Mary Stuart

            Sir Edward Mortimer!

SCENE V

ELIZABETH, MORTIMER.

ELIZABETH (having measured him for some time with her eyes in silence)   You've shown a spirit of adventurous courage   And self-possession, far beyond your years.   He who has timely learnt to play so well   The difficult dissembler's needful task   Becomes a perfect man before his time,   And shortens his probationary years.   Fate calls you to a lofty scene of action;   I prophesy it, and can, happily   For you, fulfil, myself, my own prediction.MORTIMER   Illustrious mistress, what I am, and all   I can accomplish, is devoted to you.ELIZABETH   You've made acquaintance with the foes of England.   Their hate against me is implacable;   Their fell designs are inexhaustible.   As yet, indeed, Almighty Providence   Hath shielded me; but on my brows the crown   Forever trembles, while she lives who fans   Their bigot-zeal, and animates their hopes.MORTIMER   She lives no more, as soon as you command it.ELIZABETH   Oh, sir! I thought I saw my labors end,   And I am come no further than at first,   I wished to let the laws of England act,   And keep my own hands pure from blood's defilement.   The sentence is pronounced – what gain I by it?   It must be executed, Mortimer,   And I must authorize the execution.   The blame will ever light on me, I must   Avow it, nor can save appearances.   That is the worst —MORTIMER              But can appearances   Disturb your conscience where the cause is just?ELIZABETH   You are unpractised in the world, sir knight;   What we appear, is subject to the judgment   Of all mankind, and what we are, of no man.   No one will be convinced that I am right:   I must take care that my connivance in   Her death be wrapped in everlasting doubt.   In deeds of such uncertain double visage   Safety lies only in obscurity.   Those measures are the worst that stand avowed;   What's not abandoned, is not wholly lost.MORTIMER (seeking to learn her meaning)   Then it perhaps were best —ELIZABETH (quick)                  Ay, surely 'twere   The best; Oh, sir, my better angel speaks   Through you; – go on then, worthy sir, conclude   You are in earnest, you examine deep,   Have quite a different spirit from your uncle.MORTIMER (surprised)   Have you imparted then your wishes to him?ELIZABETH   I am sorry that I have.MORTIMER                Excuse his age,   The old man is grown scrupulous; such bold   Adventures ask the enterprising heart   Of youth —ELIZABETH   And may I venture then on you —MORTIMER   My hand I'll lend thee; save then as thou canst   Thy reputation —ELIZABETH            Yes, sir; if you could   But waken me some morning with this news   "Maria Stuart, your bloodthirsty foe,   Breathed yesternight her last" —MORTIMER                    Depend on me.ELIZABETH   When shall my head lie calmly down to sleep?MORTIMER   The next new moon will terminate thy fears.ELIZABETH   And be the selfsame happy day the dawn   Of your preferment – so God speed you, sir;   And be not hurt, if, chance, my thankfulness   Should wear the mask of darkness. Silence is   The happy suitor's god. The closest bonds,   The dearest, are the works of secrecy.[Exit

SCENE VI

MORTIMER (alone).

   Go, false, deceitful queen! As thou deludest   The world, e'en so I cozen thee; 'tis right,   Thus to betray thee; 'tis a worthy deed.   Look I then like a murderer? Hast thou read   Upon my brow such base dexterity?   Trust only to my arm, and keep thine own   Concealed – assume the pious outward show   Of mercy 'fore the world, while reckoning   In secret on my murderous aid; and thus   By gaining time we shall insure her rescue.   Thou wilt exalt me! – show'st me from afar   The costly recompense: but even were   Thyself the prize, and all thy woman's favor,   What art thou, poor one, and what canst thou proffer?   I scorn ambition's avaricious strife,   With her alone is all the charm of life,   O'er her, in rounds of endless glory, hover   Spirits with grace, and youth eternal blessed,   Celestial joy is throned upon her breast.   Thou hast but earthly, mortal goods to offer —   That sovereign good, for which all else be slighted,   When heart in heart, delighting and delighted;   Together flow in sweet forgetfulness; —   Ne'er didst thou woman's fairest crown possess,   Ne'er hast thou with thy hand a lover's heart requited.   I must attend Lord Leicester, and deliver   Her letter to him – 'tis a hateful charge —   I have no confidence in this court puppet —   I can effect her rescue, I alone;   Be danger, honor, and the prize my own.

[As he is going, PAULET meets him.

SCENE VII

MORTIMER, PAULET.

