MARY STUART
by Schiller
in a version by Peter Oswald
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characters in the play
Elisabeth, Queen of England
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, a prisoner in England
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury
William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, Lord High Treasurer
William Davison, Secretary of State
Amias Paulet, Knight, guardian of Mary
Mortimer, his nephew
Count Aubespine, French Ambassador
Count Bellievre, Envoy Extraordinary of France
O’Kelly, Mortimer’s friend
Drugeon Drury, second guardian of Mary
Melvil, her house steward
Burgoyn, her doctor,
Hanna Kennedy, her nurse
Officer of the Guard
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ACT ONE . THE CASTLE OF FOTHERINGHAY. A ROOM.
SCENE ONE. HANNA KENNEDY, NURSE OF THE QUEEN OF
SCOTLAND, IN A FIERCE ARGUMENT WITH PAULET, WHO IS ABOUT
TO BREAK OPEN A WARDROBE. DRUGEON DRURY, HIS HELPER,
WITH CROWBAR.
KENNEDY: What are you doing? Get away from there! This is outrageous!
PAULET: How on earth did this get past us?
KENNEDY: Those drawers are private!
PAULET: Which is exactly why I am searching them.
HE TAKES OUT PAPERS.
KENNEDY: They’re just scribblings – meaningless. To pass the time!
PAULET: The devil found you something to do then.
KENNEDY: They are drafts of letters to the Queen of England.
PAULET: Excellent. I will deliver them to her Majesty. What the hell is this?
HE DISCOVERS JEWELS.
Drury, lock it up with the other stuff.
KENNEDY: For pity’s sake! Don't take that from her! This is all she has left,
these few memories!
PAULET: They will be returned in due course.
KENNEDY: You give us barely a rug to tread on. We eat off pewter a duchess
would sniff at! No books, no music, not even the courtesy of a mirror. You
have taken her freedom, for heaven’s sake, can’t you allow her a few comforts?
PAULET: Luxury would distract her from the work of repentance.
KENNEDY: You cannot condemn her for crimes she committed in her youth
and in another country!
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PAULET: She will be judged where the deed was done.
KENNEDY: What crime could she commit in prison?
PAULET: Incitement to civil war! I don’t know how she managed it, but
somehow she set up cells of assassins against the Queen, God save her, from
here; incited Babington and Parry to regicide, from here! The country is stuffed
with young men just waiting for the chance to climb the scaffold for her! Why
did England ever open its arms to this second Helen?
KENNEDY: Open its arms? She was a refugee, fleeing to her cousin for
protection, thrown into prison in contravention of the Laws of the Nations and
of the Royal Prerogative.
PAULET: She was a murderer on the run. Hounded out by her own people after
they’d kicked her off the throne she disgraced with a monstrous crime. She
swore to make England Catholic again and sell us to the French. Why doesn’t
she renounce her claim to the throne? Because she reckons by plots and
machinations to set loose mayhem and conquer England from her prison.
KENNEDY: First you crush her, then you blacken her name. And what gives
you the right to imprison her dreams? She is already bricked up alive with no
comforts, no contact with the outside, never a friendly visitor.
PAULET: I would rather guard the gates of hell than this ingenious Queen! It’s
Pandora’s box I’m guarding! I sit bolt upright in bed, sweating, sprint from gate
to gate, in the small hours, testing the locks, and the loyalty of the guards. I
wake up shaking in the morning at the thought of what the day might bring. But
at last, at last the end is in sight. I may possibly be able to begin to look forward
to some peace of mind.
KENNEDY: Here she comes!
PAULET: Pride in her heart and Christ in her hand.(please not with!)
SCENE TWO. ENTER MARY, VEILED, A CRUCIFIX IN HER HAND.
KENNEDY: (ALMOST SPEECHLESS WITH HORROR.) Queen!
MARY: Hanna, control yourself. What’s happened?
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KENNEDY:
Look!
They have surpassed themselves! Your desk - smashed open,
Your writings, that we fought to keep, all taken!
The last piece of your bridal jewelry
From France, is in their hands, and you have nothing
Royal about you, they have left you nothing!
MARY: Hanna, the jewels did not make the Queen.
Calm down. They cannot take away our honour
By treating us as if we had none. In England I have learned
How to get used to things, and I will learn
How to get used to this. Sir, you have taken
By force what I intended to hand over
Freely today. There is among these papers
A letter I have written to my royal
Sister of England. Will you give your word
To hand it to the Queen yourself, and not
Place it in the unfriendly grasp of Burleigh?
PAULET: Well I will do what I think best.
MARY:
The letter
Asks for a conversation with my cousin,
As a great favour. I have never seen her
With my own eyes. I have been called before
A court of men, and none of them my peer,
Whom I could trust. But with the Queen I share
My sex, my blood, my rank. To her alone,
Sister, Queen, woman, can I speak in freedom.
PAULET: My lady, in the past you have entrusted
Your reputation to worse men than these ones!
MARY: Also I ask her for a second favour Inhuman to refuse. I have been asking
For a long time to be allowed the freedom
To practise my religion but am still
Denied the sacraments. Can I imagine
That she who has my crown and freedom, threatens
My life, wants even to deny me heaven?
PAULET: Well as you wish, the dean 7
MARY:
I want no dean!
A priest of my own Church is my demand!
And I want secretaries and notaries
So that I can draw up my will.
PAULET:
And welcome.
The Queen of England has no wish to swell
Her treasury with whatever you have stolen.
MARY: My maids and servants have been taken from me.
Where are they being kept? In what conditions?
I can survive without them but I want
Some indication as to their wellbeing.
PAULET: They are well cared for.
MAKES TO LEAVE.
MARY:
Are you going, sir?
Again you leave me in uncertainty;
Torture by doubt. A month of agony
Since I was ambushed in this castle by
Forty commissioners who hurried me,
Unbriefed, in front of unknown judges here,
And forced me, in a state of shock, to answer
Serious charges phrased in ways to trap me.
And since that day all mouths are dumb to me,
And I can read no message in your eyes,
To tell me if my innocence and my friends,
Or else the whispers of my enemies
Have won the day. Now you must break your silence,
Finally, tell me what to fear or hope for.
AFTER A PAUSE:
PAULET: Make peace with heaven.
MARY:
I am hoping for
Mercy from there, and from my earthly judges,
Justice.
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PAULET: You will get it, have no fear.
MARY: Has my case been decided? Has it, sir?
PAULET: I don’t know.
MARY:
Have I been condemned?
PAULET:
Nothing, my lady.
I know
MARY
But I know what powers
Have been accorded to the Queen of England.
PAULET: The Crown of England is afraid of nothing
But its own conscience and its Parliament.
Whatever the Judiciary decides
Will be set forward by the powers that be
Fearlessly, and for all the world to see!
THREE. ENTER MORTIMER, WITHOUT PAYING ATTENTION TO THE
QUEEN. SPEAKS TO PAULET.
MORTIMER: Uncle, you’re wanted.
EXITS IN THE SAME WAY. QUEEN REGISTERS IT WITH DISMAY AND
TURNS TO PAULET WHO IS ABOUT TO FOLLOW HIM.
MARY:
Sir, one more thing, please.
If you have anything to say to me,
Say it yourself, out of respect for age
I can endure you - but I cannot bear
This young man’s impudence. I beg you, spare me
His insults.
PAULET: What offends you is what makes him
Useful to me! He is a travelled man,
He has come back from Paris and from Reims
As English as he left, your tears won’t melt him!
EXIT.
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FOUR.
KENNEDY: How dare he speak to you like this! Dear God.
MARY: (LOST IN THOUGHT.) When we had power we only heard what we
wanted to hear. Now it is right that we should be forced to listen to the
opposite.
KENNEDY: Do not surrender! Do not give up now my lady! You used to be so
bright, you used to lift my spirits; you were TOO lighthearted, I used to have to
beg you to please be a bit more gloomy!
MARY: I know what this is. This is Darnley, all bloody, rising out of his grave,
howling in scorn. And he will never let me go, till I can suffer no more.
KENNEDY: What are you talking about?
MARY: Today is the anniversary. Of my crime. That is why I am fasting and
repenting.
KENNEDY: Let this ghost rest! You have done years of penance! You have
suffered enough. The Church, which can, has forgiven you, heaven has
forgiven you!
MARY: My husband’s ghost cannot be laid to rest by the ringing of bells, not
even by the host itself in the priest’s hand.
KENNEDY: You did not murder him! You did not do it!
MARY: I knew. I let it happen. I lured him into the trap.
KENNEDY: You were young.
MARY: Young, yes, for such sin.
KENNEDY: He drove you to it by murder! Your love was the hand of God, it
raised him out of chaos. You led him by the hand to your bridal chamber and so
to the throne. How could he forget that his glory was the gift of your love? But
he did. You made him King and he wanted to rule YOU. He had Rizzio, your
favourite, stabbed to death. What you did then was just blood for blood.
MARY: And blood for blood will be asked of me. Your comfort condemns me.
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KENNEDY: You were not you when you let that happen. You were possessed
by insane, blind, burning passion. You were under the spell of the seducer,
Bothwell, he controlled you, with horrible male power, he poisoned your soul
with potions, by black magic.
MARY: The magic of his power and my desire.
KENNEDY: No! More than that! I know he had to summon all the demons of
hell to overpower you, to stop you hearing my warning. A kind of male
recklessness overcame you. You paraded your shame to everyone, marched
beside him through the streets of Edinburgh to Parliament and there compelled
the judiciary to aquit him of the murder. And then you went a step further and God!
MARY: Say it! Gave him my hand at the altar!
KENNEDY: It is horrible, it is an abomination, the action of the damned. But
you are not damned. I know you, I brought you up, you are gentle and open.
Only you are impetuous. Since then you have done nothing wrong. I am the
witness that you are transformed. So - make peace with yourself! Whatever you
have done elsewhere, you are innocent in England. Neither Elizabeth nor her
Parliament can change that by anything but force. Stand in their arrogant court
in all the courage of innocence!
MARY: Who is coming?
KENNEDY: The nephew. Go in.
SCENE FIVE. ENTER MORTIMER BASHFULLY.
MORTIMER: (TO NURSE.) Leave. Guard the door. I must speak with the
Queen.
MARY: (LOOKING AT HER.) Stay, Hanna.
MORTIMER:
Lady, do not be afraid.
HANDS HER A LETTER. MARY LOOKS AT IT, STEPS BACK,
STUNNED.
MARY: What?
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MORTIMER: You must leave us, Lady Kennedy.
And warn us if my uncle comes.
MARY: (TO NURSE, WHO LOOKS QUESTIONINGLY AT HER.) Go on,
Do what he says.
THE NURSE LEAVES WITH SIGNS OF SURPRISE.
SCENE SIX. MORTIMER, MARY.
MARY:
A letter from my uncle,
Cardinal of Lorraine, from France. “The bringer
Of this deserves your trust. Sir Mortimer
Is your most loyal friend in all of England.”
LOOKING AT MORTIMER WITH SURPRISE.
MORTIMER: (THROWING HIMSELF AT HER FEET.)
My Queen, forgive my mask of arrogance.
It was the only way for me to reach you
With help and rescue.
MARY:
Sir, stand up. I am
In shock, I cannot leap from misery
To hope so fast. Makes sense of this to me
So that I can believe it.
MORTIMER: (GETS UP.) We must hurry.
My uncle will return soon, and bring with him
A man who hates you. What they have to say
Will shake you, so before that I must tell you
How heaven has planned your rescue.
MARY:
Only heaven
Could rescue me from this.
MORTIMER: I shall begin,
By your permission, with myself.
MARY:
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Go on!
MORTIMER: When I was twenty, queen - and I had been
Raised on pure hatred of the Catholic Church,
In an upbringing of strict discipline,
An irrepressible desire drove me
To journey to the continent. I left
The frozen sermons of the Puritans
And travelled to the land of Italy.
There was a great religious festival
At that time, every path was bright with pilgrims
And every roadside shrine a blaze of flowers;
It was as if the human race was moving
In one great pilgrim crowd towards the kingdom
Of heaven. I was carried by the stream
Right to the gates of Rome. And then, oh Queen,
Awestruck I stepped into the widening brightness
Of art! Immense new power! I had never
Imagined I could feel so much - the Church
I was brought up in hates the senses, bans
The image, worships nothing but the astract
Word. When I stepped into those churches - oh Heavenly music drifting to the ceilings,
And on the walls, divine forms floating - then
What was most high and holy was presented
In such a way that I could see and touch it;
I saw the Virgin Mary at the blessed
Annunciation; the Nativity;
I saw the tongues of fire, I stood like Peter
Stupid with bliss at the Transfiguration.
I saw the Holy Father celebrating
Mass and dispensing blessings to the people.
How could I think the gorgeous majesty
Of Kings was anything but decoration,
When I had seen God’s regent on his throne?
Divinity attends the Pope alone,
His house is not of this world, but of heaven.
MARY: Do not spread out life’s golden tapestry
On my bare prison wall.
MORTIMER:
I was in prison
Myself! But suddenly the gates sprang open
And my free soul was walking in a garden,
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Praising the day! I swore to hate forever
The withered vision of the book, put on
A crown of flowers and with shouts of joy,
Joined the rejoicers! Noblemen from Scotland
Hoisted me on their shoulders - and a band
Of happy Frenchmen - and they took me to
Your uncle, the great Cardinal of Guise,
The clearest thinker I have ever known!
King of the mind! A royal priest indeed.
Prince of the Church - the phrase was coined for him!
MARY: So you have met that much beloved man,
And you have been inspired. He was my teacher
When I was young. Does he still think about me?
Tell me about him. Is he still a firm
Rock of the Church? Is life still kind to him?
MORTIMER: That great man condescended to illumine
The doctrines to me and to drive all doubts
Out of my heart. Reason alone, he showed me,
Will always lead mankind down a blind alley.
There has to be an image for the eyes
So that the heart can easily believe.
Therefore a visible and physical
Head of the Church is an essential sign,
And our forefathers, when they laid this down,
Were led by Truth. The childhood of my soul
Ended, all my delusions were dissolved;
And I believed.
MARY:
So you are one of those
Thousands his godsent eloquence has transformed,
And like the Holy preacher on the Mount,
Led to eternal safety!
MORTIMER:
Then one day,
Looking around his residence, my eyes
Fell on a woman’s portrait whose grace pierced me
Deeply. I could not speak, and I was shaking,
Standing there at the mercy of this feeling,
And then the Cardinal said: “It is with reason
That you are touched by this specific painting.
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Out of all living women, the most lovely
Suffers the most, for our faith, in your country.”
MARY: A good man. I did not lose everything
If he remains my friend though I have fallen.
MORTIMER: Then he described with burning eloquence
Your martyrdom, and how your enemies
Thirst for your blood. He traced your ancestry,
You are a Tudor and the throne of England
Belongs to you, not to this specious Queen
Conceived by Henry in adultery,
Declared a bastard by her father. Clearly,
Your legal right to England is the crime
For which you suffer in an English prison.
You are imprisoned in your own dominion.
MARY: Terrible right! It is the root and spring
Of all my wrong.
MORTIMER:
Around this time the news
That you had been transferred from Talbot’s castle
Into my uncle’s keeping, reached me - clearly
This was the hand of heaven helping me,
I was the one ordained to set you free!
A plot was laid. So I took ship and landed
Ten days ago.
HE PAUSES.
Then I saw you, my queen.
Not in a picture but alive and breathing.
Oh, there is treasure buried in this castle.
Prison? It is the blazing heart of heaven,
More glorious than the royal court of England!
And she is wise to hide you from your people!
Outrage would rise into outright rebellion
If Britons ever glimpsed the Queen denied them!
MARY: She would be fortunate if every Briton
Saw her with your eyes!
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MORTIMER:
Oh if they could only
See what I see! Queen, every time I step
Through your cell door my heart is torn to pieces;
But then your beauty heals it instantly.
But time is running out. I have to tell you,
To tell you MARY: What? Have they pronounced my sentence?
Say. I can take it.
