Kitabı oku: «Mary Stuart», sayfa 5

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.

 
   Let it then be your fancy. Leicester, hence
   You see the free obsequiousness of love.
   Which suffers that which it cannot approve.
 

[LEICESTER prostrates himself before her, and the curtain falls.

ACT III

SCENE I

In a park. In the foreground trees; in the background a distant prospect.

MARY advances, running from behind the trees.

HANNAH KENNEDY follows slowly.

KENNEDY

 
   You hasten on as if endowed with wings;
   I cannot follow you so swiftly; wait.
 

MARY

 
   Freedom returns! Oh let me enjoy it.
   Let me be childish; be thou childish with me.
   Freedom invites me! Oh, let me employ it
   Skimming with winged step light o'er the lea;
   Have I escaped from this mansion of mourning?
   Holds me no more the sad dungeon of care?
   Let me, with joy and with eagerness burning,
   Drink in the free, the celestial air.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Oh, my dear lady! but a very little
   Is your sad gaol extended; you behold not
   The wall that shuts us in; these plaited tufts
   Of trees hide from your sight the hated object.
 

MARY

 
   Thanks to these friendly trees, that hide from me
   My prison walls, and flatter my illusion!
   Happy I now may deem myself, and free;
   Why wake me from my dream's so sweet confusion?
   The extended vault of heaven around me lies,
   Free and unfettered range my wandering eyes
   O'er space's vast, immeasurable sea!
   From where yon misty mountains rise on high
   I can my empire's boundaries explore;
   And those light clouds which, steering southwards, fly,
   Seek the mild clime of France's genial shore.
      Fast fleeting clouds! ye meteors that fly;
      Could I but with you sail through the sky!
      Tenderly greet the dear land of my youth!
      Here I am captive! oppressed by my foes,
      No other than you may carry my woes.
      Free through the ether your pathway is seen,
      Ye own not the power of this tyrant queen.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Alas! dear lady! You're beside yourself,
   This long-lost, long-sought freedom makes you rave.
 

MARY

 
   Yonder's a fisher returning to his home;
   Poor though it be, would he lend me his wherry,
   Quick to congenial shores would I ferry.
   Spare is his trade, and labor's his doom;
   Rich would I freight his vessel with treasure;
   Such a draught should be his as he never had seen;
   Wealth should he find in his nets without measure,
   Would he but rescue a poor captive queen.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Fond, fruitless wishes! See you not from far
   How we are followed by observing spies?
   A dismal, barbarous prohibition scares
   Each sympathetic being from our path.
 

MARY

 
   No, gentle Hannah! Trust me, not in vain
   My prison gates are opened. This small grace
   Is harbinger of greater happiness.
   No! I mistake not; 'tis the active hand
   Of love to which I owe this kind indulgence.
   I recognize in this the mighty arm
   Of Leicester. They will by degrees expand
   My prison; will accustom me, through small,
   To greater liberty, until at last
   I shall behold the face of him whose hand
   Will dash my fetters off, and that forever.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Oh, my dear queen! I cannot reconcile
   These contradictions. 'Twas but yesterday
   That they announced your death, and all at once,
   To-day, you have such liberty. Their chains
   Are also loosed, as I have oft been told,
   Whom everlasting liberty awaits.
 

[Hunting horns at a distance.

MARY

 
   Hear'st then the bugle, so blithely resounding?
   Hear'st thou its echoes through wood and through plain?
   Oh, might I now, on my nimble steed bounding,
   Join with the jocund, the frolicsome train.
 

[Hunting horns again heard.

 
   Again! Oh, this sad and this pleasing remembrance!
   These are the sounds which, so sprightly and clear,
   Oft, when with music the hounds and the horn
   So cheerfully welcomed the break of the morn,
   On the heaths of the Highlands delighted my ear.
 

SCENE II

Enter PAULET.

PAULET

 
   Well, have I acted right at last, my lady?
   Do I for once, at least, deserve your thanks?
 

MARY

 
   How! Do I owe this favor, sir, to you?
 

