingsOf magnanimity, expose myselfTo rightful censure, that I stoop so low.For well you know you would have had me murdered.MARY.Oh! how shall I begin? Oh, how shall ISo artfully arrange my cautious wordsThat they may touch, yet not offend your heart?Strengthen my words, O Heaven! and take from themWhate'er might wound. Alas! I cannot speakIn my own cause without impeaching you,And that most heavily, I wish not so;You have not as you ought behaved to me:I am a queen, like you: yet you have held meConfined in prison. As a suppliantI came to you, yet you in me insultedThe pious use of hospitality;Slighting in me the holy law of nations,Immured me in a dungeon—tore from meMy friends and servants; to unseemly wantI was exposed, and hurried to the barOf a disgraceful, insolent tribunal.No more of this;—in everlasting silenceBe buried all the cruelties I suffered!See—I will throw the blame of all on fate,'Twere not your fault, no more than it was mine.An evil spirit rose from the abyss,To kindle in our hearts the flame of hate,By which our tender youth had been divided.It grew with us, and bad, designing menFanned with their ready breath the fatal fire:Frantics, enthusiasts, with sword and daggerArmed the uncalled-for hand! This is the curseOf kings, that they, divided, tear the worldIn pieces with their hatred, and let looseThe raging furies of all hellish strife!No foreign tongue is now between us, sister,[Approaching her confidently, and with a flattering tone.Now stand we face to face; now, sister, speak:Name but my crime, I'll fully satisfy you,—Alas! had you vouchsafed to hear me then,When I so earnest sought to meet your eye,It never would have come to this, nor would,Here in this mournful place, have happened nowThis so distressful, this so mournful meeting.ELIZABETH.My better stars preserved me. I was warned,And laid not to my breast the poisonous adder!Accuse not fate! your own deceitful heartIt was, the wild ambition of your houseAs yet no enmities had passed between us,When your imperious uncle, the proud priest,Whose shameless hand grasps at all crowns, attacked meWith unprovoked hostility, and taughtYou, but too docile, to assume my arms,To vest yourself with my imperial title,And meet me in the lists in mortal strife:What arms employed he not to storm my throne?The curses of the priests, the people's sword,The dreadful weapons of religious frenzy;—Even here in my own kingdom's peaceful hauntsHe fanned the flames of civil insurrection;But God is with me, and the haughty priestHas not maintained the field. The blow was aimedFull at my head, but yours it is which falls!MARY.I'm in the hand of heaven. You never willExert so cruelly the power it gives you.ELIZABETH.Who shall prevent me? Say, did not your uncleSet all the kings of Europe the example,How to conclude a peace with those they hate.Be mine the school of Saint Bartholomew;What's kindred then to me, or nation's laws?The church can break the bands of every duty;It consecrates the regicide, the traitor;I only practise what your priests have taught!Say then, what surety can be offered me,Should I magnanimously loose your bonds?Say, with what lock can I secure your faith,Which by Saint Peter's keys cannot be opened?Force is my only surety; no allianceCan be concluded with a race of vipers.MARY.Oh! this is but your wretched, dark suspicion!For you have constantly regarded meBut as a stranger, and an enemy.Had you declared me heir to your dominions,As is my right, then gratitude and loveIn me had fixed, for you, a faithful friendAnd kinswoman.ELIZABETH.Your friendship is abroad,Your house is papacy, the monk your brother.Name you my successor! The treacherous snare!That in my life you might seduce my people;And, like a sly Armida, in your netEntangle all our noble English youth;That all might turn to the new rising sun,And I——MARY.O sister, rule your realm in peace;I give up every claim to these domains—Alas! the pinions of my soul are lamed;Greatness entices me no more: your pointIs gained; I am but Mary's shadow now—My noble spirit is at last broke downBy long captivity:—you've