1The picture of Ate, the goddess of mischief, we are acquaintedwith from Homer, II. v. 91, 130. I. 501. She is a daughter ofJupiter, and eager to prejudice every one, even the immortal gods.She counteracted Jupiter himself, on which account he seized her byher beautiful hair, and hurled her from heaven to the earth, whereshe now, striding over the heads of men, excites them to evil inorder to involve them in calamity.—HERDER.Shakspeare has, in Julius Caesar, made a fine use of this image:—"And Caesar's spirit ranging for revengewith Ate by his side, come hot from hell,Shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice,Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war."I need not point out to the reader the beautiful propriety ofintroducing the evil spirit on this occasion.—TRANSLATOR.
Enter SIR AMIAS PAULET and MORTIMER.ELIZABETH.There's Sir Amias Paulet; noble sir,What tidings bring you?PAULET.Gracious sovereign,My nephew, who but lately is returnedFrom foreign travel, kneels before thy feet,And offers thee his first and earliest homage,Grant him thy royal grace, and let him growAnd flourish in the sunshine of thy favor.MORTIMER (kneeling on one knee).Long live my royal mistress! HappinessAnd glory from a crown to grace her brows!ELIZABETH.Arise, sir knight; and welcome here in England;You've made, I hear, the tour, have been in FranceAnd Rome, and tarried, too, some time at Rheims:Tell me what plots our enemies are hatching?MORTIMER.May God confound them all! And may the dartsWhich they shall aim against my sovereign,Recoiling, strike their own perfidious breasts!ELIZABETH.Did you see Morgan, and the wily BishopOf Ross?
MORTIMER.I saw, my queen, all Scottish exilesWho forge at Rheims their plots against this realm.I stole into their confidence in hopesTo learn some hint of their conspiracies.PAULET.Private despatches they intrusted to him,In cyphers, for the Queen of Scots, which he,With loyal hand, hath given up to us.ELIZABETH.Say, what are then their latest plans of treason?MORTIMER.It struck them all as 'twere a thunderbolt,That France should leave them, and with England closeThis firm alliance; now they turn their hopesTowards Spain——ELIZABETH.This, Walsingham hath written us.MORTIMER.Besides, a bull, which from the VaticanPope Sixtus lately levelled at thy throne,Arrived at Rheims, as I was leaving it;With the next ship we may expect it here.LEICESTER.England no more is frightened by such arms.BURLEIGH.They're always dangerous in bigots' hands.ELIZABETH (looking steadfastly at MORTIMER).Your enemies have said that you frequentedThe schools at Rheims, and have abjured your faith.MORTIMER.So I pretended, that I must confess;Such was my anxious wish to serve my queen.ELIZABETH (to PAULET, who presents papers to her).What have you there?PAULET.'Tis from the Queen of Scots.'Tis a petition, and to thee addressed.BURLEIGH (hastily catching at it).Give me the paper.PAULET (giving it to the QUEEN).By your leave, my lordHigh-treasurer; the lady ordered meTo bring it to her majesty's own hands.She says I am her enemy; I amThe enemy of her offences only,And that which is consistent with my dutyI will, and readily, oblige her in.[The QUEEN takes the letter: as she reads it MORTIMERand LEICESTER speak some words in private.BURLEIGH (to PAULET).What may the purport of the letter be?Idle complaints, from which one ought to screenThe queen's too tender heart.PAULET.What it containsShe did not hide from me; she asks a boon;She begs to be admitted to the graceOf speaking with the queen.BURLEIGH.It cannot be.TALBOT.Why not? Her supplication's not unjust.BURLEIGH.For her, the base encourager of murder;Her, who hath thirsted for our sovereign's blood,The privilege to see the royal presenceIs forfeited: a faithful counsellorCan never give this treacherous advice.TALBOT.And if the queen is gracious, sir, are youThe man to hinder pity's soft emotions?BURLEIGH.She is condemned to death; her head is laidBeneath the axe, and it would ill becomeThe queen to see a death-devoted head.The sentence cannot have its executionIf the queen's majesty approaches her,For pardon still attends the royal presence,As sickness flies the health-dispensing hand.ELIZABETH (having read the letter, dries her tears).Oh, what is man! What is the bliss of earth!To what extremities is she reducedWho with such proud and splendid hopes began!Who, called to sit on the most ancient throneOf Christendom, misled by vain ambition,Hoped with a triple crown to deck her brows!How is her language altered, since the timeWhen she assumed the arms