- Queen Elizabeth I: You are recovered,then, Sir Francis?
- Walsingham: Thank you, madam. The pain is less severe.
- Queen Elizabeth I: And the deed is done. Your work is accomplished. The dog died, did you know? The terrier? It refused food, grew thin and died. The dog and its mistress, both dead.
- Walsingham: There was no other path, Majesty. You acted with great wisdom.
- Queen Elizabeth I: You think there is great wisdom in killing a queen?
- Walsingham: She is at rest,madam. And with God's good grace, she will find eternal peace.
- Queen Elizabeth I: Peace. You are much mistaken, Sir Francis. There is no peace for the dead. This is a busy time for my royal cousin. Already the creatures are at work, crawling between her lips, entering her nose, burrowing beneath her eyes. Worms cluster in her belly, competing with foul maggots for the tastiest morsel. Even now she is being invaded by a legion of grey flesh-eaters. Even now the body writhes and moves with the activities of countless parasites. There is no peace for my cousin, Sir Francis, and will be none till she is consumed and rotten. Only then will her white bones be at rest. This is our common end, old Moor, picked clean by worms, flesh curdling with corruption, stinking like a blocked midden. So do not talk to me of God's good grace. Dying is a fearful process. I have known death since I was a child. I have stared long into his white, unseeing eyes. I know his dread cruelty. When you are lying on your last bed remember my words. Cry out for mercy. Bite deep intoyour lips, and recall how you plotted my cousin's most terrible end.
- Mary Queen Scots: Why, even at Tutbury,when I was grievous ill, even then you showed me no kindness.
- Sir Amyas Paulet: Your immediate needs were taken care of.
- Mary Queen Scots: My bed sheets were never changed!
- Sir Amyas Paulet: Indeed they were, madam.
- Mary Queen Scots: Only when I complained most vigorously!
- Sir Amyas Paulet: Then perhaps you would have been wiser to complain sooner.
- Mary Queen Scots: You did nothing for my comfort in that wretched house. Small wonder I fell ill. Every corner was a pissing place. The middens bred vermin, the damp knotted my bones,and the bad air mortified my spirits.
- Sir Amyas Paulet: That was at Tutbury, ma'am. Surely you are more content now that you have removed.
- Mary Queen Scots: How can I be content in a prison?