Dudley goes, in the third scene, to visit Courtenaye, Marquis of Exeter, who is a prisoner in the Tower. The visit is solely for the purpose of making this man his friend and tool, to what end will appear later.
Act II.—Queen Mary, after reaching Framlingham by a perilous nocturnal ride, receives Elizabeth with truest affection, and then, together with her, goes to meet Sir Thomas Wyatt, Captain Brett, and
their insurrectionary followers. A parley ensues, in which Brett and Wyatt declare that their party has decided for Mary, but insist on her respecting their consciences about Church matters—although (of course) they refuse to respect her conscience. However, she shows so much spirit and majesty that half Brett’s men march with her to London, while Brett himself and Wyatt close the scene with a dialogue, in which they not only render homage to the royal lady, but acknowledge to each other the conviction that she “goes forth to conquer.” Meanwhile, Northumberland causes Jane Grey to be proclaimed queen in the Tower Chapel, where lies in state the deceased king’s coffin. To the omens which attend this proclamation, and end in breaking it up suddenly, is added the entrance of three couriers, one after another, to inform Dudley of disasters which necessitate his taking the field.
Act III.—We have Northumberland giving up the game and resolving to kneel for pardon: but all in a spirit of hypocrisy. Accordingly, he comes with his men to the queen on Wanstead Heath, and throws up his cap, crying: “God save Queen Mary!” But the queen is not deceived, and orders him under arrest. Jane and Guilford are next seen in the Tower, where Jane’s nobleness of soul shines out more attractively than ever. Mary, on the contrary, yields to a vindictive spirit in refusing the pardon her cousin so meekly implores. Fakenham’s benevolent attempt is fruitless. Jane is committed to the custody of her parents (who themselves have been pardoned), but separated from her husband and confined within the Tower. Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester—one
of the prisoners released by Mary’s triumph—begins his fatal influence on the queen. His character is drawn from the usual Protestant stand-point. He is Mary’s evil genius as much as Fakenham is her good one.
With the fourth Act comes the trial of Northumberland, Jane, and Guilford. Gardiner, as chancellor, conducts the prosecution. After splendid speeches on either side the prisoners are found guilty, and Mary passes sentence of death. But the queen, as she breaks up the court, betraying her fondness for Exeter, Northumberland, who has long been aware of the attachment, craves a private conversation with that favorite, and puts him up to making love to Mary and then obtaining his (Dudley’s) pardon. Accordingly, in the next scene Courtenaye proffers his suit, wins the royal hand and, with it, the traitor’s reprieve. But when, presently, Gardiner brings the death-warrant for Mary’s signature, and she bids him prepare a pardon instead, he tells her of Courtenaye’s private talk with Dudley after the trial, and how “a quick ear caught words” to the effect that it was the Princess Elizabeth he loved. So that the last scene of the Act is a very strong one: Mary coming unobserved upon Exeter as he woos the disdainful Elizabeth, and hearing him declare that he loathes her whom he needs must wed. The queen’s despair at finding how she has been deceived gives way to a burst of fury, in which she tears up Dudley’s pardon and signs his death-warrant, with the order that it be executed before sunset. The false Courtenaye, and Elizabeth with him, is sent at once to the Tower.
Act V.—The curtain rises on a prison chamber in the Tower,
where Northumberland, jubilant over his certain liberation, calls upon Jane and Guilford to rejoice at their renascent fortunes. The pure-souled Jane refuses the crown once for all, and endeavors to lead her husband and his father to proper gratitude for the reprieve. But in the midst of Dudley’s “merry mood” Fakenham enters with a warrant—and not the document so confidently looked for. It is now Northumberland’s turn to despair; and the struggles of his soul, at the prospect of speedy death, are depicted with great force. Hitherto, during his imprisonment, he has been pretending to let Fakenham convert him. Now he sees the necessity of conversion indeed, yet clings to the hope of respite as the gain of professing the true Faith.
At the scaffold Pembroke meanly stings him into rage; but this obnoxious person being removed, the arch-rebel seems to turn his attention in earnest to the salvation of his soul, and after a prayer, which sounds perfectly sincere, kneels to Fakenham for absolution, then hurriedly ascends the scaffold. The scene closes, and a cannon is heard—the appointed signal that the head has fallen.
The fate of Lady Jane Grey is next determined. Mary is strongly inclined to spare her. Gardiner is to blame for the adverse decision. Fakenham, however, obtains a promise that she shall be spared if she abjure her heresy. But Mary, in the fifth scene, shows a sudden tenderness for her doomed cousin, and, after a fit of raving melancholy, sends Fakenham in all haste to bring her. It is too late. Guilford has just been executed, and his widow is being led forth even while the queen demands her presence. The sixth scene gives us the parting