of England's crown,And by the flatterers of her court was styledSole monarch of the two Britannic isles!Forgive me, lords, my heart is cleft in twain,Anguish possesses me, and my soul bleedsTo think that earthly goods are so unstable,And that the dreadful fate which rules mankindShould threaten mine own house, and scowl so near me.TALBOT.Oh, queen! the God of mercy hath informedYour heart; Oh! hearken to this heavenly guidance.Most grievously, indeed, hath she atoned.Her grievous crime, and it is time that now,At last, her heavy penance have an end.Stretch forth your hand to raise this abject queen,And, like the luminous vision of an angel,Descend into her gaol's sepulchral night.BURLEIGH.Be steadfast, mighty queen; let no emotionOf seeming laudable humanityMislead thee; take not from thyself the powerOf acting as necessity commands.Thou canst not pardon her, thou canst not save her:Then heap not on thyself the odious blame,That thou, with cruel and contemptuous triumph,Didst glut thyself with gazing on thy victim.LEICESTER.Let us, my lords, remain within our bounds;The queen is wise, and doth not need our counselsTo lead her to the most becoming choice.This meeting of the queens hath naught in commonWith the proceedings of the court of justice.The law of England, not the monarch's will,Condemns the Queen of Scotland, and 'twere worthyOf the great soul of Queen Elizabeth,To follow the soft dictates of her heart,Though justice swerves not from its rigid path.ELIZABETH.Retire, my lords. We shall, perhaps, find meansTo reconcile the tender claims of pityWith what necessity imposes on us.And now retire.[The LORDS retire; she calls SIR EDWARD MORTIMER back.Sir Edward Mortimer!
ELIZABETH, MORTIMER.ELIZABETH (having measured him for some time with her eyes in silence).You've shown a spirit of adventurous courageAnd self-possession, far beyond your years.He who has timely learnt to play so wellThe difficult dissembler's needful taskBecomes a perfect man before his time,And shortens his probationary years.Fate calls you to a lofty scene of action;I prophesy it, and can, happilyFor you, fulfil, myself, my own prediction.MORTIMER.Illustrious mistress, what I am, and allI can accomplish, is devoted to you.ELIZABETH.You've made acquaintance with the foes of England.Their hate against me is implacable;Their fell designs are inexhaustible.As yet, indeed, Almighty ProvidenceHath shielded me; but on my brows the crownForever trembles, while she lives who fansTheir bigot-zeal, and animates their hopes.MORTIMER.She lives no more, as soon as you command it.ELIZABETH.Oh, sir! I thought I saw my labors end,And I am come no further than at first,I wished to let the laws of England act,And keep my own hands pure from blood's defilement.The sentence is pronounced—what gain I by it?It must be executed, Mortimer,And I must authorize the execution.The blame will ever light on me, I mustAvow it, nor can save appearances.That is the worst——MORTIMER.But can appearancesDisturb your conscience where the cause is just?ELIZABETH.You are unpractised in the world, sir knight;What we appear, is subject to the judgmentOf all mankind, and what we are, of no man.No one will be convinced that I am right:I must take care that my connivance inHer death be wrapped in everlasting doubt.In deeds of such uncertain double visageSafety lies only in obscurity.Those measures are the worst that stand avowed;What's not abandoned, is not wholly lost.MORTIMER (seeking to learn her meaning).Then it perhaps were best——ELIZABETH (quick).Ay, surely 'twereThe best; Oh, sir, my better angel speaksThrough you;—go on then, worthy sir, concludeYou are in earnest, you examine deep,Have quite a different spirit from your uncle.MORTIMER (surprised).Have you imparted then your wishes to him?ELIZABETH.I am sorry that I have.MORTIMER.Excuse his age,The old man is grown scrupulous; such boldAdventures ask the enterprising heartOf youth——ELIZABETH.And may I venture then on you——MORTIMER.My hand I'll lend thee; save then as thou canstThy reputation——ELIZABETH.Yes, sir; if you couldBut waken me some morning with this news"Maria Stuart, your bloodthirsty foe,Breathed yesternight her last"——MORTIMER.Depend on me.ELIZABETH.When shall my head lie calmly down to sleep?MORTIMER.The next new moon will terminate thy fears.ELIZABETH.And be the selfsame happy day the dawnOf your preferment—so God speed you, sir;And be not hurt, if, chance, my thankfulnessShould wear the mask of darkness. Silence isThe happy suitor's god. The closest bonds,The dearest, are the works of secrecy.[Exit.
