" Who is to fire the fatal shot?" " I do not know his name." "Only that he is a Jesuit sent from France for the purpose." "Where is he now?" "Perhaps fled, or hidden by his fellow conspirators, but the king's life is yet in grave danger." "What danger?" "He will be poisoned." "So now it is poison?" "And who will do the deed, or do you not know that either?" "I know his name well." "It is Sir George Wakeman." "The queen's personal physician?" "!" "He is the most honest and upright of men!" "He's a Papist, is he not?" "The queen's household is riddled with treason." "If you're lying, I promise you, your torture will be cruel!" "Who wrote these?" "They were brought to me at the Royal Society by an honest Christian preacher named Israel Tonge..." "Never mind the Royal Society!" "Who wrote them?" "One who knows the conspirators intimately." "His name is Titus Oates." "The final rites of their black mass spoken," "Jesuit priests, crazed with bloodlust, swept into the village to seize two young virgins - children of no more than eight years." "Angels!" " Torn from their mothers' arms!" " Stop, Titus!" "I cannot listen!" "No, go on." "What did these foul monsters do to their victims?" "The screams of burning innocents are a horrible thing, Israel!" "God save us!" "The Catholic religion is guilty of horrors beyond imagining!" "Kirkby must have acted by now." "If not, England is lost." "Where is Titus Oates?" "At your service, sir!" "Scholar, philosopher and loyal guardian of the flame of truth!" "My Lord Danby wishes to speak to you." "As news of the king's death became known, 6,000 Catholics were to rise as one and slaughter us all in our beds." "Picture it, my lord!" "London's streets running crimson with honest Protestant blood!" "How did you come by this information?" "I overheard it in the queen's household." "Do you now claim intimacy with the queen herself?" "No, sir, but your lordship well knows that the palace is open to anyone that has business at court" "What does the French King know of this?" "That demom and the Pope are the authors of the plot!" " I thought you said it was the queen and the Duke of" "York?" " Papists all, shoulder to shoulder in villainy!" "There's not a moment to waste." "The French army are massing at Calais." "An invasion might be launched at any moment." "I think my spies would have informed me if there was a French army at Calais." "Perhaps the Pope invoked some dark magic to render them invisible." "I need more than gossip and mischief!" "I will see all three of you in the stocks in the morning." " God have mercy, It is the truth!" " If you condemn us Sir, the king will die and you will be held accountable." "Your Majesty!" "Your loyalty and concern for my safety do you credit, Mr Oates." "Where is your proof?" "Safely hidden from prying eyes, Your Majesty." "A wise precaution." "and tell me who are the English Catholics behind this terrible conspiracy?" "Give me names." "Beyond the queen and the Duke of York, there are the Lords Stafford, Arundell, Wardour, Powis," "Petre, Belasyse, Wakeman, the queen's physician, and Edward Coleman, secretary to the Duchess of York, among many others." "This is nothing more than a list of every eminent Catholic in the land!" "I have letters proving their guilt." "Follow me, Mr Oates." "Bring your friends with you." "You never said anything about letters!" "If I had, the Jesuits would have cut your throat to find them." "Stand firm." "We shall beat the devil yet." "What was your business at Whitehall, Mr Oates?" "Who invited you here?" "I attended on your ministers many times to warn of the" "Catholic peril." "Alas they never had time to see me." "My sympathy." "Sometimes they're so busy they hardly have time for the king himself." "But still, after so many hours here, you must have come to know my palace well." "Intimately, sir." "Then you will have no difficulty in leading us to the place in the Queens house where you heard this treason being plotted." "This is where I heard them planning your death, Your Majesty." "Most convenient for any traitor with a weak stomach!" "Your Majesty, I remember it clearly." "It was a long room... with tall double doors..." "You do not know your way because you've never been here in your life before!" "Nothing this scoundrel says can be believed!" "I'm off to Newmarket in the morning." "Do not bother me with this again." "At your service, my lord." "(DANBY) Let me hear your explanation again" "Sir." "I have known Lord Powis these many years." " This is not his hand." " The writing is disguised." " The Jesuits teach such skills to their disciples." " They teach well." "Not one of these seditious letters resembles its author's customary hand." "You say you know these conspirators intimately." " Who wrote this?" " Lord Stafford." "Of all these villains, he is the worst." "Stafford is a distinguished Fellow of the Royal Society and nigh on 70 years old." "He has a vicious spirit of a villain half his age and is closely allied to the Duke of York." "Examine the Duke's household, and you will find all the evidence you need of treason." "Strike now, my lords!" "Hesitate and all might be lost!" "Stop!" "There is no conspiracy, is there?" "Hm?" "The truth now, or I'll beat the life from you." "Every word is gospel." "Bring me a Bible and I will swear..." "I know baseless malice when I see it." "What is