Part 35 (1/2)

_A light burning within_. VOICES _of the night pa.s.sing_.

FIRST. Is not yon light in the Queen's chamber?

SECOND. Ay, They say she's dying.

FIRST. So is Cardinal Pole.

May the great angels join their wings, and make Down for their heads to heaven!

SECOND. Amen. Come on.

[_Exeunt_.

TWO OTHERS.

FIRST. There's the Queen's light. I hear she cannot live.

SECOND. G.o.d curse her and her Legate! Gardiner burns Already; but to pay them full in kind, The hottest hold in all the devil's den Were but a sort of winter; sir, in Guernsey, I watch'd a woman burn; and in her agony The mother came upon her--a child was born-- And, sir, they hurl'd it back into the fire, That, being but baptized in fire, the babe Might be in fire for ever. Ah, good neighbour, There should be something fierier than fire To yield them their deserts.

FIRST. Amen to all Your wish, and further.

A THIRD VOICE. Deserts! Amen to what? Whose deserts? Yours? You have a gold ring on your finger, and soft raiment about your body; and is not the woman up yonder sleeping after all she has done, in peace and quietness, on a soft bed, in a closed room, with light, fire, physic, tendance; and I have seen the true men of Christ lying famine-dead by scores, and under no ceiling but the cloud that wept on them, not for them.

FIRST. Friend, tho' so late, it is not safe to preach.

You had best go home. What are you?

THIRD. What am I? One who cries continually with sweat and tears to the Lord G.o.d that it would please Him out of His infinite love to break down all kings.h.i.+p and queens.h.i.+p, all priesthood and prelacy; to cancel and abolish all bonds of human allegiance, all the magistracy, all the n.o.bles, and all the wealthy; and to send us again, according to His promise, the one King, the Christ, and all things in common, as in the day of the first church, when Christ Jesus was King.

FIRST. If ever I heard a madman,--let's away!

Why, you long-winded--Sir, you go beyond me.

I pride myself on being moderate.

Good night! Go home. Besides, you curse so loud, The watch will hear you. Get you home at once.

[_Exeunt_.

SCENE V.--LONDON. A ROOM IN THE PALACE.

_A Gallery on one side. The moonlight streaming through a range of windows on the wall opposite_. MARY, LADY CLARENCE, LADY MAGDALEN DACRES, ALICE. QUEEN _pacing the Gallery. A writing table in front_.

QUEEN _comes to the table and writes and goes again, pacing the Gallery_.

LADY CLARENCE. Mine eyes are dim: what hath she written? read.

ALICE. 'I am dying, Philip; come to me.'

LADY MAGDALEN. There--up and down, poor lady, up and down.

ALICE. And how her shadow crosses one by one The moonlight cas.e.m.e.nts pattern'd on the wall, Following her like her sorrow. She turns again.

[QUEEN _sits and writes, and goes again_.

LADY CLARENCE. What hath she written now?

ALICE. Nothing; but 'come, come, come,' and all awry, And blotted by her tears. This cannot last.