MORTIMER (alone).Go, false, deceitful queen! As thou deludestThe world, e'en so I cozen thee; 'tis right,Thus to betray thee; 'tis a worthy deed.Look I then like a murderer? Hast thou readUpon my brow such base dexterity?Trust only to my arm, and keep thine ownConcealed—assume the pious outward showOf mercy 'fore the world, while reckoningIn secret on my murderous aid; and thusBy gaining time we shall insure her rescue.Thou wilt exalt me!—show'st me from afarThe costly recompense: but even wereThyself the prize, and all thy woman's favor,What art thou, poor one, and what canst thou proffer?I scorn ambition's avaricious strife,With her alone is all the charm of life,O'er her, in rounds of endless glory, hoverSpirits with grace, and youth eternal blessed,Celestial joy is throned upon her breast.Thou hast but earthly, mortal goods to offer—That sovereign good, for which all else be slighted,When heart in heart, delighting and delighted;Together flow in sweet forgetfulness;—Ne'er didst thou woman's fairest crown possess,Ne'er hast thou with thy hand a lover's heart requited.I must attend Lord Leicester, and deliverHer letter to him—'tis a hateful charge—I have no confidence in this court puppet—I can effect her rescue, I alone;Be danger, honor, and the prize my own.[As he is going, PAULET meets him.
MORTIMER, PAULET.PAULET.What said the queen to you?MORTIMER.'Twas nothing, sir;Nothing of consequence——PAULET (looking at him earnestly).Hear, Mortimer!It is a false and slippery ground on whichYou tread. The grace of princes is alluring,Youth loves ambition—let not yours betray you.MORTIMER.Was it not yourself that brought me to the court?PAULET.Oh, would to God I had not done as much!The honor of our house was never reapedIn courts—stand fast, my nephew—purchase notToo dear, nor stain your conscience with a crime.MORTIMER.What are these fears? What are you dreaming of?PAULET.How high soever the queen may pledge herselfTo raise you, trust not her alluring words.[The spirit of the world's a lying spirit,And vice is a deceitful, treacherous friend.]She will deny you, if you listen to her;And, to preserve her own good name, will punishThe bloody deed, which she herself enjoined.MORTIMER.The bloody deed!——PAULET.Away, dissimulation!—I know the deed the queen proposed to you.She hopes that your ambitious youth will proveMore docile than my rigid age. But say,Have you then pledged your promise, have you?MORTIMER.Uncle!PAULET.If you have done so, I abandon you,And lay my curse upon you——LEICESTER (entering).Worthy sir!I with your nephew wish a word. The queenIs graciously inclined to him; she willsThat to his custody the Scottish queenBe with full powers intrusted. She reliesOn his fidelity.PAULET.Relies!—'tis well——LEICESTER.What say you, sir?PAULET.Her majesty reliesOn him; and I, my noble lord, relyUpon myself, and my two open eyes.[Exit.
