University of Virginia Library

Scene 2.

The same chamber in the Palace as in the Fourth Act. Enter by a side door Elizabeth, whose countenance and gestures betray the utmost disturbance.
ELIZABETH.
Yet no one here! No one—when comes the evening!
The sun stands still on the highway of heaven,
And I must yet lie stretch'd upon the rack.
Is't done?—or not? I dare not ask—the yea
And nay fill me alike with terror. Leicester
Comes not, and Burleigh tarries too. They had
Command to see fulfill'd the utmost sentence.
If they are gone from London it is done.
The shaft is sped—it flies—it has struck home!
Not for my kingdom can I longer hold. Who's there?

[Enter a Page.
ELIZABETH.
Art thou return'd alone? Where are the lords?

PAGE.
My Lord of Leicester and the Lord High Treasurer—

ELIZABETH.
(breathless).
Where are they?

PAGE.
Not in London, madam.

ELIZABETH.
Gone!
Where are they gone?

PAGE.
No one could tell me, madam.
Before the day dawn'd, suddenly and secretly,
They left the city.

ELIZABETH
(exclaims suddenly).
I am Queen of England!
[She walks up and down in extreme agitation.
Go call to me—no—stay—she's dead at last!
And I have room to live upon the earth!
Why do I shake? why does this terror clutch me?
The grave holds all my fear, and who dare say
I did it? Tears! she shall have tears enough;
An ocean of them. Why art thou standing there?
Bid hither instantly my secretary
Davidson; send for Lord Shrewsbury—he's here!

[Exit Page. Enter Shrewsbury.
ELIZABETH.
Welcome, my noble lord! what brings you hither
At this late hour? It must be weighty matter—

SHREWSBURY.
Great queen! my careful heart, troubled for your fame,
Drove me to-day to the Tower, where Kurl and Nau,
The secretaries of Mary Stuart, lie.
Once more I sought their testimony's truth
To sift. Amazed and much unwillingly,
The Lieutenant of the Tower admitted me,
But only did so upon sternest threats.
God, what a fearful sight there met my eyes!
With wild disorder'd hair and maniac glances,
Like one possess'd by the furies, on his bed
The Scotchman Kurl lay prone; hardly the wretch
Beheld and knew me, ere upon the earth
He grovell'd at my feet, embraced my knees
Like a writhing worm, and shrieking in despair
Adjured me to make known to him the fate
Of the Queen of Scots, his mistress; for a rumour
That she was doom'd to death had made its way
Into those iron walls. I told him 'twas the truth,
And that she died upon his witness 'gainst her;
Whereat he sprung up foaming, and falling on
His wretched fellow-prisoner hurl'd him down
To the earth, with all the giant strength of madness,
Striving to strangle him. We hardly tore
The miserable creature from his gripe,
When 'gainst himself his fury turn'd; he smote
His breast with his clench'd hands, and cursed himself,
And all the company of the fiends of hell.
He has borne false witness, and the fatal letter
Written to Babington, to which he swore,
Was forged; he did himself write down the words
Other than those the queen did bid him write,
And urged the wretched Nau to the like villany.
These things confess'd, he flung the window wide
With furious force, and call'd aloud in the street,
Down to the throng, who gathering ran together
That he was Mary's secretary—the wretch
Who wrongly had accused her—the accurs'd
False witness!

ELIZABETH.
Nay, but he was mad, indeed!
The words of a raving madman can prove nothing.

SHREWSBURY.
The madman's madness though proves all the more;
O madam, I implore you without delay,
Give order for a new examination.

ELIZABETH.
I will do so, my lord, at your request,
Not that I may believe that overhastily
My peers have judged this matter; but for you,
And the quieting of your mind, let there be given
Order for a new examination: 'tis well
There yet is time for it! on our kingly honour
No shadow of a doubt shall linger; now—
[Enter Davison.
The sentence that I gave into your hand,
Where is it?

DAVISON
(in the greatest amazement).
The sentence!

ELIZABETH.
Ay, that I gave
Yesterday to your keeping.

DAVISON.
To my keeping?

ELIZABETH.
The people clamour'd for the signing of it,
And to their will compell'd to yield, I sign'd it,
By them urged to the deed; and to your hand
I gave the paper, meaning to give some respite
Of time, as I told you then; now give it!

SHREWSBURY.
Good sir, deliver it; things are much alter'd;
A new examination must be held.

ELIZABETH.
Dream not so long about it; where's the sentence?

DAVISON.
I'm breathless with amazement and dismay!

ELIZABETH
(hastily).
Now I well hope, sir—

DAVISON.
I am ruin'd, lost!
I have it not.

ELIZABETH.
How! what!

SHREWSBURY.
Great God in heaven!

DAVISON.
Since yesterday, Lord Burleigh has possess'd it.

ELIZABETH.
Wretch! is it thus thou hast obey'd my words?
Did I not bid thee hold it for thy life.

DAVISON.
That was not your command, madam!

ELIZABETH.
How, villain!
Wilt thou gainsay me, reptile that thou art?
When did I bid thee give it to Lord Burleigh?

DAVISON.
Not in those very words—not clearly—but—

ELIZABETH.
Villainous slave! hast thou dared make my word
Of thy own bloody thought interpreter?
Woe be to thee if evil has befallen
From this thy self-usurp'd authority!
Thy life shall pay for it! My Lord of Shrewsbury,
You see how my name is palter'd with.

SHREWSBURY.
I see—O Heav'n!

ELIZABETH.
Say you?

SHREWSBURY.
If Master Davison
Has done this deed upon his own allowance
And risk, without your knowledge or consent,
He must before the high court of the peers
Be straight arraign'd, and to all future time
His name be given up to execration.

[Enter Burleigh, who kneels to the queen.
BURLEIGH.
Long live my sovereign queen and mistress! May
The enemies of these island realms all fall
Like Mary Stuart!

[Shrewsbury covers his face; Davison wrings his hands despairingly.
ELIZABETH.
My Lord Burleigh
Had you received command of death from me?

BURLEIGH.
No, royal madam, but from Davison.

ELIZABETH.
In my name did he give it? in my name?

BURLEIGH.
No, my dread lady, but—

ELIZABETH.
And you have dared
To do this deed without our will being known.
The sentence was a righteous one, the world
Dare wag no tongue against it; but for you,
Who have thrust yourself between it and our mercy,
We forthwith from our presence banish you.
(To Davison.)
For this fellow, a sharper doom remains,
Who boldly daring to o'erstep his duty,
A holy trust has ventured to betray.
To the Tower with him! he shall stand his trial
For life and all he is possessed of! Noble Talbot,
Thou—thou alone of all my counsellors
Have I found honest; henceforth thou shalt be
My friend and guide!

SHREWSBURY.
Nay, madam, drive not from you
These your true friends; cast not in prison those
Who have wrought for you, and are silent now
For your sake only. But for me, great queen!
Give leave that I return into your keeping
The seal, which for twelve years you have trusted to me.

ELIZABETH.
Shrewsbury, thou wilt not at this hour forsake me?

SHREWSBURY.
Forgive me, madam! I am grown too old,
And this right hand might prove too stiff, I fear,
To seal your latest deeds of sovereignty.

ELIZABETH.
So he that saved my life abandons me.

SHREWSBURY.
'Tis little I have done; your nobler life
I could not save; live, and reign happily!
Your foe is dead, you have no more to fear,
Nor further need to use dissimulation.

[Enter the Earl of Kent.
ELIZABETH.
Call hither the Earl of Leicester!

KENT.
Madam,
The earl has suddenly taken ship for France.