"Created by GeoffS" "In the back atrium." "Who's winning?" "Bravo!" "You are most worthy loser, cousin." "I commend you." "But as a loser, nothing less." "Your familiarity with the queen is as offensive as disrespectful, sir." "Your need is greater than mine, I fear." "It is damp but still serviceable." "Next time, it will be your swollen head I aim for, Dudley!" "Judging from your performance your aim is nothing to boast of, Sir." "Mi lord Norfolk," "I will not tolerate threats of violence in my presence." "God's blood, it is but a game!" "Now shake hands." "Be done with it." "If you think that such behavior finds favour with me, gentlemen," "You are very much mistaken." "That one is not destined to die in his bed, my lord..." "If indeed it is his own bed that he sleeps in." "Robbie!" "Your familiarity boarders upon contempt." "One of my own by recompense." "No no no." "You have to open it." "It's a family heirloom, my late mother's favorite piece." "Then by right your wife should have it." "Hmm..." "Rubies are not your color." "Will the Spanish ambassador be impressed?" "Your efforts are wasted, Bess." "He is old, near sighted and has an abhorrence of red hair." "See the insolence that I must endure, Letty?" "The Spanish ambassador." "Send this gift as a little token of his esteem." "A ruby, no less." "And quite a magnificent specimen, to is it not?" "As you know, the word "ruby"" "stems from the Latin word "red", Your Grace," "Symbolizing both heat and fire and thus passion." "Some may think that a gift like this from the husband of my late sister is a little..." "inappropriate." "Allow me, Your Majesty, please." "Majesty, if I may..." "The Earl of Pembroke." "From Spain." "Let's hope he runs out of suitors before we do space." "It was just a loving gesture from a friend, Bess!" "You make too much of it." "Fondness exceeds propriety!" "I will not be made to look like a concubine" "Before my own court!" "You go too far, Robbie." "Bess, wait!" "Your Majesty?" "Do we deal with her English suitors first or foreigners?" "We're not all assembled yet, sir." "If Robert Dudley can't grace us with his presence, we proceed without him." "Oh, the Earl of Arran asks that his name be added to the list of those for the Queen hand." "As does the Earl of Arundel and Rutland." "And the Earl of Shaftsbury." "Likewise Sir William Pickering." "His bastard children litter in every parish." "Well, the queen seemed most taken with him." "when they meet." "This is about state politics, not about the whims of a woman." "Sovereign or not her judgment can not be relied upon." "Is it not her ill chosen attachment to Robert Dudley proof of that?" "What advantage is there in a domestic union?" "Any English we choose could cause dissent and division in the country." "No, foreign is the one." "The Spanish ambassador has been sniffing around the palace like a dog on heat." "Is King Philip an contender?" "After his bloody purges he inflicted when married to her sister, the queen will never contemplate such a union." "In terms of a foreign match, we kind of may have the Habsburg proposal... and, of course, the King of Sweden, of coarse, weather permitting." "The Habsburg suite... which son does the Emperor propose?" "His two youngest, either Ferdinand or Charles." "Charles is the most manly." "The French will opposed." "As will Spain." "We will need someone closer to home, I'm fancy." "Then it's Austria." "Shall we make it official?" "Our remit is to recommend our preferences to the queen, my lord, nothing more." "And her remit is to accept our recommendations, Sir William." "otherwise it flouts our authority." "We have a chance to end this wretched petticoat government, Mi Lords." "Let us seize it." "Subject to negotiation," "The queen will marry Archduke Charles." "Agreed?" "Is this your doing?" "You are a fool indeed." "It was never my intention for you to witness such a craven indulgence, Your Majesty." "My shame is already too much to bear." "Tread carefully, Robbie." "One day you may strain my patience too far." "It's uplifting to hear her laugh again, is it not?" "A joy indeed, my lord." "Now..." "You are to stay with Mrs. Odingsell until your health is restored, my love." "She will ensure your every need is met." "You are all that I need, husband." "Can you not stay with me?" "You know what the snake pit that duplicates court is, Amy." "If I am absent for too long, there are plenty who will fill the void." "And the queen's favor can be capricious." "When it shines on you, her generosity knows no bounds and probably all ready, reaping the rewards of that." "A house in Queensborough to start, and she speaks of another in Surrey" "And an estate in Warwickshire." "Is it only for that, that you seek her favor?" "Power is not always visible, Amy." "If you have a voice, you can shape not just how that power is used, but your own destiny." "Now, I have risked the Tower and the Scaffold for such an chance." "Do not ask me to forgo that now." "Her physician will see her daily." "And if the pain..." "if it weakens..." "I will summon you, sir, as I promised. "" "Be vigilant in your care for her, ma'am." "She may well be the best part of me." "Make me go, Bess." "Say it." "No, we