MORTIMER: Yes. The judges have
Pronounced you guilty, and the House of Lords,
The Commons and the City are all crying
That there must be no lessening of the sentence.
Only the Queen delays – but out of cunning,
Not kindness, waiting for the Lords to force her.
MARY: (COMPOSED.) Sir Mortimer, your news does not surprise me,
And so I am not frightened. I have been
Preparing for this message for a long time.
I know my judges, and I understand
That having done what they have done to me
They cannot let me go. So they will bury
My right and my revenge and my own person
Indefinately in the pitch dark of prison!
MORTIMER: No, Queen! Oh no! They will not stop at prison,
This tyranny detests half-measures. Only
Your death, they think, can save the Queen of England.
MARY: Could she descend to that? See my crowned head
Dishonoured on the block?
MORTIMER:
You must believe it.
MARY: It would degrade her status and the status
Of every monarch.
MORTIMER: Other royal women
In England have been dragged from throne to scaffold;
Elizabeth’s own mother; Catherine Howard,
Both were crowned heads.
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MARY:
But it is not the scaffold
I fear sir. There are more obscure procedures
For silencing my right, available
To England’s ruler. Easier to hire
A killer than arrange an execution.
That is what makes me shiver sir! Whenever
I eat or drink, I wonder if the fare
Comes with my sister’s love!
MORTIMER:
No, she will not
Murder you, Queen, in public or in private.
The time for fear is over! Everything
Is ready, twelve young men, myself among them,
Swore on the sacrament this morning, lady,
To take you out of here by force of arms.
Lord Aubespine, the French ambassador,
Backs us, we have been meeting at his palace.
MARY: Young man, you are possessed! Have you not seen
The bloody heads of Babington and Tichburn
On London Bridge, will you not heed that warning,
And the catastrophes of countless others
Lost in the same cause! Run like mad! If Burleigh
Has not already spied you through a traitor
Placed in your midst. Quick, get out of this country,
The friends of Mary Stuart are unlucky.
MORTIMER: I am not frightened by bloody heads
On London Bridge, nor am I terrified
By the catastrophes of countless others
Lost in the same cause - they all found eternal
Fame, had the luck to die for you!
MARY:
For nothing!
Force cannot save me, nor conspiracy,
The enemy is watchful and the land
His. It is not just Paulet and his gang
Of jailers but the whole of England standing
Guard at these gates. Nothing can open them
Except the wishes of Elizabeth.
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MORTIMER: You cannot pin your hopes on her, my Queen!
MARY: There is one man for whom these gates will open.
MORTIMER: Tell me his name.
MARY:
The Earl of Leicester.
MORTIMER:
Leicester?
The Earl of Leicester? What? The man who brought you
To trial, Elisabeth’s favourite, will release you?
MARY: Go to him. Tell him everything. To assure him,
Give him this letter. It contains my picture.
SHE PULLS A LETTER FROM HER BOSOM. MORTIMER STEPS BACK
AND HESITATES TO TAKE IT.
Take it to him.
MORTIMER: This is astonishing.
MARY: Ask Leicester to explain the mystery.
Trust him and he will trust you. Who is coming?
KENNEDY: (ANXIOUSLY.) It is Sir Paulet and a gentleman
From court.
MORTIMER: Lord Burleigh. Queen, prepare yourself!
Do not be shaken by the news he brings!
SEVEN. MARY, LORD BURLEIGH, HIGH TREASURER OF ENGLAND,
AND SIR PAULET.
PAULET: Today your begged for some certainty. Certainty heard you, and
certainty has certainly sent you its prime authority in the form of his
Magnificence my Lord of Burleigh. Bear what he says with humility.
MARY: With, I hope, the dignity of innocence.
BURLEIGH: I am the envoy of the court of justice.
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MARY: Having written its script you are well-placed to speak for it.
PAULET: You sound as though you already know the sentence.
MARY: I know it if Lord Burleigh brings it. Get to the point sir.
BURLEIGH: You have recognised the Court of Forty-Two, lady.
MARY: Forgive me, my Lord, for butting in straightaway. I accept the
judgement of the Court of Forty-Two? How could I? How could I forego my
prerogative, the honour of my people, of my son, of all monarchs. It is laid
down in English law that every accused shall be judged by a jury of his peers.
Who in this High Commission is my peer? Only kings are my peers.
BURLEIGH: You attended to the charges, you permitted yourself to answer the
court’s questions.
MARY: So that I could prove them false. I did this out of respect for the
persons of the Lords, which are noble, not for the court, which I reject.
BURLEIGH: Whether or not you recognise it is a formality that shall not
obstruct the course of justice. You breathe English air, you enjoy the protection
and benefits of the Laws of England and therefore you are subject to them.
MARY: I breathe the air of an English prison. In what way do I benefit from
the Laws? I do not know what they are. I have never agreed to keep them. I am
not a citizen of this kingdom. I am the Queen of another country.
BURLEIGH: And that gives you the right to foment bloody disorder in any
country of which you are not Queen! How could any state ensure its security if
visiting royalty could do whatever they liked within its borders? The law
applies to them as much as to any beggar!
MARY: I do not reject the law, only the judges.
BURLEIGH: The Judges! The Judges my lady? And who are they? Vagrants,
riff-raff picked up off the streets, or perhaps freewheeling entrepreneurs to
whom truth and justice are a legitimate business, who are basically there to be
bribed, to be the tools of oppression? These are the first men in the country,
guaranteed independent, too rich to need bribes, too powerful to fear the
monarchy! Deeply committed to ruling a noble people freely and justly. Men
the mere mention of whose names obliterates suspicion. Tell me, what more
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could our ruler do, than appoint the noblest creatures in the entire monarchy as
judges in this royal controversy? And even if anyone could suggest that
partisan emotions might cloud the judgement of one or two men - could fortytwo be united in confusion?
MARY: (AFTER A PAUSE.) How on earth could I, a woman, untrained in
oratory, ever hope to compete with such eloquence? And it is true that if these
Lords were what you say they are, I could only reply by silence, crushed,
crushed utterly if men of that stamp declare me guilty. But this litany of great
names, my Lord, makes a different sound in your ears than in mine. When I
think of the history of this country, I see England’s aristocracy, the majestic
senate of the realm, scurrying around like eunuchs in a harem at the whim of
the Sultan, Henry the Eighth, my uncle. I see the wealthy upper house, not so
different from the bribe-hungry commons, making and cancelling laws and
marriages, at the command of the big man. One day they disinherit the King’s
daughter and declare her a bastard, the next they crown her! I see these
steadfast cameleons of the people changing their faith four times in four
reigns BURLEIGH: For someone so foreign to our laws you are well-versed in our
problems.
MARY: And these are my Judges! Lord Treasurer! I will give you a fair trial.
They say your intentions for the state, for the Queen, are good, you are
incorruptible, sleeplessly vigilant. I believe it. The interests of the state are
what drive you, not your own interests. But this is precisely why you should
watch yourself, watchful Lord, and be careful not to mistake the advantage of
the state for justice. I have no doubt that there are other virtuous men, besides
yourself, among my judges. But they are Protestants and they are Englishmen
and I am a Catholic and the Queen of Scotland. As the old saying goes, the one
about the Englishman and the Scotsman.... And therefore by ancient custom no
Englishman may testify against a Scot in court, no Scot against an Englishman.
This curious law was bred by necessity. We must honour these old customs, my
Lord, there is good sense in them. Sword in hand these two peoples have
screamed at each other from opposite banks of the Tweed for a thousand years.
Anyone who wants a fight with England can count on Scotland. Mayhem in
Scotland? It was started by England. And the hatred will not fade, until at last
both brothers sit down in one Parliament, at last one sceptre holds sway
throughout the whole island.
BURLEIGH: Your sceptre?
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MARY: Yes, I will confess I once did hope that one day I would lead two great
nations into the shade of the olive tree. I did not reckon to end up hated by both
of them. I hoped to bury forever that old jealousy and like my ancestor
Richmond who entwined two roses after the fighting was over, to marry the
crown of England to the crown of Scotland.(prefer of them, more contemp.)
BURLEIGH: By fire and terror!
MARY: No! By God in heaven - where is the proof of this?
BURLEIGH: I did not come here to have that argument! The war of words is
over. It has been decided, by forty votes to two, that being in breach of the Act
of last year you are forfeit to the law. As it was decreed: Conspiracy arising in
the Kingdom on behalf of and to the benefit of any person pretending a claim to
the throne, that person shall be subject to prosecution and shall be pursued unto
death.’ And it is proven MARY: My Lord of Burleigh! It is not to be debated that I will be in breach of
a law framed to condemn me in retrospect. Pity the defendant, if in the same
breath the judge makes the law and condemns the breaker of it! Can you deny,
my Lord, that this law was passed with me in mind?
BURLEIGH: It was intended as a warning. You yourself turned it into a trap,
when you conspired with Babington and his nest of traitors. You knew what
they were doing, you masterminded the whole thing from prison.
MARY: Show me the documents.
BURLEIGH: You were shown them in court.
MARY: Bring me proof that they are my dictation.
BURLEIGH: Babington confirmed that before his death.
MARY: Why was he killed before he could say this to my face?
BURLEIGH: Your secretaries Kurl and Nau attest on oath that these letters are
word for word what you said.
MARY: So I am sentenced by my servants? Who prove their reliability as
witnesses by betraying me, their Queen, to whom they swore a vow of loyalty!
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BURLEIGH: You yourself have described the Scotsman Kurl as a man of
conscience and virtue.
MARY: He calculated that he could save himself by a testimony which, being
false, could never ultimately threaten his Queen.
BURLEIGH: He made a free testimony.
MARY: But not in front of me. So there are still two witnesses alive! Let them
repeat their evidence to me! You have to grant me this! MURDERERS have
this right! Talbot, when I was in his keeping, told me that according to the law
passed by this very Government, the plaintiff must be brought face to face with
the defendant. Sir Paulet, you have always been honest with me. Be so now.
Tell me on your conscience, is this or is this not the Law of England?
PAULET: It is, my Lady. What is true I will not deny.
MARY: Well then my Lord! Subject me to the Law! Answer me - why was
Babington not brought face to face with me according to the Law! Why not my
secretaries, since they are still alive?
BURLEIGH: Do not get excited, Lady. The Babington business is not the
only MARY: It is the only capital offence I am charged with. That is our subject, my
Lord, do not avoid it.
BURLEIGH: It is proven that you have negotiated with Ambassador Mendoza
of Spain MARY: (ANIMATED.) Do not avoid the subject!
BURLEIGH: That you conspired to undermine this country’s religion, that you
incited every King in Europe to war against England.
MARY: Is it surprising? I did not do it - but, if I had, would it have been
surprising? My Lord, I am held here in contravention of the Laws agreed by all
nations. I came here demanding the sacred right of asylum, threw myself into
the arms of my royal cousin, but instead of protection was given - prison.
Please explain to me then my obligations towards England! It is simple selfpreservation if I test my escape-routes, block power with power, seek
protection from other states in the region. The war that set me free would be
22
just and I have a right to call for it. Only I will not resort to assassination, it is
beneath me. I would be diminished by it; demeaned, you hear me, not
condemned, not in breach of justice. But Justice is not the question, it is all just
POWER between myself and England.
BURLEIGH: (MEANINGFUL.) That is to say, between a state and its prisoner.
MARY: Yes, I am weak and she is strong. Well! Let her use her power then,
sacrifice me to the god of security. But then she must be frank that it was force,
not justice. She must stop grafting virtuousness to viciousness. She must just
show herself for what she is.
EXIT.
SCENE EIGHT. BURLEIGH, PAULET.
BURLEIGH: She defies us, Paulet, and she will defy us on the scaffold steps.
Her heart is too proud to break. Was she the slightest bit shaken by the verdict?
Did you spy one wee little tear? She is not asking for pity. She knows all about
the indecision of the Queen of England. She smells our panic and that rouses
her courage!
PAULET: With respect there have been shortcuts. She should have seen
Babington and Tichburn, and her secretaries.
BURLEIGH: (QUICKLY.) No! No, Sir Amias! Too risky. She has
extraordinary power over the minds of others; not to mention the judicious use
of tears. Her secretary Curl, if forced to incriminate her to her face, would make
a wholesale withdrawal of his existing confession.
PAULET: But as things are, we are handing out ammunition to the enemies of
England and all the grand formality of the trial will just seem like the trappings
of a state crime.
BURLEIGH: That is what torments the Queen! Oh if only the cause of all this
had choked before she set foot over the border!
PAULET: Amen to that!
BURLEIGH: Or died in prison. Of illness.
PAULET: No such luck.
23
BURLEIGH: Anyway we would have still taken the blame!
PAULET: People will think what they think.
BURLEIGH: But it would have been hollow rumours rather than damaging
accusations.
PAULET: Let them accuse! It can’t hurt the innocent!
BURLEIGH: What? The innocent suffer more than anyone! Public opinion
always sides with the underdog. Not to mention - men love to see the sword of
Justice grasped by a man, but they can’t stand it being wielded by a woman.
And if that woman is condemning another woman - no one on earth is going to
trust the process. No matter what we Judges have decided, with total
conviction, because the royal prerogative of mercy exists, she must use it. It
would be too horrible not to.
PAULET: So BURLEIGH: (QUICKLY INTERRUPTING.) So therefore the criminal shall
live? No! Not at all! False conclusion! This is why our Queen cannot sleep. Is
there no one, no one, she seems to be saying, who can save me from this
monstrous dilemma: either to reign in fear forever, or to send a Queen, my own
cousin, to the block.
PAULET: Well this is the way things are.
BURLEIGH: But would not be, thinks the Queen, if her servants had sharper
ears.
PAULET: Ears?
BURLEIGH: Capable of hearing unspoken orders.
PAULET: What unspoken orders?
BURLEIGH: Subjects who, when entrusted with a poisonous snake, do not
guard it like the crown jewels.
PAULET: (MEANINGFUL.) More precious than the crown jewels, sir, is the
good name of the Queen, and that cannot be guarded too closely.
24
BURLEIGH: The lady was transferred from Shrewsbury into the keeping of Sir
Amias Paulet, in the hopes that PAULET: In the hopes, I hope, that a hot potato was being dropped into a clean
pair of hands. By God! I only took her on because I reckoned it was a job for
the best man in England. It grieves me, sir, to learn that I was chosen for
anything other than my stainless reputation.
BURLEIGH: We put it out that she is not well. She gets iller and iller and
finally she quietly dies. And dies in people’s memories. And your reputation is
as stainless as ever.
PAULET: But not my conscience.
BURLEIGH: You don’t have to do it yourself, just leave the door unlocked PAULET: (INTERRUPTING.) I will let no killer in here! While my household
gods protect her, her life is sacred to me - as sacred as the life of the Queen of
England! You are the Judges. So judge! Condemn her! Then at the appointed
time, I will open my door to the carpenter who comes to build the scaffold. I
will welcome the dear Sherriff and the executioner! But I am her guard and I
will guard her so she does no wrong and no wrong is done to her!
EXEUNT.
ACT TWO. THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER.
SCENE ONE. ENTER ELISABETH, LED IN BY LEICESTER, COUNT
AUBESPINE, BELLIEVRE, LORDS SHREWSBURY AND BURLEIGH
AND OTHER FRENCH AND ENGLISH GENTLEMEN.
ELISABETH: (TO AUBESPINE.)
My heart bleeds freely for these gentlemen
Blown by the storm of their own gallantry
Over the sea to me. They must be pining
For the bright court of St. Germain, my Lord,
Stuck here with me! I am incapable
Of dreaming up the kind of shows Queen Catherine
Presents in France, where she outsparkles heaven!
A cheerful, sober and contented people
25
That crowds around me, deafening me with blessings,
When I appear, that is the only pageant
I can provide to foreign visitors,
With any pride. But ah, the diamond eyes
Of the bedazzling mademoiselles who blossom
In Catherine’s garden, they would put my own
Dim charms to shame and in the shade, for certain!
AUBESPINE: The wonder of the Court of Westminster
Is that to the astonished foreigner
It only shows one lady - but in her
Everything that the gentle sex can offer.