LEICESTER, MORTIMER.LEICESTER (surprised).What ailed the knight?MORTIMER.My lord, I cannot tellWhat angers him: the confidence, perhaps,The queen so suddenly confers on me.LEICESTER.Are you deserving then of confidence?MORTIMER.This would I ask of you, my Lord of Leicester.LEICESTER.You said you wished to speak with me in private.MORTIMER.Assure me first that I may safely venture.LEICESTER.Who gives me an assurance on your side?Let not my want of confidence offend you;I see you, sir, exhibit at this courtTwo different aspects; one of them must beA borrowed one; but which of them is real?MORTIMER.The selfsame doubts I have concerning you.LEICESTER.Which, then, shall pave the way to confidence?MORTIMER.He, who by doing it, is least in danger.LEICESTER.Well, that are you——MORTIMER.No, you; the evidenceOf such a weighty, powerful peer as youCan overwhelm my voice. My accusationIs weak against your rank and influence.LEICESTER.Sir, you mistake. In everything but thisI'm powerful here; but in this tender pointWhich I am called upon to trust you with,I am the weakest man of all the court,The poorest testimony can undo me.MORTIMER.If the all-powerful Earl of Leicester deignTo stoop so low to meet me, and to makeSuch a confession to me, I may ventureTo think a little better of myself,And lead the way in magnanimity.LEICESTER.Lead you the way of confidence, I'll follow.MORTIMER (producing suddenly the letter).Here is a letter from the Queen of Scotland.LEICESTER (alarmed, catches hastily at the letter).Speak softly, sir! what see I? Oh, it isHer picture![Kisses and examines it with speechless joy—a pause.MORTIMER (who has watched him closely the whole tine).Now, my lord, I can believe you.LEICESTER (having hastily run through the letter).You know the purport of this letter, sir.MORTIMER.Not I.LEICESTER.Indeed! She surely hath informed you.MORTIMER.Nothing hath she informed me of. She saidYou would explain this riddle to me—'tisTo me a riddle, that the Earl of Leicester,The far-famed favorite of Elizabeth,The open, bitter enemy of Mary,And one of those who spoke her mortal sentence,Should be the man from whom the queen expectsDeliverance from her woes; and yet it must be;Your eyes express too plainly what your heartFeels for the hapless lady.LEICESTER.Tell me, Sir,First, how it comes that you should take so warmAn interest in her fate; and what it wasGained you her confidence?MORTIMER.My lord, I can,And in few words, explain this mystery.I lately have at Rome abjured my creed,And stand in correspondence with the Guises.A letter from the cardinal archbishopWas my credential with the Queen of Scots.LEICESTER.I am acquainted, sir, with your conversion;'Twas that which waked my confidence towards you.[Each remnant of distrust be henceforth banished;]Your hand, sir, pardon me these idle doubts,I cannot use too much precaution here.Knowing how Walsingham and Burleigh hate me,And, watching me, in secret spread their snares;You might have been their instrument, their creatureTo lure me to their toils.MORTIMER.How poor a partSo great a nobleman is forced to playAt court! My lord, I pity you.LEICESTER.With joyI rest upon the faithful breast of friendship,Where I can ease me of this long constraint.You seem surprised, sir, that my heart is turnedSo suddenly towards the captive queen.In truth, I never hated her; the timesHave forced me to be her enemy.She was, as you well know, my destined bride,Long since, ere she bestowed her hand on Darnley,While yet the beams of glory round her smiled,Coldly I then refused the proffered boon.Now in confinement, at the gates of death,I claim her at the hazard of my life.MORTIMER.True magnanimity, my lord.LEICESTER.The stateOf circumstances since that time is changed.Ambition made me all insensibleTo youth and beauty. Mary's hand I heldToo insignificant for me; I hopedTo be the husband of the Queen of England.MORTIMER.It is well known she gave you preferenceBefore all others.LEICESTER.So, indeed, it seemed.Now, after ten lost years of tedious courtshipAnd hateful self-constraint—oh, sir, my heartMust ease itself of this long agony.They call me happy! Did they only knowWhat the chains are, for which they envy me!When I had sacrificed ten bitter yearsTo the proud idol of her vanity;Submitted with a slave's humilityTo every change of