PAULET

 
   Why not to me? I visited the court,
   And gave the queen your letter.
 

MARY

 
                    Did you give it?
   In very truth did you deliver it?
   And is this freedom which I now enjoy
   The happy consequence?
 

PAULET (significantly)

 
               Nor that alone;
   Prepare yourself to see a greater still.
 

MARY

 
   A greater still! What do you mean by that?
 

PAULET

 
   You heard the bugle-horns?
 

MARY (starting back with foreboding apprehension)

 
                 You frighten me.
 

PAULET

 
   The queen is hunting in the neighborhood —
 

MARY

 
                          What!
 

PAULET

 
   In a few moments she'll appear before you.
 

KENNEDY (hastening towards MARY, and about to fall)

 
   How fare you, dearest lady? You grow pale.
 

PAULET

 
   How? Is't not well? Was it not then your prayer?
   'Tis granted now, before it was expected;
   You who had ever such a ready speech,
   Now summon all your powers of eloquence,
   The important time to use them now is come.
 

MARY

 
   Oh, why was I not told of this before?
   Now I am not prepared for it – not now
   What, as the greatest favor, I besought,
   Seems to me now most fearful; Hannah, come,
   Lead me into the house, till I collect
   My spirits.
 

PAULET

 
          Stay; you must await her here.
   Yes! I believe you may be well alarmed
   To stand before your judge.
 

SCENE III

Enter the EARL OF SHREWSBURY.

MARY

 
                  'Tis not for that, O God!
   Far other thoughts possess me now.
   Oh, worthy Shrewsbury! You come as though
   You were an angel sent to me from heaven.
   I cannot, will not see her. Save me, save me
   From the detested sight!
 

SHREWSBURY

 
                Your majesty,
   Command yourself, and summon all your courage,
   'Tis the decisive moment of your fate.
 

MARY

 
   For years I've waited, and prepared myself.
   For this I've studied, weighed, and written down
   Each word within the tablet of my memory
   That was to touch and move her to compassion.
   Forgotten suddenly, effaced is all,
   And nothing lives within me at this moment
   But the fierce, burning feeling of my wrongs.
   My heart is turned to direst hate against her;
   All gentle thoughts, all sweet forgiving words,
   Are gone, and round me stand with grisly mien,
   The fiends of hell, and shake their snaky locks!
 

SHREWSBURY

 
   Command your wild, rebellious blood; – constrain
   The bitterness which fills your heart. No good
   Ensues when hatred is opposed to hate.
   How much soe'er the inward struggle cost
   You must submit to stern necessity,
   The power is in her hand, be therefore humble.
 

MARY

 
   To her? I never can.
 

SHREWSBURY

 
               But pray, submit.
   Speak with respect, with calmness! Strive to move
   Her magnanimity; insist not now
   Upon your rights, not now – 'tis not the season.
 

MARY

 
   Ah! woe is me! I've prayed for my destruction,
   And, as a curse to me, my prayer is heard.
   We never should have seen each other – never!
   Oh, this can never, never come to good.
   Rather in love could fire and water meet,
   The timid lamb embrace the roaring tiger!
   I have been hurt too grievously; she hath
   Too grievously oppressed me; – no atonement
   Can make us friends!
 

SHREWSBURY

 
              First see her, face to face:
   Did I not see how she was moved at reading
   Your letter? How her eyes were drowned in tears?
   No – she is not unfeeling; only place
   More confidence in her. It was for this
   That I came on before her, to entreat you
   To be collected – to admonish you —
 

MARY (seizing his hand)

 
   Oh, Talbot! you have ever been my friend,
   Had I but stayed beneath your kindly care!
   They have, indeed, misused me, Shrewsbury.
 

SHREWSBURY

 
   Let all be now forgot, and only think
   How to receive her with submissiveness.
 

MARY

 
   Is Burleigh with her, too, my evil genius?
 

SHREWSBURY

 
   No one attends her but the Earl of Leicester.
 

MARY

 
   Lord Leicester?
 