BELLIEVRE: Great Majesty of England, please allow us
To make Monsieur, our royal master, glad,
By bringing him the happy news he yearns for.
His heart’s impatient heat would not permit him
To stay in Paris, but he tarries in
Amiens, to which his posts can haste as fast
As swallows to his ear’s enchanted nest
With the consent your royal mouth announces.
ELIZABETH: Count Bellievre, you must not persist.
The time is not ripe, I repeat, for lighting
The joyful marriage-torch. The sky is black
Over this country, and I ought to be
Laying out mourning robes, not trying on
A wedding dress. There is a deathblow aimed
At my heart and my house.
BELLIEVRE: Give us your promise,
No more than that, for the fulfilment of
A brighter moment.
ELIZABETH: What are Kings and Queens?
Slaves to their status. We are not permitted
To follow our own wishes. My intention
From the beginning was to die unmarried,
And my most proud achievement would have been
This epitaph: Here lies the virgin Queen.
But they will not permit it, they are thinking
About my mortal end, my anxious subjects,
26
The present blessing of my service to them
Is not enough, to make their future certain
I have to sacrifice my virgin freedom,
Which is to say myself, my highest virtue.
To please my servants I must take a master.
And so they show me that they think of me
Not as a man and King, as I have ruled them,
So I believed, but simply as a woman.
I know that God is not best served when humans
Go against nature, and I praise those rulers
Who by their breaking of the monasteries
Returned so many to their human duties.
But should a Queen, who does not waste her days
In contemplation, doing less than nothing,
Who tirelessly and uncomplainingly
Performs the toughest of all duties, should she
Not be exempted from the natural law
That makes one sex the servant of the other?
AUBESPINE: Queen, every virtue that exists, has been
Exemplified by you, except for one The virtue special to your sex remains
Unglorified by your participation.
Of course there is no man on earth so fine
That you should sacrifice your freedom for him,
But if nobility of birth, heroic
Virtue, male beauty, could make anyone ELIZABETH: Yes Lord Ambassador, a Royal Marriage
With France would be an advantageous union,
And I admit - if I am forced to crumble
To the relentless pressure of my people,
And they are stronger, I suspect, than I am There is no king in Europe I can think of
To whom I would surrender my best treasure
With less resistance. Wring what joy you can
From this confession.
BELLIEVRE: Hope is beautiful But it is something more my master longs for.
ELIZABETH: What does he want?
27
SHE PULLS A RING FROM HER FINGER AND LOOKS AT IT.
Odd that a Queen has no advantages
Over an ordinary kind of woman.
This sign has a duality of meanings:
Duty and slavery. It is a ring
That makes a marriage - and it is from rings
That chains are made. Present his Majesty
With this from me. It is not yet a chain,
It does not bind me, but a link, in time,
May grow from this to tie me to a King.
BELLIEVRE: (KNEELS TO RECEIVE THE RING.) Great Queen, I kneel and
take it in his name,
And with devotion kiss my own Queen’s hand!
ELIZABETH: (TO LEICESTER, WHOM SHE HAS REGARDED DURING
HER PREVIOUS SPEECH WITHOUT DISPLAY OF EMOTION.)
Allow me, Lord.
SHE TAKES THE BLUE RIBBON FROM HIS NECK AND INVESTS
BELLIEVRE WITH IT.
Invest his Highness by this ornament
Into my order as I do you here.
Hon y soit qui mal y pense!
Let all mistrust between our nations perish
And let the closest of all ties henceforward
Tightly entwine the crowns of France and Britain!
AUBESPINE: Queen, you have made this day the dawn of joy!
If it could only shine on everyone!
If only every person in this island
Could smile with us! Now that I see your face
Shining with mercy, how I wish one ray
Could pierce the darkness of a certain princess,
A person of concern to France and Britain
Alike.
ELIZABETH: Stop there, my Lord. Unwise to mix
Bitter and sweet. If France intends to stand
By this alliance, her concerns and mine
28
Must run together, not against, and she
Must not be friendly with my enemy!
AUBESPINE: Queen, you yourself would judge France less than noble
If she forgot the sorrow of her own
Sister in faith, the widow of her King,
For the convenience of this alliance.
Dignity and humanity demand ELIZABETH: Well then I take your pleading on its own terms.
France can perform the errands of a friend.
I will fulfil the duties of a Queen.
SHE BOWS TOWARDS THE FRENCH GENTLEMEN, WHO RETIRE
RESPECTFULLY WITH THE OTHER GENTLEMEN.
SCENE THREE. ELIZABETH, LEICESTER, BURLEIGH, TALBOT. THE
QUEEN SITS DOWN.
BURLEIGH: Queen! Today you have crowned the will of your people! At last
we can enjoy your peace, the future no longer a thing of terror. But one cloud
still frowns on the nation. There is still one decision that all men cry out for!
Give us this, and this day England’s happiness is ensured forever!
ELIZABETH: What more do my people want? Tell me, my Lord.
BURLEIGH: The head of the Stuart. If you want to safeguard the gift of
freedom for your people; freedom of conscience hard-won, she must cease to
exist. As you know well, not all the people in Britain think alike, they are many
secret followers of Roman idolatry still in this island. All of them are hostile to
you, all of them long for the Stuart. They are in contact with the Jesuits in
Lorrain, who are committed to your total annihilation, by means of subversion.
At their base, the seat of the Cardinal Bishop of Reims, they are training agents
for your assassination. Fanatics in all kinds of disguises enter the country
continuously. Three killers have already been caught, but that in no way stops
more coming forward. And the cause of all this sits in Fotheringhay Castle
stirring it up with the tantalising fact of her existence. In the light of this fact
young men are prepared to embrace certain death. Their immediate mission is
to free her. Their ultimate goal, to set her on your throne. Because the house of
Lorrain does not recognise your right to this throne. You are, by their
description, a usurper, raised to power by a lucky throw of the dice. It is this
party that persuaded that ridiculous woman to proclaim herself Queen of
29
England. There can be no negotiation with her or her house. You must kill or
be killed. If she lives you die, if she dies you live!
ELISABETH: My Lord! Your tone is too funereal. I praise your commitment
and your intelligence and experience but I condemn this bloodstained kind of
wisdom. Give me brighter advice. Shrewsbury! Tell us what you think.
TALBOT: You are right to praise Burleigh’s loyalty and passion. I am just as
loyal, even if I don’t speak so well as him. I hope you live long, Queen, to keep
your people happy, to sustain the peace of this kingdom. These are the best
days our island has ever seen. I only hope that what it gains in happiness it does
not lose in reputation. Or if it does, may Talbot never see the day!
ELIZABETH: Heaven help is if we stain England’s reputation!
TALBOT: Then find another way to save England. To execute the Stuart is to
proceed by foul means. You cannot pronounce her guilty. She is not your
subject.
ELIZABETH: So my council and my Parliament are wrong. And every court in
this country.
TALBOT: They may have voted you this right by a majority. But a majority is
not justice. England is not the world. Your Parliament is not the Parliament of
the entire human race. Nor is today’s England tommorrow’s England or
yesterday’s. What is reckoned to be justice chops and changes according to
opinion. Do not say you are subject to necessity or to the will of your people.
Test your strength against theirs. Try it, see what happens! Tell them you hate
to kill, you want to save your sister. Anyone who tells you different, show them
some royal anger! You will soon see this so-called necessity vanish; and then
what was justice is suddenly the opposite. You are the only judge, you cannot
lean on opinion. Obey yourself. God did not put strictness into women, and the
founders of this kingdom, when they laid down that a woman could reign, what
they meant was that this country does not require a fist of iron!
ELIZABETH: Lord Shrewsbury puts the case well for my enemy. I think I lean
more towards the councillors who speak for me!
TALBOT: Nobody speaks for her. Nobody dares. So allow me, since I am past
it anyway, to defend the defenceless. No one shall say that in your state council,
passionate self-interest raged while kindness cowered in a corner. Everything’s
against her - you have never seen her face, why should you care about a total
30
stranger? I do not say she is a saint. They say she had her husband murdered. It
is a fact that she married his murderer. Appalling crime! But those were bad
times for her, in the hurricane of civil war, warlords seizing her power, she,
bewildered, in the chaos, sided with the worst of them, possessed by who
knows what? Women are not strong.
ELIZABETH: Some of us are.
TALBOT: You are an exception! Think of your upbringing! No throne in sight
for you, only your grave. God taught you harsh lessons in the Tower of
London. No flatterers there. You learned early how to focus yourself, and hold
true to what’s worth holding onto! No such luck for the other poor royal girl.
Shipped off to France as a child, to the gay life! Nobody around her ever sober
for long enough to teach her left from right. Addled by vice, swept downstream
to destruction! With the worst gift of all, beauty, she outshone all other women.
And as nobly born as she was lovely ELIZABETH: Come back to us, Lord Shrewsbury! Try to remember that we
are assembled in council. She must be stunning if she can stir up the old ones!
My Lord of Leicester! Everyone else has spoken. Well I suppose, what makes
him gush, strikes you dumb. (I like stir up the old ones…?)
LEICESTER: What amazes me is that the buzzing of the streets, the little
shocks and scare-stories can make their way up into the virtuous circle of your
councillors and be used by wise and serious men to frighten their Queen! I
confess I am really at a loss to explain how this stateless Queen of the North,
who couldn’t hold onto her own throne, who is the laughing-stock of her own
subjects, who spit her name, is suddenly a Major National Threat in her prison.
Why on earth are you so scared of her? Because she claims your throne? She is
gently but firmly rejected in your father’s will. Do you think that England, in
the dawn of a new religion, would suddenly fling itself into the arms of the
Pope? Would it ditch you, its beloved bride, and run weeping to this person
who murdered her husband? I really have to ask myself sometimes what these
people are trying to do when they torture you, still in your prime, with the
question of the succession. They want to scare you into a quick marriage for the
sake of the nation! Look, you are a young strong tower, she is an old ruin. God,
I expect to see you stepping on her grave for years to come, without having had
to help her into it.
BURLEIGH: A new song from Lord Leicester.
31
LEICESTER: True, I voted for her death in court. But this is the Council of
State. That was Justice, this is the national interest. Why now? Why is she
dangerous now, when France, her only protector, has dropped her, so that you
and her prince can produce kings of England? Why kill a corpse? Rejection is
the real death. But pity would bring her back to life. So my advice is this: let
the sentence, beheading, stand.Then let her live - in the shadow of the axe. And
the second any insurrection stirs for her - it falls.
ELIZABETH: (RISES.) My Lords, I have heard your views and I thankyou for
your passion. With the help of God, who guides monarchs, I will weigh what
you have said and choose what I think best.
SCENE FOUR. THE ABOVE, PAULET WITH MORTIMER.
ELIZABETH: Sir Amias Paulet. Sir, what have you got for us?
PAULET: Glorious Majesty! My nephew, recently returned from his travels,
throws himself at your feet and offers you the promise of his youth! Be kind
enough to receive it so that he can thrive in your light.
MORTIMER: (KNEELS.) Long live my royal mistress, in glory and happiness!
ELISABETH: Stand up. Welcome back to England. You have been to faraway
places. France, Rome. You stayed awhile in Reims. What are our enemies
doing?
MORTIMER: I met all the exiled Scotsmen, who brood in Reims on their plots
against this island! I won their trust, in order to gain information.
PAULET: They gave him coded letters for the Queen of Scotland, which he
loyally delivered to us.
ELIZABETH: What are they up to now?
MORTIMER: Their hopes were blasted by France abandoning them for this
alliance with England. They now look to Spain.
ELIZABETH: (LOOKING AT MORTIMER ENQUIRINGLY.) It is said you
read a great deal in Reims, and decided to change your religion.
MORTIMER: I confess that was my disguise. I wanted so badly to serve you!
32
ELISABETH: (TO PAULET, WHO HANDS HER PAPERS.)
What’s this?
PAULET: A letter from the Queen of Scotland.
BURLEIGH: (QUICKLY REACHING FOR IT.)
Give it to me!
PAULET: (GIVES IT TO THE QUEEN.) Forgive me, but the Queen told me to
give this to the Queen. She often tells me I am her enemy. So I am, but only of
the worst of her. What falls within my duty I will do for her.
QUEEN HAS TAKEN THE LETTER. WHILE SHE READS IT, MORTIMER
AND LEICESTER EXCHANGE SOME WORDS IN PRIVATE.
BURLEIGH: (TO PAULET.) What are its likely contents, other than
tearful complaints, which the Queen’s compassion could well be spared?
PAULET: It is a request to meet the Queen in person.
BURLEIGH: (QUICKLY.) Never!
TALBOT: Why not? What’s wrong with that?
BURLEIGH: The privilege of the Queen’s presence is something she has surely
forfeited by calling for the Queen’s assassination! Nobody with a spark of
loyalty could make such a suggestion!
TALBOT: My Lord Burleigh, if the Queen wants to kiss her hand, should we
stand in the way?
BURLEIGH: She has been sentenced! Look: the axe is raised. If the Queen so
much as glimpses the head beneath it, the sentence has to be transmuted, since
the implication of the royal presence is pardon.
ELIZABETH: (HAVING READ THE LETTER, DRYING HER TEARS.)
What are we? Earthly happiness is nothing.
Look at this Queen. How far she has been driven
From her proud hopes. Raised to the oldest throne
In Christendom, and with a triple crown,
So she believed, in reach. Her tone has changed
Since she assumed this country’s coat of arms
33
And let herself be called at court the Queen
Of both the Kingdoms of the British Isles!
My Lords forgive me but it makes my soul
Weep tears of blood, that what we build on earth
All blows away; and when I feel the blade
Of human fate passing so close to me.
TALBOT: It is God speaking to you! Listen, Queen!
Heaven gives clear directions - follow them!
She has been fully punished for her crime,
Vile though it was, and it is surely time
Her purgatory was ended. Step into
Her prison like an angel bright with freedom!
BURLEIGH: Stand fast, great Queen, do not permit compassion,
Laudable in itself, to cloud your thinking.
Do not cut off the option, Queen, of doing
What must be done. Since there can be no pardon,
Do not invite the slander that you went
Only to gloat.
LEICESTER: We must not overstep
The mark, my Lords! The Queen sees what to do,
Clearer than us. A meeting of the Queens
Would have no bearing on the course of Law.
The Law has sentenced Mary, not the Crown.
And it is fitting for Elizabeth’s
Great soul that she can follow her own conscience
Without affecting Justice in the slightest.
ELIZABETH: Leave me my Lords. We will devise a means
To marry mercy to necessity.
Leave me!
LORDS LEAVE. AT THE DOOR, SHE CALLS MORTIMER BACK.
A word with you, Sir Mortimer.
SCENE FIVE. ELISABETH, MORTIMER.
ELIZABETH: (AFTER MEASURING HIM INQUIRINGLY WITH HER
EYES FOR SOME MOMENTS.)
34
You have shown self-control and daring far
Beyond your years. The science of deception
Is hard to master; to have delved already
Into its heart, proves you a prodigy,
And you will rise much quicker than your peers;
That is my prophesy, and I have power
To bring it to fulfilment, so I see
Good things for you.
MORTIMER: The meaning of my being
Is to serve you, great Queen.
ELISABETH:
You have become
Aquainted with the enemies of England.
Their hatred of me is unchanging and
One mad attack inspires the next. So far
My life has been preserved by the Almighty,
But the crown trembles on my head, believe me,
As long as she who gives them hope, who gives them
Their passionate excuse, is also living.
MORTIMER: Give the command and her life ends that second ELISABETH Oh sir! I thought we were so nearly there!
But truly we are further off than ever!
Let the Law do it, keep me out of it,
Says I. And so, the court pronounces sentence What have we gained? Not very much. It still
Has to be carried out! See, Mortimer,
I have to give the order, I must just
Face up to it, there is no saving grace,
No way of keeping up appearances!
That is the worst of it!
MORTIMER:
The cause is just,
Why should you worry how it looks?
ELISABETH:
The world
Thinks through its eyes, do you not know that, Knight?