her despotic fanciesThe plaything of each little wayward whim.At times by seeming tenderness caressed,As oft repulsed with proud and cold disdain;Alike tormented by her grace and rigor:Watched like a prisoner by the Argus eyesOf jealousy; examined like a schoolboy,And railed at like a servant. Oh, no tongueCan paint this hell.MORTIMER.My lord, I feel for you.LEICESTER.To lose, and at the very goal, the prizeAnother comes to rob me of the fruitsOf my so anxious wooing. I must loseTo her young blooming husband all those rightsOf which I was so long in full possession;And I must from the stage descend, where ISo long have played the most distinguished part.'Tis not her hand alone this envious strangerThreatens, he'd rob me of her favor too;She is a woman, and he formed to please.MORTIMER.He is the son of Catherine. He has learntIn a good school the arts of flattery.LEICESTER.Thus fall my hopes; I strove to seize a plankTo bear me in this shipwreck of my fortunes,And my eye turned itself towards the hopeOf former days once more; then Mary's imageWithin me was renewed, and youth and beautyOnce more asserted all their former rights.No more 'twas cold ambition; 'twas my heartWhich now compared, and with regret I feltThe value of the jewel I had lost.With horror I beheld her in the depths.Of misery, cast down by my transgression;Then waked the hope in me that I might stillDeliver and possess her; I contrivedTo send her, through a faithful hand, the newsOf my conversion to her interests;And in this letter which you brought me, sheAssures me that she pardons me, and offersHerself as guerdon if I rescue her.MORTIMER.But you attempted nothing for her rescue.You let her be condemned without a word:You gave, yourself, your verdict for her death;A miracle must happen, and the lightOf truth must move me, me, her keeper's nephew,And heaven must in the Vatican at RomePrepare for her an unexpected succour,Else had she never found the way to you.LEICESTER.Oh, sir, it has tormented me enough!About this time it was that they removed herFrom Talbot's castle, and delivered herUp to your uncle's stricter custody.Each way to her was shut. I was obligedBefore the world to persecute her still;But do not think that I would patientlyHave seen her led to death. No, Sir; I hoped,And still I hope, to ward off all extremes,Till I can find some certain means to save her.MORTIMER.These are already found: my Lord of Leicester;Your generous confidence in me deservesA like return. I will deliver her.That is my object here; my dispositionsAre made already, and your powerful aidAssures us of success in our attempt.LEICESTER.What say you? You alarm me! How? You would——MORTIMER.I'll open forcibly her prison-gates;I have confederates, and all is ready.LEICESTER.You have confederates, accomplices?Alas! In what rash enterprise would youEngage me? And these friends, know they my secret?MORTIMER.Fear not; our plan was laid without your help,Without your help it would have been accomplished,Had she not signified her resolutionTo owe her liberty to you alone.LEICESTER.And can you, then, with certainty assure meThat in your plot my name has not been mentioned?MORTIMER.You may depend upon it. How, my lord,So scrupulous when help is offered you?You wish to rescue Mary, and possess her;You find confederates; sudden, unexpected,The readiest means fall, as it were from Heaven,Yet you show more perplexity than joy.LEICESTER.We must avoid all violence; it isToo dangerous an enterprise.MORTIMER.DelayIs also dangerous.LEICESTER.I tell you, Sir,'Tis not to be attempted——MORTIMER.My lord,Too hazardous for you, who would possess her;But we, who only wish to rescue her,We are more bold.LEICESTER.Young man, you are too hastyIn such a thorny, dangerous attempt.MORTIMER.And you too scrupulous in honor's cause.LEICESTER.I see the trammels that are spread around us.MORTIMER.And I feel courage to break through them all.LEICESTER.Foolhardiness and madness, is this courage?MORTIMER.This prudence is not bravery, my lord.LEICESTER.You surely wish to end like Babington.MORTIMER.You not to imitate great Norfolk's virtue.LEICESTER.Norfolk ne'er won the bride he wooed so fondly.MORTIMER.But yet he proved how truly he deserved her.LEICESTER.If we are ruined, she must fall with us.MORTIMER.If we risk nothing, she will ne'er