Mary Stuart

SCENE VII

MORTIMER, PAULET, and DRURY rush in in the greatest consternation. 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.

SCENE VIII

MORTIMER, soon after O'KELLY.

MORTIMER (after a pause)   Am I then mad? Came not one running by   But now, and cried aloud, the queen is murdered!   No, no! I did but dream. A feverish fancy   Paints 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. Think   On 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 cloak   Received 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 monk   From 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 trusted   His purpose only to the priest, and struck   The 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 go   To hide me in the forests of the north.MORTIMER   Fly thither, and may God attend your flight;   I will remain, and still attempt to save   My love; if not, my bed shall be upon her grave.

[Exeunt at different sides.

ACT IV

SCENE I. – Antechamber

COUNT AUBESPINE, the EARLS Of KENT and LEICESTER.

AUBESPINE   How fares her majesty? My lords, you see me   Still stunned, and quite beside myself for terror!   How happened it? How was it possible   That 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!

SCENE II

Enter BURLEIGH, in conversation with DAVISON.

BURLEIGH            Sir; let the death-warrant   Be 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 heart   Shares in the just rejoicings of the realm.   Praised be almighty Heaven, who hath averted   Assassination from our much-loved queen!BURLEIGH   Praised be His name, who thus hath turned to scorn   The malice of our foes!AUBESPINE                May heaven confound   The 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 congratulations   Of 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 is   To quit, and that without delay, this kingdom.AUBESPINE (stepping back with surprise)   What! How is this?BURLEIGH              The sacred character   Of an ambassador to-day protects you,   But not to-morrow.AUBESPINE             What's my crime?BURLEIGH                      Should I   Once 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 discovered   In 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                      That   My royal mistress has annulled already;   England will not unite herself with France.   My Lord of Kent, I give to you the charge   To 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 leave   This kingdom where they sport with public treaties   And trample on the laws of nations. Yet   My monarch, be assured, will vent his rage   In direst vengeance!BURLEIGH              Let him seek it here.

[Exeunt KENT and AUBESPINE.

SCENE III

LEICESTER, BURLEIGH.

LEICESTER   And thus you loose yourself the knot of union   Which 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 Burleigh   When 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 thoughts   Be 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 eloquence   Has 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 act   Before your face?BURLEIGH             You led her majesty?   Oh, no – you led her not – it was the queen   Who was so gracious as to lead you thither.LEICESTER   What mean you, my lord, by that?BURLEIGH                    The noble part   You forced the queen to play! The glorious triumph   Which you prepared for her! Too gracious princess!   So shamelessly, so wantonly to mock   Thy unsuspecting goodness, to betray thee   So pitiless to thy exulting foe!   This, then, is the magnanimity, the grace   Which suddenly possessed you in the council!   The Stuart is for this so despicable,   So weak an enemy, that it would scarce   Be 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 well   That there your eloquence desert you not.[Exit

SCENE IV

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 learn   That I have held a secret correspondence   With her worst enemy; how criminal   Shall I appear to her! How false will then   My counsel seem, and all the fatal pains   I took to lure the queen to Fotheringay!   I've shamefully betrayed, I have exposed her   To 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 prepared   A 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 know   That private conferences have been held   At 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 name   In your detested outrage: go; defend   Your bloody deeds yourself!MORTIMER                  But only hear me.LEICESTER (violently enraged)   Down, down to hell! Why cling you at my heels   Like an infernal spirit! I disclaim you;   I know you not; I make no common cause   With 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 Fotheringay   Just 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 queen   Had 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 mentions   The 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, LEICESTER goes up and down as in despair.

MORTIMER   Improve the moment; be beforehand with him,   And save yourself – save her! An oath can clear   Your fame; contrive excuses to avert   The worst. I am disarmed, can do no more;   My comrades are dispersed – to pieces fallen   Our whole confederacy. For Scotland I   To 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 plot   Is 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 most sovereign 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 fall   He 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 heart   Expand itself in freedom, and my tongue   Shall break this long constraint. Curse and destruction   Light on you all who have betrayed your faith,   Your God, and your true sovereign! Who, alike   To 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.

