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 ! Chandos! throw wide yon door! The whole court! Everyone! Let everyone come in!

[The great door opens. Enter the whole court.

The Queen.Enter, my lords, enter. In very sooth I have much pleasure in seeing you all to-day.—This way, you gentlemen of the law—nearer, nearer.—Where are the sergeants-at-arms of the House of Peers—Harriot and Herbert? Ah! you are there, gentlemen.—Most welcome. Draw your swords. 'Tis well. Take your places at this man's right and left hand. He is your prisoner.

Fabiani.Madame, what is my crime?

The Queen.Lord Gardiner, my learned friend, you are the Chancellor of England; we give you to know that you and the twelve lords commissioners of the Star Chamber, whom we regret not to see here, are to assemble with all diligence. Strange things are toward in this palace. Hark ye, my lords. The Lady Elizabeth hath already stirred up more than one enemy to our crown. There was the plot of Pietro Caro, who caused the uprising at Exeter, and who corresponded secretly with the Lady Elizabeth by means of a cipher carven on a guitar. There was the treachery of Thomas Wyatt, who raised the County of Kent. There was the rebellion of the Duke of Suffolk, who was captured in a hollow tree, after the defeat of his supporters. To-day there is a new attempt. Listen, all. To-day, this morning, a man presented himself at my audience. After a few words he drew a dagger upon me. I