be rescued.LEICESTER.You will not weigh the matter, will not hear;With blind and hasty rashness you destroyThe plans which I so happily had framed.MORTIMER.And what were then the plans which you had framed?What have you done then to deliver her?And how, if I were miscreant enoughTo murder her, as was proposed to meThis moment by Elizabeth, and whichShe looks upon as certain; only nameThe measures you have taken to protect her?LEICESTER.Did the queen give you, then, this bloody order?MORTIMER.She was deceived in me, as Mary is in you.LEICESTER.And have you promised it? Say, have you?MORTIMER.That she might not engage another's hand,I offered mine.LEICESTER.Well done, sir; that was right;This gives us leisure, for she rests secureUpon your bloody service, and the sentenceIs unfulfilled the while, and we gain time.MORTIMER (angrily).No, we are losing time.LEICESTER.The queen dependsOn you, and will the readier make a showOf mercy; and I may prevail on herTo give an audience to her adversary;And by this stratagem we tie her handsYes! I will make the attempt, strain every nerve.MORTIMER.And what is gained by this? When she discoversThat I am cheating her, that Mary lives;Are we not where we were? She never willBe free; the mildest doom which can await herAt best is but perpetual confinement.A daring deed must one day end the matter;Why will you not with such a deed begin?The power is in your hands, would you but rouseThe might of your dependents round aboutYour many castles, 'twere an host; and stillHas Mary many secret friends. The HowardsAnd Percies' noble houses, though their chiefsBe fallen, are rich in heroes; they but waitFor the example of some potent lord.Away with feigning—act an open part,And, like a loyal knight, protect your fair;Fight a good fight for her! You know you areLord of the person of the Queen of England,Whene'er you will: invite her to your castle,Oft hath she thither followed you—then showThat you're a man; then speak as master; keep herConfined till she release the Queen of Scots.LEICESTER.I am astonished—I am terrified!Where would your giddy madness hurry you?Are you acquainted with this country? Know youThe deeps and shallows of this court? With whatA potent spell this female sceptre bindsAnd rules men's spirits round her? 'Tis in vainYou seek the heroic energy which onceWas active in this land! it is subdued,A woman holds it under lock and key,And every spring of courage is relaxed.Follow my counsel—venture nothing rashly.Some one approaches-go——MORTIMER.And Mary hopes—Shall I return to her with empty comfort?LEICESTER.Bear her my vows of everlasting love.MORTIMER.Bear them yourself! I offered my assistanceAs her deliverer, not your messenger.[Exit.
ELIZABETH, LEICESTER.ELIZABETH.Say, who was here? I heard the sound of voices.LEICESTER (turning quickly and perplexed round on hearing the QUEEN).It was young Mortimer——ELIZABETH.How now, my lord:Why so confused?LEICESTER (collecting himself).Your presence is the cause.Ne'er did I see thy beauty so resplendent,My sight is dazzled by thy heavenly charms.Oh!ELIZABETH.Whence this sigh?LEICESTER.Have I no reason, then,To sigh? When I behold you in your glory,I feel anew, with pain unspeakable,The loss which threatens me.ELIZABETH.What loss, my lord?LEICESTER.Your heart; your own inestimable selfSoon will you feel yourself within the armsOf your young ardent husband, highly blessed;He will possess your heart without a rival.He is of royal blood, that am not I.Yet, spite of all the world can say, there lives notOne on this globe who with such fervent zealAdores you as the man who loses you.Anjou hath never seen you, can but loveYour glory and the splendor of your reign;But I love you, and were you born of allThe peasant maids the poorest, I the firstOf kings, I would descend to your condition,And lay my crown and sceptre at your feet!ELIZABETH.Oh, pity me, my Dudley; do not blame me;I cannot ask my heart. Oh, that had chosenFar otherwise! Ah, how I envy othersWho can exalt the object of their love!But I am not so blest: 'tis not my fortuneTo place upon the brows of him, the dearestOf men to me, the royal crown of England.The Queen of Scotland was allowed to makeHer hand the token of her inclination;She hath had every freedom, and hath drunk,Even to the very dregs, the cup of joy.