your purpose in all this?" " Is it money and preferment you seek?" " You insult me, sir." "Christ himself, he came to me in a dream!" "He charged me with the protection of the Protestant faith in England." "I was a minister... in a Catholic school... and the boys laid false and filthy charges against me, and I lost my position." "I'm determined to have my revenge on their whole stinking blasphemous faith!" "You have chosen the moment for your game well." "In such a desperate time, even your ridiculous lies might be believed." "What will you do with me, sir?" "I have reasons of my own to let your poison circulate unhindered." "If others cannot tell a fake when they see one, that is their misfortune." "What of the king?" "He doesn't believe me." "The king has more pressing concerns, schoolmaster." "5,000 pounds on a single turn of the cards?" "!" "If you shout at me, I shall faint." "Now you expect me to honour your debts." "Well, I cannot afford it!" "You have stolen my honour!" "Now you mean to make me a beggar!" "If you need money, why don't you ask your patron Louis?" " The King of France gives me nothing." " Of course he does!" " He values his little spy in my bedroom too much to neglect her." " I am not a spy!" "Do you think I don't know about your clandestine audiences with the French ambassador?" "What do you talk about, I wonder,the English weather?" "I cannot live with such wicked treatment!" "You know how delicate I am." "If I fall ill and die, it will be your fault!" "You are not going to die over a few cross words." "Of course I'll pay your creditors." "But you must be more careful in future." "5,000 is not very much." "Is it?" "We won't talk about it any more." "There, now." "It's all better, isn't it?" "The king still loves his little Fubs." "These letters were for Louis." "You say you will work to destroy the Protestant heresy and restore the Catholic faith to England, that you pray for the day the Duke of York takes the king's place!" "As God is my witness, I meant no harm to anyone." "These are dreams, not plots." "Opinions of no significance." "You shared your ambitions with the Duke of York." "He encouraged you in this!" "The Duke of York is innocent of any crime." "I swear I am no traitor." "(CHARLES) I asked you to end this matter." "Now it is infinitely worse." "What London believes is more important than the evidence." "The mob will soon grow bored of Oates' ridiculous accusations." " Put the perjuring villain in prison." " He's under the protection of Parliament." "Oates will give Parliament all the excuse it needs to strike at Catholics." "God help any poor creature that gets caught in his net." "Oates said Coleman's letters would contain treason, and they did." "A lucky chance, nothing more." "Picture your own wives and mothers, sons and daughters, tied to stakes in the midst of flames, screaming out to God with hands and eyes uplifted to heaven!" "On the outside the Catholic looks like us, eats, drinks and sleeps like us, but inside he is not as we are." "He hates our liberty and works every moment to destroy it" "He would make slaves of us in our own country" "Only Parliament can protect England from the yoke of tyranny!" "A warrant from Parliament for the arrest of Lord Stafford." " On what charge?" " Treason." " Father!" " This is some error or false accusation..." "You are mistaken!" "Please!" "Please help me!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Please!" "Please!" "Please!" "No!" "No!" "God in heaven have mercy on me!" "I am innocent..." "The queen is a Catholic and yet is well known for her loyalty and devotion." "This plot cannot be any of her doing." "She is mistress in her own household." "Nothing takes place there without her consent." "I heard from her own lips that she would no longer tolerate the king's lechery and violation of the marriage bed." "She told the Jesuits that she would have her revenge, and promised them 5,000 pounds for the deed!" "I accuse the queen of conspiring to cause the king's death!" "The man's a fraud." "I know you'd never do anything to harm me." "You know it, but does England?" "Oates has the whole country terrified." "You understand there is no truth in what he says?" " Do I look like a fool?" " Clever men hang on his every word." "Common sense counts for little where religion is concerned." " Are you not frightened of the Papists, then?" " I'm more frightened of the mob." " Mobs have their uses in the right cause." " Parliament's cause." "For 20 years, we have fought to see who rules in England." "Now the time has come to settle the matter once and for all." "This useless body of mine is like some rotting piece of meat." "It decays inch by inch, moment by moment." "I have little time left, but I am determined that before I die, this country will be freed for ever from the unbridled power of kings." "Parliament will rule in England." "Attack the king himself, and I can go no further with you." "Let the old goat frolic with his whores in the time he has left to him, but his heir will be Parliament's choice." "The king loves you above all others." "The bravest and most brilliant of his court." "(MONMOUTH) Such virtues come naturally." "I must take no credit for them." "The king would show you greater favour if he could." "He would name you as his heir." "The Duke of York's claim cannot be allowed to stand." "A