"Majesty?" "you will be murdered." "Every Catholic in England is a potential assassin!" "Be warned by the atrocities in France." "We know the Catholics take their orders from Spain." "The Spanish speak openly of Mary Stuart as Queen of England in waiting." "Their loyalty is to the Pope in Rome!" "sir?" "Majesty." "Half the nation cling to the old superstitions." "What would you have me do?" "Hang half the people of England or just imprison them?" "Majesty." "Our inaction is perceived as weakness." "they shall be punished." "they shall be protected." "we have proven reason to fear every Catholic in the..." "Fear creates fear." "sir." "But I will not punish my people for their beliefs." "Only for their deeds." "I am assured that the people of England love their Queen." "My constant endeavor is to earn that love." "My Queen." "Our friends write to give us hope." "Soon England's true believers will rise up against the bastard usurper Elizabeth and slit her throat." "That's enough!" "Slit her throat?" "Please." "my lady will be queen." "Your bishops are preaching that God is showing his displeasure some rudely suggesting infertile." "What nonsense." "Dangerous nonsense." "Mary Stuart has a son." "Why does everyone torment me with Mary Stuart?" "It's not her fault she's next in line to the throne." "Don't hide your face." "So long as you have no issue." "Queen of Scots." "I've heard it's customary to obtain a husband before producing an heir." "Bess." "my lady." "There are husbands to be had." "You don't want to be married?" "I'll want to be married if I want the man..." "Austria." "France." "Turkey." "Turkey has a sultan." "China has an emperor." "I confine myself to the possible." "Walsingham." "I find the impossible far more interesting." "What kind of man would you want?" "An honest man with friendly eyes." "And good legs." "And sweet breath." "So you can kiss him without choking." "There must be any amount of princes in the undiscovered lands across the sea." "Find me an honest one of those." "Since when do we discuss private matters in public spaces?" "I ask Your Majesty's forgiveness." "Have my doctors confirm that the Queen is still fertile." "The people need to be reassured." "I care for your safety." "The threats to your person are real. you'll all come tumbling down after me." "Francis." "We have no money to rebuild our defenses." "Turn your mind to that threat." "May we have wisdom not to fear shadows in the night." "And courage when the day of danger truly dawns." "Majesty." "Send me back to England to begin God's work." "Your Majesty." "Guards!" "Take hold of him! Majesty." "A puddle." "Puddle." "sir." "Which one is he?" "He's over there." "You can't come in." "So how am I to see him if you won't let me through?" "You must wait for him to come out." "And when will he come out?" "There's no way of knowing that." "I had less trouble than this boarding a Spanish ship." "can the docks be closed?" "Majesty." "But the gun positions..." "Spanish..." "Ambassador." "Majesty." "Not again." "Still madly in love with you." "you mean." "Tsar of all the Russias." "Where's Bess?" "Majesty." "Late." "I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness." "Given." "Once." "Majesty." "Majesty." "My suitors." "Holy Roman Emperor." "Cousin of Philip of Spain." "Wealthy." "He's rather handsome." "How old is he?" "Majesty." "An Austrian alliance would keep France quiet." "And put Philip on a leash." "I've become almost enthusiastic." "Send for him." "Danke schön." "Francis?" "Virginity is an asset that holds its value well." "Majesty." "this man is a notorious pirate." "attacked without provocation." "what do you want?" "Majesty." "I have claimed the fertile coast in your name and called it Virginia in honor of our Virgin Queen." "Virginia?" "will you change the name to Conjugia? to return to the New World with your royal warrant to found a colony under the laws and protections of England." "He wants money." "Who are they?" "Majesty." "Have they no ruler of their own?" "None to match England's Queen." "These gentlemen are welcome." "See that they are treated well." "I also come bearing gifts for Your Majesty. the true property of the realm of Spain." "shall we?" "What have you brought me?" "Majesty." "You eat it." "Very nourishing." "Tobacco." "You breathe its smoke." "Very