SCENE V

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 surprise   My queen's accustomed prudence.ELIZABETH                    Oh, I die   For shame! How must he laugh to scorn my weakness!   I thought to humble her, and was myself   The object of her bitter scorn.BURLEIGH                    By this   You see how faithfully I counselled you.ELIZABETH   Oh, I am sorely punished, that I turned   My ear from your wise counsels; yet I thought   I might confide in him. Who could suspect   Beneath the vows of faithfullest devotion   A deadly snare? In whom can I confide   When he deceives me? He, whom I have made   The greatest of the great, and ever set   The nearest to my heart, and in this court   Allowed 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 prepared   As 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 once   He 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 commission   Of peers be named to try him. He shall feel   In 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 letter   Convict 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 given   Not 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 him   So high that my own servants tremble more   At 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 he   Could clear himself? Might it not be a snare   Laid by the cunning one, to sever me   From my best friends – the ever-treacherous harlot!   She might have writ the letter, but to raise   Poisonous suspicion in my heart, to ruin   The man she hates.BURLEIGH             Yet, gracious queen, consider.

SCENE VI

LEICESTER (bursts open the door with violence, and enters with an imperious air).

LEICESTER   Fain would I see the shameless man who dares   Forbid me the apartments of my queen!ELIZABETH (avoiding his sight)   Audacious slave!LEICESTER            To turn me from the door!   If for a Burleigh she be visible,   She must be so to me!BURLEIGH               My lord, you are   Too bold, without permission to intrude.LEICESTER   My lord, you are too arrogant, to take   The lead in these apartments. What! Permission!   I know of none who stands so high at court   As to permit my doings, or refuse them.

[Humbly approaching ELIZABETH.

   'Tis from my sovereign's lips alone that I —ELIZABETH (without looking at him)   Out of my sight, deceitful, worthless traitor!LEICESTER   'Tis not my gracious queen I hear, but Burleigh,   My enemy, in these ungentle words.   To my imperial mistress I appeal;   Thou hast lent him thine ear; I ask the like.ELIZABETH   Speak, shameless wretch! Increase your crime – deny it.LEICESTER   Dismiss this troublesome intruder first.   Withdraw, my lord; it is not of your office   To play the third man here: between the queen   And me there is no need of witnesses.   Retire —ELIZABETH (to BURLEIGH)        Remain, my lord; 'tis my command.LEICESTER   What has a third to do 'twixt thee and me?   I have to clear myself before my queen,   My worshipped queen; I will maintain the rights   Which thou hast given me; these rights are sacred,   And I insist upon it, that my lord   Retire.ELIZABETH        This haughty tone befits you well.LEICESTER   It well befits me; am not I the man,   The happy man, to whom thy gracious favor   Has given the highest station? this exalts me   Above this Burleigh, and above them all.   Thy heart imparted me this rank, and what   Thy favor gave, by heavens I will maintain   At my life's hazard. Let him go, it needs   Two moments only to exculpate me.ELIZABETH   Think not, with cunning words, to hide the truth.LEICESTER   That fear from him, so voluble of speech:   But what I say is to the heart addressed;   And I will justify what I have dared   To do, confiding in thy generous favor,   Before thy heart alone. I recognize   No other jurisdiction.ELIZABETH               Base deceiver   'Tis this, e'en this, which above all condemns you.   My lord, produce the letter.

[To BURLEIGH.

BURLEIGH                   Here it is.LEICESTER (running over the letter without losing his presence of mind)   'Tis Mary Stuart's hand —ELIZABETH                 Read and be dumb!LEICESTER (having read it quietly)   Appearance is against me, yet I hope   I shall not by appearances be judged.ELIZABETH   Can you deny your secret correspondence   With Mary? – that she sent and you received   Her picture, that you gave her hopes of rescue?LEICESTER   It were an easy matter, if I felt   That I were guilty of a crime, to challenge   The testimony of my enemy:   Yet bold is my good conscience. I confess   That she hath said the truth.ELIZABETH                   Well then, thou wretch!BURLEIGH   His own words sentence him —ELIZABETH                  Out of my sight!   Away! Conduct the traitor to the Tower!LEICESTER   I am no traitor; it was wrong, I own,   To make a secret of this step to thee;   Yet pure was my intention, it was done   To search into her plots and to confound them.ELIZABETH   Vain subterfuge!BURLEIGH            And do you think, my lord —LEICESTER   I've played a dangerous game, I know it well,   And none but Leicester dare be bold enough   To risk it at this court. The world must know   How I detest this Stuart, and the rank   Which here I hold; my monarch's confidence,   With which she honors me, must sure suffice   To overturn all doubt of my intentions.   Well may the man thy favor above all   Distinguishes pursue a daring course   To do his duty!BURLEIGH            If the course was good,   Wherefore conceal it?LEICESTER               You are used, my lord,   To prate before you act; the very chime   Of your own deeds. This is your manner, lord;   But mine is first to act, and then to speak.BURLEIGH   Yes, now you speak because you must.LEICESTER (measuring him proudly and disdainfully with his eyes)                      And you   Boast of a wonderful, a mighty action,   That you have saved the queen, have snatched away   The mask from treachery; all is known to you;   You think, forsooth, that nothing can escape   Your penetrating eyes. Poor, idle boaster!   In spite of all your cunning, Mary Stuart   Was free to-day, had I not hindered it.BURLEIGH                        How? You?LEICESTER   Yes, I, my lord; the queen confided   In Mortimer; she opened to the youth   Her inmost soul! Yes, she went further still;   She gave him, too, a secret, bloody charge,

Which Paulet had before refused with horror.