must not!" "We can not!" "Another of your bad dreams, child." "Oh..." "Stay close, Kat." "Your Majesty, Your Grace..." "Your Grace..." "Your Grace, Maj..." "Your Grace..." "Your Majesty..." "Your Majesty..." "Your Britta... no." "Your Excellency, I am delighted to tell you that the council has reached a decision on the matter of..." "Now there is another matter to which we must attend to," "That of your marriage." "We feel that a match with Archduke Charles of Austria" "Is the most propitious." "Here are the negotiating terms as I have drafted." "A union with the Habsburg empire" "Will not only assure you of your future prosperity," "But will deter any act of aggression from France or Spain." "And the Archduke has no principality of his own, so he is free to reside here and relieve you of the burdens of the state." "If sharing sovereignty dissuades you," "Then let him be your consort." "That, too, can be negotiated." "For God's breath, what whim of man would accept such a meager status?" "If he doe, he will never reach my bed." "In the months since my accession to the throne, Sir William," "Have I been negligent in my duties of the State?" "The Religious Acts before the Parliament in my name," "The legislation for the aid of the poor- was I not instrumental in their construction?" "Your diligence is not in dispute, Your Grace, but it is not fitting for a woman to bear the weight of responsibility on her own." "Your duty is now to secure succession, providing England with an heir." "Just as my duty lies in giving you advice without fear or favour." "By all means offer me advice, My Lord," "But I am under no obligation to act upon it!" "I am fear I was precipitous in my response to the issue of marriage, Sir William." "If you furnish me with the details of the Archduke's suit," "I shall consider his proposal most carefully." "So the sharks have chosen a minnow to share your throne" "The bedsitter to do their bidding." "Archduke Charles is but a puny boy, barely weaned from his mother's breast." "As always, you exaggerate, Robbie." "He is my age, more or less." "And well endowed, or so they say." "Mmm, maybe in wealth and power perhaps." "In other respects..." "If someone had bothered to consult me," "I would have forewarned them... even as a child you vowed never to take a husband." "Dear God, after what happened to your mother, who can blame you?" "Would you forgo the chance of motherhood, Bess, for the sake of a childish vow?" "It's not only men can be corrupted by power. ." "an heir can be a much a threat as a comfort in her." "But the love of a man is hardly that of a child." "It can be just as fickle." "As can a woman's." "But a ruling woman is not as other woman, is she?" "Like the coin that bears her image, there are two sides to her." "On the one," "She embodies the feminine frailty of her sex, and on the other,she is the body politic, ordained by God." "Ah.. well then it is the frail and feminine one that I must appeal." "Oh, but she listens only to the counsel of the other." "And how can a woman be sure if a man truly loves her for herself or for her power as queen?" "Can not a man love both?" "So do you think so little of my honor that I may endanger yours?" "If you saw more of your wife, your honor would not be in doubt." "Your weakness is your protection, Bess, but I'm afraid it makes to a lonely bed." "The doctor has ordered that I must spend my days resting now, my love, but a visit from you, no matter how brief, will do me more good than all of his potions." "I know that duty to a queen must come before a wife, but I keep hearing rumors from court how the queen is apt to flirt with her courtiers." "How young men mortgage their estates to buy outfits so as to catch her eye, how she plays one off against the other." "Take care Robert, because such games are about power." "it could be your soul you mortgage, for the women are not so versed in these rules, they make them up." "therein the danger lies." "The favors she bestows can be withdrawn as surely as the clouds obscure the sun." "I see now... if my life has a purpose is to protect you from your vanity and the price you will pay" "if you fall prey to hers." "Your Majesty," "May I present Sir Francis Walsingham." "He has come from France with news for us." "I hope your news is worthy of rousing me from my slumber, Sir Francis." "Two weeks ago," "The king of France fell ill by an ear infection." "He died on Friday in Orleans." "As a widow, your cousin," "The Queen of Scotland, will now be competing in the marriage market," "To forge their own political alliance against us." "I fear her youth and beauty are such she will be a magnet for every Catholic prince in Europe." "It is for this I was so rudely summoned from bed?" "My agents inform me she plans to return to Scotland, Your Majesty, to rally her Catholic followers there." "They boast she is the one true queen of England." "Only assassination can end your heretic rule." "A view encouraged by the French," "Who have declared to support the cause." "Henceforth, you must be guarded at all times." "All your food must be tasted," "All gifts and tokens, examined for poison." "Your progress amongst the people must be