stimulating." "Gold." "Courtesy of a Spanish ship that found itself unable to complete its journey." "Majesty." "I find the air has become stale." "I am sensitive to the smell of open sewers." "Mr. Raleigh." "Majesty." "the safer you will be." "well." "A political pirate." "And Your Majesty's most loyal subject." "the docks." "Master Raleigh." "You eat it..." "You traitor!" "Judas!" "You're Walsingham's pawn!" "Don't do this!" "I didn't say anything!" "You're a Protestant traitor!" "Don't do it!" "Don't!" "Don't!" "Hold his head!" "You Judas!" "You Judas!" "Stop!" "You Judas!" "The traitor's dead." "We must act!" "Why do we not strike?" "What are we waiting for?" "You wait for my order." "Walsingham knows too much already." "One traitor is dead." "Who can I trust now?" "sir." "William." "Francis." "You've always been a fellow who delighted in surprises." "Francis." "you look dreadful." "They're not feeding you in Paris." "You can't learn the secrets of the universe on an empty stomach." "Then she my heart beguiled" "Mary." "William." "Supper is ready." "William." "Have you spoken to the Queen?" "I speak with the Queen daily." "You work too hard." "You're a sick man." "come over here and sit by me. maybe we could talk theology." "You have done enough." "No man could do more." "Ursula." "She needs me." "Never listens to me." "Not a thought for his health." "he's your brother." "what do they say in Paris about the Pope's call for holy war?" "Many welcome it." "Why must we talk about war?" "William." "Are you married yet?" "Not yet." "please?" "sit." "Grace? we offer Thee our humble thanks." "amen." "Amen." "More lines on my face." "Where do they come from?" "my lady." "Smile lines?" "When do I ever smile?" "too." "The beauty of Your Majesty is dazzling to my eyes." "I am overwhelmed." "I am conquered." "I die. can restore me into life." "Your Highness does me great honor." "Elizabeth." "How blessed am I to stand in your fabled presence." "Elizabeth." "To speak your name is to hear celestial music." "May that sweet sound" "Elizabeth." "I have traveled here to this illustrious court in the hope that our two great nations" "might be joined in love." "He interests me." "Talk to him." "my lady?" "Him." "I adore the natives you brought." "I don't suppose you could get one for me." "are they?" "That depends on what you propose to do with them. carrying my cloak." "my dear. eine Glasscheibe between me and them." "but they cannot touch me." "You should try it." "I am... to take a blank on the map and build there a shining city." "Which you will no doubt name after yourself." "No doubt." "May I ask a question in return?" "Of course." "How am I to win the Queen's favor?" "Why should I tell you that? and it's yours." "Say what you mean to say as plainly as possible." "All men flatter the Queen in hope of advancement." "Pay her the compliment of truth." "I don't even know your name." "Elizabeth Throckmorton." "A second Elizabeth?" "Everyone calls me Bess. we present our humble masque of the heavenly spheres." "His Highness is tired after his long journey." "No man can become tired in the presence of so lovely a queen." "the Archduke informs me that my charms overwhelm him." "He will retire to his private chambers to rest." "I don't want him hurt by your schemes." "So how should we proceed?" "Perhaps we should all retire." "I suspect him of being a professional charmer." "Am I right?" "my lady." "there are duller professions." "don't you?" "He's a man that lives in a world far beyond the court." "It's refreshing." "Well." "We shall let him come again." "Blue." "Can you imagine what it is to cross an ocean?" "perfect and empty." "You live in the grip of fear." "Fear of storms." "Fear of sickness on board." "Fear of the immensity." "So you must drive that fear down deep into your belly." "Study your charts." "Watch your compass." "Pray for a fair wind. fragile" "hope." "the Archduke and court are waiting." "Let them wait." "Mr. Raleigh." "You were hoping." "it's no more than a haze on the horizon." "So you watch." "You watch. a shadow on the far water." "For a day." "For another day. you let yourself believe." "You dare to whisper the word." "Land." "Land." "Life." "Resurrection." "The true adventure. into new life. is the New World." "I like your immensities." "I think." "Such great spaces make us