Mary Tudor/Third Day. Which of the two? - Part Second

by Victor Hugo

 

PART SECOND.

A sort of Hall from which one staircase ascends, another descends.—The entrances to both of these staircases are at the back of the stage. The one that goes up passes out of sight among the scenery; the one that descends passes out of sight under the stage.

The room is hung with black in a peculiar way: the walls at the right and left, and the ceiling, with black cloth upon which a great white cross is superposed; the back, which faces the spectator, with white cloth with a great black cross. The black and white hangings all extend out of sight behind the stairways. At the right and left an altar draped in black and white, and decorated as for funeral services. Tall candles. No priests. Lamps hanging here and there from the ceiling light the hall and the stairways dimly. The hall is really lighted by the white hangings at the back, through which gleams a reddish light as if there were an enormous fire behind it. The hall is paved with tombstones.—As the curtain rises, the motionless form of The Queen is outlined in black on the transparent white cloth.

Scene 1.—Jane, Joshua.

[They enter stealthily through a small door concealed by the black hangings.

Jane.Where are we, Joshua?

Joshua.On the landing of the stairway which the condemned descend on the way to execution. It was hung thus under Henry the Eighth.

Jane.Is there no way to leave the Tower?

Joshua.The people are watching all the issues. They propose to be sure this time to have their victim.

Jane.The proclamation that was made from the balcony still rings in my ears. Did you hear it when we were below? All this, Joshua, is terrible!

Joshua.Ah! I have seen much worse things in my day.

Jane.If only Gilbert succeeded in making his escape! Think you that he is safe, Joshua?

Joshua.I am sure of it.

Jane.Quite sure, good Joshua?

Joshua.The Tower was not watched on the river side. And then, when he went the uprising was not what it has since become. It was a fine revolution, do you know!

Jane.You are sure that he is safe?

Joshua.And that he is awaiting you now, under the first arch of London Bridge, where you will join him before midnight.

Jane.Dear God! he will be anxious, too.

[She spies the Queen's shadow.

Heaven! what is that, Joshua?

Joshua [taking her hand, in an undertone.]Silence! 'tis the lioness watching.

[While Jane gazes in terror at this black silhouette, a distant voice is heard, apparently coming from above, uttering these words slowly and distinctly:

The Voice.He who walks behind me, covered with a black veil, is the high and puissant lord, Fabiano Fabiani, Earl of Clanbrassil, Baron of Dinasmonddy, Baron of Dartmouth in Devonshire, who is to be beheaded at the Market of London, for the crimes of regicide and high treason.—God have mercy on his soul!

Another Voice.Pray for him!

Jane [trembling.]Joshua! do you hear?

Joshua.Yes. I hear such things every day.

[A funeral procession appears on the staircase, coming down. At the head a man dressed in black, bearing a white banner with a black cross. Then Master Æneas Dulverton, in a black cloak, with the white constable's staff in his hand. Then a party of halberdiers dressed in red. Then the headsman, his axe over his shoulder, the edge toward the man who follows him. Then a man entirely shrouded in a long black veil which drags about his feet. Nothing can be seen of this man save one bare arm which passes through a slit in the veil and holds a lighted candle of yellow wax. Beside him walks a priest in the costume of All Souls' Day. Then another party of halberdiers in red. Then a man dressed in white, bearing a black banner with a white cross. At the right and left, files of halberdiers carrying torches.

Jane.Do you see, Joshua?

Joshua.Yes. I see such things every day.

[As the procession is about to debouch on the stage, it halts.

Master Æneas.He who walks behind me covered with this black veil is the high and puissant lord, Fabiano Fabiani, Earl of Clanbrassil, Baron of Dinasmonddy, Baron of Dartmouth in Devonshire, who is to be beheaded at the Market of London, for the crimes of regicide and high treason.—God have mercy on his soul!

The Two Banner-bearers.Pray for him!

[The procession passes slowly across the back of the stage.

Jane.This is a terrible thing that is passing before our eyes, Joshua. It freezes my blood.

Joshua.That villain Fabiani!

Jane.Hush, Joshua! A villain, indeed, but most unfortunate!