PAULET   What said the queen to you?MORTIMER                  'Twas nothing, sir;   Nothing of consequence —PAULET (looking at him earnestly)                Hear, Mortimer!   It is a false and slippery ground on which   You tread. The grace of princes is alluring,   Youth loves ambition – let not yours betray you.MORTIMER   Was it not yourself that brought me to the court?PAULET   Oh, would to God I had not done as much!   The honor of our house was never reaped   In courts – stand fast, my nephew – purchase not   Too dear, nor stain your conscience with a crime.MORTIMER   What are these fears? What are you dreaming of?PAULET   How high soever the queen may pledge herself   To raise you, trust not her alluring words.   [The spirit of the world's a lying spirit,   And vice is a deceitful, treacherous friend.]   She will deny you, if you listen to her;   And, to preserve her own good name, will punish   The bloody deed, which she herself enjoined.MORTIMER   The bloody deed! —PAULET             Away, dissimulation! —   I know the deed the queen proposed to you.   She hopes that your ambitious youth will prove   More docile than my rigid age. But say,   Have you then pledged your promise, have you?MORTIMER   Uncle!PAULET       If you have done so, I abandon you,   And lay my curse upon you —LEICESTER (entering)                  Worthy sir!   I with your nephew wish a word. The queen   Is graciously inclined to him; she wills   That to his custody the Scottish queen   Be with full powers intrusted. She relies   On his fidelity.PAULET            Relies! – 'tis well —LEICESTER   What say you, sir?PAULET             Her majesty relies   On him; and I, my noble lord, rely   Upon myself, and my two open eyes.[Exit

SCENE VIII

LEICESTER, MORTIMER.

LEICESTER (surprised)   What ailed the knight?MORTIMER               My lord, I cannot tell   What angers him: the confidence, perhaps,   The queen so suddenly confers on me.LEICESTER   Are you deserving then of confidence?MORTIMER   This would I ask of you, my Lord of Leicester.LEICESTER   You said you wished to speak with me in private.MORTIMER   Assure me first that I may safely venture.LEICESTER   Who gives me an assurance on your side?   Let not my want of confidence offend you;   I see you, sir, exhibit at this court   Two different aspects; one of them must be   A borrowed one; but which of them is real?MORTIMER   The selfsame doubts I have concerning you.LEICESTER   Which, then, shall pave the way to confidence?MORTIMER   He, who by doing it, is least in danger.LEICESTER   Well, that are you —MORTIMER              No, you; the evidence   Of such a weighty, powerful peer as you   Can overwhelm my voice. My accusation   Is weak against your rank and influence.LEICESTER   Sir, you mistake. In everything but this   I'm powerful here; but in this tender point   Which I am called upon to trust you with,   I am the weakest man of all the court,   The poorest testimony can undo me.MORTIMER   If the all-powerful Earl of Leicester deign   To stoop so low to meet me, and to make   Such a confession to me, I may venture   To think a little better of myself,   And lead the way in magnanimity.LEICESTER   Lead you the way of confidence, I'll follow.MORTIMER (producing suddenly the letter)   Here is a letter from the Queen of Scotland.LEICESTER (alarmed, catches hastily at the letter)   Speak softly, sir! what see I? Oh, it is   Her picture!

[Kisses and examines it with speechless joy – a pause.