done your worstOn me; you have destroyed me in my bloom!Now, end your work, my sister;—speak at lengthThe word, which to pronounce has brought you hither;For I will ne'er believe that you are come,To mock unfeelingly your hapless victim.Pronounce this word;—say, "Mary, you are free:You have already felt my power,—learn nowTo honor too my generosity."Say this, and I will take my life, will takeMy freedom, as a present from your hands.One word makes all undone;—I wait for it;—Oh, let it not be needlessly delayed.Woe to you if you end not with this word!For should you not, like some divinity,Dispensing noble blessings, quit me now,Then, sister, not for all this island's wealth,For all the realms encircled by the deep,Would I exchange my present lot for yours.ELIZABETH.And you confess at last that you are conquered:Are all your schemes run out? No more assassinsNow on the road? Will no adventurerAttempt again for you the sad achievement?Yes, madam, it is over:—you'll seduceNo mortal more. The world has other cares;—None is ambitious of the dangerous honorOf being your fourth husband—you destroyYour wooers like your husbands.MARY (starting angrily).Sister, sister!—Grant me forbearance, all ye powers of heaven!ELIZABETH (regards her long with a look of proud contempt).Those then, my Lord of Leicester, are the charmsWhich no man with impunity can view,Near which no woman dare to stand?In sooth, this honor has been cheaply gained;She who to all is common, may with easeBecome the common object of applause.MARY.This is too much!ELIZABETH (laughing insultingly).You show us now, indeed,Your real face; till now 'twas but the mask.MARY (burning with rage, yet dignified and noble).My sins were human, and the faults of youth:Superior force misled me. I have neverDenied or sought to hide it: I despisedAll false appearance, as became a queen.The worst of me is known, and I can say,That I am better than the fame I bear.Woe to you! when, in time to come, the worldShall draw the robe of honor from your deeds,With which thy arch-hypocrisy has veiledThe raging flames of lawless, secret lust.Virtue was not your portion from your mother;Well know we what it was which brought the headOf Anna Boleyn to the fatal block.SHREWSBURY (stepping between both QUEENS).Oh! Heaven! Alas, and must it come to this!Is this the moderation, the submission,My lady?——MARY.Moderation! I've supportedWhat human nature can support: farewell,Lamb-hearted resignation, passive patience,Fly to thy native heaven; burst at lengthThy bonds, come forward from thy dreary cave,In all thy fury, long suppressed rancor!And thou, who to the angered basiliskImpart'st the murderous glance, oh, arm my tongueWith poisoned darts!SHREWSBURY.She is beside herself!Exasperated, mad! My liege, forgive her.[ELIZABETH, speechless with anger, casts enraged looks at MARY.LEICESTER (in the most violent agitation; he seeks to lead ELIZABETHaway).Attend not to her rage! Away, away,From this disastrous place!MARY (raising her voice).A bastard soils,Profanes the English throne! The generous BritonsAre cheated by a juggler, [whose whole figureIs false and painted, heart as well as face!]If right prevailed, you now would in the dustBefore me lie, for I'm your rightful monarch![ELIZABETH hastily quits the stage; the lords follow herin the greatest consternation.
MARY, KENNEDY.KENNEDY.What have you done? She has gone hence in wrathAll hope is over now!MARY (still quite beside herself).Gone hence in wrath!She carries death within her heart! I know it.[Falling on KENNEDY'S bosom.Now I am happy, Hannah! and at last,After whole years of sorrow and abasement,One moment of victorious revengeA weight falls off my heart, a weight of mountains;I plunged the steel in my oppressor's breast!KENNEDY.Unhappy lady! Frenzy overcomes you.Yes, you have wounded your inveterate foe;'Tis she who wields the lightning, she is queen,You have insulted her before her minion.MARY.I have abased her before Leicester's eyes;He saw it, he was witness of my triumph.How did I hurl her from her haughty height,He saw it, and his presence strengthened me.
