Leicester,said Elizabeth,in a voice which trembled with passion,could I think thou hast practised on me--on me thy Sovereign--on me thy confiding,thy too partial mistress,the base and ungrateful deception which thy present confusion surmises--by all that is holy,false lord,that head of thine were in as great peril as ever was thy father's!Leicester had not conscious innocence,but he had pride to support him.He raised slowly his brow and features,which were black and swoln with contending emotions,and only replied,My head cannot fall but by the sentence of my peers.To them I will plead,and not to a princess who thus requites my faithful service.What!my lords,said Elizabeth,looking around,we are defied,I think--defied in the Castle we have ourselves bestowed on this proud man!--My Lord Shrewsbury,you are Marshal of England,attach him of high treason.Whom does your Grace mean?said Shrewsbury,much surprised,for he had that instant joined the astonished circle.
Whom should I mean,but that traitor Dudley,Earl of Leicester!
--Cousin of Hunsdon,order out your band of gentlemen pensioners,and take him into instant custody.I say,villain,make haste!Hunsdon,a rough old noble,who,from his relationship to the Boleyns,was accustomed to use more freedom with the Queen than almost any other dared to do,replied bluntly,And it is like your Grace might order me to the Tower to-morrow for making too much haste.I do beseech you to be patient.Patient--God's life!exclaimed the Queen--name not the word to me;thou knowest not of what he is guilty!Amy,who had by this time in some degree recovered herself,and who saw her husband,as she conceived,in the utmost danger from the rage of an offended Sovereign,instantly (and alas!how many women have done the same)forgot her own wrongs and her own danger in her apprehensions for him,and throwing herself before the Queen,embraced her knees,while she exclaimed,He is guiltless,madam--he is guiltless;no one can lay aught to the charge of the noble Leicester!Why,minion,answered the Queen,didst not thou thyself say that the Earl of Leicester was privy to thy whole history?Did I say so?repeated the unhappy Amy,laying aside every consideration of consistency and of self-interest.Oh,if Idid,I foully belied him.May God so judge me,as I believe he was never privy to a thought that would harm me!Woman!said Elizabeth,I will know who has moved thee to this;or my wrath--and the wrath of kings is a flaming fire--shall wither and consume thee like a weed in the furnace!As the Queen uttered this threat,Leicester's better angel called his pride to his aid,and reproached him with the utter extremity of meanness which would overwhelm him for ever if he stooped to take shelter under the generous interposition of his wife,and abandoned her,in return for her kindness,to the resentment of the Queen.He had already raised his head with the dignity of a man of honour to avow his marriage,and proclaim himself the protector of his Countess,when Varney,born,as it appeared,to be his master's evil genius,rushed into the presence with every mark of disorder on his face and apparel.
What means this saucy intrusion?said Elizabeth.
Varney,with the air of a man altogether overwhelmed with grief and confusion,prostrated himself before her feet,exclaiming,Pardon,my Liege,pardon!--or at least let your justice avenge itself on me,where it is due;but spare my noble,my generous,my innocent patron and master!Amy,who was yet kneeling,started up as she saw the man whom she deemed most odious place himself so near her,and was about to fly towards Leicester,when,checked at once by the uncertainty and even timidity which his looks had reassumed as soon as the appearance of his confidant seemed to open a new scene,she hung back,and uttering a faint scream,besought of her Majesty to cause her to be imprisoned in the lowest dungeon of the Castle--to deal with her as the worst of criminals--but spare,she exclaimed,my sight and hearing what will destroy the little judgment I have left--the sight of that unutterable and most shameless villain!And why,sweetheart?said the Queen,moved by a new impulse;what hath he,this false knight,since such thou accountest him,done to thee?Oh,worse than sorrow,madam,and worse than injury--he has sown dissension where most there should be peace.I shall go mad if Ilook longer on him!