Everyone judges by appearance, no one
Bothers to fathom the realities.
My right is held in doubt and so my part
35
In her demise must never be suspected.
Nothing is safe except obscurity;
The step that you admit to, that will be
Your tragedy – but what you keep unseen
Will cost you nothing. So I may assume MORTIMER: (QUESTIONINGLY.) It would be best then if MORTIMER: Use me. You must protect your reputation.
ELIZABETH: Yes sir! I will. And if you were to wake me
One morning with the news that Mary Stuart
Died in the night MORTIMER: Depend on me.
ELIZABETH:
How soon
Can I expect my sleep to be more easy?
MORTIMER: You will sleep well before the next new moon.
ELIZABETH: Goodbye sir! Sorry that my gratitude
Will have to be so secret. Tell yourself
That silence is a sign of satisfaction,
And that the truest and the best connections
Are often those that must remain most hidden.
EXIT.
SCENE SIX. MORTIMER ALONE.
MORTIMER: Queen of deceit. You fool the world, I you.
It is the height of virtue to betray you.
Do I look like a killer? Did you see
In these clear eyes the yellow light of murder?
Trust me to do it then and in the meantime
Hire no one else, but spend your time perfecting
A face of mercy for the world, while truly
Your entire mind is on the murder weapon.
So you will gain us time to set in motion
Rescue! You say you want to raise me, dangle
A diamond in the sunshine far above me 36
Yourself, perhaps. The passion of your body.
What do you think you have to give, poor woman?
The wrinkled kiss of fame? There is a woman
Who has the gift of life in her possession,
To be with her is extasy forever,
Spirits of grace obey her and the passion
Of being young and happy and in heaven
Is in her hand. You have no more to offer
Than the dead language of a dead religion.
You have not given and have not been given
Love, you have not been lost, bewitched, bewitching,
In someone else. This is the crown a woman
Should wear, to have been everything to someone,
Which you have never. I must wait here for
That Lord, give him her letter. I should never
Have come here, I do not require a courtier,
I am the man to save her, dare the danger
And win the fame and share the prize with no one!
AS HE MAKES TO LEAVE, PAULET MEETS HIM.
SEVEN. MORTIMER, PAULET.
PAULET: What did the Queen say to you?
MORTIMER: Nothing important sir.
PAULET: (FIXES HIS EYES ON HIM, SERIOUS.) Listen to me, Mortimer.
It’s slippery ground you’ve stepped onto. A Queen can offer a young man
whatever he wants, and a young man wants everything. Don’t get carried away
by ambition.
MORTIMER: You brought me to court.
PAULET: I should not have done. It wasn’t at court that our family gained its
honour. Stand firm, nephew! Don’t pay for anything with everything. Hold onto
your conscience!
MORTIMER: What are you so scared of?
37
PAULET: However great she promises to make you - don’t trust a word of it.
Do what she wants, and she’ll disown you afterwards - so as to clear herself,
make you suffer for what she asked you to do.
MORTIMER: And what might that be?
PAULET: Stop it! I know what she proposed. She hopes you’ll bend better than
this old stick. Did you say you’d do it? Eh?
MORTIMER: Uncle!
PAULET: If so I will cut you off like a rotten limb. (EXIT.)
LEICESTER: (ENTERING.) You wanted to speak to me in private.
MORTIMER: First I need to know how wise that is.
LEICESTER: How much of a fool am I to speak to you? Sorry to be suspicious,
but you are two people in this court. One of them must be false, but which?
MORTIMER: And which of you is true?
LEICESTER: Who will trust first?
MORTIMER: Whoever has least to lose.
LEICESTER: You!
MORTIMER: No! You! My word against yours is nothing. Your word against
mine and I am dead.
LEICESTER: No, no, no. Yes, I have power here - in everything but this. In
this I am the weakest man at court, totally exposed, a breath of accusation from
any direction and I am lost.
MORTIMER: Well if I am such a threat to the great Earl of Leicester I must
have come up in the world, so I can afford to be magnanimous.
LEICESTER: Lead, I will follow.
MORTIMER: (QUICKLY PULLING OUT A LETTER.) From the Queen of
Scotland.
38
LEICESTER: (STARTS, QUICKLY REACHES FOR IT.) Hush! What? Her
picture!
HE KISSES IT AND LOOKS AT IT IN SILENT DELIGHT.
MORTIMER: (WATCHING LEICESTER CAREFULLY AS HE READS.) I
trust you now my Lord.
LEICESTER: (AFTER READING THROUGH THE LETTER.) You know
what this letter says, Sir Mortimer?
MORTIMER: No I do not.
LEICESTER: She must have told you MORTIMER: She told me you would explain.
LEICEISTER: You are shocked that I could be so cruel to Mary. But I am not
truly. That is just the style of the times. She was my intended for many years,
you see, before she gave her hand to Darnley. I did not know what I had lost,
then.
MORTIMER: This is a true passion!
LEICESTER: But I was merely ambitious then; never mind truth and beauty, I
thought I could haul in a bigger fish than Mary.
MORTIMER: Everyone knows that the Queen of England loves you only.
LEICESTER: So it seemed, so it seemed. Now, after ten years of desperate,
forced courtship, sir, I am beginning to see the light! God - what I have been
through! Like a slave, like a doll, moaned over, kissed and stroked and then
tossed away in a tantrum, or accidentally trodden on, with a scornful
expression. Watched like an important prisoner, questioned like a schoolboy,
screamed at like a servant! Oh - there are no words to describe the hell I have
been through!
MORTIMER: Earl, I pity you.
LEICESTER: And all for nothing. For years she is all but mine, and then suddenly a French prince shoves me right off the stage on which I had been
39
shining. So the good ship of my hopes goes down with all hands. I flail around
desperately for anything floating. And suddenly remember that first, far more
beautiful image. Mary rises into my mind, glorious, she stands there, fixed in
my mind’s eye, and finally truth and beauty win the day! I saw what I had given
up for ambition. And that was a terrible feeling. Then I have to watch her
condemned partly by my doing. But in the depths of this a resolve is forming:
to rescue her, to have her, despite everything! I managed to convey all this to
her secretly, and in this letter she tells me that she forgives me. And that if I
save her, she will give herself to me.
MORTIMER: You let her be condemned. You voted for the death sentence! If
it had not been for the miracle of my conversion her letter would never have
reached you!
LEICESTER: I had to carry on the pantomime of persecution. But I would
never have let her die! I hoped and I still hope to keep on delaying that until a
way to free her is found.
MORTIMER: That is now. Leicester, you have trusted me, I must return the
compliment. I am here because I intend to free her, my forces are already in
place, and your powerful support ensures the glorious success of our enterprise.
LEICESTER: What? How?
MORTIMER: We will break open her prison gates. There are a number of us.
Everything is in place.
LEICESTER: A number of you? God help me! Do they know about me?
MORTIMER: No need to be frightened. The plan was made without you. It
would have been carried out without you, if she had not insisted on being
rescued by you.
LEICESTER: So you are able to say with absolute certainty that my name has
not been mentioned in connection with this conspiracy?
MORTIMER: Absolute certainty. Why so panicked Earl if as you say your
driving desire is to rescue her and possess her? Suddenly a foolproof plan falls
into your lap, out of thin air, but you seem not so much extatic as embarrassed.
LEICESTER: Force is not the right way. This plan is too dangerous.
40
MORTIMER: So is delay!
LEICESTER: I am telling you, sir, this will not work.
MORTIMER: (BITTER.) You want her for yourself! We who want her for the
world are more determined!
LEICESTER: Young man, you do not know what you are doing.
MORTIMER: You are so cautious you will lose everything!
LEICESTER: I see the difficulties.
MORTIMER: I see ways round them!
LEICESTER: Your courage is madness.
MORTIMER: Your caution is cowardice.
LEICESTER: If we fail, she suffers.
MORTIMER: She suffers if we do nothing!
LEICESTER: You are incapable of rational thought. In one night you will
wreck years of careful work.
MORTIMER: How are you protecting her at this moment? Say I am
proceeding now as an assassin, as the Queen believes I am, tell me precisely
how you are going to stop me?
LEICESTER: (SURPRISED.) Did the Queen tell you to kill her? Did you say
you would? Did you?
MORTIMER: To stop her hiring anyone else, yes.
LEICESTER: Well done. While she is relying on you, the death sentence will
remain undone. We have gained some time.
MORTIMER: (IMPATIENTLY.) No, we are losing time!
41
LEICESTER: Counting on you, she will put on a show of mercy to the world.
So I will be able to persuade her to meet Mary face to face. Then the sentence
cannot be carried out. Yes, I will do this, stake everything on this.
MORTIMER: For what? When she finds out I deceived her, when Mary is still
alive, what’s changed? She still won’t be free! She will die of old age in jail if
she’s lucky! Sooner or later you will have to be brave. Why not now? You’ve
got the power, you could raise an army just from the gentlemen in your castles!
Invite the Queen to one of them now, as you do often. Then be a man. Master
her! Lock her up til she sets free Mary Stuart!
LEICESTER: God Almighty! God help me! You are far off - way out to sea!
Do you know what country you are in? Do you know the grip this female king
has on everything? You can whistle for the spirit of this country - it will not
come, the Queen has buried it alive. Do what I do. Move slowly. Someone is
coming. Go.
MORTIMER: What shall I say to Mary? Nothing?
LEICESTER: Tell her I love her forever!
MORTIMER: Tell her yourself! I am her rescuer, not your go-between!
SCENE NINE. ELISABETH, LEICESTER.
ELISABETH: Who was that leaving? I heard someone speaking.
LEICESTER: (TURNING QUICKLY AND SURPRISED AT HER WORDS.)
Sir Mortimer.
ELIZABETH: My Lord, what is the matter?
Have I disturbed you?
LEICESTER: (COLLECTING HIMSELF.) Yes you have indeed.
Why are you lovelier today than ever?
God, I can hardly look at you, your beauty
Is too much! Give me peace!
ELISABETH:
Why are you sighing?
LEICESTER: Why do you think? To be reminded of
What I will lose - !
42
ELISABETH:
My Lord, what are you losing?
LEICESTER: You. Dear sweet you. Soon you will be free falling
Into the loving arms of your young husband,
And he will eat up every bit of you.
His blood is royal, mine is not, but somehow
I do not think his love is as convincing
As mine, this Duke of Anjou. He has never
Set eyes on you; this acrobat has fallen
Head over heels in love with your description
And with your portrait, he adores your fame,
But I love you. If you were dirtpoor, herding
Sheep on a mountain, and I was the King
Of the Whole World, I would not hesitate
To abdicate, and lay my useless crown
At your bare feet.
ELIZABETH: You should be sorry for me,
Dudley, not laugh at me. I am forbidden
To listen to myself. All other women
Are free to raise the men they love - but I
Cannot do that, I am not like the Stuart,
Who gave herself exactly what she wanted,
Denied herself no pleasures, drunk a river
Of bliss!
LEICESTER: And now its waters taste more bitter.
ELIZABETH: She did not care what people thought. To her
Life was an easy burden, she declined
The yoke I bowed to. I could easily
Have claimed my share of extasy. However
I chose the harder road of royal duty.
Of course men loved her, all she wanted was
To be a woman, so they drool and grovel,
That is what men are like, all beasts, all feasters,
Bounding like dogs towards the scent of pleasure.
Careless, incapable of reverence Even old Talbot cast away the years,
Dribbling and sparkling when he talked about her.
43
LEICESTER: Mary bewitched him when he was her warden.
ELISABETH: And is her beauty really so amazing?
Having endured so many rapt descriptions
I often wonder if the facts support them.
Painters and poets flatter for a living;
I trust my own two eyes. Why are you looking
At me like that?
LEICESTER: I am imagining
You next to Mary! That would be amazing,
I must admit, if we could keep it secret You and the Stuart! That would seal your triumph
For me! To see her see herself - and nothing
Has sharper eyesight than a jealous woman Not so much crushed as - not so much eclipsed
As totally annihilated, not
Just by the Law, but by your dignity,
Not just by that, but by you as a person ELIZABETH: She is the younger woman.
LEICESTER:
Is she really?
She looks so old. That is her suffering.
And - yes! - and it would make her misery
Complete to see you in your bridal joy She has left all that life behind - to see you
So far above her in your happiness,
Bride of the Prince of France, and she was always
So proud of her French husband, always calling
On France to leap across the sea and save her ELIZABETH: (CARELESSLY.) I sense the velvet pressure of persuasion.
LEICESTER: (ANIMATED.) What she has begged for as a favour, grant her
As the worst punishment a soul can suffer!
Cut off her head? That will be slight compared
To what your beauty will remove from her!
She planned to murder you, you murder her
Much worse with perfect grace not tossed like hers
Into the jaws of hollow lust - preserved
By moderation, haloed in the glare
44
Of perfect, famous virgin truth and on
Top of all that, a crown, and all around you,
The April brightness of a bride! The ground
Opens beneath and what is left of her
Falls to destruction! Yes, the time has come.
Now when I look at you I see you are
Ready to conquer in the name of beauty;
You are beyond description. When you entered
Earlier, I was dumbstruck, I was staggered.
Imagine then how it will be for her
If you appear as you are now. Go to her!
ELISABETH: Now? No - no - Leicester! I must think about it
Properly, talk to Burleigh.
LEICESTER: (INTERRUPTING ANIMATEDLY.) Talk to Burleigh?
His only instinct is the national interest!
Your womanhood has its needs as well! The only
Council this tender question should be put to
Is one beyond the reach of any statesman I mean your mind; though if you have this meeting,
It will be seen as gracious by the people,
And they will love you for it. Blot her out
Afterwards by whatever means you want.
ELISABETH: It would be inconsiderate to visit
A relative reduced in means. They tell me
That she is less than regally attended.
The blame for that is mine if I have seen it.
.
LEICESTER: No need to stoop into her rooms, my Queen.
There is another way. This afternoon
The great hunt passes close to Fotheringhay.
The Queen is walking in the park alone Suddenly out of nowhere you appear,
See her - and then - if you so wish, ride on
Without a word.( I really do like stoop.,….)
ELISABETH: If I permit myself,
It is your foolishness not mine, I say.
But how can I refuse this fool today
When out of all my subjects it is he
45
I have hurt most, not meaning to, today.
So if I wish to please your foolish mind,
It is my way to make my feelings plain,
By being foolish for your sake, my friend.
EXEUNT.
ACT THREE. A PARK. TREES IN THE FOREGROUND, AT THE BACK A
SCENIC VIEW.
SCENE ONE. MARY STEPS OUT FROM BEHIND THE TREES,
RUNNING. HANNA KENNEDY FOLLOWS SLOWLY.
KENNEDY: Stop! Wait for me! I can’t keep up! Slow down!
MARY: Let me enjoy my freedom! Let me be
A child, or, Hanna, be a child with me!
Let your feet fly across the grass! How has this
Happened? How have my prison doors flown open
To let me breathe the full free air of heaven!
KENNEDY: Oh my dear Lady, you are still in prison,
Only its walls have been a little widened,
And screened with trees.
MARY:
Oh thankyou friendly trees,
For blotting out my walls with your green leaves.
I want to dream my way to freedom and
To happiness, and you are helping me!
Heaven is all around me, infinite
In all directions, I can see everything!
Those clouds that travel southwards, they are bound
For the far coast of France. You hurrying
Ships of the sky, why can’t you carry me!
Give my good wishes to my childhood country!
I am a prisoner, chained to English ground,
You are my only messengers – you may
Pass freely through the gates of air, this Queen
Cannot imprison you!
KENNEDY:
Oh my dear Lady,
You are beside yourself; this longed for freedom,
46
Has come too suddenly.
MARY:
Look, Hanna – there That fisherman! His little boat could row me
Quickly across the sea to friendly cities;
It hardly feeds him and his family,
But I would fill his nets with treasure if he
Took me aboard!
KENNEDY: There is no use in dreaming!
There are spies following us constantly,
And a tyrannical command has cleared
Anyone who might help us, out of here.