Enter MORTIMER.KENNEDY.Oh, Sir! What an occurrence!MORTIMER.I heard all—[Gives the nurse a sign to repair to her post,and draws nearer; his whole appearance expressesthe utmost violence of passion.Thine is the palm;—thou trod'st her to the dust!—Thou wast the queen, she was the malefactor;—I am transported with thy noble courage;—Yes! I adore thee; like a Deity,My sense is dazzled by thy heavenly beams.MARY (with vivacity and expectation).You spoke with Leicester, gave my letter to him.My present, too?—oh, speak, sir.MORTIMER (beholding her with glowing looks).How thy noble,Thy royal indignation shone, and castA glory round thy beauty; yes, by heavens,Thou art the fairest woman upon earth!MARY.Sir, satisfy, I beg you, my impatience;What says his lordship? Say, sir, may I hope?MORTIMER.Who?—he?—he is a wretch, a very coward,Hope naught from him; despise him, and forget him!MARY.What say you?MORTIMER.He deliver, and possess you!Why let him dare it:—he!—he must with meIn mortal contest first deserve the prize!MARY.You gave him not my letter? Then, indeedMy hopes are lost!MORTIMER.The coward loves his life.Whoe'er would rescue you, and call you his,Must boldly dare affront e'en death itself!MARY.Will he do nothing for me?MORTIMER.Speak not of him.What can he do? What need have we of him?I will release you; I alone.MARY.Alas!What power have you?MORTIMER.Deceive yourself no more;Think not your case is now as formerly;The moment that the queen thus quitted you,And that your interview had ta'en this turn,All hope was lost, each way of mercy shut.Now deeds must speak, now boldness must decide,To compass all must all be hazarded;You must be free before the morning break.MARY.What say you, sir—to-night?—impossible!MORTIMER.Hear what has been resolved:—I led my friendsInto a private chapel, where a priestHeard our confession, and, for every sinWe had committed, gave us absolution;He gave us absolution too, beforehand,For every crime we might commit in future;He gave us too the final sacrament,And we are ready for the final journey.MARY.Oh, what an awful, dreadful preparation!MORTIMER.We scale, this very night, the castle's walls;The keys are in my power; the guards we murder!Then from thy chamber bear thee forcibly.Each living soul must die beneath our hands,That none remain who might disclose the deed.MARY.And Drury, Paulet, my two keepers, theyWould sooner spill their dearest drop of blood.MORTIMER.They fall the very first beneath my steel.MARY.What, sir! Your uncle? How! Your second father!MORTIMER.Must perish by my hand—I murder him!MARY.Oh, bloody outrage!MORTIMER.We have been absolvedBeforehand; I may perpetrate the worst;I can, I will do so!MARY.Oh, dreadful, dreadful!MORTIMER.And should I be obliged to kill the queen,I've sworn upon the host, it must be done!MARY.No, Mortimer; ere so much blood for me——MORTIMER.What is the life of all compared to thee,And to my love? The bond which holds the worldTogether may be loosed, a second delugeCome rolling on, and swallow all creation!Henceforth I value nothing; ere I quitMy hold on thee, may earth and time be ended!MARY (retiring)Heavens! Sir, what language, and what looks! They scare,They frighten me!MORTIMER (with unsteady looks, expressive of great madness).Life's but a moment—deathIs but a moment too. Why! let them drag meTo Tyburn, let them tear me limb from limb,With red-hot pincers——[Violently approaching her with extended arms.If I clasp but theeWithin my arms, thou fervently beloved!MARY.Madman, avaunt!MORTIMER.To rest upon this bosom,To press upon this passion-breathing mouth——MARY.Leave me, for God's sake, sir; let me go in——MORTIMER.He is a madman who neglects to claspHis bliss in folds that never may be loosed,When Heaven has kindly given it to his arms.I will deliver you, and though it costA thousand lives, I do it; but I swear,As God's in Heaven I will possess you too!MARY.Oh! will no God, no angel shelter me?Dread destiny! thou throwest me, in thy wrath,From one tremendous terror to the other!Was I then born to waken naught but frenzy?Do hate and love conspire alike to fright me!MORTIMER.Yes, glowing as their hatred is my love;They would behead thee, they would wound this neck,So dazzling white, with the disgraceful axe!Oh! offer