[The procession arrives at the other staircase. Simon Renard, who, a few moments earlier, has appeared at the top of the staircase and has closely watched the procession, steps aside to allow it to pass. It begins to descend the stairway and gradually passes out of sight. Jane looks after it in terror.

Renard [after the procession has disappeared.]What does this mean? Is it, indeed, Fabiani? I thought him not so tall. Can it be that Master Æneas—Methought the Queen detained him a moment. Let us see!

[He descends the staircase, on the heels of the procession.

The Voice [becoming fainter and fainter.]He who walks behind me, covered with this black veil, is the high and puissant lord, Fabiano Fabiani, Earl of Clanbrassil, Baron of Dinasmonddy, Baron of Dartmouth in Devonshire, who is to be beheaded at the Market of London, for the crimes of regicide and high treason.—God have mercy on his soul!

Other Voices [almost inaudible.]Pray for him!

Joshua.The great bell will forthwith announce his departure from the Tower. Mayhap 'twill be possible now for you to escape. I must try to devise a way. Await me here; I will return anon.

Jane.You leave me, Joshua? I shall be afraid here, all alone.

Joshua.You could not go through the Tower with me, without danger. I must assist you to leave the Tower. Consider that Gilbert is awaiting you.

Jane.Gilbert! anything for Gilbert! Go!

[Exit Joshua.

Oh! what a ghastly sight! And when I think that it might have been Gilbert! [She kneels on the steps of one of the altars.] Oh!, thou art indeed the Saviour, O Lord! thou hast saved Gilbert!

[The hangings at the back are drawn aside. The Queen appears in the opening. She walks slowly forward without seeing Jane, who turns.

O God! the Queen!

 

Scene 2.—Jane, The Queen.

[Jane cowers against the altar in terror and gazes at The Queen with stupefaction and dread.

The Queen [after standing motionless and silent at the front of the stage, pale and with eyes fixed on vacancy, as if lost in gloomy thoughts. At last, she heaves a profound sigh.]Oh! the people!

[She looks about, with an anxious expression, and her eyes fall upon Jane.

Some one here!—Is it you, girl—you, Lady Jane? I terrify you. Go to! fear nought. Æneas the turnkey betrayed us, you know. But have no fear. As I have already told you, you have nought to fear from me, child. The thing that caused your ruin a month since, effects your salvation to-day. You love Fabiano. You and I alone under Heaven are made so; you and I alone love him. We are sisters.

Jane.Your Majesty—

The Queen.Yes, you and I, two women—we are all that that man has on his side. Against him, everybody else: a whole city, a whole nation, a whole world! Unequal struggle of love against hate! Love for Fabiano is sad, terrified, despairing; it has your pale brow, my weeping eyes; it hides behind a funeral altar, it prays by your lips, it curses by mine. Hatred for Fabiani is proud, radiant, triumphant; it is armed and victorious; it has the court, it has the mob, it has streets overflowing with men in crowds; it vomits at once death-cries and cries of joy; it is superb and arrogant and all-powerful; it illuminates a whole city about a scaffold! Love is here—two women, in mourning garb, in a tomb. Hatred is there!

[She violently draws aside the white hangings, revealing a balcony, and beyond the balcony, as far as the eye can see, the whole city of London magnificently illuminated against the background of darkness. What can be seen of the Tower of London is illuminated, also. Jane gazes in amazement at this dazzling spectacle, the reflection of which lights up the stage.

Oh! city of abomination! rebellions city! accurst city! inhuman city which drenches its festal robes in blood and holds the torch for the headsman. You are afraid of it, Jane, are you not? Does it not seem to you as to me that it has of late flouted us two in cowardly fashion, and that it looks at us with its innumerable flaring eyes—poor abandoned women that we are, lost and alone in this sepulchre? Do you hear it laughing and howling, Jane—the horrible city? Oh! England, England to him who shall destroy London! Oh! how I would rejoice to see these torches change to firebrands, these lights to flames, and this illuminated city to a burning city!

[A deafening uproar arises without. Applause, and confused shouts:—"There he is! Death to Fabiani!"—The great bell of the Tower begins to ring. At the sound The Queen laughs—a terrible laugh.