MARY: No, Hanna, you are wrong. You must believe me –
This inch of freedom is an indication
Of greater things to come. I am not dreaming.
Love is behind this – working patiently –
This is Lord Leicester; this is how his power
Will set me free: by stages, to allow me
To grow accustomed to each lease of freedom
Before the next increases it a little,
Till I am standing face to face with him,
And he removes the last trace of this prison!
KENNEDY: It makes no sense! They tell you yesterday
You are to die, and then today they give you
This freedom! I have heard that those condemned to
Eternal freedom often have their chains
Loosened a little –
MARY:
Listen to the horn!
Oh to be following it now! How often
I heard it and was glad the hunt was coming
Thundering through the heather on the mountain!
SCENE TWO. PAULET. THE ABOVE.
PAULET: Well! Have I made you happy now, my Lady?
Have I done something right at last?
MARY:
You did this?
47
PAULET: I went to court, I gave the Queen your letter.
MARY: And this is due to that?
PAULET:
And more is coming!
Prepare for something even more momentous!
MARY: What do you mean?
PAULET:
You must have heard the horn.
MARY: What are you saying?
PAULET:
Close to this place.
MARY:
That the Queen is hunting
What!
PAULET:
Any moment now
She will be standing right in front of you.
KENNEDY: (RUSHING TOWARDS MARY WHO TREMBLES AND IS
ABOUT TO FALL.) My Lady!
PAULET: Is it not what you wanted now it’s happening?
You asked for it. Perhaps you did not think
That it would come so quickly. You have never
Been short of words. Well you will need them now.
The time to speak has come.
MARY:
I should have been
Told! I need time! The thing I pleaded for
Is now the thing I fear most. Quickly, Hanna,
Take me inside, so that I can recover.
PAULET: Stay where you are. You have to wait for her
Here. I am not surprised that you are frightened
To stand before your judge.
SCENE THREE. COUNT SHREWSBURY JOINS THE ABOVE.
48
MARY: God, I feel faint. Ah Shrewsbury, an angel
From heaven! I cannot meet her! Save me, Shrewsbury,
From the detested sight of her!
TALBOT:
Stand firm,
Don’t be afraid, Queen. Everything depends
Upon this moment!
MARY:
I have waited for it
For years and years, I have rehearsed this moment
Over and over to myself, repeating
The words to move her and to touch her. All
Suddenly vanished, at this instant nothing
Inside me but the furnace of injustice,
And the whole Kingdom of myself declaring
War against her!
TALBOT:
Restrain your rage, transform
Bitterness into sweetness – force yourself
Despite yourself, to meet her with submission;
She has the power.
MARY:
Crawl? For her? Impossible.
TALBOT: But you must do it! Speak respectfully,
Calmly, inspire her magnanimity,
Do not insist upon your rights, not now,
It is the wrong time.
MARY:
I have called destruction
Down on my head. We two must not meet, ever!
No good can ever come of it! First fire
Will marry water and the lamb the tiger.
She has insulted me too deeply, hurt me
Too viciously, and between us there can never
Be reconciliation!
TALBOT:
Please! I saw
Tears in her eyes, Queen, when she read your letter.
She is not heartless. You must just take courage.
MARY: (TAKING HIS HAND.)
49
Shrewsbury! You are my good friend! If only
I had been left in your safekeeping!
TALBOT: Put that aside now. Concentrate on one thing:
How to receive her with humility.
PAULET: The Queen.
ENTER ELIZABETH, LEICESTER, ETC.
ELIZABETH: Who is this Lady?
LEICESTER:
This is Fotheringhay.
ELISABETH AS IF SURPRISED CASTS AN ANGRY LOOK AT
LEICESTER.
ELIZABETH: Who is responsible for this, Lord Leicester?
LEICESTER: Queen, it has happened, and since gracious heaven
Has led you here, allow your heart’s compassion
To have free reign.
TALBOT:
We beg you, gracious Queen,
To cast your eye on this unhappy Lady.
MARY PULLS HERSELF TOGETHER AND WANTS TO LOOK
TOWARDS ELISABETH, BUT STOPS, SHUDDERING, HALFWAY, HER
GESTURES SHOWING A VIOLENT INTERNAL STRUGGLE.
ELIZABETH: Who tells me that this woman is unhappy,
My Lords? I see a proud and upright person,
Not in the least bit humbled by misfortune.
MARY: Destiny has decided in your favour,
Sister! I kneel to the eternal power
That has raised you!
SHE KNEELS AT HER FEET.
But you must do the same
For me, be gracious, sister, do not leave me
50
Lying dishonoured in the dust, reach down
Your royal right hand to raise me; I have fallen
A long way down.
ELIZABETH: Stay down there, Lady Mary,
It is your place. And I thank God in heaven
That it was not his sovereign will that I
Should kneel to you as you now kneel to me.
MARY: Do not forget that nothing stands forever,
That there are gods who punish pride – the proof
Is at your feet! In front of witnesses,
Do not destroy the good name of the Tudors,
Whose blood we share! Dear God, do not stand there
Stern and aloof, a proud seacliff rebuffing
This shipwrecked woman. My whole life is hanging
On what my words or tears can do. I call
Everything that is in me to appeal to
Everything that is in you, but your iceface
Freezes my stream of words and stops my tears
Mid-flow.
ELIZABETH: What did you want to say to me?
You asked to see me. So I laid aside
The indignation of an injured Queen,
In order to fulfil the sacred duty
Of sisterhood, and to provide you with
The consolation of my presence, bending
To an impulse of generosity;
By which I have exposed myself to blame,
For stepping in the mud, because you wanted
To have me murdered.
MARY:
How shall I begin?
How can I phrase my words to stir, not wound?
God make my speech a storm but take the sting
Out of it. How I can explain my cause
Without attacking you most bitterly
I do not know, but so it has to be,
Though you have treated me unlawfully,
Since we both hold the status of a Queen,
But you have held me as a prisoner;
I came to you for help, you tore in pieces
51
The ancient code of hospitality,
Laughed at the laws all other nations live by,
Locked me in prison, took my servants from me,
Denied my friends access to me, forced me
To suffer deprivations not befitting
My rank, stood me before a court of shame,
No court of Law - enough of this – let endless
Oblivion blot out my sufferings!
Fate is to blame, not you or I. Pure evil
Rose out of the abyss to stir up hatred
In both of us. It was already there,
When we were young; it grew with us; bad men
Blew on the flame; insane fanatics armed
The willing, not by your will or by mine;
This happens when two monarchs disagree:
Into the gap between them furies fly,
And with a mighty crack the world divides
Into two bleeding pieces. There is no one
Between us now, we speak with our own voices.
APPROACHES HER TRUSTINGLY, WITH A GENTLE FLATTERING
VOICE.
Now to my face, dear sister, name my crime,
And I will answer to your satisfaction.
If you had only listened to me then,
When I came searching for you urgently,
It never would have come to this, we two
Would not have met in this sad place today.
ELIZABETH: A saving angel flicked away the snake
Before I clasped it to my breast! Do not
Rage against fate! Accuse yourself, accuse
Your house, and its ambitions! Nothing had
Muddied the waters, till your uncle, proud,
Power-mad priest, crown-covetous, proclaimed
War against me, and coaxed you into claiming
My coat of arms and my Imperial Title,
So drawing me into a death-struggle.
He turned the world against me! Priests with words,
Soldiers with swords, both sharpened by the same
Religious hatred. Even here among
52
The faithful households of my peaceful kingdom,
He stirred up hellfire. But I am protected
By God; the priest, despite his arrogance,
Falls back defeated and the field is mine;
My head was aimed at but your head will fall.
MARY: God holds me in his hands. You will not step
So far across the line.
ELIZABETH: Why should I not?
Why should I care that we are relatives?
What are these laws you say all nations live by?
Your Church has broken every bond of duty,
Makes treason saintly, regicide a blessing How could you promise, on what book or name
Swear not to fight me if I set you free?
There is no lock to keep your loyalty
Safe from the turning of Saint Peter’s key!
Security is force, negotiation
Impossible with your league of snakes.
MARY:
The tragedy
Of your suspicion. You have never seen
Anything but an enemy in me.
If you had named me, as the Law requires,
Your heir, imagine what I would have been A loving cousin and a grateful friend.
ELISABETH: I know your friends! The Pope! He is your friend!
Monks are your cousins. Name you as my heir!
A royal trap! And see you, in my lifetime,
Stealing my people with your glittering eyes,
Seducing the nobility, while I,
Forgotten MARY: Rule in peace! I here and now
Renounce all claims to England. Broken-winged,
All my ambitions creep along the ground.
So you have won. You have obliterated
Mary, I am her shadow, prison years
Have snuffed my light out. You have done to me
The worst that anyone can do, stamped me
53
Out when my life was in full flame! Now finish
This ceremony; what you came to say,
Say it, speak, quickly; I cannot believe
You came here purely out of cruelty.
Say what you came to say then, say to me,
‘You are free Mary, you have felt my heel
Hard on your head, now learn to love my hand
When it gives freedom.’ Speak. I will receive
My life, my freedom from your lips. One word
Reverses my disaster. I am waiting,
Please do not make me wait too long. And sister,
If it is not with blessings that you leave me,
Departing like a gracious goddess, then
I fear for you. And not for this whole Kingdom,
For all the kingdoms that the wide sea touches,
Would I desire to have your power, cousin!
ELIZABETH: So are you finally defeated, Mary?
All your plots wrecked? No alleyway assassins,
No desperate adventurers determined
To be your errant Knights? Yes, Lady Mary,
It is all over. No more fools will stumble
Into your clutches, now the world’s eyes are elsewhere,
Nobody wants to try his luck as your
Fourth husband, since these days your suitors die
Before they reach the altar!
MARY:
Sister! Sister!
God seal my lips!
ELIZABETH: (REGARDS HER WITH A LOOK OF PROUD CONTEMPT.)
Is this the beauty, Leicester,
Dangerous for a man to glimpse, disaster
For any woman to be near? Why is it
So talked about? I think I see the reason:
To be the darling of the world is easy
If you are in the arms of everybody!
MARY: Too much!
ELIZABETH: (LAUGHS MOCKINGLY.) This is your true face we are seeing.
The mask has cracked.
54
MARY: (GLOWING WITH RAGE, YET WITH NOBLE DIGNITY.) My sins
were human failings,
And I was young and power had confused me.
But I have not denied them, I refused
To hide the truth, I let the worst be known,
So I can say that what is said of me
Is worse than what I am. But history
Will not be kind to you when it tears down
The finely decorated drapery
That veils your passions. You did not inherit
Much virtue from your mother. We all know
For what crime Anne Boleyn was killed TALBOT: (STEPS IN BETWEEN THE TWO QUEENS.) Dear heaven!
How has it come to this? Is this submission,
Is this restraint, my Lady?
MARY:
Human beings
Can only take so much. Restraint! Submission!
Now I dispatch the lamb and let the lion
Out of its cage! Faint patience, like an angel
Float back to heaven! You who gave Medusa
Her murdering eyes, now soak my words in poison!
TALBOT: She is beside herself – forgive this outburst!
ELIZABETH, IN SPEECHLESS ANGER, CASTS ENRAGED LOOKS AT
MARY.
LEICESTER: (IN GREAT ANXIETY, STARTS TO LEAD ELIZABETH
AWAY.)
Don’t listen to this raving woman! Hurry
Away from here – away MARY:
The throne of England
Is desecrated by a bastard, and
The noble people of the British Isles
Robbed by a simple trick. If right was honoured
You would be sprawling in the dust before me,
Because I am your Queen.
55
ELIZABETH EXITS QUICKLY, THE LORDS FOLLOW HER WITH
GREATEST CONSTERNATION.
SCENE FIVE. MARY, KENNEDY.
KENNEDY: What have you done? She has left in fury, now we have no hope!
It is all over.
MARY: (STILL ENRAGED.) She leaves in rage! Death in her heart!
Wonderful, Hanna! At last, at last, after years in the dirt, one instant of victory!
I feel like a mountain has fallen from my back! I plunged a knife into my
enemy’s heart!
KENNEDY: You lost your mind! She will not forgive you for this! In front of
her favourite you made a fool of her!
MARY: I crushed her in front of Leicester! He saw the whole thing, he
witnessed my triumph! I picked her up and flung her into the dust and he was
standing there, giving me strength!
SCENE SIX. MORTIMER JOINS THE ABOVE.
KENNEDY: Oh sir, this is disaster MORTIMER: I heard every word.
HE SIGNALS TO THE NURSE TO TAKE HER POST AND COMES
CLOSER. HIS WHOLE APPEARANCE SUGGESTS A STRONG,
PASSIONATE MOOD.
You won! You crushed her under your foot. You were the Queen, she was the
prisoner. I have never seen such courage. I adore you. At this moment to me
you are the Queen of Heaven.
MARY: Tell me what Leicester said. Did you give him my letter? Tell me!
MORTIMER: (LOOKING AT HER WITH GLOWING EYES.) When you
looked at her like that my God you were the most beautiful woman on earth!
MARY: Tell me what Leicester said! I repeat! Is there hope?
56
MORTIMER: From him? Coward. No hope there, nothing from him, spit on
him, forget him!
MARY: What are you saying?
MORTIMER: Him! Save you? Have you? First he would have to fight me!
MARY: You didn’t give him my letter? Then it is all over.
MORTIMER: Like all cowards he is addicted to his own existence. To save
you, to win you, a man must be ready to embrace death boldly.
MARY: He is not prepared to do anything MORTIMER: What can he do? What use is he to us? I will save you, all by
myself!
MARY: With what power?
MORTIMER: Wake up. It is no longer yesterday. The way she left you now,
there is no question of mercy. We must risk everything now to win everything.
You must be free before the morning.
MARY: What? Tonight? How?
MORTIMER: I and my companions met in a secret chapel. A priest heard our
confessions, absolved us of all sins past and to come. We have received the last
rites, we are ready, we are ready.
MARY: My God – this is horrible MORTIMER: We enter the castle tonight. I hold the keys. We kill the guards,
we take you from your rooms by force. Every living soul has to die, so that no
one can talk.
MARY: Drury - Paulet - they will certainly fight to the death MORTIMER: They die first.
MARY: Your uncle, who raised you?
MORTIMER: I will kill him.
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MARY: You will be damned!
MORTIMER: I am already forgiven. I can and will do worse things.
MARY: God help us, God help us!
MORTIMER: If I had to cut the Queen’s throat - I am protected by the
sacrament.
MARY: No, Mortimer, before any blood MORTIMER: Life is nothing to me. Only your love means anything. Let a
second flood smother up creation again! Rather than lose you, I would end the
world gladly!
MARY: (STEPPING BACK.) God, sir, what are you saying?
MORTIMER: (WITH UNSTEADY LOOK, INDICATING QUIET
MADNESS.) Life is a flash! And so is death. So let them drag me to Tyburn
and tear me to pieces.
APPROACHES HER FIERCELY WITH OPEN ARMS.
When I hold you, my love MARY: (STEPPING BACK.) Get back. You are insane.
MORTIMER: Close to me, my mouth to your mouth MARY: For God’s sake, sir, let go of me, let go!
MORTIMER: It is insane to refuse the joy God thrusts into your arms. I will
save you. It may cost a thousand lives. But I will save you. That is what I want
but by the living God I swear too that I want you.
MARY: Help me, angels! Why must I stumble from terror to terror! Was I born
to inspire only - hysteria? Love and hate have joined forces against me!
MORTIMER: Yes I love you as fiercely as they hate you! They want to cut off
your head, they want to slice through this neck’s blinding white with an axe. So
give to life what otherwise you must surrender to death. Your body is already
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lost. Give it to me. Death has already got his hands in your silken hair, use it to
tie me to your forever MARY: These are insane ravings! Sir, if you do not respect me as a Queen,
respect my suffering!
MORTIMER: The crown has gone, and all earthly authority. Try giving an
order, see if anybody runs to save you. Only one thing remains: your
unutterable grace, your beauty. But these give me the power to embrace death!
MARY: Save me, somebody!