curtailed...." "Curtailed?" "My best defense lies in the love of my people." "How can they do that if they cannot see me?" "With respect, Your Majesty, your best defense lies in marrying someone the French will fear?" "I'm not so bereft of logic" "I don't know common sense when I hear it, Sir William." "Have I not said I will consider the Archduke's Charles proposal most carefully?" "Now I bid you good night, gentlemen," "Lest my beauty suffer for my interrupted rest!" "I come to the point, Your Majesty." "King Philip has asked..." "He asked me to ascertain if you would do him the honor that of considering a proposal of marriage from him?" "Of course, the enmity of such an alliance will cause could be costly for Spain." "Military conflict with France can not be ruled out." "And does he ask for something as a reward for his sacrifice?" "Conversion to the faith of Rome" "It's not a big sacrifice on your part, is it?" "Think of the reward." "Our two nations united bound by the sacred bond on marriage." "Europe will be on its knees before us." "We are but a small kingdom compared to the might of Spain, My Lord." "Such an alliance could threaten our nation's state." "My people will never sanction it." "The people will take their queue from you, Your Majesty." "Such is their love for you." "Please inform the king that I will consider his proposal......" "most carefully." "Child, you must rise." "Prepare!" "Baron Breuner, Archduke Charles' envoy has arrived." "And the gifts he brings:" "Damask with chests" "And a white horse fit only for a king." "If it's to be a courtship by proxy, let us sweep him off his feet." "Sorry to have to do this to you." "Now see how attentive she is, as she leans toward him?" "The archduke chose well in his envoy." "No woman can resist such a man." "Let's hope he has the wit to let her win." "If he doesn't, then God help him." "Oh, the acid test - The Archduke's portrait." "Is she smiling?" "I cannot tell." "We are nudging towards a result, My Lords." "I feel it in my bones." "Ah.. as we were!" "Quickly!" "Ah, Baron..." "Come and join us." "I hope your pursuit progresses well." "Yes, thank you, it progresses" "Though in what direction, I'm not certain." "Was she not amenable to the Archduke's picture?" "Oh, yes, she said she found his features most pleasing." "She also said how she never trusts a portrait, how an artist can use their skills to disguise the faults of the subject." "Well, I trust that his Lordship is faultless in the flesh." "She insists on meeting with the Archduke personally, before considering a commitment to him." "His adornment on that point." "Then we will issue a formal invitation that he may come to England and if he comes and she rejects him?" "The Archduke will never exposed himself to such humiliation." "I have learned from experience, Baron," "Who, like others of her sex," "The queen can tend to...frivolity and prevarication when faced with a decision." "But time will mellow her." "Sir Robert Dudley's name was constantly on her lips." "Is there anything there that I should be aware of?" "A friend from childhood, my lord." "and... for him it's nothing more than that." "It's like a sister." "Nothing more." "I see." "If she has been neglectful of her honor," "The archduke will never countenance a match with her." "Nor I could live with it." "My Lords." "Thank you." "He has duties at court." "he cannot come." "Will you leave me, please?" "The pearl ones." "He has a wife!" "You cavort with him as if he were a suitor!" "I treat him as he deserves, as a loyal and trusted friend!" "It's my only joy, Kat!" "When I am with him, the burden that I must carry is lifted." "I am a child that I was never allowed to be." "You, more than anyone else," "You, of all people, know those dark days!" "And there talk that he plans to poison his wife so he can marry you," "Does that bring you joy too?" "Poison her, who say those vile things!" "Who are they?" "Name them!" "If you show yourself as an unworthy queen," "The love of your people can become very despicable." "Your enemies will seize that," "And seek to take the throne away from you!" "Is any man worth that price?" "The tract of land that you've given him, the money, the titles." "Will your next gift be your virtue, or the realm itself?" "Or is one reward for the other?" "I am sorry!" "Oh sorry." "Say you forgive me." "There has been no impropriety between us!" "God winds, when has there ever been a opportunity?" "Do not my ladies sleep beside me?" "And I have guards on my door?" "Am I not watched by thousands of eyes day and night?" "And thousands of eyes see how you look at him, my child." "Admit your love for him." "Only then will you find the courage to do what you must and discard him." "We are guilty of nothing immoral, by thought or deed." "But if I choose so to dishonor myself," "No one shall forbid it." "No one!" "Are not you going to the fair today?" "I was going to send my servants in my place, my lady." "Do go, Mrs. Odingsells." "I shall be sleeping." "What harm can come to me?" "An hour, no longer." "Wait for me!" "Come." "I see now..." "If my life has a purpose" "It is to protect you from your vanity" "And the price you will pay" "If you are a prey of