   Say, is it so, or not?

[The QUEEN and BURLEIGH look at one another with astonishment.

BURLEIGH               Whence know ye this?LEICESTER   Nay, is it not a fact? Now answer me.   And where, my lord, where were your thousand eyes,   Not to discover Mortimer was false?   That he, the Guise's tool, and Mary's creature,   A raging papist, daring fanatic,   Was come to free the Stuart, and to murder   The Queen of England!ELIZABETH (with the utmost astonishment)               How! This Mortimer!LEICESTER   'Twas he through whom our correspondence passed.   This plot it was which introduced me to him.   This very day she was to have been torn   From her confinement; he, this very moment,   Disclosed his plan to me: I took him prisoner,   And gave him to the guard, when in despair   To see his work o'erturned, himself unmasked,   He slew himself!ELIZABETH            Oh, I indeed have been   Deceived beyond example, Mortimer!BURLEIGH   This happened then but now? Since last we parted?LEICESTER   For my own sake, I must lament the deed;   That he was thus cut off. His testimony,   Were he alive, had fully cleared my fame,   And freed me from suspicion; 'twas for this   That I surrendered him to open justice.   I thought to choose the most impartial course   To verify and fix my innocence   Before the world.BURLEIGH             He killed himself, you say   Is't so? Or did you kill him?LEICESTER                   Vile suspicion!   Hear but the guard who seized him.      [He goes to the door, and calls.                     Ho! who waits?

[Enter the officer of the guard.

   Sir, tell the queen how Mortimer expired.OFFICER   I was on duty in the palace porch,   When suddenly my lord threw wide the door,   And ordered me to take the knight in charge,   Denouncing him a traitor: upon this   He grew enraged, and with most bitter curses   Against our sovereign and our holy faith,   He drew a dagger, and before the guards   Could hinder his intention, plunged the steel   Into his heart, and fell a lifeless corpse.LEICESTER   'Tis well; you may withdraw. Her majesty   Has heard enough.

[The officer withdraws.

ELIZABETH             Oh, what a deep abyss   Of monstrous deeds?LEICESTER              Who was it, then, my queen,   Who saved you? Was it Burleigh? Did he know   The dangers which surrounded you? Did he   Avert them from your head? Your faithful Leicester   Was your good angel.BURLEIGH              This same Mortimer   Died most conveniently for you, my lord.ELIZABETH   What I should say I know not. I believe you,   And I believe you not. I think you guilty,   And yet I think you not. A curse on her   Who caused me all this anguish.LEICESTER                    She must die;   I now myself consent unto her death.   I formerly advised you to suspend   The sentence, till some arm should rise anew   On her behalf; the case has happened now,   And I demand her instant execution.BURLEIGH   You give this counsel? You?LEICESTER                  Howe'er it wound   My feelings to be forced to this extreme,   Yet now I see most clearly, now I feel   That the queen's welfare asks this bloody victim.   'Tis my proposal, therefore, that the writ   Be drawn at once to fix the execution.BURLEIGH (to the QUEEN)   Since, then, his lordship shows such earnest zeal,   Such loyalty, 'twere well were he appointed   To see the execution of the sentence.LEICESTER   Who? I?BURLEIGH        Yes, you; you surely ne'er could find   A better means to shake off the suspicion   Which rests upon you still, than to command   Her, whom 'tis said you love, to be beheaded.ELIZABETH (looking steadfastly at LEICESTER)   My lord advises well. So be it, then.LEICESTER   It were but fit that my exalted rank   Should free me from so mournful a commission,   Which would indeed, in every sense, become   A Burleigh better than the Earl of Leicester.   The man who stands so near the royal person   Should have no knowledge of such fatal scenes:   But yet to prove my zeal, to satisfy   My queen, I waive my charge's privilege,   And take upon myself this hateful duty.ELIZABETH   Lord Burleigh shall partake this duty with you.

[To BURLEIGH.

   So be the warrant instantly prepared.

[BURLEIGH withdraws; a tumult heard without.

SCENE VII