Jane.Merciful Heaven! the unhappy man is going forth.—You laugh.—

The Queen.Yes, I laugh.

[She laughs.

Yes, and you will laugh too in a moment!—But first of all I must close these hangings. It seems to me that we are not alone, and that that horrible city sees us and hears us.

[She draws the white curtain and returns to Jane.

Now that he has gone, now that there is no further danger, I may tell you. But laugh, I say, let us both laugh at this infernal blood-drinking populace. Oh! 'tis delightful! Jane, you tremble for Fabiano? Never fear, but laugh with me, I say! Jane, the man they have in their clutches, the man who is going to die, the man they take for Fabiano, is not Fabiano.

[She laughs.

Jane.It is not Fabiano!

The Queen.No.

Jane.Who, then, in God's name?

The Queen.'Tis the other.

Jane.What other?

The Queen.You know, you know the man; that artisan, that man—But what matters it?

Jane [trembling from head to foot.]Gilbert?

The Queen.Yes, Gilbert. That is the name.

Jane.Your Majesty—oh, no! no! say that it is not true! Gilbert! that would be too frightful! He escaped.

The Queen.He was escaping when he was taken, 'tis true. He was put in Fabiano's place, 'neath the black veil. 'Tis a night execution. The people will see nothing. Have no fear.

Jane [with a terrifying shriek.]Ah! the man I love is Gilbert!

The Queen.How now! What say you? Are you losing your wits? Can it be that you deceived me—you, too? Ah! so 'tis Gilbert whom you love? Even so—what matters it to me?

Jane [utterly crushed, kneeling at The Queen's feet, sobbing, with clasped hands.

[Throughout the scene the great bell tolls.

In pity's name, your Majesty! In heaven's name! By your crown! by your mother! by the angels! Gilbert! Gilbert! it drives me mad! Save Gilbert! That man is my life; that man is my husband; that man—I told you that he had done everything for me, that he brought me up, that he adopted me, that he took my father's place at my cradle—my father who died for your mother. Your Majesty, you see that I am only a poor unhappy creature, and that you must not be cruel to me. What you just told me dealt me such a fearful blow that I know not how I have the strength to speak to you. I say what I can. But you must order the execution suspended, at once. Delay it until to-morrow. Time to look about—that is all. This multitude will surely wait until to-morrow. Then we will see what we will do. Nay, do not shake your head. There's no danger for your Fabiano. I am the one you will put in his place, under the black veil. At night. Who will know? But save Gilbert! What does it matter to you whether 'tis he or I? And since I wish to die!—O my God! that bell! that ghastly bell! Each of its strokes is a step toward the scaffold. Each stroke strikes my heart.—Do this, your Majesty. Have pity. No danger for your Fabiano. Let me kiss your hands. I love you. I have not told you so, but I love you dearly. You are a great queen. See how I kiss your beautiful hands!—Oh! an order to suspend the execution! There is still time. I give you my word that it is possible. They march slowly. 'Tis a long way from the Tower to the Old Market. The man on the balcony said that they would go by Charing Cross. There is a shorter way. A mounted man would arrive. In Heaven's name, have pity! Put yourself in my place; suppose that I am the queen and you the poor girl; you would weep as I do, and I would pardon. Pardon, your Majesty! Oh! this is what I feared, that tears would prevent my speaking. Oh! instantly! Delay the execution. That can do no harm. No danger for Fabiano, I swear. Can it be that your Majesty does not see that you must do what I say?

The Queen [moved and rising.]I would gladly do it, unhappy child! Ah, yes! you weep as I wept; what you are suffering I have suffered; my agony makes me compassionate to yours. See, I, too, am weeping. It is most unfortunate, poor child! Surely it seems that we might have taken some other—Tyrconnel, for example; but he is too well known, we required an unknown man. We had no other at hand but this one. I explain it so that you may understand, you see. Good lack! such fatalities do occur. One finds one's self ensnared. One can do nought.

Jane.I listen to your Majesty. I, too, might say certain things to you. But I would have the order to delay the execution signed and the messenger despatched. That would be something done, you see. We can talk better afterward.—Oh! that bell! always that bell!

