The Tudors · Season 4
What we must first decide is how best to approach Windsor, and in what manner to overcome the guards who surround the Prince and so remove him... For be there no doubt, gentlemen, he who possesses the heir to the throne will very soon possess the throne itself.
I think your faction is engaged in a fight to the death with Bishop Gardiner and his.
[nods] I will not hide the truth from you, Your Grace. The King's infirmity, and the youth of my nephew, make the question of succession urgent. The stakes could not possibly be higher.
And you desire to know, I assume, on which side of the argument I belong?
Your Grace, whether you will it or not, you carry a great weight of confidence and influence with the King and everyone knows that. But fewer people know that your wife the Duchess and my wife Anne, together with the Queen are as close on matters of religion as it is possible to be, and this close affinity has emboldened me now to approach Your Grace.
[angrily] Surely, your wife has told you that the Duchess and I are estranged, thus her affinities are not necessarily my own, and you do me a great disservice to assume that they are! [Hertford looks taken aback by his anger]
Your Grace, forgive me-
I do forgive you...I forgive you even for hounding poor, proud Surrey to his death, for it was his fault. [Hertford again looks taken aback] But as to religion, I have never read the Gospels and never shall. I am sure they enlighten you, but I prefer them to remain mysterious. And as to the promise of a better world, I can only say that England was merry before, and all things considered, I'd put all things were as they used to be, in times past.
[disappointed] Your Grace, if I do not have your support, may I ask if you will act against me?
I'm not sure if this is any answer, my Lord Hertford, but I've always been drawn to a phrase used by the French peasants: "Praise the God of all, drink the wine, and let the world be the world".
In these last days Your Grace, I have been thinking a great deal about loss. What loss Your Grace, is to man most irrecoverable?
His virtue.
No, for by his actions, he may redeem his virtue.
Then his honor.
No, for again he may find the means to recover it. Even if some man recovers his fortune he is lost.
Then I cannot say, Your Majesty.
Time,Your Grace. Of all losses, time is the most irrecuperable, for it could never be redeemed.
What are you doing here?
I have come to see my daughter. Why should that surprise you, Henry? [Mary walks in and stands next to Katherine] You have not always been kind to her. I have wept so often to see her alone, abandoned by her father.
Is that why you have come back ,Katherine? To chide me, for all that I am not?
She ought to be a long time married by now, she ought to have her own children.
(weakly) Go away. Shade. Go away, Katherine.
You have sent me away before,though I loved you. But I was still your wife in God's eyes- and still am. (both Katherine of Aragon and Mary disappear)
Why are you here?
To see my daughter. She was the only pure thing in my life and in my life I neglected her, since she was only a girl and I wanted so much to give you a son but now I am so proud of her. Fiercely proud! She is so clever and [Elizabeth appears next to Anne] though she is like me in so many ways, she is not intemperate as I was. You must be proud of her too, Henry?
I am. I am very proud of her and I know how clever she is. And I wish that I could love her more, but from time to time she reminds me of you and what you did to me.
I did nothing to you .(walks towards him) I was innocent. All the accusations against me were false. I thought you knew. Poor Katherine Howard, she lies in the cold ground next to me. Poor child. It was not her fault either . But we were like two moths drawn to the flame- and burned. (Anne walks away; Henry is visibly resisting tears)
Anne, please, don't! (Anne and Elizabeth disappear)
How is my son?
Jane. (he walks towards Jane) He is well. I have taken all care of him, sweet Jane. And soon he will be King.
My poor boy. My poor child!
No! He is the most beloved! (Edward appears next to Jane, attempts to walk toward Henry, but is gently halted by Jane) He is my special boy!
He will die young.
No! No!
Poor child, you expected too much of him! He was only a boy, kings too are made of clay and God forbid you locked him away from the world like your father did with you!
No!
Don't you understand?! You have killed him!
No! (turns away and starts to cry while Jane and Edward walk away)
These quotes come from Wikiquote's The Tudors pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
