Produced by Andrew Sly, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE DRAMAS OF VICTOR HUGO MARY TUDOR MARION DE LORME ESMERALDA Profusely Illustrated with Elegant Wood Engravings _VOLUME TWENTY-ONE_ NEW YORK Peter Fenelon Collier, Publisher CONTENTS _VOLUME TWENTY-ONE_ Mary Tudor Marion de Lorme Esmeralda ILLUSTRATIONS The Rendezvous Frontispiece Marion de Lorme [Illustration: THE RENDEZVOUS.] MARY TUDOR DRAMATIS PERSONÆ Mary, The Queen. Jane. Gilbert. Fabiano Fabiani. Simon Renard. Joshua Farnaby. A Jew. Lord Clinton. Lord Chandos. Lord Montague. Master Eneas Dulverton. Lord Gardiner. A Jailer. _Lords, Pages, Guards, the Executioner._ LONDON, 1553. MARY TUDOR _FIRST DAY_ A MAN OF THE PEOPLE Scene.--_Border of the Thames. A deserted strand. An old parapet in ruins, conceals the borders of the water. To the right, a house of mean appearance. At the corner of this house, a statuette of the Virgin, at whose feet burns a wick in an iron lattice. In the background, beyond the Thames, London. Two high buildings are seen--the Tower of London and Westminster. The sun is setting_ SCENE I _Several men are grouped here and there on the Strand, among whom are Simon Renard, John Bridges, Baron Chandos, Robert Clinton, Anthony Brown, Viscount of Montague_ LORD CHANDOS. You are right, my lord, this damned Italian must have bewitched the Queen. She can't exist without him; she lives only for him, finds pleasure only in him, listens only to him. If a day passes without seeing him, her eyes droop as they did when she loved Cardinal Polus, you remember? SIMON RENARD. She is very much in love, it is true, and, consequently, very jealous. LORD CHANDOS. The Italian has bewitched her. LORD MONTAGUE. For a fact, they say that people of his nationality have philters for that purpose. LORD CLINTON. The Spanish are clever at poisons which kill people, the Italians are clever at poisons which make people fall in love. LORD CHANDOS. Then Fabiani is Spanish and Italian, at the same time. The Queen is in love and is ill. He has made her drink both. LORD MONTAGUE. As to that, is he really Spanish or Italian? LORD CHANDOS. It appears certain that he was born in Italy, in the Capitanate, and that he was brought up in Spain. He claims to be connected with a great Spanish family. Lord Clinton has the story at his finger-tips. LORD CLINTON. An adventurer--neither Spanish nor Italian, and still less English, thank God! These men without a country have no pity on a country, when they become powerful. LORD MONTAGUE. Didn't you say the Queen was ill, Chandos? That does not hinder her from leading a very gay life with her favorite! LORD CLINTON.