to the living god of joyWhat thou must sacrifice to bloody hate!Inspire thy happy lover with those charmsWhich are no more thine own. Those golden locksAre forfeit to the dismal powers of death,Oh! use them to entwine thy slave forever!MARY.Alas! alas! what language must I hear!My woe, my sufferings should be sacred to you,Although my royal brows are so no more.MORTIMER.The crown is fallen from thy brows, thou hastNo more of earthly majesty. Make trial,Raise thy imperial voice, see if a friend,If a deliverer will rise to save you.Thy moving form alone remains, the high,The godlike influence of thy heavenly beauty;This bids me venture all, this arms my handWith might, and drives me tow'rd the headsman's axe.MARY.Oh! who will save me from his raging madness?MORTIMER.Service that's bold demands a bold reward.Why shed their blood the daring? Is not lifeLife's highest good? And he a madman whoCasts life away? First will I take my rest,Upon the breast that glows with love's own fire![He presses her violently to his bosom.MARY.Oh, must I call for help against the manWho would deliver me!MORTIMER.Thou'rt not unfeeling,The world ne'er censured thee for frigid rigor;The fervent prayer of love can touch thy heart.Thou mad'st the minstrel Rizzio blest, and gavestThyself a willing prey to Bothwell's arms.MARY.Presumptuous man!MORTIMER.He was indeed thy tyrant,Thou trembled'st at his rudeness, whilst thou loved'st him;Well, then—if only terror can obtain thee—By the infernal gods!MARY.Away—you're mad!MORTIMER.I'll teach thee then before me, too, to tremble.KENNEDY (entering suddenly).They're coming—they approach—the park is filledWith men in arms.MORTIMER (starting and catching at his sword).I will defend you-I——MARY.O Hannah! save me, save me from his hands.Where shall I find, poor sufferer, an asylum?Oh! to what saint shall I address my prayers?Here force assails me, and within is murder![She flies towards the house, KENNEDY follows her.
MORTIMER, PAULET, and DRURY rush in in the greatestconsternation. Attendants hasten over the stage.PAULET.Shut all the portals—draw the bridges up.MORTIMER.What is the matter, uncle?PAULET.Where is the murderess?Down with her, down into the darkest dungeon!MORTIMER.What is the matter? What has passed?PAULET.The queen!Accursed hand! Infernal machination!MORTIMER.The queen! What queen?PAULET.What queen! The Queen of England;She has been murdered on the road to London.[Hastens into the house.
MORTIMER, soon after O'KELLY.MORTIMER (after a pause).Am I then mad? Came not one running byBut now, and cried aloud, the queen is murdered!No, no! I did but dream. A feverish fancyPaints that upon my mind as true and real,Which but existed in my frantic thoughts.Who's there? It is O'Kelly. So dismayed!O'KELLY (rushing in).Flee, Mortimer, oh! flee—for all is lost!MORTIMER.What then is lost?O'KELLY.Stand not on question. ThinkOn speedy flight.MORTIMER.What has occurred?O'KELLY.Sauvage,That madman, struck the blow.MORTIMER.It is then true!O'KELLY.True, true—oh! save yourself.MORTIMER (exultingly).The queen is murdered—And Mary shall ascend the English throne!O'KELLY.Is murdered! Who said that?MORTIMER.Yourself.O'KELLY.She lives,And I, and you, and all of us are lost.MORTIMER.She lives!O'KELLY.The blow was badly aimed, her cloakReceived it. Shrewsbury disarmed the murderer.MORTIMER.She lives!O'KELLY.She lives to whelm us all in ruin;Come, they surround the park already; come.MORTIMER.Who did this frantic deed?O'KELLY.It was the monkFrom Toulon, whom you saw immersed in thought,As in the chapel the pope's bull was read,Which poured anathemas upon the queen.He wished to take the nearest, shortest way,To free, with one bold stroke, the church of God,And gain the crown of martyrdom: he trustedHis purpose only to the priest, and struckThe fatal blow upon the road to London.MORTIMER (after a long silence).Alas! a fierce, destructive fate pursues thee,Unhappy one! Yes—now thy death is fixed;Thy very angel has prepared thy fall!O'KELLY.Say, whither will you take your flight? I goTo hide me in the forests of the north.MORTIMER.Fly thither, and may God attend your flight;I will remain, and still attempt to saveMy love; if not, my bed shall be upon her grave.[Exeunt at different sides.
