"'Madam, I speak it in earnest—Varney is my true and faithful servant, trusted in my deepest secrets. I had better lose my right hand than his service at this moment. You have no cause to scorn him as you do.'
"'I could assign one, my Lord,' replied the Countess; 'and I see he shakes even under that assured look of his. But he that is necessary as your right hand to your safety, is free from any accusation of mine. May he be true to you; and that he may be true, trust him not too much or too far. But it is enough to say, that I will not go with him unless by violence, nor would I acknowledge him as my husband, were all—'
"'It is a temporary deception, madam,' said Leicester, irritated by her opposition, 'necessary for both our safeties, endangered by you through female caprice, or the premature desire to seize on a rank to which I gave you title only under condition that our marriage, for a time, should continue secret. If my proposal disgust you, it is yourself has brought it on both of us. There is no other remedy—you must do what your own impatient folly hath rendered necessary—I command you.'
"'I cannot put your commands, my Lord,' said Amy, 'in balance with those of honor and conscience. I will not, in this instance, obey you. You may achieve your own dishonor, to which these crooked policies naturally tend, but I will do naught that can blemish mine. How could you again, my Lord, acknowledge me as a pure and chaste matron, worthy to share your fortunes, when, holding that high character, I had strolled the country the acknowledged wife of such a profligate fellow as your servant Varney?'"
Later Varney attempted to drug her; and in fear of her life she escaped and made her way to Kenilworth. She could not get to her husband, however; and she was discovered and misjudged by Tressilian. Queen Elizabeth found her half fainting in a grotto, but Varney kept her from learning the truth by persuading the queen that Amy was insane. He also made Leicester believe that she was false and really loved Tressilian, a thing which was not true.
For this reason Leicester gave him his signet ring and authority to act for him. Amy was hurriedly taken back to Cumnor Place.
In the meanwhile Leicester, who really loved Amy, and soon discovered the injustice of his suspicions, confessed everything to Queen Elizabeth. The queen, feeling herself insulted, treated him with scorn and contempt; but she immediately dispatched Tressilian and Sir Walter Raleigh to bring Amy back to Kenilworth. They arrived just too late. Amy, decoyed from her room, stepped on a trap-door prepared by Varney, and plunged to her death. After her tragic taking off, Tressilian fell into profound melancholy and died soon after, "young in years, but old in grief."
"Kenilworth" appeared in 1819. It was the second of Scott's great romances drawn from English history, and is regarded as one of the most delightful of English historical romances.
COURTESY, THE PAGE COMPANY