Protestant king for a Protestant country." "The king will never acknowledge me as his true-born son." "The king must appear to support his brother." "In private, he yearns for your success." "When the tide in your favour becomes irresistible, he will bow to an act of Parliament declaring you legitimate." "He told you this?" "Be bold, and you shall have your reward." "God save the king!" "I have never run away from a fight and I will not start now." "It's to avoid a fight that you must leave for a time." "With the introduction of the House of Commons bill, your succession hangs in the balance." "Your presence here is a constant reminder of their grievance." "Will I be allowed to return, or will you betray me in favour of your preening bastard Monmouth?" "You're my brother... and my heir... and what is mine is mine." "I will not allow Parliament to dictate the succession." "Now for pity's sake, will you help me?" "Your Majesty, there is a further matter of the gravest importance." "I have in my possession... letters from the king's chief minister begging for aid from our oldest and most implacable enemy!" "Filthy French money... for the king to rule alone in defiance of Parliament?" "!" "What shall we call this but treason pure and simple?" "Danby must be impeached before this house for his dealings!" "It's that French bitch Carwell!" "Drag her out and put the Papist whore in the stocks where she belongs!" "Good people!" "You are mistaken!" "I am the Protestant whore!" "I am called a prostitute, and summoned before Middlesex jury!" "My God!" "To stand before the common herd, accused of being no better than a street girl!" "It is nothing more than a tactic designed by Shaftesbury to provoke me!" "I'll see that the Chief Justice strikes down the warrant." "I am a lady of breeding..." "I have family and connection..." " I am not a harlot!" " I know that." "They mean to destroy me, Fubs." "Shaftesbury has copies of my letters referring to subsidies granted you by the French king." "They talk of the secret treaties signed in your name, but there is no proof, thank God." "He can be discredited as a liar." "The king's position grows weaker every day." "He has done everything in his power, but he can no longer defend your conduct." "I wrote to the French king on your authority, Your Majesty." " You must stand by me." " You of all people know he cannot do that." "Parliament is attacking him through you." "His only hope is to cut you adrift." "Acknowledge the letters were written on your own initiative." "The king knew nothing of them." "Parliament already has the scent of blood." "I will be torn apart!" "If you resign, the king may yet come to some understanding with his enemies." "I'm guilty of nothing more than obeying Your Majesty's command." "These treaties were your creation in every detail!" "I know nothing of any secret treaty." "I have put the king before everything, and you see my reward?" "Be careful loyalty does not bring you to the same end!" "Danby must pay the full price for his treason." "(CHARLES) He has resigned." "That is penalty enough." "I have granted him a pardon for any offence he might have committed." "You cannot do that." "You have dragged a loyal servant down into the mud." "I will not permit you to murder him into the bargain!" "There are thousands of your loyal subjects in the streets in protest at this Popish plot." "We can only guess at what chaos will follow if you save the traitor Danby and allow a Catholic to succeed you on the throne." "The people have been greatly excited by false rumours and accusations." "You know that better than anyone, George." "The peace of the country demands the Duke of York's removal from the succession." "The peace of the country has always been my most pressing concern." "Then name Monmouth as your heir." "You must sign the bill excluding your brother from the throne." " Parliament has yet to pass such a bill." " It will." "There can be no doubt of that." "Accept what must be, sir." "You have no choice but to abandon the Duke of York." "He cannot defy the will of Parliament for ever." "I will make him crawl to the House begging for exclusion." "He is in a game he knows he cannot win." "It is a question of WHEN he gives in, not if." "Perhaps we must remind him of that." "The mob yearns for blood." "Very well." "The mob must have it." "Your Majesty..." "I come not as your king, Lord Stafford, but as your friend." "And as your friend..." "I urge you to confess yourself guilty to the verdict of treason found against you." "I'm innocent of any crime against Your Majesty in thought, word or deed." " I know that." " Then how can I say otherwise?" "Confess now and your life can be spared." "A few false words... and in a year or two, a few months perhaps, you can return home to your daughter." "I would be disgraced, condemned as a traitor from my own lips." "All honest men would know the truth." "I've been a loyal servant to your martyred father and to Your Majesty all my life... and that is how I shall die." "You must sign." " It is the king's prerogative to grant mercy." " Not in such a case." "What is a king, then... if he has no power?" "It is in order to preserve your power that you must sign." "The whole of England is baying for Stafford's blood." "If you do not give them what they want, they will turn their anger on you." "Lord Stafford