MORTIMER: To the hero a hero’s reward. What does he shed his blood for?
Life is the price of life! Insanity to throw it away for nothing! So I leap into the
fire of life!
HE PRESSES HER AGAINST HIM.
MARY: Who will save me from my saviour?
MORTIMER: You are not cold. Nobody accuses you of that. You can feel
passion. As Rizzio learned. And Bothwell.
MARY: How dare you!
MORTIMER: He mastered you and you loved him. Well then if fear is your
desire - in the name of Satan!
MARY: You are utterly mad! Get away from me!
MORTIMER: I will make you scream with terror!
KENNEDY: (RUSHING IN.) They are coming! Armed men - all over the
garden!
MORTIMER: (STARTING AND REACHING FOR HIS SWORD.) I will
protect you.
MARY: Save me from him, Hanna! Where can I hide? What Saint pray to?
Outside I am attacked; inside I will be murdered.
SHE FLIES TOWARDS THE HOUSE. KENNEDY FOLLOWS.
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SCENE SEVEN. MORTIMER, PAULET, DRURY, WHO STORM IN IN
GREATEST CONSTERNATION. ATTENDANTS HASTEN ACROSS THE
STAGE.
PAULET: Shut the gates! Raise the drawbridges!
MORTIMER: Uncle, what’s happened?
PAULET: Where is the murderess? Throw her into the deepest dungeon!
MORTIMER: What has happened?
PAULET: The Queen! God help us! Hell on earth!
MORTIMER: The Queen? Which Queen?
PAULET: The Queen of England? Murdered on the London Road!
RUSHES INTO THE HOUSE.
SCENE EIGHT. MORTIMER. O’KELLY ENTERS SOON.
O’KELLY: (BURSTING IN.) Run, Mortimer, run, disaster!
MORTIMER: What disaster?
O’KELLY: No time. Run.
MORTIMER: What’s happened?
O’KELLY: It was Sauvage, the madman.
MORTIMER: So it’s true then.
O’KELLY: True, yes. Run!
MORTIMER: She is dead, and Mary will be the Queen of England.
O’KELLY: Dead? Who said that?
MORTIMER: You did!
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O’KELLY: She is alive. We are dead.
MORTIMER: Alive!
O’KELLY: The blow was wild, it caught in her cloak, Shrewsbury disarmed
the attacker.
MORTIMER: Alive!
O’KELLY: To be the death of us. Quick now, they are surrounding the park.
MORTIMER: Who did this?
O’KELLY: The monk from Toulon, remember, rapt in thought in the chapel.
He took a shortcut, to set free God’s Church and a win himself a martyr’s
crown, with one thrust. He told no one but the priest, and there on the London
Road he did it MORTIMER: (ASIDE.) I see now. Your own angel is against you.
O’KELLY: Where will you go? I’m north for the forests MORTIMER: God be with you. I’ll stay. I will still do all I can to save her.
And if I fail, lie down on her grave and sleep forever.
EXEUNT DIFFERENT WAYS.
ACT FOUR. ANTECHAMBER.
SCENE ONE. KENT, LEICESTER. BURLEIGH IN CONVERSATION
WITH DAVISON.
BURLEIGH: The execution order must be drafted
At once, and given to her Majesty
For her to sign. No time to lose. Get going.
DAVISON: Yes sir, of course.
EXIT.
AUBESPINE: (TO BURLEIGH.) My Lord, I am rejoicing
61
With the whole island, thanking gracious heaven
For stepping in between this madman and
Her Majesty!
BURLEIGH: Praise God, who has frustrated
The malice of our enemies.
AUBESPINE: Whoever
Did this is damned.
BURLEIGH: So is whoever sent him.
AUBESPINE: My Lord, will you please take me to the Queen,
So I can bless her with my King’s good wishes.
BURLEIGH: No need to strain yourself, Count Aubespine.
AUBESPINE: (OFFICIOUSLY.) I know my duty, I should think, Lord
Burleigh.
BURLEIGH: Do you? Your duty is to quit this country
As fast as you can run.
AUBESPINE: (STEPS BACK WITH SURPRISE.) What are you saying?
BURLEIGH: Count, your immunity expires tommorrow.
AUBESPINE: Why? For what crime?
BURLEIGH:
One that cannot be pardoned
Once it has been named.
AUBESPINE:
Lord, the privilege
Of a State Envoy BURLEIGH: Does not save a traitor
Against the state!
LEICESTER, KENT: What did you say?
AUBESPINE:
Think 62
My Lord,
BURLEIGH: In the pocket of the Queen’s attacker
There was a passport in your handwriting.
KENT: God!
AUBESPINE: I distribute countless documents,
I cannot read minds!
BURLEIGH: The attacker said
Confession at your house.
AUBESPINE:
My house is open.
BURLEIGH: To anyone who wants to piss on England!
AUBESPINE: I demand an enquiry!
BURLEIGH:
You should fear one!
AUBESPINE: It is my King you strike, attacking me.
He will tear up the treaty!
BURLEIGH:
It has been
Torn up already by the Queen. This Kingdom
Will not kiss France. My Lord of Kent, your orders
Are to escort this person to the sea.
The howling mob that stormed his house discovered
An entire arsenal of weaponry.
He will be torn to shreds if he is seen.
Hide him, until the streets are safe again.
You are responsible for him.
AUBESPINE:
I leave
Gladly a country where the Law of nations
Means nothing, and diplomacy is a cockfight.
And so I go but in good time my King
Will answer this!
BURLEIGH:
We will be waiting for him.
EXIT KENT AND AUBESPINE.
63
SCENE THREE. LEICESTER AND BURLEIGH.
LEICESTER: So you yourself demolish the alliance you built so officiously, on
your own authority. And what has England gained? You might as well have
spared yourself the trouble.
BURLEIGH: It was a good policy. God was against it. Glad I can accuse
myself of nothing worse than that.
LEICESTER: Oh we can tell when Burleigh is onto something. This is the bit
you love, isn’t it; something terrible has happened. Who is behind it? Now we
will have a court of inquiry. Every word, every look will be weighed in the
scales. Passing thoughts will be stood in the dock. And Burleigh is in charge of
it all, the Atlas of State, all England on his shoulders!
BURLEIGH: I have to spend more time studying your speeches, Lord, because
your eloquence has won something mine could never have done.
LEICESTER: What might that be, my Lord?
BURLEIGH: Wasn’t it you who lured the Queen to Fotheringhay behind my
back?
LEICESTER: Behind your back? When have I ever needed to hide anything
from you?
BURLEIGH: I do not know if you lured a Queen to Fotheringhay or if a Queen
lured you to Fotheringhay!
LEICESTER: Explain.
BURLEIGH: What a glittering triumph you engineered for our innocently
trusting Queen! Shamelessly mocked! Heartlessly betrayed! Now at last I fully
understand how weak this Stuart is, as you explained in council, in your sudden
fit of mercy - no more dangerous an enemy than the common cold, certainly
not worth the trouble of executing! A good plan! A sharp plan! Too sharp! The
point broke off!
LEICESTER: You will go with me now and make this accusation to the Queen!
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BURLEIGH: I will be there. And when I am, you had better shine my Lord,
you had better shine like the sun.
EXIT.
SCENE FOUR. LEICESTER ALONE, THEN MORTIMER.
MORTIMER: (ENTERS WITH GREAT NERVOUSNESS, LOOKS AROUND
WITH APPREHENSION.) Lord Leicester! Is it you? Are we alone?
LEICESTER: Get out of here!
MORTIMER: Will you just listen to me?
LEICESTER: Get your claws out of me! I have never seen you in my life, I
have nothing to do with killers!
MORTIMER: Listen! I have come to warn you! You have been caught out!
LEICESTER: What?
MORTIMER: Burleigh swooped on Fotheringhay straight after the attack. The
Queen’s rooms were searched, and they found a letter to you from the Queen,
urging you to keep your word, renewing the promise of marriage, mentioning
her portrait.
LEICESTER: She is cursed!
MORTIMER: Burleigh has the letter.
LEICESTER: That is it.
DURING MORTIMER’S FOLLOWING SPEECH HE PACES BACK AND
FORTH IN DESPAIR.
MORTIMER: Act now! Pre-empt him! Save yourself, save her - swear oaths say anything to put off the end. I can’t do anything now, my friends have
scattered, I am escaping to Scotland. It is up to you. Trust your reputation.
Brazen it out.
LEICESTER: (STANDS STILL, SUDDENLY CALM.) I will do that.
65
HE GOES TO THE DOOR, OPENS IT AND CALLS.
Guards!
TO THE OFFICER WHO ENTERS WITH ARMED MEN:
Arrest this traitor. A plot has been uncovered. I will inform the Queen myself.
EXIT.
MORTIMER: (AT FIRST FROZEN WITH SURPRISE, COLLECTS
HIMSELF AND FOLLOWS LEICESTER WITH LOOKS OF GREATEST
CONTEMPT.)
TO THE OFFICER WHO STEPS FORWARD TO ARREST HIM:
Slave, you had better keep away from me,
I am a free man!
PULLS OUT A DAGGER.
OFFICER:
Get the dagger off him!
THEY RUSH ON HIM, HE FENDS THEM OFF.
MORTIMER: And for the first time in my life now ending,
I will speak freely! You will come to nothing,
You are a people that has turned away
From God and from its Queen. That has betrayed
Two Mary’s, one on earth and one in heaven,
And grovels to a bastard Queen OFFICER:
Treason! Stop him!
MORTIMER: My love! I did not save you in the end,
But this is how I would have struck for you!
Holy Mary, mother of God, take me –
HE STABS HIMSELF WITH HIS DAGGER AND FALLS INTO THE ARMS
OF THE GUARD.
66
SCENE FIVE. APARTMENT OF THE QUEEN. ELISABETH, HOLDING A
LETTER. BURLEIGH.
ELIZABETH: He led me there to laugh at me, to see me
Crushed for the entertainment of his whore!
Traitor! No woman has been so deceived,
Burleigh!
BURLEIGH: I am unable to divine
By what black arts he blurred your judgement, Queen.
ELISABETH: Well I have died of shame. He must be roaring
With laughter at how gullible I am!
I meant to crush her but was crushed myself!
BURLEIGH: What more could I have done than speak my mind?
ELIZABETH: I suffer when I stray from your advice.
But how not to believe him? If he cheats me,
Who can I trust? He is the one I made
The greatest of the great; till he held almost
A king’s position at this court!
BURLEIGH:
And all
The time his mind was on the Queen of Scotland.
ELIZABETH: She will regret that. Has the death warrant
Been drafted?
BURLEIGH:
It is ready, as you ordered.
ELISABETH: She dies, he sees her die, and then he dies.
I have expelled him from my heart. Love out,
Rage and revenge in. High as he once climbed,
So low shall be his fall. And he will be
A monument to my severity
As he once advertised my weakness. Peers
Shall be appointed for his trial. I give him
Up to the full severity of the Law.
BURLEIGH: He will insist on seeing you, to argue -
67
ELISABETH: How can he justify himself? The letter
Convicts him, does it not?
BURLEIGH:
You know his ways,
The power of his presence ELIZABETH:
I will never
Set eyes on him again.
PAGE: (ENTERING.) My Lord of Leicester.
ELIZABETH: I do not want to see him. Tell him that
I do not want to see him.
PAGE:
Believe me.
He would not
ELIZABETH: See Lord Burleigh, I have raised him
To such a height that my own servants fear him
More than they fear me!
BURLEIGH: (TO PAGE.) Did you hear the Queen?
PAGE EXITS HESITANTLY.
BURLEIGH: Queen, listen SCENE SIX. THE ABOVE, LEICESTER.
LEICESTER: (BURSTS OPEN THE DOOR AND ENTERS WITH
IMPERIOUS MANNER.) So I may not see my Queen!
If she can see this Lord she can see me!
BURLEIGH: You cannot storm into this room, my Lord,
Against a strict command!
LEICESTER:
And nor, my Lord,
Can you speak first here. What was that I heard?
A strict command? What? There is not a soul
At court who command the Earl of Leicester
To come or go!
68
APPROACHING THE QUEEN HUMBLY.
From my Queen’s lips I will ELIZABETH: (WITHOUT LOOKING AT HIM.)
Get out.
LEICESTER: It is my enemy I hear
Manipulating sweet Elizabeth,
His voice in her mouth, and I ask you now,
As you have heard him, hear me.
ELISABETH:
Bluster then.
Increase your crime by lying!
LEICESTER:
I will speak
When this extremely irritating man
Has left the room. My dealings with the Queen
Require no witness.
ELIZABETH:
Stay. By my command.
LEICESTER: When have we ever needed anyone?
I want to speak with my beloved Queen!
And I demand the rights I have been given –
The sacred rights! This Lord must leave!
ELIZABETH:
From head to toe.
Sheer pride
LEICESTER:
That’s true! I am the man
Raised by your grace above all others.
Send him away, let us two speak together,
And in two seconds I will clear this matter.
ELIZABETH: My Lord, show him the letter.
BURLEIGH:
Here it is.
LEICESTER: (QUICKLY READS THE LETTER, MAINTAINING HIS
COMPOSURE.) From Mary Stuart.
69
(AFTER HE HAS READ IT, CALMLY.) If I am to be
Convicted on appearances, then these
Will certainly convict me.
ELIZABETH: Sir, can you
Deny that you made contact, secretly,
With Mary, kept alive her hopes, received
Her picture?
LEICESTER: It would not be hard for me,
If I was guilty, to dismiss this writing
As the invention of my enemy,
But with my conscience clear I can state plainly
That she writes nothing but the truth.
ELIZABETH:
Farewell.
Well then,
BURLEIGH : He has pronouced his own death sentence.
ELIZABETH: Take him away from me! He shall be tried!
Traitor!
LEICESTER: That is not what I am. I blundered,
Keeping my intrigues to myself, for certain,
But my intentions were impeccable To find out hers, to lead her on, then catch her!
ELIZABETH: Pathetic.
BURLEIGH:
What, my Lord? You think you can -
LEICESTER: No man in England but the Earl of Leicester
Could have dared this. That I hate Mary Stuart
Is common knowledge; then I hoped my rank,
And the Queen’s trust, with which I am so honoured,
Would drown all doubts as to my good intentions;
He whom your favour sets apart can surely
Choose his own daring way to do his duty?
BURLEIGH: Why did you keep this secret?
70
LEICESTER: My Lord! You toll the bells in all the steeples
Before you move a muscle. I act first,
Speak after.
BURLEIGH: You are only speaking now,
Because you have to.
LEICESTER: (MEASURING HIM PROUDLY AND SCORNFULLY WITH
HIS EYES.)
Seize your happy day!
Glorious Lord! He has performed a deed
Miraculous in its efficiency,
Exposed a plot - he is omniscient,
No beetle in the grass escapes his eye;
And yet - and yet - despite this hawk on high,
Sweet Mary Stuart would be free today
If it was not for me.
BURLEIGH:
You -
LEICESTER:
Yes, my Lord!
Me! The Queen gave Sir Mortimer the duty
Of killing Mary Stuart.
QUEEN AND BURLEIGH LOOK AT ONE ANOTHER ASTONISHED.
BURLEIGH:
Hear this?
Where did you
LEICESTER: My Lord, where you while this man,
An agent of the Pope and of the Guises,
Catholic fanatic revolutionary
Would-be assassin of our Queen, Queen Mary’s
Footsoldier, here to set her free, made free
Behind your back? What were you looking into?
BURLEIGH: Mortimer?
LEICESTER:
Mary’s courier to me.
That is how I discovered his intention
To spring her from her cell today. He told me
Everything, just this moment, and I had him
Arrested, but, with his conspiracy
71
Collapsing, totally exposed and cornered,
He killed himself.
BURLEIGH: This happened suddenly
After I left you just now?
LEICESTER:
I am sorry
That he is dead. His witness would have cleared me
Utterly. That is why I wanted him
To come before a court. So that the Law
Itself could have exonerated me!
BURLEIGH: You say he killed himself? You did not kill him?
LEICESTER: You can interrogate the guard in question ELIZABETH: Oh God.