small. or does the New World discover us?" "You speak like a true explorer." "Mr. Raleigh." "And I like you." "I reward him." "I have heard that." "And what have you to say about it?" "not me." "Is the mission not the man?" "Then you leave me free to like you in return." "Go on." "I think it must be hard for so great a queen to know the simple pleasure of being liked for herself." "Now you grow dull." "Come on!" "Mine." "You have the stronger horse." "Yours carries the lighter load." "No." "The Queen does not give way to others." "Whoa!" "Whoa!" "Majesty." "My horse doesn't seem to know his place yet." "Mr. Raleigh?" "come on!" "It's from her." "Mary Stuart is the heart and soul of our enterprise." "Make sure she and only she reads this." "We wait for her order." "The order must be given clearly." "madam." "My noble jailer." "Am I a danger to England even when I pray?" "my concern is for your safety." "I pray for my cousin Elizabeth." "Do you think she prays for me?" "Is it true that I've never known the pleasure of being liked for myself?" "my lady." "Is anyone ever liked simply for themselves?" "I doubt it." "Are you? and because you have the ear of the Queen." "No doubt." "too." "He likes you because he wants my favor." "You do realize that." "my lady." "of course." "all men want that." "Male desire confers no distinction." "Bess." "You're free to have what I cannot have." "You're my adventurer." "Thank you for coming." "You mustn't send letters to the palace." "You know what would happen if I was caught." "I need your help." "More money?" "No." "My father doesn't want to hide like this anymore." "Of course." "We both want to get back into favor with the court." "That's impossible." "You know that you're Papists." "Why impossible?" "Everyone at court has a Papist somewhere in their family." "Francis." "Just as you have." "Speak to the Queen." "You are her favorite." "My father and I will embrace the new faith." "Cousin Bess." "No." "We have known each other all our lives." "I would do nothing to harm you." "Why can't you help us?" "They will kill us!" "Mr. Raleigh." "There's nothing I'd like to do more." "So why don't you?" "then." "I will." "You see?" "You lie." "You don't want me on your ship at all." "You're a liar." "Bess." "Would you like to go to sea?" "I'm afraid that's not possible." "Women bring bad luck on board ship." "Do they?" "Lock up a hundred men in a space smaller than this room for months at a time." "Men have needs." "A beautiful woman would drive us all mad." "Men have needs?" "Let them stay on land and see to their needs." "Mr. Raleigh is eager to sail away to his maiden colony." "ladies?" "Bess?" "No!" "Wait!" "What do you want?" "Who are you?" "damn it!" "Who the hell are you?" "perhaps your father will." "No." "Enough." "Enough." "Yes?" "You cannot save England now." "The Enterprise has begun." "Ambassador?" "What do you know of the Enterprise of England?" "I'm not familiar..." "Two armies landing on the coasts of Sussex and Norfolk. and I am to be assassinated." "Does any of this sound familiar?" "I know nothing of any invasion plans... it should more accurately be called la Empresa de Inglaterra because it is a Spanish plan. to attack my country." "Your country?" "It is my country that is under attack." "your pirates attack our merchant ships daily." "And you..." "You think we don't know where the orders come from? all the way to your royal bed." "sir." "Go back to your rat hole." "nor his armies. he'll wish he'd kept his hands in his pockets." "You see a leaf fall and you think you know which way the wind blows. that will sweep away your pride." "sir!" "I have a hurricane in me that will strip Spain bare if you dare to try me!" "What are you staring at?" "Lower your eyes." "I am the Queen!" "and you never will be!" "The alignments of the planets is most unusual this year." "Mars is due to take the ascendant three days after the anniversary of Your Majesty's birth. which governs the fortune of all princes of the female gender." "Princes of the female gender." "a prince who is also a woman." "I am following you." "What does it mean?" "and the fall of another." "Convulsions." "Which empire is to rise and which is to fall?" "Majesty." "more an art than a science." "Dr. Dee?" "No more specific calamities we can guard against?" "will I be assassinated?" "would