has been found guilty by the courts." "Oates's lies condemned him." "If you overturn the law, you give Parliament an excuse to do the same." "That path leads to war and rebellion." "Is that what we have come to?" "An innocent man must be sacrificed to preserve the sanctity of the law?" "Your father chose open defiance of Parliament, and the outcome was his own destruction." "You must be more subtle than him." "May God forgive me." "God will understand." "You have more confidence in him than I." "My beloved daughter, your father has this comfort." "I die totally innocent of what I am accused, and confident of God's mercy." "You must take solace in that, as I do." "You summoned me, sir?" "I've had many accounts of your progress about the country." "I'm told that wherever you go, you are greeted as a king." "Is it my fault if the people wish to express affection for me?" "You little fool!" "Can you not see how you are dancing to Shaftesbury's tune?" " Do not treat me like a child!" " You could not be more of a rebel if you took up arms and marched on Whitehall!" "You will never be king!" "Understand that, and you'll be happy." "Dispute it, and you will die a miserable traitor's death." "You lack experience and wisdom." "But now you must do as I say." "You will go to your cousin Mary in Holland... and stay there till I call for you." " I will do anything you tell me, Father." "I would sooner die than insult you." "On no account return to the court until I summon you, do you understand?" "Of all my children, you are the first and most beloved." "Obey me... and we'll both be content." "I never thought to see my oldest friend in the ranks of my enemy." "It is a matter of politics." "My personal feelings are of no importance." "Personal feelings are everything to you." "Shaftesbury has only the people's good at heart." "He has no grievance against you." "He is sincere in his convictions, but when did overturning kings become a pastime of yours?" "Perhaps when the king betrayed England for 30 pieces of French silver." " Your name was on the French treaty." " I did what was required of a good servant, and what did I receive in return?" "Lies, deception, the elevation of others above me in your government!" "We two together could have ruled Europe, let alone England!" "But you never trusted me as I deserved." "Trust and good government cannot live side by side." "You neglected me in favour of worthless placemen." "I've forgiven your many betrayals... your schemes and your plots... because in my heart, I knew you loved me." "But now I see you always loved yourself more." "And I find I am a jealous king." "I must have unconditional love or nothing." "You have a need for sycophancy, not love." "And those who rely on flatterers for their comfort are condemned to live and die alone." "Tell your master Shaftesbury to summon Parliament." "I will address the House." "Then you accept the exclusion of your brother from the throne?" "What must be must be." "Goodbye, George." "I received your message." "Is it time?" "Be brave, Charles." "What if the king means to fight as his father did?" "He has too much intelligence and too few principles for that." "And unlike his father, he knows when a battle is lost!" "Talk of the exclusion of the Duke of York from the rightful succession is treason." "Any who speak of it set themselves against legitimate authority, and are the heirs in spirit to those rebels who so recently plunged our country into rebellion and civil war." "Can anyone here contemplate such evil without horror?" "Let there be no confusion." "The Duke of York is my heir and will remain so." "His right is ordained by God, and no man may alter it." "Anyone who denies this truth makes themselves an enemy of God, king and country." "Think on that before you take another step towards chaos." "All the world may see what a point we have come to." "Nothing that begins in such division is likely to end well." "I declare Parliament dissolved." "Gentlemen, go home." "I will not trouble you any further." "What is happening?" "What did the king say?" "It is not what he said." "It is what he is." "England has chosen to trust the superstition of kings rather than the wisdom of its own judgment." "He has dissolved Parliament and will rule in his own right." "Exclusion and Parliament are finished with." "Our time will come." "Not today... but soon enough, though I will not live to see it." "Wait here to be arrested... or make your peace with the king if you can." "For my part, I am weary of Whitehall." "I have neglected my wife these last 20 years." "I think it is time I went home." "He is never too busy to see me." "The king gave you no authority to return from exile." "Such defiance is treason." "If you are still in England at dawn tomorrow morning, you will be arrested." "How long?" "How long before I can come back?" "Never." "Father!" "Father!" "I can explain everything!" "Only let me talk to you!" "If you have ever had any love for me, you will find forgiveness in your heart." "Please, Father, I beg you, let me in!" "Have you unpacked it all yet?" "I cannot think what you mean, Nell." "All those beautiful things you had ready for your escape in case the Protestant rabble stormed Whitehall." "Does the king know I was preparing to abandon him?" "Why not ask him?" "I have seen little of him lately." "I thought he might be