Mary Stuart: A Tragedy

SCENE III.

      LEICESTER, BURLEIGH.

   LEICESTER.
   And thus you loose yourself the knot of union
   Which you officiously, uncalled for, bound!
   You have deserved but little of your country,
   My lord; this trouble was superfluous.

   BURLEIGH.
   My aim was good, though fate declared against it;
   Happy is he who has so fair a conscience!

   LEICESTER.
   Well know we the mysterious mien of Burleigh
   When he is on the hunt for deeds of treason.
   Now you are in your element, my lord;
   A monstrous outrage has been just committed,
   And darkness veils as yet its perpetrators:
   Now will a court of inquisition rise;
   Each word, each look be weighed; men's very thoughts
   Be summoned to the bar. You are, my lord,
   The mighty man, the Atlas of the state,
   All England's weight lies upon your shoulders.

   BURLEIGH.
   In you, my lord, I recognize my master;
   For such a victory as your eloquence
   Has gained I cannot boast.

   LEICESTER.
                 What means your lordship?

   BURLEIGH.
   You were the man who knew, behind my back,
   To lure the queen to Fotheringay Castle.

   LEICESTER.
   Behind your back! When did I fear to act
   Before your face?

   BURLEIGH.
             You led her majesty?
   Oh, no—you led her not—it was the queen
   Who was so gracious as to lead you thither.

   LEICESTER.
   What mean you, my lord, by that?

   BURLEIGH.
                    The noble part
   You forced the queen to play! The glorious triumph
   Which you prepared for her! Too gracious princess!
   So shamelessly, so wantonly to mock
   Thy unsuspecting goodness, to betray thee
   So pitiless to thy exulting foe!
   This, then, is the magnanimity, the grace
   Which suddenly possessed you in the council!
   The Stuart is for this so despicable,
   So weak an enemy, that it would scarce
   Be worth the pains to stain us with her blood.
   A specious plan! and sharply pointed too;
   'Tis only pity this sharp point is broken.

   LEICESTER.
   Unworthy wretch! this instant follow me,
   And answer at the throne this insolence.

   BURLEIGH.
   You'll find me there, my lord; and look you well
   That there your eloquence desert you not.

                      [Exit.