you leave us for a moment? what do the stars foretell there?" "Majesty." "Dr. Dee." "For such a prediction I must look in a different chart." "Wonderful." "Such strength." "You will need all your strength in the days to come." "my child." "I have not seen fear in your face for such a long time." "Have I reason to fear?" "Something has weakened you." "There are hard days coming." "But I am no prophet." "I see no more than the shadows of ghosts." "sir." "Sorry to come aboard your ship" "Mr. Raleigh." "Welcome aboard." "The Queen wishes to see you." "She asks me to assure you..." "Bess." "I'm no courtier." "Never have been." "Then you should say so in person." "Bess." "This is where I belong." "It seems to be a lonely life." "Sometimes." "But it's the life I've chosen." "I understand." "You ask permission to go." "Majesty." "You plan to return to your colony four years." "If Your Majesty grants me your royal warrant." "That is a long time." "There's nothing for me here." "I know what I'm to do." "I know the risks." "Here..." "No." "You're wrong." "You're needed here." "As captain of my personal guard." "Captain of your guard?" "Kneel." "Majesty." "kneel." "Sir Walter Raleigh." "you may express your gratitude." "This is too great an honor." "why are you staring at your boots?" "You know why." "Now you stare at the wall." "Am I so hideous you can't even look me in the face?" "Why do you speak like a fool when you are anything but a fool?" "Fool?" "I am a vain and foolish woman." "you..." "You come here as if from another time." "And I've..." "You have real adventures." "You go where the maps end." "And I'd..." "I would follow you there if I could." "Believe me." "The storm clouds are gathering." "You are needed here." "You cannot leave England." "For he that will save his life will lose it." ""And he that will lose his life for my sake shall find it. "" "Lord be with us as the end approaches." "We will not fear the coming of the shadow of death." "I didn't mean to disturb you." "I thought I prayed in silence." "You did." "sir." "I must go to the Queen." "The man who was hanged today..." "He was your cousin." "Yes." "I'm sorry. he needed my help." "I did nothing." "What could you have done?" "I don't know." "Now he's dead." "I keep seeing his face." "I keep seeing his eyes." "there's nothing that you could have done that would have spared him." "I'm so afraid." "Bess." "We do what we can." "Your laundress was found to be carrying letters in her washing." "I think." "How am I to send my intimate letters?" "Through me." "And you will read them." "With respectful admiration." "Am I to have no privacy?" "No." "sir." "The Queen orders these measures for your protection." "The Queen?" "I am a queen." "They call her the Virgin Queen." "sir?" "Can it be that no man will have her?" "Let him throw you round." "you can trust him." "And jump." "you take a leap into the air." "The Volta." "I require all my ladies to learn it." "You see how fearless Bess is?" "You like your ladies to jump at your command." "Do you think that wrong?" "No." "You are the Queen." "You are to be obeyed. very tired of always being in control." "Nonsense." "What?" "You eat and drink control." "Is that so?" "Bess." "You should try a dance with Sir Walter." "He's eager to show us his skill." "Majesty." "I don't know the steps." "Come now. with your hands here. you lift her." "What could be simpler?" "Sir Walter." "I am to be obeyed." "As Your Majesty wishes." "Hold her firmly." "I don't want her dropped." "Play." "Six counts." "down." "Leave us." "I want both of them left alone." "Madam." "I must reply. then your Queen commands you to set the gentlemen to work." "I think we have it." "Yes." "Let God's work begin." "Where have you been?" "I met up with some old friends." "no doubt." "We haven't seen you for days." "Yes." "Now you're back." "I can still remember the day you were born." "I was 11 years old." "this helpless bundle. and I loved you from the first." "haven't I?" "Forgive me if I haven't loved you enough." "Did you imagine I wouldn't know?" "Majesty." "My little one." "Your blessing?" "Walk on." "The Queen is at her prayers." "Go!" "Elizabeth is a whore!" "Mary Stuart is our true queen!" "Elizabeth!" "Whore!" "You bring news?" "The Queen has been attacked." "The assassin seized." "The Queen unharmed." "Unharmed?" "are