Aside. K. Edw. Widow, we will consider of your suit; And come some other time, to know our mind. L. Grey. Right gracious lord, I cannot brook deMay it please your highness to resolve me now; [lay: And what your pleasure is, shall satisfy me. Glo. [Aside.] Ay, widow? then I'll warrant you all your lands, An if what pleases him, shall pleasure you. Clar I think, he means to beg a child of her. [Aside. [Aside. rul'd by [Aside. K. Edu. 'Twere pity, they should lose their father's land. L. Grey. Three, my most gracious lord. him. L. Grey. Be pitiful, dread lord, and grant it then. K. Edw. Lords, give us leave; I'll try this widow's wit. [leave, Glo. Ay, good leave have you; for you will have Till youth take leave, and leave you to the crutch. [GLOSTER and CLARENCE retire to the other side. K. Edw. Now tell me, madam, do you love your children? L. Grey. Ay, full as dearly as I love myself. K. Edw. And would you not do much, to do them good? [harm. L. Grey. To do them good, I would sustain some K. Edw. Then get your husband's lands, to do them good. L. Grey. Therefore I came unto your majesty. service. K. Edw. But now you partly may perceive my mind. L. Grey. My mind will never grant what I perceive Your highness aims at, if I aim aright. K. Edw. To tell thee plain, I aim to lie with thee. K. Edw. Why, then thou shalt not have thy hus- L. Grey. Then, no, my lord. My suit is at an end. Glo. The widow likes him not, she knits her brows. [Aside. Clar. He is the bluntest wooer in Christendom. Her words do shew her wit incomparable. K. Edw. Sweet widow, by my state I swear to thee, L. Grey. And that is more than I will yield unto : I know, I am too mean to be your queen: And yet too good to be your concubine. K. Edw. You cavil, widow; I did mean, my queen. L. Grey. Twill grieve your grace, my son should call you-father. K. Edw. No more, than when thy daughters call thee mother. K. Edw. What service wilt thou do me, if I give Thou art a widow, and thou hast some children : commands. Clar. As red as fire! nay, then her wax must melt. [Aside. L. Grey. Why stops my lord? shall I not hear K. Edw. An easy task; 'tis but to love a king. K. Edw. Why then, thy husband's lands I freely That love, which virtue begs, and virtue grants. [Aside. Clar. When he was made a shriver, 'twas for shift. [Aside. K. Edw. Brothers, you muse what chat we two have had. Glo. The widow likes it not, for she looks sad. [her. Nob. My gracious lord, Henry your foe is taken, And brought your prisoner to your palace gate. K. Edw. See, that he be convey'd unto the Tower:And go we, brothers, to the man that took him, To question of his apprehension.-— Widow, go you along ;-Lords, use her honourable. [Exeunt KING EDWARD, Lady GREY, CLARENCE, and Lord. Glo. Ay, Edward will use women honourably. 'Would he were wasted, marrow, bones, and all, That from his loins no hopeful branch may spring, To cross me from the golden time I look for! And yet, between my soul's desire, and me, (The lustful Edward's title buried,) Is Clarence, Henry, and his son young Edward, O, monstrous fault, to harbour such a thought! I'll make my heaven-to dream upon the crown; That rents the thorns, and is rent with the thorns; I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall; [Rising. [sit. Sit down with us; it ill befits thy state, [Seats her by him. Q. Mar. Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts, And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak. Is, of a king, become a banish'd man, Of England's true-anointed lawful king. K. Lew. The more I stay, the more I'll succour thee. Enter WARWICK, attended. K. Lew. What's he, approacheth boldly to our pre[friend. sence? Q. Mar. Our earl of Warwick, Edward's greatest K. Lew. Welcome, brave Warwick! What brings thee to France? [Descending from his state. QUEEN MARGARET rises. Q. Mar. Ay, now begins a second storm to rise; For this is he, that moves both wind and tide. War. From worthy Edward, king of Albion, With nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant [Exit. That virtuous lady Bona, thy fair sister, To England's king, in lawful marriage. Q. Mar. If that go forward, Henry's hope is done. War. And, gracious madam, [to BONA.] in our king's behalf, I am commanded, with your leave and favour, Q. Mar. King Lewis,-and