COUNT AUBESPINE, the EARLS Of KENT and LEICESTER.AUBESPINE.How fares her majesty? My lords, you see meStill stunned, and quite beside myself for terror!How happened it? How was it possibleThat in the midst of this most loyal people——LEICESTER.The deed was not attempted by the people.The assassin was a subject of your king,A Frenchman.AUBESPINE.Sure a lunatic.LEICESTER.A papist,Count Aubespine!
Enter BURLEIGH, in conversation with DAVISON.BURLEIGH.Sir; let the death-warrantBe instantly made out, and pass the seal;Then let it be presented to the queen;Her majesty must sign it. Hasten, sir,We have no time to lose.DAVISON.It shall be done.[Exit.AUBESPINE.My lord high-treasurer, my faithful heartShares in the just rejoicings of the realm.Praised be almighty Heaven, who hath avertedAssassination from our much-loved queen!BURLEIGH.Praised be His name, who thus hath turned to scornThe malice of our foes!AUBESPINE.May heaven confoundThe perpetrator of this cursed deed!BURLEIGH.Its perpetrator and its base contriver!AUBESPINE.Please you, my lord, to bring me to the queen,That I may lay the warm congratulationsOf my imperial master at her feet.BURLEIGH.There is no need of this.AUBESPINE (officiously).My Lord of Burleigh,I know my duty.BURLEIGH.Sir, your duty isTo quit, and that without delay, this kingdom.AUBESPINE (stepping back with surprise).What! How is this?BURLEIGH.The sacred characterOf an ambassador to-day protects you,But not to-morrow.AUBESPINE.What's my crime?BURLEIGH.Should IOnce name it, there were then no pardon for it.AUBESPINE.I hope, my lord, my charge's privilege——BURLEIGH.Screens not a traitor.LEICESTER and KENT.Traitor! How?AUBESPINE.My Lord,Consider well——BURLEIGH.Your passport was discoveredIn the assassin's pocket.KENT.Righteous heaven!AUBESPINE.Sir, many passports are subscribed by me;I cannot know the secret thoughts of men.BURLEIGH.He in your house confessed, and was absolved.AUBESPINE.My house is open——BURLEIGH.To our enemies.AUBESPINE.I claim a strict inquiry.BURLEIGH.Tremble at it.AUBESPINE.My monarch in my person is insulted,He will annul the marriage contract.BURLEIGH.ThatMy royal mistress has annulled already;England will not unite herself with France.My Lord of Kent, I give to you the chargeTo see Count Aubespine embarked in safety.The furious populace has stormed his palace,Where a whole arsenal of arms was found;Should he be found, they'll tear him limb from limb,Conceal him till the fury is abated—You answer for his life.AUBESPINE.I go—I leaveThis kingdom where they sport with public treatiesAnd trample on the laws of nations. YetMy monarch, be assured, will vent his rageIn direst vengeance!BURLEIGH.Let him seek it here.[Exeunt KENT and AUBESPINE.