The Queen.What you wish is impossible, Lady Jane.

Jane.Nay, it is possible. A mounted man. There is a very short way—by the river-bank. I would go myself. 'Tis easily done. You see that I speak mildly.

The Queen.But the people would not consent. They would return and murder everybody in the Tower. And Fabiano is still here. Pray, understand. You tremble, poor child! I am like you: I tremble, likewise. Do you put yourself in my place. In sooth, I might well refuse to take the trouble to explain it all to you. You see that I do what I can. Think no more of Gilbert, Jane! 'Tis over. Be resigned.

Jane.Over! No, 'tis not over! No! so long as that frightful bell rings 'twill not be over! I, resigned to Gilbert's death? Think you that I will allow Gilbert to die so? Nay, your Majesty.—Oh! I am wasting my efforts! You do not listen! Ah, well! if the Queen will not hear me, the people will! They are kind-hearted, you know! They are still in the courtyard. Afterward you may deal with me as you will. I am going to call out to them that they are deceived, and that 'tis Gilbert, a workman like themselves, and not Fabiani.

The Queen.Stay, wretched child!

[She seizes her arm and glares at her with a threatening expression.

Oho! you take it thus, do you? I am kind and gentle, I weep with you, and lo! you become frantic and mad! Look you, my love is is as great as yours, and my hand is stronger than yours. You shall not stir. Your lover! what care I for your lover! Prithee, are all the young women in England coming to call me to book for their lovers? By Heaven! I save my own as best I can, and at the cost of whoever stands in the way. Look you to yours!

Jane.Release me!—Oh! I curse you, wicked woman!

The Queen.Silence!

Jane.No! I will not be silent! Would you have me tell you a thought that comes to my mind? I do not believe that the man who is to die is Gilbert.

The Queen.What say you?

Jane.I do not know; but I saw him pass beneath that black veil, and it seems to me that, if it had been Gilbert, something would have stirred within me, something would have risen to revolt in my heart and would have cried out to me: "Gilbert! 'tis Gilbert!" I was conscious of nothing—it was not Gilbert!

The Queen.What are you saying? God's mercy! You are mad, what you say is foolish, and yet it doth terrify me! Ah! you have stirred one of the secret anxieties of my heart. Why did this uprising prevent me from overlooking everything myself? Why did I entrust to others than myself Fabiano's safety? Æneas Dulverton's a traitor. Perchance Simon Renard was there. God grant that I have not been betrayed a second time by Fabiano's foes! God grant that 'tis not, in truth, Fabiano!—Ho! without there! quickly!

[Enter two gaolers. To the first.

Hasten, you! Here is my royal ring. Go bid them delay the execution. To the Old Market! to the Old Market! There is a shorter road, Jane, you say?

Jane.By the river.

The Queen [to the Gaoler.]By the river. A horse. Ride at speed!

[Exit the Gaoler.

[To the Second Gaoler.]Go you instantly to Edward the Confessor's tower. There are the two dungeons of those condemned to death. In one of them there is a man. Bring him to me at once.

[Exit the Gaoler.

Ah! I am a-tremble! My legs give way beneath me, I should not have the strength to go myself. You make me mad like yourself! Wretched girl! you make me unhappy like yourself! I curse you even as you curse me! My God! will the man arrive in time? What frightful suspense! I can see nothing. My whole brain is in a tumult. That bell—for whom does it toll?

Jane.The bell has ceased.

The Queen.That means that the procession has reached the place of execution. The man will not arrive in time.

[A distant report of a cannon.

Jane.Heaven be merciful!

The Queen.He ascends the scaffold.

[A second report.

He kneels.

Jane.This is horrible!

[A third report.

Both.Ah!

The Queen.But one is living now. In an instant we shall know which. O God! grant that he who will soon enter this hall may be Fabiano!

Jane.O my God! grant that it be Gilbert!

[The curtain at the back is drawn aside. Simon Renard appears, leading Gilbert by the hand.

Gilbert!

[They rush into each other's arms.

The Queen.And Fabiano?

Renard.Dead.

The Queen.Dead! Dead? Who has dared—

Renard.I. I have saved the Queen and England.