hers." "She has rejected King Philip of Spain the proposal, the response to Archduke Charles is the same." ""I have on my mind at this time to relinquish my single life." My Lord." "She doesn't know her mind, that's the problem." "She knows it well enough." "Dudley has cleared the deck by disposing of his wife." "She is doing the same." "The coroner has not yet determined the cause of death, My Lord." "I fear every court in Europe is rife with such talks, Sir William." "My agents report that even the Queen of Scots is saying how the queen's favorite has killed his wife to make room for her in his bed." "Sir Robert was here in court that day, sir." "I can vouch for it." "Death by design requires only a willing mercenary to service it, my lord." "Thanks to the queen, Dudley is not without funds." "I will not tolerate such talk of Her Majesty in my presence, sir!" "Do not let your loyalty blind you, Sir William." "Her complicity is the talk of every pulpit and every parish in the country." "If she chooses this corrupt union, she will go to bed a queen and will wake up again as Lady Elizabeth..." "If she wakes at all." "Leave us." "The coroner's verdict." "No evidence or presumptions of evil by any third parties." "Then I am exonerated, it is over." "Malicious tongues might take more convincing." "In a few weeks it will be but a memory, Bess." "I have to ride it out, that's all." "It will be worth the wait, I promise." "You know we're destined to be together, Bess." "Marry me." "Do you not see that your dishonor is mine too?" "I can not let what started with such hope for my people end in shameful ignominy." "There is no need to dishonor..." "There is only dishonor where there is guilt." "Or must I swear my innocence to you too?" "You're looking for a reason not to love me?" "Careful, Bess, you might find some." "We must not, I can not!" "If you love me as you claim, you must leave court now, today." "If you loved me, you would never ask me to do such a thing." "I do not ask it," "I demand it." "If I am exiled, it will seem as proof of my guilt." "I'm done for!" "All these months, you kept me close, you were using me... playing with me for your own callous ends, as you do all men." "So long as I was married you were safe." "Now I am free, you spurn me." "If I leave, I won't return, Bess." "It will be the last time you ever see me." "I will have but one mistress here, and no master!" "Can you hear me?" "I will have no man to rule over me!" "Send for help." "Boleyn's a bastard." "Keep the fire stoked, keep it stoked." "This water's cold, Isabella." "Bring more water." "Where is the water?" "She is asking for you." "Your successor, is there a name?" "An ancient Arab remedy for smallpox." "The patient is entirely wrapped in red" "To make her sweat." "Can see?" "Is it in her eyes?" "Please God help it not spread to her brain." "My Lords, I..." "I fear death possesses me." "A successor..." "Majesty" "We must a name." "We need a name, Your Grace." "The protector of the realm shall be..." "Sir, I can not hear...." "Did you say a name?" "Robert Dudley." "Where's the water?" "Oh oh." "The queen lives!" "The queen lives!" "We must thank God for our merciful delivery, My Lords." "I know the timing is not capricious, Excellency, but there's a matter of some urgency..." "Must you always indulge in these tiresome preambles, my lord?" "If it is so urgent, say it." "I am relieved your spirit is restored along with your health, Your Majesty." "A decree from Parliament." "It is their will that your marriage negotiations with the Archduke Charles be reopened without delay." "An invitation to his envoy has been issues to that effect." "Issued without my consent?" "Without even the mere courtesy of the discussion?" "Parliament have yet to approve your annual subsidy." "Now is not the time to antagonize them." "Do they think to blackmail me, Sir William?" "Your illness was a salutary reminder to us all of your mortality." "The question of your succession can be detained any longer." "Such fuss." "Barely visible, child." "If I see them, so can others." "Henceforth, my ladies must only wear subdued colors, Kat." "There can be but one sun in the Universe!" "Honorable Members of Parliament, Counselors...." "I am told that some of you still take the view that I must take a husband." "It is monstrous that the feet should think that the feet should rule the head..." "That you presume I should bend my will to yours on such a subject." "Was it not God's will that preserved me from my sickness for the life I now have to lead?" "And it shall be his will alone, I obey, on the matter of my marriage." "It does so works my heart to incline it towards that state, then I assure you the realm shall not be destitute of an heir." "But if it be His will" "I will continue to live outside the state of marriage," "I tell you," "I would rather be turned out of the Realm in my petticoats than defy Him!" "It is England that I married, My Lords." "Which will be sufficient for me when I die that a marble headstone declares that this queen, having lived for such and such a time, lived and died..." "A Virgin!" "The Queen of Scots envoy is due." "She will not see no one else." "You will find that I am