dining with you." "He mostly dines alone these days." "I will send him a note saying I am ill or dying." "He will soon come back to my side." "You've tried that trick too many times." "Face it." "He doesn't need you any more." "Retire to France and enjoy your money, Mrs Carwell." "God knows you've earned it!" "But..." "I love him." "You look tired." "Are you ill?" "I have never felt better." "We must consider what you will do when I am gone, James." "No king can rule without Parliament for long." "He can if he has French money." "Louis pays me for one reason only." "He wants a Catholic on the throne after my death." "For the rest of my life I will have absolute power, and when I am gone, he will have you." "But when Louis has what he wants, he will not be so generous." "If you want to be free of his influence, you must have money of your own." "For that, you must recall Parliament." "Yes, well, when I am king, Parliament will have no choice but to obey me." "Thank God my task is only to give you the crown, not to help you keep it!" "No, no." " I have news of Monmouth, Your Majesty." " William." "He swears he's learned his lesson and begs permission to return from exile." "My answer will not change." "I will never see him again." "Such harshness is not in your nature." "It is for his sake as much as mine." "If he comes back, he will embroil himself in some treason or other." "I lost my father to the executioner." "I would rather not live to see my son die the same way." "He will make his move when you die." "Many Protestants will support him against the Duke of York." "Any rebellion will fail." "The country has no more stomach for revolution." "Perhaps a few years of my brother's rule will change that." "And I do not think my son is the only Protestant champion with designs on the throne of England!" "I have never thought of my own ambition." "I consider the Duke of York my friend." "Your wife is his daughter." "You have a legitimate claim through her." "Never mind." "By the time such affairs come to a head, I shall be long dead, and, I hope, quite oblivious!" "Prepare yourself, William." "My brother will not rule more than four years." "His own stubborn nature will bring him down." "It's all been for nothing, Nell." "The cause that gave my life meaning will die with me." "I fought to restore everything that was lost when my father was murdered, but James will destroy it all, I know that." " Then why did you fight so hard for him?" " Not for him." "For the principle." "For the rights of kings." "But Parliament will have its victory in the end." "You know what I think about politics." "It's all a lot of foolish men scheming to ruin each other for no reason anyone can remember a few years later." "If it was up to me, I'd give the throne to Monmouth because, in my opinion, a king should always be handsome!" "Sweet Nell." "How much better the world might be if it was arranged to your liking!" "Father!" "Watch us!" "Mademoiselle de Keroualle, you should know by now the king loves his women bright, witty and diverting." "All this weeping and howling is not the way to keep his affection." "It is making you quite ugly." "If you want him to love you again, be the woman he yearns for and has never had." "What woman?" "An affectionate mother." "Mother, come!" "No, not now." "My dearest Fubs." "How are you?" "Sit down by me." "You look tired, dear." "Put your head in my lap." "You must rest more." "Leave the business of government to your ministers, and let me look after you." "You know what, Fubs?" "I think I would like to go to sleep." "Then sleep, darling." "Only children and old men sleep in the middle of the day... but I suppose I am an old man now." "You are not so old." "Now sleep." "You see, Father?" "I kept my promise." "Did I make you proud?" "Well, did I?" "Charles?" "He... doesn't answer me." "Why won't he answer me?" "Ajuda!" "James." "You must care for my children." "All save Monmouth." "There is nothing anyone can do for him now." "Be kind to Louise... and let not poor Nelly starve." "Charles Stuart converted to the Catholic faith on his deathbed" "Buckingham, Charles's old friend and rival, died of a chill not long after him." "Catharine, Charles's faithful queen, returned to Portugal where she died in 1705," "20 years after her husband's death." "At the age of 64," "Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, married a notorious rake half her age." "He was a bigamist who stole what remained of her fortune." "She died four years later." "Louise de Keroualle died in France at the great age of 85." "In the words of her confessor, "very old, very poor and very penitent"." "Nell Gwyn survived the king by only two years, dying of a stroke at the age of 37." "Charles was uncannily accurate in his fears and predictions." "Monmouth led an abortive rebellion in the early days of James II's reign, and was beheaded for treason on Tower Hill." "It required eight blows of the axe to remove his head" "Almost four years to the day after his succession and following the birth of his son, a Catholic, heir to the throne.." "James II was deposed by Parliament... in favour of the Dutch Protestant William and his wife Mary, James's own daughter." "Catholics were barred from the throne for ever, and remain so to this day" "No monarch of England would ever again attempt to rule without Parliament"