SHREWSBURY

 
            Fear not him; it is not he
   Who wishes your destruction; – 'twas his work
   That here the queen hath granted you this meeting.
 

MARY

 
   Ah! well I knew it.
 

SHREWSBURY

 
              What?
 

PAULET

 
                 The queen approaches.
 

[They all draw aside; MARY alone remains, leaning on KENNEDY.

SCENE IV

The same, ELIZABETH, EARL OF LEICESTER, and Retinue.

ELIZABETH (to LEICESTER)

 
   What seat is that, my lord?
 

LEICESTER

 
                  'Tis Fotheringay.
 

ELIZABETH (to SHREWSBURY)

 
   My lord, send back our retinue to London;
   The people crowd too eager in the roads,
   We'll seek a refuge in this quiet park.
 

[TALBOT sends the train away. She looks steadfastly at MARY, as she speaks further with PAULET.

 
   My honest people love me overmuch.
   These signs of joy are quite idolatrous.
   Thus should a God be honored, not a mortal.
 

MARY (who the whole time had leaned, almost fainting, on KENNEDY, rises now, and her eyes meet the steady, piercing look of ELIZABETH; she shudders and throws herself again upon KENNEDY'S bosom)

 
   O God! from out these features speaks no heart.
 

ELIZABETH

 
   What lady's that?
 

[A general, embarrassed silence.

LEICESTER

 
             You are at Fotheringay,
   My liege!
 

ELIZABETH (as if surprised, casting an angry look at LEICESTER)

 
   Who hath done this, my Lord of Leicester?
 

LEICESTER

 
   'Tis past, my queen; – and now that heaven hath led
   Your footsteps hither, be magnanimous;
   And let sweet pity be triumphant now.
 

SHREWSBURY

 
   Oh, royal mistress! yield to our entreaties;
   Oh, cast your eyes on this unhappy one
   Who stands dissolved in anguish.
 

[MARY collects herself, and begins to advance towards ELIZABETH, stops shuddering at half way: her action expresses the most violent internal struggle.

ELIZABETH

 
                     How, my lords!
   Which of you then announced to me a prisoner
   Bowed down by woe? I see a haughty one
   By no means humbled by calamity.
 

MARY

 
   Well, be it so: – to this will I submit.
   Farewell high thought, and pride of noble mind!
   I will forget my dignity, and all
   My sufferings; I will fall before her feet
   Who hath reduced me to this wretchedness.
 

[She turns towards the QUEEN.

 
   The voice of heaven decides for you, my sister.
   Your happy brows are now with triumph crowned,
   I bless the Power Divine which thus hath raised you.
   But in your turn be merciful, my sister;
 

[She kneels.

 
   Let me not lie before you thus disgraced;
   Stretch forth your hand, your royal hand, to raise
   Your sister from the depths of her distress.
 

ELIZABETH (stepping back)

 
   You are where it becomes you, Lady Stuart;
   And thankfully I prize my God's protection,
   Who hath not suffered me to kneel a suppliant
   Thus at your feet, as you now kneel at mine.
 

MARY (with increasing energy of feeling)

 
   Think on all earthly things, vicissitudes.
   Oh! there are gods who punish haughty pride:
   Respect them, honor them, the dreadful ones
   Who thus before thy feet have humbled me!
   Before these strangers' eyes dishonor not
   Yourself in me: profane not, nor disgrace
   The royal blood of Tudor. In my veins
   It flows as pure a stream as in your own.
   Oh, for God's pity, stand not so estranged
   And inaccessible, like some tall cliff,
   Which the poor shipwrecked mariner in vain
   Struggles to seize, and labors to embrace.
   My all, my life, my fortune now depends
   Upon the influence of my words and tears;
   That I may touch your heart, oh, set mine free.
   If you regard me with those icy looks
   My shuddering heart contracts itself, the stream
   Of tears is dried, and frigid horror chains
   The words of supplication in my bosom!
 