LEICESTER, BURLEIGH.LEICESTER.And thus you loose yourself the knot of unionWhich you officiously, uncalled for, bound!You have deserved but little of your country,My lord; this trouble was superfluous.BURLEIGH.My aim was good, though fate declared against it;Happy is he who has so fair a conscience!LEICESTER.Well know we the mysterious mien of BurleighWhen he is on the hunt for deeds of treason.Now you are in your element, my lord;A monstrous outrage has been just committed,And darkness veils as yet its perpetrators:Now will a court of inquisition rise;Each word, each look be weighed; men's very thoughtsBe summoned to the bar. You are, my lord,The mighty man, the Atlas of the state,All England's weight lies upon your shoulders.BURLEIGH.In you, my lord, I recognize my master;For such a victory as your eloquenceHas gained I cannot boast.LEICESTER.What means your lordship?BURLEIGH.You were the man who knew, behind my back,To lure the queen to Fotheringay Castle.LEICESTER.Behind your back! When did I fear to actBefore your face?BURLEIGH.You led her majesty?Oh, no—you led her not—it was the queenWho was so gracious as to lead you thither.LEICESTER.What mean you, my lord, by that?BURLEIGH.The noble partYou forced the queen to play! The glorious triumphWhich you prepared for her! Too gracious princess!So shamelessly, so wantonly to mockThy unsuspecting goodness, to betray theeSo pitiless to thy exulting foe!This, then, is the magnanimity, the graceWhich suddenly possessed you in the council!The Stuart is for this so despicable,So weak an enemy, that it would scarceBe worth the pains to stain us with her blood.A specious plan! and sharply pointed too;'Tis only pity this sharp point is broken.LEICESTER.Unworthy wretch! this instant follow me,And answer at the throne this insolence.BURLEIGH.You'll find me there, my lord; and look you wellThat there your eloquence desert you not.[Exit.
LEICESTER alone, then MORTIMER.LEICESTER.I am detected! All my plot's disclosed!How has my evil genius tracked my steps!Alas! if he has proofs, if she should learnThat I have held a secret correspondenceWith her worst enemy; how criminalShall I appear to her! How false will thenMy counsel seem, and all the fatal painsI took to lure the queen to Fotheringay!I've shamefully betrayed, I have exposed herTo her detested enemy's revilings!Oh! never, never can she pardon that.All will appear as if premeditated.The bitter turn of this sad interview,The triumph and the tauntings of her rival;Yes, e'en the murderous hand which had preparedA bloody, monstrous, unexpected fate;All, all will be ascribed to my suggestions!I see no rescue! nowhere—ha! Who comes?[MORTIMER enters in the most violent uneasiness,and looks with apprehension round him.MORTIMER.Lord Leicester! Is it you! Are we alone?LEICESTER.Ill-fated wretch, away! What seek you here?MORTIMER.They are upon our track—upon yours, too;Be vigilant!LEICESTER.Away, away!MORTIMER.They knowThat private conferences have been heldAt Aubespine's——LEICESTER.What's that to me?MORTIMER.They know, too,That the assassin——LEICESTER.That is your affair—Audacious wretch! to dare to mix my nameIn your detested outrage: go; defendYour bloody deeds yourself!MORTIMER.But only hear me.LEICESTER (violently enraged).Down, down to hell! Why cling you at my heelsLike an infernal spirit! I disclaim you;I know you not; I make no common causeWith murderers!MORTIMER.You will not hear me, then!I came to warn you; you too are detected.LEICESTER.How! What?MORTIMER.Lord Burleigh went to FotheringayJust as the luckless deed had been attempted;Searched with strict scrutiny the queen's apartments,And found there——LEICESTER.What?MORTIMER.A letter which the queenHad just addressed to you——LEICESTER.Unhappy woman!MORTIMER.In which she calls on you to keep your word,Renews the promise of her hand, and mentionsThe picture which she sent you.LEICESTER.Death and hell!MORTIMER.Lord Burleigh has the letter.LEICESTER.I am lost![During the following speech of MORTIMER, LEICESTERgoes up and down as in despair.MORTIMER.Improve the moment; be beforehand with him,And save yourself—save her! An oath can clearYour fame; contrive excuses to avertThe worst. I am disarmed, can do no more;My comrades are dispersed—to pieces fallenOur whole confederacy. For Scotland ITo rally such new friends as there I may.'Tis now your turn, my lord; try what your weight,What bold assurance can effect.LEICESTER (stops suddenly as if resolved).I will.