KENILWORTH - Penn State University

Kenilworthtogether with all the difficulties which he would necessarilybe exposed to in preserving a secret which seemed now equallyessential to his safety, to his power, and to his honour. He wassituated like one who walks upon ice ready to give way aroundhim, and whose only safety consists in moving onwards, byfirm and unvacillating steps. The Queen’s favour, to preservewhich he had made such sacrifices, must now be secured by allmeans and at all hazards; it was the only plank which he couldcling to in the tempest. He must settle himself, therefore, tothe task of not only preserving, but augmenting the Queen’spartiality—he must be the favourite of Elizabeth, or a manutterly shipwrecked in fortune and in honour. All other considerationsmust be laid aside for the moment, and he repelledthe intrusive thoughts which forced on his mind the image of,Amy, by saying to himself there would be time to think hereafterhow he was to escape from the labyrinth ultimately, sincethe pilot who sees a Scylla under his bows must not for thetime think of the more distant dangers of Charybdis.In this mood the Earl of Leicester that day assumed hischair at the council table of Elizabeth; and when the hours ofbusiness were over, in this same mood did he occupy anhonoured place near her during her pleasure excursion on theThames. And never did he display to more advantage his powersas a politician of the first rank, or his parts as an accomplishedcourtier.It chanced that in that day’s council matters were agitatedtouching the affairs of the unfortunate Mary, the seventh yearof whose captivity in England was now in doleful currency.There had been opinions in favour of this unhappy princesslaid before Elizabeth’s council, and supported with muchstrength of argument by Sussex and others, who dwelt moreupon the law of nations and the breach of hospitality than,however softened or qualified, was agreeable to the Queen’sear. Leicester adopted the contrary opinion with great animationand eloquence, and described the necessity of continuingthe severe restraint of the Queen of Scots, as a measure essentialto the safety of the kingdom, and particularly of Elizabeth’ssacred person, the lightest hair of whose head, he maintained,ought, in their lordships’ estimation, to be matter of moredeep and anxious concern than the life and fortunes of a rival,who, after setting up a vain and unjust pretence to the throneof England, was now, even while in the bosom of her coun-202