ELIZABETH (cold and severe)

 
   What would you say to me, my Lady Stuart?
   You wished to speak with me; and I, forgetting
   The queen, and all the wrongs I have sustained,
   Fulfil the pious duty of the sister,
   And grant the boon you wished for of my presence.
   Yet I, in yielding to the generous feelings
   Of magnanimity, expose myself
   To rightful censure, that I stoop so low.
   For well you know you would have had me murdered.
 

MARY

 
   Oh! how shall I begin? Oh, how shall I
   So artfully arrange my cautious words
   That they may touch, yet not offend your heart?
   Strengthen my words, O Heaven! and take from them
   Whate'er might wound. Alas! I cannot speak
   In my own cause without impeaching you,
   And that most heavily, I wish not so;
   You have not as you ought behaved to me:
   I am a queen, like you: yet you have held me
   Confined in prison. As a suppliant
   I came to you, yet you in me insulted
   The pious use of hospitality;
   Slighting in me the holy law of nations,
   Immured me in a dungeon – tore from me
   My friends and servants; to unseemly want
   I was exposed, and hurried to the bar
   Of a disgraceful, insolent tribunal.
   No more of this; – in everlasting silence
   Be buried all the cruelties I suffered!
   See – I will throw the blame of all on fate,
   'Twere not your fault, no more than it was mine.
   An evil spirit rose from the abyss,
   To kindle in our hearts the flame of hate,
   By which our tender youth had been divided.
   It grew with us, and bad, designing men
   Fanned with their ready breath the fatal fire:
   Frantics, enthusiasts, with sword and dagger
   Armed the uncalled-for hand! This is the curse
   Of kings, that they, divided, tear the world
   In pieces with their hatred, and let loose
   The raging furies of all hellish strife!
   No foreign tongue is now between us, sister,
 

[Approaching her confidently, and with a flattering tone.

 
   Now stand we face to face; now, sister, speak:
   Name but my crime, I'll fully satisfy you, —
   Alas! had you vouchsafed to hear me then,
   When I so earnest sought to meet your eye,
   It never would have come to this, nor would,
   Here in this mournful place, have happened now
   This so distressful, this so mournful meeting.
 

ELIZABETH

 
   My better stars preserved me. I was warned,
   And laid not to my breast the poisonous adder!
   Accuse not fate! your own deceitful heart
   It was, the wild ambition of your house
   As yet no enmities had passed between us,
   When your imperious uncle, the proud priest,
   Whose shameless hand grasps at all crowns, attacked me
   With unprovoked hostility, and taught
   You, but too docile, to assume my arms,
   To vest yourself with my imperial title,
   And meet me in the lists in mortal strife:
   What arms employed he not to storm my throne?
   The curses of the priests, the people's sword,
   The dreadful weapons of religious frenzy; —
   Even here in my own kingdom's peaceful haunts
   He fanned the flames of civil insurrection;
   But God is with me, and the haughty priest
   Has not maintained the field. The blow was aimed
   Full at my head, but yours it is which falls!
 

MARY

 
   I'm in the hand of heaven. You never will
   Exert so cruelly the power it gives you.
 

ELIZABETH

 
   Who shall prevent me? Say, did not your uncle
   Set all the kings of Europe the example,
   How to conclude a peace with those they hate.
   Be mine the school of Saint Bartholomew;
   What's kindred then to me, or nation's laws?
   The church can break the bands of every duty;
   It consecrates the regicide, the traitor;
   I only practise what your priests have taught!
   Say then, what surety can be offered me,
   Should I magnanimously loose your bonds?
   Say, with what lock can I secure your faith,
   Which by Saint Peter's keys cannot be opened?
   Force is my only surety; no alliance
   Can be concluded with a race of vipers.
 

MARY

 
   Oh! this is but your wretched, dark suspicion!
   For you have constantly regarded me
   But as a stranger, and an enemy.
   Had you declared me heir to your dominions,
   As is my right, then gratitude and love
   In me had fixed, for you, a faithful friend
   And kinswoman.
 