[Goes to the door, opens it, and calls.Who waits without? Guards! seize this wretched traitor![To the officer, who comes in with soldiers.And guard him closely! A most dreadful plotIs brought to light—I'll to her majesty.MORTIMER (stands for a time petrified with wonder; collects himself soon,and follows LEICESTER with his looks expressive of the mostsovereign contempt).Infamous wretch! But I deserve it all.Who told me then to trust this practised villain?Now o'er my head he strides, and on my fallHe builds the bridge of safety! be it so;Go, save thyself—my lips are sealed forever;I will not join even thee in my destruction;I would not own thee, no, not even in death;Life is the faithless villain's only good![To the officer of the guard, who steps forward to seize him.What wilt thou, slave of tyranny, with me?I laugh to scorn thy threatenings; I am free.[Drawing a dagger.OFFICER.He's armed; rush in and wrest his weapon from him.[They rush upon him, he defends himself.MORTIMER (raising his voice).And in this latest moment shall my heartExpand itself in freedom, and my tongueShall break this long constraint. Curse and destructionLight on you all who have betrayed your faith,Your God, and your true sovereign! Who, alikeTo earthly Mary false as to the heavenly,Have sold your duties to this bastard queen!OFFICER.Hear you these blasphemies? Rush forward—seize him.MORTIMER.Beloved queen! I could not set thee free;Yet take a lesson from me how to die.Mary, thou holy one, O! pray for me!And take me to thy heavenly home on high.[Stabs himself, and falls into the arms of the guard.
The apartment of the Queen.ELIZABETH, with a letter in her hand, BURLEIGH.ELIZABETH.To lure me thither! trifle with me thus!The traitor! Thus to lead me, as in triumph,Into the presence of his paramour!Oh, Burleigh! ne'er was woman so deceived.BURLEIGH.I cannot yet conceive what potent means,What magic he exerted, to surpriseMy queen's accustomed prudence.ELIZABETH.Oh, I dieFor shame! How must he laugh to scorn my weakness!I thought to humble her, and was myselfThe object of her bitter scorn.BURLEIGH.By thisYou see how faithfully I counselled you.ELIZABETH.Oh, I am sorely punished, that I turnedMy ear from your wise counsels; yet I thoughtI might confide in him. Who could suspectBeneath the vows of faithfullest devotionA deadly snare? In whom can I confideWhen he deceives me? He, whom I have madeThe greatest of the great, and ever setThe nearest to my heart, and in this courtAllowed to play the master and the king.BURLEIGH.Yet in that very moment he betrayed you,Betrayed you to this wily Queen of Scots.ELIZABETH.Oh, she shall pay me for it with her life!Is the death-warrant ready?BURLEIGH.'Tis preparedAs you commanded.ELIZABETH.She shall surely die—He shall behold her fall, and fall himself!I've driven him from my heart. No longer love,Revenge alone is there: and high as onceHe stood, so low and shameful be his fall!A monument of my severity,As once the proud example of my weakness.Conduct him to the Tower; let a commissionOf peers be named to try him. He shall feelIn its full weight the rigor of the law.BURLEIGH.But he will seek thy presence; he will clear——ELIZABETH.How can he clear himself? Does not the letterConvict him. Oh, his crimes are manifest!BURLEIGH.But thou art mild and gracious! His appearance,His powerful presence——ELIZABETH.I will never see him;No never, never more. Are orders givenNot to admit him should he come?BURLEIGH.'Tis done.PAGE (entering).The Earl of Leicester!ELIZABETH.The presumptuous man!I will not see him. Tell him that I will not.PAGE.I am afraid to bring my lord this message,Nor would he credit it.ELIZABETH.And I have raised himSo high that my own servants tremble moreAt him than me!BURLEIGH (to the PAGE).The queen forbids his presence.[The PAGE retires slowly.ELIZABETH (after a pause).Yet, if it still were possible? If heCould clear himself? Might it not be a snareLaid by the cunning one, to sever meFrom my best friends—the ever-treacherous harlot!She might have writ the letter, but to raisePoisonous suspicion in my heart, to ruinThe man she hates.BURLEIGH.Yet, gracious queen, consider.