an exception, sir." ""No exception," she said." "You startled me, sir." "Sir James Melville." "I am honored indeed, Your Majesty." "I hope my cousin fared well on her journey back to Scotland." "Uncommonly well, Your Majesty." "She relishes being at home once again." "My father composed this ditty." "Charming, is it not?" "Indeed so, Your Majesty." "My cousin too was musical, I hear." "She plays like an angel, Your Grace." "As dexterously as I?" "There is no more comparison." "I am told she also dances sublimely." "Oh, she is indeed deft afoot." ""Sublime" is the word, Majesty." "I hear she's uncommon tall." "Is she not ungainly?" "It is so elegant" "She is as grace a feather on the breeze, Your Grace." "So... she is taller than I or...?" "Taller by a few inches, I would say." "Then she is too tall." "for I am told that I am the perfect height." "Your meeting with her has been delayed too long, Majesty." "Only then can you judge her true merits for yourself." "In that regard, she has sent you a gift." "I see now how she has so many suitors competing for his hand." "No doubt some foreign prince will have caught her eye." "She favors an Englishman." "Her cousin Lord Darnley has been mooted in that regard." "Darnley?" "That fractious unstable youth, and as a Stuart, he has a claim to my throne." "A union between the them both could pose a serious threat to the security of my kingdom, sir." "Scotland is but a footfall away." "As your sister, the queen, only seeks to strengthen the alliance between you." "Then I have the perfect gift in mind for her... to achieve that goal." "Oh!" "I would prefer banishment to this... a hundreds of times I would prefer!" "If she married a Catholic prince, she could use their power to seize my throne." "Worse yet, if it's Darnley she chooses!" "Who else can I trust with such mission, who I know will not betray me?" "I....." "I am Protestant, I am a commoner." "She will never countenance such a match." "The Earldom of Lestershire has a heritage akin to royalty, does not it?" "There are surely worse duties than to be married to a queen." "You know I hadn't yet forsaken all hope there." "And there is no greater death than that of hope, Bess." "And no greater love than to sacrifice it." "Is this the frail feminine side that talking... or the divine virgin?" "Hmm?" "For queen and country." "So be it." "Robbie." "They say her beauty is unparalleled, perhaps it would not be such a sacrifice." "Be it known to all those present that in recognition of his steadfast service and loyalty to the queen and to the realm, on this day we we do confer Robert Dudley, the dignity, splendor and title of Earl of Leicester." "The Queen of Scotland has defied you, Your Grace." "He has wed Lord Darnley." ""His Holiness Pope Pius V calls upon all English Catholics subjects... to renounce the heretic rule of Elizabeth Tudor, the usurping queen of England "" "To all intents and purposes, a warrant for your death." "It's not just renegade Catholics acting on the order's of the Pope's we must fear." "The Queen of Scots has orchestrated yet another plot to depose you." "In hes letters to me, she swears she had no knowledge of such a conspiracy!" "Then her assurances are as threadbare as her honor." "Reckless she may be, but she's still the anointed queen, as am I!" "Your spies are rather lax in their efficiency or in his loyalty, Sir Francis." "In the absence of a standing army, they are your best protection, Your Majesty." "Thanks to his diligence, his latest intrigue has been exposed." "It seems she's found a friend in court, someone close to you, who has elected to betray you." "I fear I will soon have to sleep with a sword at my side as my sister did, for fear of being murdered in my own bed." "The Queen of the Scots persists in her cause to seize my throne." "Unseating a monarch requires more than force." "Without the support of the council or Parliament, it could end in civil war." "So... who better to enlist and subvert their loyalty than someone whose ambitions for advancement have been thwarted in my court?" "Who can conveniently dust off his Catholicism as proof of his new fidelity to Rome?" "And you have proof of such an intrigue?" "Mmm." "Thank God and Walsingham." "The sweet talk in his letters to the Queen of Scotland speak volumes." "Of all qualities, I praise loyalty the most, but now I perceive mercy to be as worthy." "To err is human, to forgive is divine, but the gateway to forgiveness must first be, confession." "If loyalty be the issue, then it is Dudley who should be called to account." "do you think it was mischance that she came to marry Darnley?" "Because it was Dudley's backdoor machinations, that he may remain here, at court, with you for more..." "Impugning my Lord Leicester's integrity insults not just his good name but my intelligence, cousin!" "I speak as your cousin, your blood relative, I tell you," "That your trust is fatally mistaken, and it has always been!" "Our royal blood comes from birth, Thomas." "How he uses power thereafter is from choice." "You have taken yours, as I have." "And you have chosen her." "Take him to the Tower." "Dispose of him!" "I had all but given up waiting for you, my sweet Lettice."