to be tried for treason." "Me?" "What has any of this to do with me?" "isn't it? you can never quite be sure who's on whose side till the game ends." "Walsingham has every letter you've written." "Traitor." "Traitors!" "Jesuit." "I have done what I was sent to do." "Why was the gun not loaded?" "I need your help." "brother." "What was the Jesuit sent to do?" "I told you everything I know." "So kill me." "There's a better world waiting for me." "brother." "Even you." "you're not a martyr." "You weren't even much of a murderer." "I'm going to have you taken to France." "No one will know." "You must never let me hear of you again." "Francis." "Francis!" "Francis." "I've never seen her so distressed." "She's been alone in her room since morning." "She'll see no one." "Has she asked for me?" "No." "But she needs you." "I know she does." "Go to her." "Please." "Are you here to tell me I must murder a queen?" "I would never presume to tell my Queen what to do." "Only you know where your duty lies." "Was it my father's duty to murder my mother?" "She was a queen for a time." "I would be loath to die so bloody a death." "Since when were you so afraid?" "I'm always afraid." "and all queens are mortal." "We mortals have many weaknesses." "We feel too much." "Hurt too much." "All too soon we die." "But we do have the chance of love." "Do we?" "I have given England my life." "Must she also have my soul?" "Mary Stuart must die!" "Must?" "Mary Stuart must die?" "Where is it written?" "Who says so?" "Have I ordered it?" "this is no time for mercy." "old man!" "Look at you." "You can hardly stand." "Go home to your wife and your bed." "The law must have its way." "By whose authority do you condemn me?" "God is my only judge." "The law is for common men." "Not for princes." "is for the protection of your people." "Leave me." "Your Majesty." "Your Majesty." "You know neither who you are or what you do." "I know who I am." "it shall be as I have lived. my Father." "At which hour?" "At 8:00." "Tomorrow morning." "It must be stopped!" "I want it stopped!" "I forgive you with all my heart." "Majesty." "I have failed you." "How have you failed me?" "What am I to forgive you for?" "Philip of Spain is a God-fearing man who cannot declare war without a just cause. but failed to see that Spain knew I was reading them." "They waited for her to write the words confirm her treason." "Forgive me." "I am trapped in my own web." "And I ordered Mary's execution." "I murdered God's anointed Queen." "And now God's most dutiful son makes holy war to punish me." "We are at war." "Who knows when we will meet again?" "If we will meet again." "my last days will be in a Spanish prison." "To die far from home." "That is the loneliest death." "Never." "My thoughts turn dark." "What do you do in a storm when you're facing your death? the hungrier I am for life." "Yes." "To live right to the end." "Why be afraid of tomorrow when today is all we have?" "I wish..." "I have never known a woman like you. could you have loved me?" "I know only one world." "I have loved you. something I have not known for a very long time." "If you felt so inclined." "But it's not to be spoken of afterward." "It must be forgotten." "But just for now..." "A kiss?" "I die." "I've given Drake the orders to prepare the fleet to defend the Channel." "How soon can you join him?" "We're waiting for supplies." "We can move as soon as we're ready and armed." "Good." "Bess." "I have something to tell you." "I ask for nothing." "Is that understood?" "Your life is your own." "Nothing will change." "What is this?" "I am..." "You're with child." "No one knows." "My plans are made." "I shall ask the Queen for permission to leave court." "Where will you go?" "To my mother's house." "I'm a ward of the Queen." "I can't court a man without her permission." "I can't marry without her permission. your child..." "All I know is nothing's as it should be." "listen." "ask and it's yours." "Do you remember?" "I remember." "I ask that you forget me." "Go to your ship." "Do your duty." "Forget me." "Bess!" "We're summoned." "Coming." "000 men? 000 men on the French coast." "They plan to cross the Channel in barges and sail into the Thames." "They don't have enough barges yet." "We have a little time." "And our forces defend the mouth of the Thames at Tilbury