LEICESTER:
So tell me then, my Queen, who saved you?
Burleigh? Was he aware of the disasters
Dancing around you? Did he shield you from them?
No - it was Leicester’s loving wings that hovered
Over you!
BURLEIGH: Helpful of Sir Mortimer
To die like that.
ELIZABETH: What can I say to you,
When I believe and disbelieve you, find you
Guilty and innocent. How I hate the woman
Who causes this confusion!
LEICESTER:
She must die.
I call for it myself now. My advice
Was to suspend the sentence till the next
Plot was discovered. It has been discovered,
And so the execution of the sentence
Must follow in its footsteps. I demand it!
BURLEIGH: Who is this speaking?
LEICESTER:
72
I do not believe
In extreme measures, but I clearly see
Now, that the safety of her Majesty
Requires this bloody sacrifice.
I motion that the execution order
Be issued forthwith!
BURLEIGH: (TO THE QUEEN.) Since my Lord’s good faith
Is not in question, it is my suggestion,
Queen, that the execution of the sentence
Should be assigned to him.
LEICESTER:
To me?
BURLEIGH:
For certain.
It is the perfect opportunity
For you to shake off lingering suspicion,
My Lord. Behead the one they say you live for.
ELIZABETH: (LOOKING AT LEICESTER.)
I like my Lord’s advice. The task is yours.
LEICESTER: My rank should spare me such a dire command,
More suitable to Burleigh than to me.
A man who breathes the same air as the Queen,
Should be excused from graveyard tasks. However,
To prove my passion and to please her Majesty,
I waive my status and accept this duty.
ELISABETH: Burleigh shall share it. You will have the warrant
Drawn up at once.
BURLEIGH EXITS. NOISE OUTSIDE.
SCENE FIVE. DAVISON JOINS THE ABOVE.
Sir William, what is happening?
What is this uproar in the city?
DAVISON: Queen, your people are surrounding the palace. They demand to
see you!
ELIZABETH: What do they want from me?
73
DAVISON: London is in uproar! They say that your life is in danger, the
pope’s assassins are everywhere, the Catholics are about to free Mary Stuart
and proclaim her Queen. The people are convinced - they are rabid - nothing
will satisfy them now except the head of the Stuart.
ELIZABETH: Is my hand forced?
DAVISON: They will not leave till you have signed the death warrant.
ENTER BURLEIGH
BURLEIGH: God speaks through the people. Obey him.
ELISABETH: (UNDECIDED, STRUGGLES.) Which people are speaking? All
my people? All the people in the whole world? What if the people whose will I
obey are the same people who will hate me for obeying the will of the people?
SCENE NINE. LORD SHREWSBURY JOINS THE ABOVE.
TALBOT: (ENTERS, MOVED.) Queen, they are rushing you. Stand firm, do
not give in to them!
SEES DAVISON WITH THE PAPER.
Or is the deed done? Is it? That is a dangerous piece of paper. Do not show it to
the Queen right at this moment!
ELIZABETH: Shrewsbury! They are forcing me!
TALBOT: Who? You are the Queen! Silence them! The people are blind with
terror, you are still shaken by the attack. Make no decision now. You are only
human. This is not the moment!
BURLEIGH: The moment has passed from sentence to execution.
DAVISON: (WHO ON SHREWSBURY’S ENTRANCE HAS LEFT, COMES
BACK.) The crowd is growing all the time, it’s uncontrollable ELISABETH: (TO SHREWSBURY.) You see!
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TALBOT: All I say is: wait. What you sign away is the peace and happiness of
the rest of your life. You have dwelt on this for years - don’t be swept away
now in the heat of the moment! Wait. Collect yourself.
BURLEIGH: (FERVENTLY.) Sit and wait while your nation goes up in
flames, while your enemy moves in for the kill. You have survived three
assassination attempts, by the grace of God - this time only just - do not test
your God again!
TALBOT: God who has saved your life three times, who today gave a weak old
man the strength to knock down a mad fanatic - he deserves to be trusted!
Listen! You fear the living Mary. Wrong. It is the dead one you should fear. At
this moment everyone hates her, but when she is dead, everyone will want to
avenge her. Then you will feel the wind of change! Take a turn through
London, after, look for the people who swarmed around you, cheering.
Tyranny’s shadow, terror, will go before you, as you process through empty
streets. Because you will have sown this thought: whose head is safe if a
Queen’s is not?
ELIZABETH: Shrewsbury! You saved my life today. Why did you bother? I
would be dead now. I tell you I am tired of this life, tired of this reign. If one of
two queens has to die for the other to live - why not me? Let my people choose,
I hand over power to them. I am not made to rule! A ruler has to be hard, but I
am not hard. All these years it has been easy ruling this country - but now,
finally, I am faced with a trial of duty and suddenly I understand that I have no
power.
BURLEIGH: God! You say you love your people more than yourself - prove it
now! Think of the Church! Think of the souls of your subjects - the eternal
salvation of your entire people hangs on your next action. This is not the time
for weakness, your highest duty is to your people - Shrewsbury saved your life
but I will save more than that - England!
ELIZABETH: I want to be alone. Human wisdom is no use to me now. I need
the advice of the Most High. Leave me, my Lords! (TO DAVISON.) You stay
nearby.
THE LORDS EXEUNT. SHREWSBURY REMAINS BEFORE THE QUEEN
WITH A MEANINGFUL LOOK, THEN WITHDRAWS WITH A PAINED
EXPRESSION.
Slave to my own free people. Oh appalling
75
Servitude! I am sick of worshipping
The thing my soul despises. When oh when
Will I rule freely? Any king who labours
To please the world, is not a king. The one
Who has no need of anyone’s approval –
He is. Throughout my reign I have upheld
Justice, rejected tyranny, and by that,
Fixed my own course. When for the first time violence
Is called for, I have tied my hands – the pattern
Of my past actions is my condemnation.
If I had acted like my predecessor,
My sister Mary; with no precedent
Of mercy set, I could shed royal blood
Unreprimanded. But was it my free
Choice to be just? Surely necessity,
The prison of the will even of kings,
Compelled me to be virtuous. Encircled
By hostile states, my people’s love alone
Could keep me safe on this disputed throne.
All of the European powers conspire
Against me and I stand, an unprotected
Woman against the world! I must be perfect,
To cover up the defect in my birthright,
The stain of doubt my father cast on it,
When he disowned me. But I cannot hide it,
Hatred provides my enemies with sharp eyesight,
And they have spied it out, and set the Stuart
Against me like a restless ghost. But no –
This fear shall end, her head shall fall. I want
Peace! Mary Stuart is the name
Of every evil I have ever suffered.
When she has vanished, I will be as free
As mountain air.
SILENCE. QUICKLY WALKS TO THE TABLE AND TAKES THE PEN.
Bastard, you say? Unluckily for you,
That is true only while you are alive.
As for the doubt about my birth, it dies
With you. When England has no choice but me,
I’ll be the fruit of wedlock, definately.
76
SHE SIGNS WITH A QUICK, STRONG STROKE, THEN SHE LETS THE
PEN DROP AND STEPS BACK WITH AN EXPRESSION OF FEAR. AFTER
A PAUSE, SHE RINGS THE BELL.
SCENE ELEVEN. ELISABETH, DAVISON.
ELISABETH: Sir William.
AS HE TURNS TOWARDS THE DOOR:
Take back your paper.
DAVISON: (LOOKS AT IT AND STARTS BACK.) Queen! Signed! That is
your decision?
ELISABETH: You asked me to sign it and I signed it. A piece of paper is not a
decision, a signature is not fatal.
DAVISON: On receipt of this paper the sherriff and the commissioners will
proceed directly to Fotheringhay castle to inform the Queen of Scotland of her
execution and carry it out at dawn the following morning. The Queen is dead,
once I have handed it over.
ELISABETH: Yes, sir! A weighty responsibility! Pray for God’s guidance. I
leave you to your duty.
SHE IS ABOUT TO GO.
DAVISON: (STEPS INTO HER PATH.) No, my Queen! Don’t leave me till
you’ve told me what you want me to do! Do I follow your orders to the letter or
is it a more subtle kind of obedience you are looking for? I infer from your
placing this paper in my hand that you want it delivered?
ELISABETH: Decide for yourself.
DAVISON: (INTERRUPTING QUICKLY AND ALARMED.) Not me!
Heaven forbid! I can only obey. You cannot delegate this! A missed nuance
here is catastrophic regicide! I have no will of my own! I am your tool! This is
far too much for me. Tell me in plain words: what do you want to happen to
this bloody order?
ELISABETH: It must do what it must do.
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DAVISON: So you do want it to be carried out immediately?
ELISABETH: (HESITANT.) I did not say that! I can’t even think it!
DAVISON: So you want me to keep it?
ELIZABETH: If you do – on your head be it!
DAVISON: For God’s sake! Say the words, queen! Tell me what you want!
ELISABETH: (IMPATIENTLY.) I want never to hear another word about this
ever again! I want peace now forever.
DAVISON: One word is all I ask. Oh please just give the command!
ELISABETH: I have given it! Now leave me alone!
DAVISON: Have you? Not to me. Oh Queen, please will you say it again ELISABETH: (STAMPS ON THE GROUND.) Aaaaaggghhhh!
DAVISON: Be patient with me. I was only appointed a few months ago! I am
not familiar with court language. Please take a few moments to explain to me
exactly what I ought to be doing in this situation.
HE APPROACHES HER PLEADINGLY, SHE TURNS HER BACK ON HIM,
HE STANDS IN DESPAIR, THEN SPEAKS WITH DETERMINATION.
Take back this paper! Now! It’s hotter than fire! Choose someone else to serve
you in this dreadful business!
ELISABETH: Do your job.
EXIT.
SCENE TWELVE. DAVISON ALONE. ENTER BURLEIGH.
DAVISON: Oh good! Oh good it’s you my Lord! You got me this position.
Get me out of it. I had no idea what was involved. Let me slink back into
obscurity, this is not the place for me!
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BURLEIGH: What’s the matter, sir? Chin up. Where is the warrant? The Queen
called you.
DAVISON: She left in fury. Tell me what to do! Get me out of hell! Help me!
Here is the warrant - look, signed.
BURLEIGH: (QUICKLY.) Oh really? Give it to me.
DAVISON: I can’t.
BURLEIGH: What?
DAVISON: She has not expressed herself clearly.
BURLEIGH: She’s signed! Give it to me!
DAVISON: The order must be given. But it must not be - given - if you follow
me. God! How am I supposed to know what to do?
BURLEIGH: (URGING MORE FERVENTLY.) You give it to me right now or
else you are finished. Give it to me.
DAVISON: Well I am finished if I do give it to you!
BURLEIGH: Idiot! Give it to me!
SNATCHES THE PAPER FROM HIM AND RUSHES OFF WITH IT.
ACT FIVE. SCENE ONE. HANNA KENNEDY, DRESSED IN BLACK,
WITH EYES RED FROM WEEPING, IN GREAT SILENT ANGUISH
SEALS LETTERS AND PARCELS. HER SORROW OFTEN INTERRUPTS
HER WORK, AND SHE PRAYS IN SILENCE. PAULET AND DRURY,
ALSO IN MOURNING, ENTER, FOLLOWED BY MANY SERVANTS
WHO BEAR GOLDEN AND SILVER VESSELS, MIRRORS, PAINTINGS
AND OTHER VALUABLES AND FILL THE BACK PART OF THE STAGE
WITH THEM. PAULET HANDS THE NURSE THE BOX OF JEWELLERY
AND A PAPER, INFORMING HER WITH A SIGN THAT IT IS THE
INVENTORY OF THE BELONGINGS OF THE QUEEN. AT THE SIGHT
OF THESE RICHES, THE NURSE’S PAIN IS RENEWED, SHE SINKS
INTO DEEP MOURNING, AS THE OTHERS LEAVE AGAIN. MELVIL
ENTERS.
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KENNEDY: (AS SOON AS SHE SEES HIM.)
Melvil! I never thought I would see you
Again!
MELVIL: But you were wrong, my good old friend,
Kennedy!
KENNEDY: It has been so long, so long!
MELVIL: A painful sad reunion.
KENNEDY:
You have come -
MELVIL: To say goodbye forever to my Queen.
KENNEDY: I will not ask how things have gone with you,
Or say what we have suffered. There will be time
Some other time. Oh Melvil, Melvil, why
Did we two have to live to see this day?
MELVIL: We must not make each other cry. This day
Begins an endless period of mourning
For me, and yet today my dear, today
I will be granite. And I want you too
To hide your grief. When all the rest of them
Give way to sorrow, you and I must stand
Solid, and when she walks to death we two
Will be her pillars.
KENNEDY:
Melvil! Do you think
She needs our help? You have forgotten her!
She is the steadfast one, we look to her
For our example! Mary Stuart, sir,
Will die a Queen and heroine, have no fear.
MELVIL: How was she when they told her? I have heard
She was not ready.
KENNEDY: (AFTER A PAUSE, IN WHICH SHE REGAINS COMPOSURE.)
This is how it was.
You can’t let go of life by slow degrees It has to be a quick leap, suddenly,
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Straight out of time into eternity.
And in this case God granted to my Lady
Swiftness of spirit to cut off all hopes
Of help on earth and turn her face to heaven.
No tear disgraced her. Only when she heard
What Leicester did, and how poor Mortimer
Died for her, when she saw Sir Paulet crying
For his dead nephew, thrown away for her,
Then she did cry, not tears for her own cause,
But sorrow for the sorrow of another.
MELVIL: Where is she now? Am I allowed to see her?
KENNEDY: She prayed till daylight, then she wrote goodbyes
To her close friends, and then she wrote her will.
Now she is resting for a moment, seeking
Strength in her last sleep.
MELVIL:
Is she on her own?
KENNEDY: Doctor Burgoyn is with her. Melvil! You’ve come from London,
have you heard anything about Curl, her secretary?
MELVIL: They say he’ll be set free as soon as KENNEDY: As soon as the Queen is dead! Traitor! He’s her murderer, they
say his evidence condemned her!
MELVIL: It is true.
KENNEDY: He’s damned to hell then! He has committed perjury!
MELVIL: Lady Kennedy, think what you are saying.
KENNEDY: I’ll swear it in court. I’ll say it to his face, I’ll fill the world with it
- she is innocent!
MELVIL: I hope to God that is true! Hush! She is coming!
SCENE TWO. THE ABOVE. MARY. SHE IS DRESSED SUMPTUOUSLY,
IN WHITE; AROUND HER NECK SHE WEARS AN AGNUS DEI ON A
ROW OF SMALL BEADS, A ROSARY HANGS FROM HER BELT, SHE
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HOLDS A CRUCIFIX IN HER HAND AND WEARS A DIADEM IN HER
HAIR. ON HER ENTRANCE, ALL PRESENT MOVE BACK TO BOTH
SIDES AND EXPRESS GREAT GRIEF. MELVIL SINKS
INVOLUNTARILY TO HIS KNEES.
MARY: (LOOKING AT THEM WITH CALM MAJESTY.)
Who are you mourning for? Why are you crying?
I am rejoicing, all my suffering
Is coming to an end, my cell is air,
My prison paper; and my soul arises
On angel wings to everlasting freedom.
When my proud enemy held me at her pleasure
To suffer shames a great free Queen should never
Have to endure, that was the time to weep
For me! But death steps forward as a healer,
And a fierce friend who will stand firm forever,
Showering blessings! With his pitch-black wings
He covers over my disgrace; however
Low we have fallen, we are rescued by
The end, that is the joy of being human.
ADVANCING A FEW STEPS.
Melvil?
Get up you good man! You have come to witness
The triumph of your Queen, not her destruction.
This is a joy I have not dared to hope for,
That when I die I will not leave my story
Entirely to the telling of my enemies,
But one good friend, and my own faith’s confessor,
Will be a witness of my death. Well sir,
Have you been happy in this unkind country
Since you were torn away from me? I have been
Concerned about you since that time.
MELVIL:
My only
Grief was for you and that I could not serve you.
