from Elizabeth & James

FICTION from ELIZABETH & JAMES / George Garrett George Garrett's new novel, Elizabeth and lames, advances from 1560, year of the birth of King James Vl of Scotland/fames 1 of England, to 1626, year of the coronation in Westminster of his unlucky son Charles I. These three excerpts, from a section of the book entitled "Player," are set in 1602 and deal with the life and times of a minor actor who played a part, off stage, in the abortive rebellion of the Earl of Essex. The Twelfth Night Performance WHY DO I persist in playing this part? Why pull on boots & buckle on sword & mount my too costly horse & ride like a proper gent over to Essex House there to swagger about the courtyard? To swap lies & fables with the others who, whoever they may be, have no more business or good purpose here than myself. And who are these others gathering to wait & watch? Impecunious gentlemen from all over England. Leftover captains from Ireland. Bitter little Welsh swordsmen. Papists & puritans alike. As ragged a band as Robin Hood must have had all around him. In truth & not in fable. A rabble of England's choicest malcontents. Some of great distinction. There are earls & barons & knights who come & go. Who wait to serve Essex. And some, shoulder to shoulder with these others, who ought in a just & equitable world to be taken at once to Tyburn & danced at the end of a rope for the sake of sins & felonies & misdemeanors beyond all counting. Folly! It's folly to be here. And so why am I? I cannot answer my own question sensibly. Would have to answer so many other questions first. Such as. Why do I go at dawn & stay all day at Essex House, mostly in the courtyard with the others, waiting for some simple errand or other to be assigned to me? Any service. Happy to be noticed by any of the Earl's close servants. Happiest of all to be seen & noticed by the Earl himself. A.few days ago, just before dinner, he saw me & spoke to me. He & some of his close knot of fellows came clattering into the courtyard on their horses. Coming back from somewhere in the City. Jumped from their horses & began walking towards the entrance of the house. When he saw me. He smiled. "I know you," he said. "You are an actor." Turning to include his companions. While all in the courtyard are watching us, listening to hear what's being said. "Look here, I have often times seen this fellow on the stage. He is an The Missouri Review · 69 excellent player. He has performed for me here in this very house. Is it not so?" "Indeed sir. And once or twice at the Tiltyard." "He can play any part that's written," Essex says. "King and fool alike." "Why, that's no great trick, my lord," says one of them. "Since in all history the two are often so much the same." "Ah," says Essex with a slight smile; then to me: "And could you play the part of a great lord who, like some figure from a child's tale, was changed into a beggarman by a wicked Queen?" "My lord," I reply, "I will play any part that is written. But, as I live and breathe, I pray that that part will never be written down." "The Queen!" one of them says. "He could put on a wig and play the Queen!" "Nay, he's much too pretty," another says. Essex ignores them. Look.s directly at me. Noon sunlight sparkling in his eyes. "Player," he says, "why are you here? What part are you playing now?" Myself (with a bow): "Your true and faithful servant, sir. If you will allow it." Handing me a coin & moving on. Why did I then feel weak in the knees, lightheaded with delight? Why have I kept that coin with me as if it were a jewel? Why would I rather go hungry or thirsty than to spend it? MICHAELMAS DAY come and gone. With no renewal of the farm for sweet wines. And yet no refusal either. Merely silence from the Queen. Clearly the Earl has not...