with..." "What?" "How..." "Four thousand men?" "Three thousand." "Possibly. their combined strength will overwhelm us. before they have the chance to unite. this vast Armada will surely smash through our naval defenses and overrun us on land." "We must prepare for the worst." "I need air." "I thee wed." "I thee worship." "I thee endow." "In the name of the Father amen." "Bess!" "Bess!" "Bess Throckmorton!" "my lady." "is it true?" "Are you with child?" "Are you with child?" "my lady." "You traitress." "You dare to keep secrets from me?" "You ask my permission before you rut!" "Before you breed!" "My bitches wear my collars!" "Do you hear me?" "Do you hear me?" "dignity." "Mercy." "Walsingham." "You go to your traitor brother and leave me to my business." "Is it his?" "Tell me." "Say it." "Is the child his?" "Is it his?" "Yes." "it is my husband's child." "You bitch!" "Majesty." "This is not the Queen I love and serve." "This man has seduced a ward of the Queen." "And she has married without royal consent." "These offenses are punishable by law." "Arrest him!" "Go!" "You no longer have the Queen's protection." "Majesty." "Get out." "Get out!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "you told me." "Did you mean the English empire?" "England will not fall while I am Queen." "you prophesy again." "You want me to tell Your Majesty only what Your Majesty chooses to hear." "I will not be a toy of the fates!" "Have I not faced an assassin's bullet and lived?" "Just tell me there's no certainty." "That any outcome is possible." "you said." "just give me hope." "Majesty. even though you are the Queen?" "But this much I know." "each man acts in accordance with his own nature." "Some are dumb with terror." "Some flee." "Some hide." "And some spread their wings like eagles and soar on the wind." "Dr. Dee." "are a very great lady." "Light the beacon! I can offer you no words of comfort. carries in its bowels the Inquisition. for then there will be no more liberty in England of conscience or of thought." "We cannot be defeated." "The bells are to ring from every tower." "and take up arms." "The harvest must wait." "All prisoners are to be released." "too." "And release Raleigh." "He is forgiven." "long to be forgiven." "Mr. Calley!" "Fire broadside from the bow!" "Run out the prime!" "number one gun!" "On my mark!" "Discharge!" "Two!" "Three!" "Four!" "the enemy has been engaged." "What news?" "Your Majesty." "Two ships lost." "With what gain?" "The enemy continue to advance." "Tighten the buntlines on the foresail!" "Another four ships lost." "We must continue to engage and harass the enemy." "Drake." "Decisively." "We're losing too many ships." "We must fall back and defend the coast. we can attack them with fire ships. that may force them to scatter." "We can't get anywhere near them." "We have to break their formation." "That's our only chance." "Majesty." "We must withdraw to safe ground." "I beg you to appreciate the gravity of the situation." "There is very little time." "My loving people." "We see the sails of the enemy approaching." "We hear the Spanish guns over the water." "we will meet them face to face." "I am resolved in the midst and heat of the battle to live or die amongst you all!" "no invader shall pass." "Let them come with the armies of hell!" "They will not pass! we meet again in heaven" "or on the field of victory." "man!" "Get up!" "help me!" "Help me!" "They've dropped anchor." "These Spanish monsters can't handle our English seas." "We have the wind in our favor." "Do we go?" "We go." "my friend." "Walter?" "Don't forget to jump." "Calley!" "Enough tar!" "Clear the deck!" "set the fuse!" "now!" "Get off the ship!" "Off the ship!" "Go!" "Get over there!" "boys!" "Get going!" "The Spanish continue to advance." "Just five of their ships are burning." "Not enough." "Amen." "Francis?" "I have served Your Majesty in all things." "I know it." "You won't need me anymore. old friend." "Elizabeth has a son." "You must be proud." "Very." "And fulfilled." "As any man can be." "Do you still dream of your shining city in the New World?" "Always." "I'd like to give your son my blessing." "I'd be honored." "I am called the Virgin Queen." "I have no master." "I am mother to my people." "God give me strength to bear this mighty freedom." "I am your Queen." "I am myself."