lady Bona, hear me And why not queen? War. Because thy father Henry did usurp; And thou no more art prince, than she is queen. Oxf. Then Warwick disannuls great John of Gaunt, Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain; And, after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth, Whose wisdom was a mirror to the wisest ; And, after that wise prince, Henry the Fifth, Who by his prowess conquered all France: From these our Henry lineally descends. War. Oxford, how haps it, in this smooth discourse, You told not, how Henry the Sixth hath lost All that which Henry the Fifth had gotten? Methink, these peers of France should smile at that. But for the rest,--You tell a pedigree Of threescore and two years; a silly time To make prescription for a kingdom's worth. Orf. Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy Whom thou obey'dst thirty and six years, And not bewray thy treason with a blush? [liege, War. Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right, Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree? For shame, leave Henry, and call Edward king. Of. Call him my king, by whose injurious doorn My elder brother, the lord Aubrey Vere, Was done to death? and more than so, my father, Even in the downfall of his mellow'd years, When nature brought him to the door of death? No, Warwick, no, while life upholds this arm, This arm upholds the house of Lancaster. War. And I the house of York. K. Lev. Queen Margaret, prince Edward, and OxVouchsafe, at our request, to stand aside, [ford, While I use further conference with Warwick. Q. Mar. Heaven grant, that Warwick's words bewitch him not! [Retiring with the PRINCE and OXFORD. K. Lew. Now, Warwick, tell me, even upon thy conscience, Is Edward your true king? for I were loath, War. Such it seems, As may beseem a monarch like himself. Myself have often heard him say, and swear,— K. Lew. Now, sister, let us hear your firm resolve. Bona. Your grant, or your denial shall be mine:Yet I confess, [to WAR.] that often ere this day, When I have heard your king's desert recounted, Mine ear hath tempted judgment to desire. K. Lew. Then, Warwick, thus,-Our sister shall be Edward's; And now forthwith shall articles be drawn Touching the jointure that your king must make, Which with her dowry shall be counterpois'd :Draw near, queen Margaret, and be a witness, That Bona shall be wife to the English king. Prince. To Edward, but not to the English king. Q. Mar. Deceitful Warwick! it was thy device By this alliance to make void my suit; Before thy coming, Lewis was Henry's friend. K. Lew. And still is friend to him and Margaret: But if your title to the crown be weak,As may appear by Edward's good success,Then 'tis but reason, that I be releas'd From giving aid, which late I promised. Yet shall you have all kindness at my hand, That your estate requires, and mine can yield. War. Henry now lives in Scotland, at his ease; Where having nothing, nothing he can lose. And as for you yourself, our quondam queen,You have a father able to maintain you; And better 'twere, you troubled him than France. Q. Mar. Peace, impudent and shameless Warwick, Proud setter-up and puller-down of kings! [peace; I will not hence, till with my talk and tears, Both full of truth, I make king Lewis behold Thy sly conveyance, and thy lord's false love; For both of you are birds of self-same feather. [A horn sounded within. K. Lew. Warwick, this is some post to us, or thee. K. Lew. Warwick, what are thy news? and yours, fair queen? [joys. Q. Mar. Mine, such as fill my heart with unhop'd War. Mine, full of sorrow and heart's discontent. K. Lew. What! has your king married the lady And now, to sooth your forgery and his, [Grey? Sends me a paper to persuade me patience? Is this the alliance that he seeks with France? Dare he presume to scorn us in this manner? Q. Mar. I told your majesty as much before: This proveth Edward's love, and Warwick's honesty. War. King Lewis, I here protest,-in sight of heaAnd by the hope I have of heavenly bliss,- [ven, That I am clear from this misdeed of Edward's; No more my king, for he dishonours me; But most himself, if he could see his shame.Did I forget, that by the house of York My father came untimely to his death? Did I let pass the abuse done to my niece? |