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[00:16.47]Chapter 9 A death
[00:21.53]Queen Mary stopped writing then．
[00:25.24]Yesterday afternoon,7th February 1587,
[00:31.74]we heard a horse outside our window．
[00:36.70]Mary looked out．
[00:39.52]There was a man there, on the road from London．
[00:44.50]He had a letter from the Queen of England．
[00:49.74]In the evening, an Englishman,
[00:53.76]Lord Shrewsbury,came to see Mary,
[00:58.27]'I am sorry,my lady,'he said．
[01:01.69]'But I have a letter from my Queen．
[01:05.07]You're going to die, tomorrow．'
[01:10.85]Mary did not move．
[01:14.10]'When?'she asked quietly．
[01:18.65]'At half past eight in the morning,'he said．
[01:24.31]'I am very sorry, my lady．'He went away．
[01:31.76]We did not sleep much that night．
[01:35.47]We talked and prayed to God,
[01:38.89]and she gave me her letter to her son, James．
[01:43.90]'Give it to him, Bess, please,'
[01:49.12]she said．'And tell him how I died．'
[01:54.89]'Yes, my lady,'I said．
[01:59.17]And so now I am going to tell you．
[02:02.42]King James．This is how your mother died．
[02:08.63]At six o'clock she got up,prayed, and dressed．
[02:15.78]She put on a red petticoat first,
[02:19.52]then a black dress, and a white veil over the dress．
[02:26.75]The veil came from her head to her feet；
[02:32.02]she could see out through it,
[02:34.53]but we could not see her face．
[02:37.84]She looked like a woman on her wedding day．
[02:43.09]When the Englishmen came we went downstairs with her.
[02:48.96]Her little dog walked beside her, under the veil,
[02:53.89]but the Englishmen didn't see that．
[02:57.60]Six of us went into a big room with her．
[03:02.20]A hundred people stood and watched．
[03:06.51]A Protestant churchman came to talk to her,
[03:10.76]'My lady,'he said．'Pray with me-'
[03:17.45]'No,'she said．'Thank you, but no．
[03:23.79]I was born a Catholic and I'm going to die a Catholic．
[03:30.52]I think God understands that．
[03:35.75]'she prayed for five minutes, and then stood up．
[03:41.79]The executioner came towards her．
[03:45.69]He was a big, strong man with an axe,
[03:49.78]and something black over his face．
[03:55.21]'I am sorry, my lady,'he said．
[03:58.80]'I don't hate you, but this is my work．
[04:02.33]Please forgive me．'
[04:05.85]'Of course I forgive you,'mary said．
[04:10.87]'I am old, and tired,
[04:14.31]and you're going to open my prison doors for me．
[04:18.98]I am going to see God．Do your work well．'
[04:26.55]Then she looked at me and her friends．
[04:31.18]'Don't cry for me,ladies,'she said．
[04:36.51]'Please, don't cry now．'
[04:41.68]She could not walk to the block,
[04:44.81]so the executioner helped her．
[04:48.74]He took off her white veil,
[04:51.51]and then he took off her black dress,
[04:54.67]and put it on the floor．
[04:57.75]She stood there, in her red petticoat,
[05:01.65]with a smile on her face．
[05:04.58]Then the executioner put something over her eyes．
[05:10.26]Very slowly, Mary put her head on the block．
[05:16.94]'The Lord my God is my one true friend,'she said．
[05:24.54]'I give my life,oh God,into your hands．'
[05:32.40]Then the executioner lifted his axe,
[05:36.63]once… twice… oh God!three times…
[05:44.84]and her head-her poor,poor head,fell on the floor．
[05:52.49]It was very quiet in the room after that．
[05:57.20]It is a little thing,a head-a very little thing．
[06:03.90]But there was so much blood-blood on her red petticoat,
[06:10.69]blood on her black dress and her white veil,
[06:15.54]blood on the executioner's shoes,
[06:18.73]blood all over the floor．
[06:21.69]Blood, blood everywhere．
[06:27.67]We all looked, and said nothing．
[06:32.40]The executioner put down his axe and stood quietly．
[06:38.31]And then Mary's little dog came out from under her bloody dress and veil,
[06:46.69]and walked slowly, unhappily,
[06:50.12]through the blood towards her head．
[06:54.96]My lord,the story of your poor mother's life finishes here．
[07:00.93]We, her friends, cry for her,
[07:05.38]but that is how your mother died．
[07:09.13]She died like a Queen．
[07:12.62]A good lady and a famous Queen．
[07:17.81]Mary, Queen of Scots．