MORTIMER (who has watched him closely the whole tine)          Now, my lord, I can believe you.LEICESTER (having hastily run through the letter)   You know the purport of this letter, sir.MORTIMER   Not I.LEICESTER       Indeed! She surely hath informed you.MORTIMER   Nothing hath she informed me of. She said   You would explain this riddle to me – 'tis   To me a riddle, that the Earl of Leicester,   The far-famed favorite of Elizabeth,   The open, bitter enemy of Mary,   And one of those who spoke her mortal sentence,   Should be the man from whom the queen expects   Deliverance from her woes; and yet it must be;   Your eyes express too plainly what your heart   Feels for the hapless lady.LEICESTER                  Tell me, Sir,   First, how it comes that you should take so warm   An interest in her fate; and what it was   Gained you her confidence?MORTIMER                 My lord, I can,   And in few words, explain this mystery.   I lately have at Rome abjured my creed,   And stand in correspondence with the Guises.   A letter from the cardinal archbishop   Was my credential with the Queen of Scots.LEICESTER   I am acquainted, sir, with your conversion;   'Twas that which waked my confidence towards you.   [Each remnant of distrust be henceforth banished;]   Your hand, sir, pardon me these idle doubts,   I cannot use too much precaution here.   Knowing how Walsingham and Burleigh hate me,   And, watching me, in secret spread their snares;   You might have been their instrument, their creature   To lure me to their toils.MORTIMER                 How poor a part   So great a nobleman is forced to play   At court! My lord, I pity you.LEICESTER                    With joy   I rest upon the faithful breast of friendship,   Where I can ease me of this long constraint.   You seem surprised, sir, that my heart is turned   So suddenly towards the captive queen.   In truth, I never hated her; the times   Have forced me to be her enemy.   She was, as you well know, my destined bride,   Long since, ere she bestowed her hand on Darnley,   While yet the beams of glory round her smiled,   Coldly I then refused the proffered boon.   Now in confinement, at the gates of death,   I claim her at the hazard of my life.MORTIMER   True magnanimity, my lord.LEICESTER                 The state   Of circumstances since that time is changed.   Ambition made me all insensible   To youth and beauty. Mary's hand I held   Too insignificant for me; I hoped   To be the husband of the Queen of England.MORTIMER   It is well known she gave you preference   Before all others.LEICESTER             So, indeed, it seemed.   Now, after ten lost years of tedious courtship   And hateful self-constraint – oh, sir, my heart   Must ease itself of this long agony.   They call me happy! Did they only know   What the chains are, for which they envy me!   When I had sacrificed ten bitter years   To the proud idol of her vanity;   Submitted with a slave's humility   To every change of her despotic fancies   The plaything of each little wayward whim.   At times by seeming tenderness caressed,   As oft repulsed with proud and cold disdain;   Alike tormented by her grace and rigor:   Watched like a prisoner by the Argus eyes   Of jealousy; examined like a schoolboy,   And railed at like a servant. Oh, no tongue   Can paint this hell.MORTIMER              My lord, I feel for you.LEICESTER   To lose, and at the very goal, the prize   Another comes to rob me of the fruits   Of my so anxious wooing. I must lose   To her young blooming husband all those rights   Of which I was so long in full possession;   And I must from the stage descend, where I   So long have played the most distinguished part.   'Tis not her hand alone this envious stranger   Threatens, he'd rob me of her favor too;   She is a woman, and he formed to please.MORTIMER   He is the son of Catherine. He has learnt   In a good school the arts of flattery.LEICESTER   Thus fall my hopes; I strove to seize a plank   To bear me in this shipwreck of my fortunes,   And my eye turned itself towards the hope   Of former days once more; then Mary's image   Within me was renewed, and youth and beauty   Once more asserted all their former rights.   No more 'twas cold ambition; 'twas my heart   Which now compared, and with regret I felt   The value of the jewel I had lost.   With horror I beheld her in the depths.   Of misery, cast down by my transgression;   Then waked the hope in me that I might still   Deliver and possess her; I contrived   To send her, through a faithful hand, the news   Of my conversion to her interests;   And in this letter which you brought me, she   Assures me that she pardons me, and offers   Herself as guerdon if I rescue her.MORTIMER   But you attempted nothing for her rescue.   You let her be condemned without a word:   You gave, yourself, your verdict for her death;   A miracle must happen, and the light   Of truth must move me, me, her keeper's nephew,   And heaven must in the Vatican at Rome   Prepare for her an unexpected succour,   Else had she never found the way to you.LEICESTER   Oh, sir, it has tormented me enough!   About this time it was that they removed her   From Talbot's castle, and delivered her   Up to your uncle's stricter custody.   