Mary Stuart | Page 8

royal woman from the throne Descend and mount the scaffold:--her
own mother And Catherine Howard trod this fatal path; And was not
Lady Grey a crowned head?
MARY (after a pause). No, Mortimer, vain fears have blinded you; 'Tis
but the honest care of your true heart, Which conjures up these empty
apprehensions. It is not, sir, the scaffold that I fear: There are so many
still and secret means By which her majesty of England may Set all my
claims to rest. Oh, trust me, ere An executioner is found for me,
Assassins will be hired to do their work. 'Tis that which makes me
tremble, Mortimer: I never lift the goblet to my lips Without an inward
shuddering, lest the draught May have been mingled by my sister's
love.
MORTIMER. No:--neither open or disguised murder Shall e'er prevail
against you:--fear no more; All is prepared;--twelve nobles of the land
Are my confederates, and have pledged to-day, Upon the sacrament,

their faith to free you, With dauntless arm, from this captivity. Count
Aubespine, the French ambassador, Knows of our plot, and offers his
assistance: 'Tis in his palace that we hold our meetings.
NARY. You make me tremble, sir, but not for joy! An evil boding
penetrates my heart. Know you, then, what you risk? Are you not
scared By Babington and Tichburn's bloody heads, Set up as warnings
upon London's bridge? Nor by the ruin of those many victims Who
have, in such attempts, found certain death, And only made my chains
the heavier? Fly hence, deluded, most unhappy youth! Fly, if there yet
be time for you, before That crafty spy, Lord Burleigh, track your
schemes, And mix his traitors in your secret plots. Fly hence:--as yet,
success hath never smiled On Mary Stuart's champions.
MORTIMER. I am not scared By Babington and Tichburn's bloody
heads Set up as warnings upon London's bridge; Nor by the ruin of
those many victims Who have, in such attempts, found certain death:
They also found therein immortal honor, And death, in rescuing you, is
dearest bliss.
MARY. It is in vain: nor force nor guile can save me:-- My enemies are
watchful, and the power Is in their hands. It is not Paulet only And his
dependent host; all England guards My prison gates: Elizabeth's free
will Alone can open them.
MORTIMER. Expect not that.
MARY. One man alone on earth can open them.
MORTIMER. Oh, let me know his name!
MARY. Lord Leicester.
MORTIMER. He!
[Starts back in wonder.
The Earl of Leicester! Your most bloody foe, The favorite of Elizabeth!

through him----
MARY. If I am to be saved at all, 'twill be Through him, and him alone.
Go to him, sir; Freely confide in him: and, as a proof You come from
me, present this paper to him.
[She takes a paper from her bosom; MORTIMER draws back, and
hesitates to take it.
It doth contain my portrait:--take it, sir; I've borne it long about me; but
your uncle's Close watchfulness has cut me off from all
Communication with him;--you were sent By my good angel.
[He takes it.
MORTIMER. Oh, my queen! Explain This mystery.
MARY. Lord Leicester will resolve it. Confide in him, and he'll confide
in you. Who comes?
KENNEDY (entering hastily). 'Tis Paulet; and he brings with him A
nobleman from court.
MORTIMER. It is Lord Burleigh. Collect yourself, my queen, and
strive to hear The news he brings with equanimity.
[He retires through a side door, and KENNEDY follows him.

SCENE VII.
Enter LORD BURLEIGH, and PAULET.
PAULET (to MARY). You wished to-day assurance of your fate; My
Lord of Burleigh brings it to you now; Hear it with resignation, as
beseems you.
MARY. I hope with dignity, as it becomes My innocence, and my

exalted station.
BURLEIGH. I come deputed from the court of justice.
MARY. Lord Burleigh lends that court his willing tongue, Which was
already guided by his spirit.
PAULET. You speak as if no stranger to the sentence.
MARY. Lord Burleigh brings it; therefore do I know it.
PAULET. [It would become you better, Lady Stuart, To listen less to
hatred.
MARY. I but name My enemy: I said not that I hate him.] But to the
matter, sir.
BURLEIGH. You have acknowledged The jurisdiction of the
two-and-forty.
MARY. My lord, excuse me, if I am obliged So soon to interrupt you. I
acknowledged, Say you, the competence of the commission? I never
have acknowledged it, my lord; How could I so? I could not give away
My own prerogative, the intrusted rights Of my own people, the
inheritance Of my own son, and every monarch's honor [The very laws
of England say I could not.] It is enacted by the English laws That
every one who stands arraigned of