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LEICESTER.And now she drinks the bitter cup of sorrow.ELIZABETH.She never did respect the world's opinion;Life was to her a sport; she never courtedThe yoke to which I bowed my willing neck.And yet, methinks, I had as just a claimAs she to please myself and taste the joysOf life: but I preferred the rigid dutiesWhich royalty imposed on me; yet she,She was the favorite of all the menBecause she only strove to be a woman;And youth and age became alike her suitors.Thus are the men voluptuaries all!The willing slaves of levity and pleasure;Value that least which claims their reverence.And did not even Talbot, though gray-headed,Grow young again when speaking of her charms?LEICESTER.Forgive him, for he was her keeper once,And she has fooled him with her cunning wiles.ELIZABETH.And is it really true that she's so fair?So often have I been obliged to hearThe praises of this wonder—it were wellIf I could learn on what I might depend:Pictures are flattering, and description lies;I will trust nothing but my own conviction.Why gaze you at me thus?LEICESTER.I placed in thoughtYou and Maria Stuart side by side.Yes! I confess I oft have felt a wish,If it could be but secretly contrived,To see you placed beside the Scottish queen,Then would you feel, and not till then, the fullEnjoyment of your triumph: she deservesTo be thus humbled; she deserves to see,With her own eyes, and envy's glance is keen,Herself surpassed, to feel herself o'ermatched,As much by thee in form and princely graceAs in each virtue that adorns the sex.ELIZABETH.In years she has the advantage——LEICESTER.Has she so?I never should have thought it. But her griefs,Her sufferings, indeed! 'tis possibleHave brought down age upon her ere her time.Yes, and 'twould mortify her more to see theeAs bride—she hath already turned her backOn each fair hope of life, and she would see theeAdvancing towards the open arms of joy.See thee as bride of France's royal son,She who hath always plumed herself so highOn her connection with the house of France,And still depends upon its mighty aid.ELIZABETH (with a careless air).I'm teazed to grant this interview.LEICESTER.She asks itAs a favor; grant it as a punishment.For though you should conduct her to the block,Yet would it less torment her than to seeHerself extinguished by your beauty's splendor.Thus can you murder her as she hath wishedTo murder you. When she beholds your beauty,Guarded by modesty, and beaming bright,In the clear glory of unspotted fame(Which she with thoughtless levity discarded),Exalted by the splendor of the crown,And blooming now with tender bridal graces—Then is the hour of her destruction come.Yes—when I now behold you—you were never,No, never were you so prepared to sealThe triumph of your beauty. As but nowYou entered the apartment, I was dazzledAs by a glorious vision from on high.Could you but now, now as you are, appearBefore her, you could find no better moment.ELIZABETH.Now? no, not now; no, Leicester; this must beMaturely weighed—I must with Burleigh——LEICESTER.Burleigh!To him you are but sovereign, and as suchAlone he seeks your welfare; but your rights,Derived from womanhood, this tender pointMust be decided by your own tribunal,Not by the statesman; yet e'en policyDemands that you should see her, and allureBy such a generous deed the public voice.You can hereafter act as it may please you,To rid you of the hateful enemy.ELIZABETH.But would it then become me to beholdMy kinswoman in infamy and want?They say she is not royally attended;Would not the sight of her distress reproach me?LEICESTER.You need not cross her threshold; hear my counsel.A fortunate conjuncture favors it.The hunt you mean to honor with your presenceIs in the neighborhood of Fotheringay;Permission may be given to Lady StuartTo take the air; you meet her in the park,As if by accident; it must not seemTo have been planned, and should you not incline,You need not speak to her.ELIZABETH.If I am foolish,Be yours the fault, not mine. I would not careTo-day to cross your wishes; for to-dayI've grieved you more than all my other subjects.[Tenderly.Let it then be your fancy. Leicester, henceYou see the free obsequiousness of love.Which suffers that which it cannot approve.[LEICESTER prostrates himself before her, and the curtain falls.
