University of Virginia Library

Scene V

—Kirk o' Fields; the next night; the King's room. The Queen and Darnley; nobles playing cards at a distance
Darnley
Why should you leave me?

Queen
I have told you, dear;
To trip a dance for Hymen's sake, and carry
Bride Margaret to the bride-bed.

Darnley
I remember . . .

Queen
Ah, so do I—such pretty, blessèd hours,
When you were Cupid's lofty bachelor,
And I the captive queen he led in triumph.
Now do not darken, for the shorn-off curls
Will soon be up again, and soon your cheeks
Will catch the tint that fled them.

Darnley
I am clear,
I almost think, of blemish; in the glass
There showed but few ill-marks. You must not watch me.
I am so livid yet.

Queen
Come, come, this shame
And coyness are of health; for ever springtide
Is set on brave appearance.

Darnley
I have reason
To covet in your face the lovely wholeness
Of your complexion; we were once a pair
Of world-unequalled persons.

Queen
Foolish boy,
A few more patient days will mate our looks,
Since hearts are come together.

Darnley
Let me hold
Your sloping fingers still; I feel secure
Only when you are close.

Queen
So apprehensive
At Robert Stuart's tale! Alas, you know
How meddlesome he is, and though he told you
Of danger, when I questioned him, he looked
Hot with his lying, and denied expressly
All he had spoken.

Darnley
Bastard! With low mouth
He dared to give the lie to me; my sword
Will be a restless weapon at my side
Till it drink satisfaction.

Queen
(Apart)
O the future!
My soul aches when I span his convalescence,
And see him in the violent world again;
Intolerable change!—I have your promise
You will be gentle in your government,
Since God has shown you mercy.

Darnley
Do you doubt me?
My princess, I have almost died; disease
Has made my old life ashes, and implanted
A new life that's a yearning—when you bend
Above me, then I know it is for you,
To please you, win your smiles that like the sun
Take lonesomeness away. O Marie, Marie,
I have been such an outcast, I who have
Youth's social sting in every pulse, whose actions
Must need have eyes upon them to commend
The doing . . .

Queen
Hush, we will not look afar
From this kind present, or if memory struggle
To bear her part in loving, let her bring,
As in a rosy basket, all the flowers
She swept up from our nuptials.

Darnley
Do not laugh,
My Mary—but the poet you awaken
In every man who sights you, made me turn
Some stanzas in your praise . . about the turtle,
And how she cannot weary for her mate
More than I do for you who keep my heart,
Your tears!

Queen
It is such piteous exultation
If I can please you, Henry, that it brims
A little at my eyes.

Darnley
You must not weep,
Lest they should say we quarrel. Let me fling
A rainbow-laugh amid these showers. By Venus,
I'll tell you how I closed my monody.
When, pat!—I signed my name, they brought my meal,
And I was doggish-weary, half-asleep.
Is it not comic? I am bound to laugh,
As you are, at the wantonness—ha, ha!

Queen
You have not been so merry a long while;
'Tis true that youth is joy, or is not youth!
I see my handsome bridegroom once again,
Now that the round lips chuckle.
Enter Bothwell
Ah, my lord,
You find me a transgressor of my promise,
Sworn out of love to lovers. Shall I slip
Sebastian's revel? I would rather break
Engagement with an envoy.

Bothwell
Lighted torches
Await you on the steps; there yet is time
To entertain an hour at Holyrood.

Darnley
But do not go!

Bothwell
(Apart)
My God, what din they make
Below us—fools! I must suppress their noise.
(To the Queen)
Not go! The couple would forswear your service
After such sharp rebuff.

Queen
Your honest blame
Stirs me to blush and hasten.

(Kissing Darnley)
Bothwell
(Apart)
Curse her favours!
She yields him those surpassing lips that have
Envasseled me, at distance from their breath;
But yet she does not tremble: it is I
Who give her body laws.

Exit
Queen
What cruel fate
That kisses, though they lock a treasured hour,
Must afterwards unlock it! Loose my hand,
Dear boy.

Darnley
O Mary, it is very strong,
This beautiful, close hand, at which my life
Drags for its safety. I must shut my eyes,
And dash into my ruin if I loose . . .
My heart bounds in affrightment.

Queen
I will come
With early morrow; but for surer help
And comfort take this ring of bright-eyed stones,
Which I have warmed with use, and happily
Turn you to slumber, while this Argus tarries
To keep my watch about you. One last kiss!

Darnley
Your mouth revives me!

Enter Bothwell
Queen
(To Bothwell)
To the marriage! Come.

Exeunt the Queen and Bothwell: the nobles rise up and follow them as a train
Darnley
'Tis very lonely; the year-long alarm
That has been madness to my forward youth,
Driving its sap and fervour into violence
Of desperation, seizes me to-night.
I fly from my own body like a wild
And shivering horse that leaves the vehicle,
From which it broke, behind it on a road,
While it careers through distance. She alone,
My wife and queen, can hold this passion's head,
And keep me still.
Enter Darnley's page, Taylor
In mounting have you heard
A small and careful noise?

Page
'Tis strange—there is
No wind, and yet a windiness of sounds.
I feel as when my mother told me tales
Of murderers or of goblins o' the mine:
Our house and all the pantries, as she sang,
Grew restless to my listening ears, until
I went to bed and slept.

Darnley
Then let us go;
Shake up the pillows, Taylor. Why, the queen
Is moving through the glitter of a dance
Scarcely a half-mile off us. I believe
We both are childish, thinking of the fields
That lie beyond the garden. Let us sleep.
(They lie down)
(He repeats aloud)

Cor meum conturbatum est in me:
et formido mortis cecidit super me.

Why did I choose that psalm and study it,
To get it thus by rote? I have escaped
The defamating grave by such an inch
That now I tremble. What has moved my heart
To measure life against the weights of death?—
A woman's priceless, pale magnificence,
Docile to each least claim, and sweet as weather
That gems the boughs with florets. Die, go down
'Neath bloody stroke, or feel my breathing stolen
By those I have betrayed—impossible,
While she is counter to my punishment!
Ha! There is subtle noise upon the floor;
It terrifies attention, and its creak
Tolls through my very bowels. Taylor, listen!

Page
What is it, sire?

Darnley
A little, dangerous sound.
There! Do you hear it?

Page
Ay, it is a mouse;
I see him sliding hitherward. Mew, mew!
I'll out of bed, and chase it to its hole.