ELIZABETH

 
           Your friendship is abroad,
   Your house is papacy, the monk your brother.
   Name you my successor! The treacherous snare!
   That in my life you might seduce my people;
   And, like a sly Armida, in your net
   Entangle all our noble English youth;
   That all might turn to the new rising sun,
   And I —
 

MARY

 
   O sister, rule your realm in peace;
   I give up every claim to these domains —
   Alas! the pinions of my soul are lamed;
   Greatness entices me no more: your point
   Is gained; I am but Mary's shadow now —
   My noble spirit is at last broke down
   By long captivity: – you've done your worst
   On me; you have destroyed me in my bloom!
   Now, end your work, my sister; – speak at length
   The word, which to pronounce has brought you hither;
   For I will ne'er believe that you are come,
   To mock unfeelingly your hapless victim.
   Pronounce this word; – say, "Mary, you are free:
   You have already felt my power, – learn now
   To honor too my generosity."
   Say this, and I will take my life, will take
   My freedom, as a present from your hands.
   One word makes all undone; – I wait for it; —
   Oh, let it not be needlessly delayed.
   Woe to you if you end not with this word!
   For should you not, like some divinity,
   Dispensing noble blessings, quit me now,
   Then, sister, not for all this island's wealth,
   For all the realms encircled by the deep,
   Would I exchange my present lot for yours.
 

ELIZABETH

 
   And you confess at last that you are conquered:
   Are all your schemes run out? No more assassins
   Now on the road? Will no adventurer
   Attempt again for you the sad achievement?
   Yes, madam, it is over: – you'll seduce
   No mortal more. The world has other cares; —
   None is ambitious of the dangerous honor
   Of being your fourth husband – you destroy
   Your wooers like your husbands.
 

MARY (starting angrily)

 
                    Sister, sister! —
   Grant me forbearance, all ye powers of heaven!
 

ELIZABETH (regards her long with a look of proud contempt)

 
   Those then, my Lord of Leicester, are the charms
   Which no man with impunity can view,
   Near which no woman dare to stand?
   In sooth, this honor has been cheaply gained;
   She who to all is common, may with ease
   Become the common object of applause.
 

MARY

 
   This is too much!
 

ELIZABETH (laughing insultingly)

 
             You show us now, indeed,
   Your real face; till now 'twas but the mask.
 

MARY (burning with rage, yet dignified and noble)

 
   My sins were human, and the faults of youth:
   Superior force misled me. I have never
   Denied or sought to hide it: I despised
   All false appearance, as became a queen.
   The worst of me is known, and I can say,
   That I am better than the fame I bear.
   Woe to you! when, in time to come, the world
   Shall draw the robe of honor from your deeds,
   With which thy arch-hypocrisy has veiled
   The raging flames of lawless, secret lust.
   Virtue was not your portion from your mother;
   Well know we what it was which brought the head
   Of Anna Boleyn to the fatal block.
 

SHREWSBURY (stepping between both QUEENS)

 
   Oh! Heaven! Alas, and must it come to this!
   Is this the moderation, the submission,
   My lady? —
 

MARY

 
         Moderation! I've supported
   What human nature can support: farewell,
   Lamb-hearted resignation, passive patience,
   Fly to thy native heaven; burst at length
   Thy bonds, come forward from thy dreary cave,
   In all thy fury, long suppressed rancor!
   And thou, who to the angered basilisk
   Impart'st the murderous glance, oh, arm my tongue
   With poisoned darts!
 

SHREWSBURY

 
              She is beside herself!
   Exasperated, mad! My liege, forgive her.
 

[ELIZABETH, speechless with anger, casts enraged looks at MARY.

LEICESTER (in the most violent agitation; he seeks to lead ELIZABETH away)

 
   Attend not to her rage! Away, away,
   From this disastrous place!
 

MARY (raising her voice)

 
                  A bastard soils,
   Profanes the English throne! The generous Britons
   Are cheated by a juggler, [whose whole figure
   Is false and painted, heart as well as face!]
   If right prevailed, you now would in the dust
   Before me lie, for I'm your rightful monarch!
 

[ELIZABETH hastily quits the stage; the lords follow her in the greatest consternation.