In a park. In the foreground trees; in the backgrounda distant prospect.MARY advances, running from behind the trees.HANNAH KENNEDY follows slowly.KENNEDY.You hasten on as if endowed with wings;I cannot follow you so swiftly; wait.MARY.Freedom returns! Oh let me enjoy it.Let me be childish; be thou childish with me.Freedom invites me! Oh, let me employ itSkimming with winged step light o'er the lea;Have I escaped from this mansion of mourning?Holds me no more the sad dungeon of care?Let me, with joy and with eagerness burning,Drink in the free, the celestial air.KENNEDY.Oh, my dear lady! but a very littleIs your sad gaol extended; you behold notThe wall that shuts us in; these plaited tuftsOf trees hide from your sight the hated object.MARY.Thanks to these friendly trees, that hide from meMy prison walls, and flatter my illusion!Happy I now may deem myself, and free;Why wake me from my dream's so sweet confusion?The extended vault of heaven around me lies,Free and unfettered range my wandering eyesO'er space's vast, immeasurable sea!From where yon misty mountains rise on highI can my empire's boundaries explore;And those light clouds which, steering southwards, fly,Seek the mild clime of France's genial shore.Fast fleeting clouds! ye meteors that fly;Could I but with you sail through the sky!Tenderly greet the dear land of my youth!Here I am captive! oppressed by my foes,No other than you may carry my woes.Free through the ether your pathway is seen,Ye own not the power of this tyrant queen.KENNEDY.Alas! dear lady! You're beside yourself,This long-lost, long-sought freedom makes you rave.MARY.Yonder's a fisher returning to his home;Poor though it be, would he lend me his wherry,Quick to congenial shores would I ferry.Spare is his trade, and labor's his doom;Rich would I freight his vessel with treasure;Such a draught should be his as he never had seen;Wealth should he find in his nets without measure,Would he but rescue a poor captive queen.KENNEDY.Fond, fruitless wishes! See you not from farHow we are followed by observing spies?A dismal, barbarous prohibition scaresEach sympathetic being from our path.MARY.No, gentle Hannah! Trust me, not in vainMy prison gates are opened. This small graceIs harbinger of greater happiness.No! I mistake not; 'tis the active handOf love to which I owe this kind indulgence.I recognize in this the mighty armOf Leicester. They will by degrees expandMy prison; will accustom me, through small,To greater liberty, until at lastI shall behold the face of him whose handWill dash my fetters off, and that forever.KENNEDY.Oh, my dear queen! I cannot reconcileThese contradictions. 'Twas but yesterdayThat they announced your death, and all at once,To-day, you have such liberty. Their chainsAre also loosed, as I have oft been told,Whom everlasting liberty awaits.[Hunting horns at a distance.MARY.Hear'st then the bugle, so blithely resounding?Hear'st thou its echoes through wood and through plain?Oh, might I now, on my nimble steed bounding,Join with the jocund, the frolicsome train.[Hunting horns again heard.Again! Oh, this sad and this pleasing remembrance!These are the sounds which, so sprightly and clear,Oft, when with music the hounds and the hornSo cheerfully welcomed the break of the morn,On the heaths of the Highlands delighted my ear.
Enter PAULET.PAULET.Well, have I acted right at last, my lady?Do I for once, at least, deserve your thanks?MARY.How! Do I owe this favor, sir, to you?PAULET.Why not to me? I visited the court,And gave the queen your letter.MARY.Did you give it?In very truth did you deliver it?And is this freedom which I now enjoyThe happy consequence?PAULET (significantly).Nor that alone;Prepare yourself to see a greater still.MARY.A greater still! What do you mean by that?PAULET.You heard the bugle-horns?MARY (starting back with foreboding apprehension).You frighten me.PAULET.The queen is hunting in the neighborhood——MARY.What!PAULET.In a few moments she'll appear before you.KENNEDY (hastening towards MARY, and about to fall).How fare you, dearest lady? You grow pale.PAULET.How? Is't not well? Was it not then your prayer?'Tis granted now, before it was expected;You who had ever such a ready speech,Now summon all your powers of eloquence,The important time to use them now is come.MARY.Oh, why was I not told of this before?Now I am not prepared for it—not nowWhat, as the greatest favor, I besought,Seems to me now most fearful; Hannah, come,Lead me into the house, till I collectMy spirits.PAULET.Stay; you must await her here.Yes! I believe you may be well alarmedTo stand before your judge.