Each way to her was shut. I was obliged   Before the world to persecute her still;   But do not think that I would patiently   Have seen her led to death. No, Sir; I hoped,   And still I hope, to ward off all extremes,   Till I can find some certain means to save her.MORTIMER   These are already found: my Lord of Leicester;   Your generous confidence in me deserves   A like return. I will deliver her.   That is my object here; my dispositions   Are made already, and your powerful aid   Assures us of success in our attempt.LEICESTER   What say you? You alarm me! How? You would —MORTIMER   I'll open forcibly her prison-gates;   I have confederates, and all is ready.LEICESTER   You have confederates, accomplices?   Alas! In what rash enterprise would you   Engage me? And these friends, know they my secret?MORTIMER   Fear not; our plan was laid without your help,   Without your help it would have been accomplished,   Had she not signified her resolution   To owe her liberty to you alone.LEICESTER   And can you, then, with certainty assure me   That in your plot my name has not been mentioned?MORTIMER   You may depend upon it. How, my lord,   So scrupulous when help is offered you?   You wish to rescue Mary, and possess her;   You find confederates; sudden, unexpected,   The readiest means fall, as it were from Heaven,   Yet you show more perplexity than joy.LEICESTER   We must avoid all violence; it is   Too dangerous an enterprise.MORTIMER                  Delay   Is also dangerous.LEICESTER             I tell you, Sir,   'Tis not to be attempted —MORTIMER                  My lord,   Too hazardous for you, who would possess her;   But we, who only wish to rescue her,   We are more bold.LEICESTER             Young man, you are too hasty   In such a thorny, dangerous attempt.MORTIMER   And you too scrupulous in honor's cause.LEICESTER   I see the trammels that are spread around us.MORTIMER   And I feel courage to break through them all.LEICESTER   Foolhardiness and madness, is this courage?MORTIMER   This prudence is not bravery, my lord.LEICESTER   You surely wish to end like Babington.MORTIMER   You not to imitate great Norfolk's virtue.LEICESTER   Norfolk ne'er won the bride he wooed so fondly.MORTIMER   But yet he proved how truly he deserved her.LEICESTER   If we are ruined, she must fall with us.MORTIMER   If we risk nothing, she will ne'er be rescued.LEICESTER   You will not weigh the matter, will not hear;   With blind and hasty rashness you destroy   The plans which I so happily had framed.MORTIMER   And what were then the plans which you had framed?   What have you done then to deliver her?   And how, if I were miscreant enough   To murder her, as was proposed to me   This moment by Elizabeth, and which   She looks upon as certain; only name   The measures you have taken to protect her?LEICESTER   Did the queen give you, then, this bloody order?MORTIMER   She was deceived in me, as Mary is in you.LEICESTER   And have you promised it? Say, have you?MORTIMER   That she might not engage another's hand,   I offered mine.LEICESTER            Well done, sir; that was right;   This gives us leisure, for she rests secure   Upon your bloody service, and the sentence   Is unfulfilled the while, and we gain time.MORTIMER (angrily)   No, we are losing time.LEICESTER                The queen depends   On you, and will the readier make a show   Of mercy; and I may prevail on her   To give an audience to her adversary;   And by this stratagem we tie her hands   Yes! I will make the attempt, strain every nerve.MORTIMER   And what is gained by this? When she discovers   That I am cheating her, that Mary lives;   Are we not where we were? She never will   Be free; the mildest doom which can await her   At best is but perpetual confinement.   A daring deed must one day end the matter;   Why will you not with such a deed begin?   The power is in your hands, would you but rouse   The might of your dependents round about   Your many castles, 'twere an host; and still   Has Mary many secret friends. The Howards   And Percies' noble houses, though their chiefs   Be fallen, are rich in heroes; they but wait   For the example of some potent lord.   Away with feigning – act an open part,   And, like a loyal knight, protect your fair;   Fight a good fight for her! You know you are   Lord of the person of the Queen of England,   Whene'er you will: invite her to your castle,   Oft hath she thither followed you – then show   That you're a man; then speak as master; keep her   Confined till she release the Queen of Scots.LEICESTER   I am astonished – I am terrified!   Where would your giddy madness hurry you?   Are you acquainted with this country? Know you   The deeps and shallows of this court? With what   A potent spell this female sceptre binds   And rules men's spirits round her? 'Tis in vain   You seek the heroic energy which once   Was active in this land! it is subdued,   A woman holds it under lock and key,   And every spring of courage is relaxed.   Follow my counsel – venture nothing rashly.   Some one approaches-go —MORTIMER                And Mary hopes —   Shall I return to her with empty comfort?LEICESTER   Bear her my vows of everlasting love.MORTIMER   Bear them yourself! I offered my assistance   As her deliverer, not your messenger.[Exit

