University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE THIRD.

Mary, Bothwell.
Ma.
Bothwell, approach: if thou with thy advice
Canst not alleviate my distracted state,
Perchance I stand upon the very brink
Of a tremendous precipice.

Both.
Alas!
Long hast thou stood there; but now more than ever ...

Ma.
And what? With Henry's thoughts art thou acquainted? ...

Both.
I know the deeds of Henry. But, oh queen,
Say have I e'er presumed to approach thy presence
The accuser of another, much less then
Of him who is thy husband? Yet to-day
Necessity compels me e'en to this.

Ma.
Then plots have been contrived? ...

Both.
Contrived, say'st thou?
They had e'en now, had Bothwell not been here,
Been executed. Thou art well aware
That I suggested how much it behoved
To watch o'er Henry unremittingly,
And learn the real cause of his return:
But, ere 'twas long, of all his purposes
I gain'd a full discovery. Ormond sought
A private audience; tamper'd with his faith;
With flatteries and promises assail'd him:
Then dared he to propose to him, and gain'd,
That he should yield to him thy son ...

Ma.
My son!
To Ormond! ...

Both.
Yes; that he might bear him hence;
And at once place him in the English court.

Ma.
Ah traitor! ... Thus despoil me of my son? ...
And yield him to her hands? ...

Both.
A recompence
For this his treachery, Henry covenants
That he exclusively should rule this realm.
He thence designs to dictate laws to thee,
To trample more and more beneath his feet
The sacred rites of Rome, and to devote
(Unnatural father!) everlastingly
His own son to perdition ...

Ma.
Say no more.
With horror am I stricken! ... And erewhile
He had so much audacity, that he
Himself to me imputed all the guilt
Of this abominable artifice.—
He said that Ormond was impell'd by me
To execute this project; that such snares
Were all of my contrivance: base accuser!

Both.
He had recourse to subterfuge with thee,
Fearing that thou his treachery hadst discover'd.
I erewhile, in thy name, presumed to try
Dissuasive arguments: for such a fault
He sought to excuse himself, but found no means:
He cannot, nor knows how to contradict it:
Hence he burst forth in such immoderate rage
That what at first in me was mere surmise,
Became conviction. I to Ormond ran;
And the weak judgment, the precarious faith,
The irresolution, the inconstancy
Of Henry I display'd to him; and feign'd
That that same Henry had incautiously
To me, in part, the stratagem divulged.
Ormond, although well versed in courtly arts,
Yet thought himself betray'd, and suddenly
Changing his views, denied it not to me;
Yet he asserted Henry was the first
To counsel him to seize the child; that he
Quickly determined to reveal to thee
The whole of this design: and that he feign'd
With him, expressly for this purpose only,
To consent to it. Then I also feign'd
To yield to him full credence; and at length
So far prevail'd on him, that he himself
Now comes to thee with a sincere confession
Of every thing that happen'd. Wilt thou hear him?
He waits thy summons ...

Ma.
Let him come, and quickly.