Dudley’s defence would be manly and admirable were it not for his hypocrisy. But the hour comes when hypocrisy can serve him no longer. It is a powerful scene—the first of the fifth Act—where his confident hopes are dashed to the ground for ever. And then he finds Fakenham—whom he has called “worm” and “dog” before, and for whom his hatred never could contain itself—his best friend and only succor. He seems, indeed (so well is his character sustained throughout), to cling to the
hope of saving his bodily life by accepting the Catholic faith, till he stands on the very scaffold; but there he drops simulation.
“The terrible ‘to be’ is come! Time’s past!
Yet all’s to do—an age crammed to a span!
Time, never garnered till thy last sands ebb,
How shall my sharp need eke thy wasted glass,
Or wit reverse it?”
Lady Jane meets death like a martyr. Her resignation is shown as early as the third scene of the third Act, while she is in the Tower with her husband awaiting further tidings after learning that their cause is lost.
“Jane. Midnoon, yet silent as midnight! My heart
Flutters and stops—flutters and stops again—