SCENE IX

ELIZABETH, LEICESTER.

ELIZABETH   Say, who was here? I heard the sound of voices.LEICESTER (turning quickly and perplexed round on hearing the QUEEN)   It was young Mortimer —ELIZABETH                How now, my lord:   Why so confused?LEICESTER (collecting himself)            Your presence is the cause.   Ne'er did I see thy beauty so resplendent,   My sight is dazzled by thy heavenly charms.   Oh!ELIZABETH      Whence this sigh?LEICESTER               Have I no reason, then,   To sigh? When I behold you in your glory,   I feel anew, with pain unspeakable,   The loss which threatens me.ELIZABETH                  What loss, my lord?LEICESTER   Your heart; your own inestimable self   Soon will you feel yourself within the arms   Of your young ardent husband, highly blessed;   He will possess your heart without a rival.   He is of royal blood, that am not I.   Yet, spite of all the world can say, there lives not   One on this globe who with such fervent zeal   Adores you as the man who loses you.   Anjou hath never seen you, can but love   Your glory and the splendor of your reign;   But I love you, and were you born of all   The peasant maids the poorest, I the first   Of kings, I would descend to your condition,   And lay my crown and sceptre at your feet!ELIZABETH   Oh, pity me, my Dudley; do not blame me;   I cannot ask my heart. Oh, that had chosen   Far otherwise! Ah, how I envy others   Who can exalt the object of their love!   But I am not so blest: 'tis not my fortune   To place upon the brows of him, the dearest   Of men to me, the royal crown of England.   The Queen of Scotland was allowed to make   Her hand the token of her inclination;   She hath had every freedom, and hath drunk,   Even to the very dregs, the cup of joy.LEICESTER   And now she drinks the bitter cup of sorrow.ELIZABETH   She never did respect the world's opinion;   Life was to her a sport; she never courted   The yoke to which I bowed my willing neck.   And yet, methinks, I had as just a claim   As she to please myself and taste the joys   Of life: but I preferred the rigid duties   Which royalty imposed on me; yet she,   She was the favorite of all the men   Because she only strove to be a woman;   And youth and age became alike her suitors.   Thus are the men voluptuaries all!   The willing slaves of levity and pleasure;   Value that least which claims their reverence.   And did not even Talbot, though gray-headed,   Grow young again when speaking of her charms?LEICESTER   Forgive him, for he was her keeper once,   And she has fooled him with her cunning wiles.ELIZABETH   And is it really true that she's so fair?   So often have I been obliged to hear   The praises of this wonder – it were well   If I could learn on what I might depend:   Pictures are flattering, and description lies;   I will trust nothing but my own conviction.   Why gaze you at me thus?LEICESTER                I placed in thought   You and Maria Stuart side by side.   Yes! I confess I oft have felt a wish,   If it could be but secretly contrived,   To see you placed beside the Scottish queen,   Then would you feel, and not till then, the full   Enjoyment of your triumph: she deserves   To be thus humbled; she deserves to see,   With her own eyes, and envy's glance is keen,   Herself surpassed, to feel herself o'ermatched,   As much by thee in form and princely grace   As in each virtue that adorns the sex.ELIZABETH   In years she has the advantage —LEICESTER                    Has she so?   I never should have thought it. But her griefs,   Her sufferings, indeed! 'tis possible   Have brought down age upon her ere her time.   Yes, and 'twould mortify her more to see thee   As bride – she hath already turned her back   On each fair hope of life, and she would see thee   Advancing towards the open arms of joy.   See thee as bride of France's royal son,   She who hath always plumed herself so high   On her connection with the house of France,   And still depends upon its mighty aid.ELIZABETH (with a careless air)   I'm teazed to grant this interview.LEICESTER                      She asks it   As a favor; grant it as a punishment.   For though you should conduct her to the block,   Yet would it less torment her than to see   Herself extinguished by your beauty's splendor.   Thus can you murder her as she hath wished   To murder you. When she beholds your beauty,   Guarded by modesty, and beaming bright,   In the clear glory of unspotted fame   (Which she with thoughtless levity discarded),   Exalted by the splendor of the crown,   And blooming now with tender bridal graces —   Then is the hour of her destruction come.   Yes – when I now behold you – you were never,   No, never were you so prepared to seal   The triumph of your beauty. As but now   You entered the apartment, I was dazzled   As by a glorious vision from on high.   Could you but now, now as you are, appear   Before her, you could find no better moment.ELIZABETH   Now? no, not now; no, Leicester; this must be   Maturely weighed – I must with Burleigh —LEICESTER                         Burleigh!   To him you are but sovereign, and as such   Alone he seeks your welfare; but your rights,   Derived from womanhood, this tender point   Must be decided by your own tribunal,   Not by the statesman; yet e'en policy   Demands that you should see her, and allure   By such a generous deed the public voice.   You can hereafter act as it may please you,   To rid you of the hateful enemy.ELIZABETH   But would it then become me to behold   My kinswoman in infamy and want?   They say she is not royally attended;   Would not the sight of her distress reproach me?LEICESTER   You need not cross her threshold; hear my counsel.   A fortunate conjuncture favors it.   The hunt you mean to honor with your presence   Is in the neighborhood of Fotheringay;   Permission may be given to Lady Stuart   To take the air; you meet her in the park,   As if by accident; it must not seem   To have been planned, and should you not incline,   You need not speak to her.ELIZABETH                 If I am foolish,   Be yours the fault, not mine. I would not care   To-day to cross your wishes; for to-day   I've grieved you more than all my other subjects.

[Tenderly.