MARY: My one regret is that there could not be
Some member of my family for me
To kiss before I die, but let that be.
Melvil, I give my will to you to carry
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Close to your heart. I bless the Christian King
My brother, and all the royal family
Of France, I bless the Cardinal my uncle,
I bless my noble cousin, Henry Guise,
I bless the Pope, Christ’s holy Governor,
Who will bless me, I bless the Catholic King
Who swore to save me or if not, avenge me.
The list of them is written in my will;
They will not think my love too small a legacy.
TURNING TO THE SERVANTS:
I have commended you to my dear brother
The King of France. He will look after you,
Give you a second homeland. If you wish
To honour my last wishes, you will not
Stay here in England where your grief will be
Food for the pride of Englishmen, rejoicing
In the distress of those who were my servants.
Swear on the body of the God who died,
To leave this loveless country after me!
MELVIL, KENNEDY: (TOUCHING THE CRUCIFIX.) We swear.
MARY:
The little that this poorwoman
Was left by those who robbed her, or the little
Of that I am permitted to distribute,
I have shared out between you. And the things
I wear to death. Allow me one last flicker
Of earthly splendour on the way to heaven!
My loyal Hanna,
You are not one for gold or for the glory
Of stones - my memory is all your treasure,
And so I give you this, which I embroidered
Myself, in many sad hours. There are tears
Woven into the pattern. It is this
Scarf you must bind my eyes with when the time
Comes. I would like this to be done by you,
My Hanna.
KENNEDY: Melvil!
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SHE IS ABOUT TO CRY. MARY QUICKLY TURNS AWAY FROM THEM.
EXIT KENNEDY.
SCENE THREE. MARY, MELVIL.
MARY: I have arranged all my affairs and reckon
To leave in no man’s debt. But there is one thing
Melvil, which grips my soul and stops it rising
Out of the world.
MELVIL:
Tell me. Unload your worries
Onto your friend. Trust me.
MARY:
Eternity
Is right in front of me. I will be kneeling
Soon, at God’s judgement seat. But I have not yet
Atoned. No priest of my own Church has been
Permitted to attend me, I will not
Accept the sacrament from false priests. Only
Our own faith holds salvation, and I want
To die in that!
MELVIL: AND SO YOU WILL. YOU THINK
There is no priest here, that we lack the body
Of Christ, that this is not a church. Not true.
God and his priest are present in this prison.
WITH THESE WORDS HE UNCOVERS HIS HEAD AND SHOWS A HOST
IN A GOLDEN VESSEL.
This is the truth: to hear your last confession
And to proclaim to you the peace of God
As you proceed to death, I have received
The seven consecrations; and this host
Blessed by the Holy Father, has been sent
By him through me.
MARY:
So at the very edge,
Heaven has left a blessing. You, my servant
Once, are the servant now of the Most High,
And I must do the kneeling now.
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SHE SINKS DOWN TO HER KNEES.
MELVIL: (MAKING THE SIGN OF THE CROSS OVER HER.)
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Mary, Queen! Have you looked into your conscience,
And do you swear to make a true confession
To God, who is Truth?
MARY:
All I am lies open
To you and Him.
MELVIL:
What sin has stamped itself
Into your conscience since your last confession?
MARY: Envious hatred, burning lust for vengeance;
I hoped for God’s forgiveness, but could not
Forgive my enemy.
MELVIL:
Do you now repent,
And do you truly wish to leave this life
At peace with man and God?
MARY:
As truly as
I hope for God’s forgiveness.
MELVIL:
In your heart,
What other sins are buried?
MARY:
Not just hate Love. I descended into godless love,
And he destroyed me.
MELVIL:
Do you now repent,
And has your spirit turned from man to God?
MARY: It was the hardest wrench but I have ripped out
All of love’s roots in earth.
MELVIL:
What else?
MARY:
The worst.
I had the King my husband murdered and
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Married his murderer. Though I have atoned
With rigid penance, in my soul the worm
Still will not sleep.
MELVIL:
Are there no other sins
That you have not confessed before?
MARY:
No more.
MELVIL: Think of the torments Holy Church proclaims
For incomplete confession! It is punished
By endless death, it is the sin against
The Holy Spirit!
MARY:
So in my last battle
Eternal grace will win victory
For me, since I have kept back nothing from you
Consciously.
MELVIL: You conceal from God the crime
You have been sentenced for on earth? No word of
Your murderous collusion with the treason
Of Babington and Parry? You are dying
Here for that crime, no need to die forever
Hereafter for it!
MARY:
I am ready for
Eternity. Before this hour is over
I will appear before the throne of judgement.
And I repeat: that is my full confession.
MELVIL: Beware of self-deceit! Perhaps you slyly
Avoided speaking any actual word
That could betray you, while your heart and mind
Were party to the crime! But you will find
No way to blind the piercing eye of flame!
MARY: Though I have called on kings to set me free
From the indignity of prison, never
By action or intention have I threatened
The life of my oppressor.
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MELVIL:
So you say
They gave false evidence, your secretaries.
MARY: What I have said is true. Their testimony
I give to God.
MELVIL: So you will climb the scaffold
Convinced of your own innocence?
MARY:
Thank heaven.
This death that I do not deserve, atones
For my old crime of blood.
MELVIL: (MAKES THE SIGN OF THE CROSS OVER HER.)
Then go, go on
And make it good by dying! On the altar,
Lay yourself down, blood pays for blood, my Queen!
So I proclaim that you are washed clean
Of all your sins. As you believe, so thrive.
HE HANDS HER THE HOST.
This is Christ’s body that was given for you HE TAKES THE CUP ON THE TABLE, CONSECRATES IT WITH SILENT
PRAYER, THEN HANDS IT TO HER. SHE HESITATES TO TAKE IT,
THEN SHE RECEIVES THE CUP.
As in your earthly body you are joined
Now with your God by this great mystery,
So in the blissful kingdom you shall be
Infinite in your bliss and in your beauty.
HE PUTS DOWN THE CUP. ON A NOISE HEARD OUTSIDE, HE COVERS
HIS HEAD AND GOES TO THE DOOR. MARY REMAINS ON HER
KNEES IN SILENT PRAYER.
There is one final battle to be won.
Do you have strength to trample bitterness
And hate into the dust?
MARY:
No turning back.
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My love and hatred have gone up to God.
MELVIL: Prepare yourself then to receive the Lords
Leicester and Burleigh.
SCENE FOUR. THE ABOVE. BURLEIGH, LEICESTER AND PAULET.
LEICESTER STAYS IN THE BACKGROUND, WITHOUT RAISING HIS
EYES. BURLEIGH, WHO WATCHES HIS BEHAVIOUR, STEPS
BETWEEN HIM AND THE QUEEN.
BURLEIGH: Lady Stuart, I have come to receive your last commands.
MARY: Thankyou my Lord!
BURLEIGH: My Queen wants nothing denied within reason.
MARY: I have given my will to Sir Paulet. I pray that it will be honoured.
PAULET: Depend on it.
MARY: I ask for my servants to be released unharmed to Scotland or to France
or wherever they wish.
BURLEIGH: As you wish.
MARY: Since my body is to be buried in unconsecrated ground, I ask you to
permit this servant to carry my heart to France to my family, where it has
always been.
BURLEIGH: It shall be done. Anything else?
MARY: Convey my sisterly greetings to the Queen of England. Tell her I
forgive her for my death with all my heart and that I sincerely beg her to
forgive me for yesterday. God save her and bless her with a prosperous reign!
BURLEIGH: Now. Have you changed your mind about the Dean?
MARY: I have made peace with my God. Sir Paulet, I have caused you great
pain, unintentionally. I have robbed your old age of its support. I pray that you
will not think badly of me.
PAULET: (GIVES HER HIS HAND.) God be with you! Go in peace!
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SCENE FIVE. THE ABOVE. HANNA KENNEDY ENTERS IN TERROR;
FOLLOWED BY THE SHERIFF, CARRYING A WHITE STAFF; BEHIND
HIM THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR, ARMED MEN.
MARY: What is it Hanna? Yes, time. Here comes the Sheriff to lead us to
death!
TO MELVIL:
Sir, you and Hanna will walk with me. My Lord, you can grant me this small
consolation.
BURLEIGH: It is beyond my authority.
MARY: What? It is not much to ask! Respect me as a woman! Who will do me
the last service? I cannot believe my sister wants our sex insulted by rough
male hands touching me!
BURLEIGH: No woman can go with you onto the scaffold - all the weeping MARY: Weeping! I can answer for Hanna. My Lord, be merciful. Do not make
me die without my friend and nurse. She lifted me into this life, let her lead me
out of it.
PAULET: (TO BURLEIGH.) Allow it.
BURLEIGH: Very well.
MARY: Now there is nothing else.
SHE TAKES THE CRUCIFIX AND KISSES IT.
Saviour! Redeemer! As you stretched wide your arms on the cross, open them
now to receive me.
SHE TURNS TO GO. AT THIS MOMENT, SHE MEETS THE EYE OF
LEICESTER, WHO ON HER STEPPING FORWARD COULD NOT HELP
BUT LOOK AT HER. LOOKING AT HIM, MARY STARTS TO TREMBLE,
HER KNEES FAIL HER, SHE IS ABOUT TO FALL. LEICESTER
CATCHES HER AND HOLDS HER IN HIS ARMS. SHE LOOKS AT HIM
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FOR AWHILE, EARNESTLY AND SILENTLY, HE CANNOT HOLD HER
GAZE. SHE FINALLY SPEAKS.
True to your word, Lord Leicester, as you swore,
You lead me out of prison on your arm.
HE STANDS, DESTROYED. SHE CONTINUES, WITH A SOFT VOICE.
And Leicester once it was far more than freedom
I wanted from your arms. I wanted freedom
To be a house of happiness and passion
And new life through your arms. Now I am almost
Out of the world, a simple spirit laughing
Its way to heaven, free of earthly longings,
I can say freely to your face, Lord Leicester,
How mighty was the weakness I have conquered.
Goodbye, be happy if you can. Two queens
Accepted your attentions, lucky man!
You choose the hard heart, not the tender one.
Kneel to Elizabeth! Praise her! And I pray
She will not pay you back with agony.
Goodbye! Now there is nothing here for me.
SHE EXITS, PRECEDED BY THE SHERIFF, MELVIL AND THE NURSE
BY HER SIDE; BURLEIGH AND PAULET FOLLOW; THE OTHERS
FOLLOW WITH THEIR EYES, WAITING UNTIL SHE IS OUT OF SIGHT;
THEN THEY EXIT THROUGH THE TWO OTHER DOORS.
SCENE SIX. LEICESTER, STAYING BEHIND ALONE.
LEICESTER: How am I still alive? How can my body
Still hold together? And this roof, for God’s sake,
Why can’t it fall and bury me forever,
Why can’t the earth split open, drag me under?
What have I done? What have I thrown away?
The pearl of great price! There she goes, a soul
In bliss already, but for me, damnation!
I came here so resolved to gag my feelings,
Cut out my heart’s tongue, see her head fall bleeding
And scarcely blink. Why does the sight of her
Make me ashamed? When she is dead will I
Fall even more in love with her? No, man-stone,
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You cannot melt with pity like a woman,
The road you’ve chosen does not lead to love,
Armour your steel heart in a coat of granite,
Or you will lose what this day’s work has won!
Brazen this hour out, sail through head held high,
Be like a statue, stare through marble eyes,
Let pity’s liquid be solidified,
So I can watch her death, as is expected.
SCENE SEVEN. THE SECOND ROOM OF ACT FOUR. ELIZABETH
ENTERS FROM A SIDE DOOR, HE GAIT AND GESTURES EXPRESS
RESTLESSNESS. ENTER THE EARL OF SHREWSBURY.
ELIZABETH: My Lord, welcome. What news? Nothing small, I think, could
bring you here so late.
TALBOT: Great Queen, my grievous concern for your reputation drove me
today to the tower, where Curl and Nau, Mary’s secretaries, are held. I wanted
one more time to weigh for myself the truth of their testimonies. God, what a
nighmare vision! Hair disshevelled, eyes madly staring, the Scot Curl lies on
his bed. Recognising me, the poor fellow falls at my feet, screaming, begging
me for news of his queen, because word of her death sentence has reached him.
When I confirm this, adding that she dies by his testimony, he leaps at his
fellow prisoner and starts to throttle him. Then he turns on himself, battering
his chest with his fists, cursing himself and his friend to the depths of hell. The
evidence he had given was false, the damning letters to Babington were
forgeries, what he had written was not what the Queen said. Then he runs to the
window, starts shouting to the streets that he is Mary’s secretary, the traitor
who accused her falsely ELISABETH: As you said - insane.
TALBOT: But what drove him mad? Oh Queen! I beg you, do not rush this
through, re-open the inquiry.
ELISABETH: I will, because you want me to, not because I can believe that the
peers could have made a mistake. The inquiry shall be reopened for the sake of
your reassurance. Thankfully there is still time! No shadow of doubt can be
permitted to rest on my reputation.
SCENE EIGHT. DAVISON JOINS THE ABOVE.
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ELIZABETH: Sir, the warrant I put in your hand, where is it?
DAVISON: (IN UTMOST ASTONISHMENT.) The warrant?
ELIZABETH: Which I gave you to keep safe.
DAVISON: To keep safe!
ELIZABETH: The people howled for me to sign. Under duress I did so, but
then placed the paper in your hands to gain time. Now! Give it back!
TALBOT: Do, sir, the situation has changed, the inquiry is to be reopened.
ELIZABETH: Where is the paper?
DAVISON: (IN DESPAIR.) I am dead!
ELISABETH: (INTERRUPTING FERVENTLY.) I do hope, sir, that you have
not DAVISON: I am finished. I have not got it.
ELISABETH: What?
TALBOT: God!
DAVISON: Burleigh has had it since yesterday.
ELISABETH: So you flatly disobeyed me! I explicitly urged you to take care of
this paper.
DAVISON: You did not, Queen.
ELISABETH: So I am a liar! Did I command you to give the paper to
Burleigh?
DAVISON: Not in those precise words, but ELISABETH: That was your interpretation. Your bloody slant! Well my fellow
if as a consequence of your initiative the worst has happened, you will pay for
it with your life.
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FINAL SCENE. THE ABOVE. BURLEIGH, THEN KENT.
BURLEIGH: (BENDING HIS KNEE BEFORE THE QUEEN.) Long live the
Queen! May all the enemies of this island end like the Stuart!
SHREWSBURY HIDES HIS FACE. DAVISON WRINGS HIS HANDS IN
DESPAIR.
ELISABETH: Tell me my Lord, was it I that put the warrant into your hand?
BURLEIGH: No, Queen! I received it from Davison.
ELISABETH: And did he hand it to you in my name?
BURLEIGH: No! He did not!
ELISABETH: Nevertheless you carried it out, without first enquiring as to my
will in the matter. The sentence was jut, the world cannot blame us, but you
stepped in ahead of my mercy and therefore are banished.
TO DAVISON:
Worse awaits you, who have criminally overstepped your commission, who
have missappropriated a thunderous edict placed in your trust. Take him to the
Tower, it is my wish that captial proceedings be instituted against him. Talbot!
You are my only righteous adviser, my ears are open to no one but you , my
friend, from now on.
TALBOT: Do not banish your best friends. They sang for you, now they are
dumb for you, do not fling them into prison. As for myself, great Queen, permit
me to return the seal that for twelve years you have entrusted to me.
ELISABETH: (STUNNED.) No, Shrewsbury! You will not leave me now, not
now TALBOT: Forgive me, I am too old to serve you, I lack the necessary
flexibility.
ELIZABETH: The man who saved my life TALBOT: But not the best of you. Live long, reign happily! Your rival is dead.
Nothing to fear now. Or respect.
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EXIT.
ELISABETH: (TO THE EARL OF KENT WHO ENTERS.) Summon the Earl
of Leicester!
KENT: The Lord sends his apologies. He is on a ship to France.
SHE RESTRAINS ANY EMOTION AND STANDS IN CALM
COMPOSURE. CURTAIN.
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