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.
Fight closer, or, good faith, you'll catch a blow.
Clar. I fear her not, unless she chance to fall. [Aside.
Glo, God forbid that! for he'll take vantages. [Aside.
K. Edw. How many children hast thou, widow?
tell me.

Clar I think, he means to beg a child of her. [Aside.
Glo. Nay, whip me then; he'll rather give her two.

[Aside. rul'd by [Aside. K. Edu. 'Twere pity, they should lose their father's land.

L. Grey. Three, my most gracious lord.
Glo. You shall have four, if you'll be

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.
K. Edw. I'll tell you how these lands are to be got.
L. Grey. So shall you bind me to your highness'

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.
L. Grey. To tell you plain, I had rather lie in
prison.
[band's lands.

K. Edw. Why, then thou shalt not have thy hus-
L. Grey. Why, then mine honesty shall be my
For by that loss I will not purchase them. [dower;
K. Edw.Therein thouwrong'st thychildren mightily.
L. Grey. Herein your highness wrongs both them
But, mighty lord, this merry inclination [and me.
Accords not with the sadness of my suit;
Please you dismiss me, either with ay, or no.
K. Edw. Ay; if thou wilt say ay, to my request:
No; if thou dost say no, to my demand.

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.
[Aside.
K. Edw. [Aside.] Her looks do argue her replete
with modesty ;

Her words do shew her wit incomparable.
All her perfections challenge sovereignty:
One way, or other, she is for a king;
And she shall be my love, or else my queen.—
Say, that king Edward take thee for his queen?
L. Grey. 'Tis better said than done, my gracious
I am a subject fit to jest withal,
[lord:
But far unfit to be a sovereign.

K. Edw. Sweet widow, by my state I swear to thee,
I speak no more than what my soul intends;
And that is, to enjoy thee for my love.

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.

commands.

Clar. As red as fire! nay, then her wax must melt.

[Aside.

L. Grey. Why stops my lord? shall I not hear
my task?

K. Edw. An easy task; 'tis but to love a king.
L. Grey. That's soon perform'd, because I am a
subject.
[give thee.

K. Edw. Why then, thy husband's lands I freely
L.Grey.I take my leave with many thousand thanks.
Glo. The match is made; she seals it with a curt'sy.
K. Edw. But stay thee, 'tis the fruits of love I mean.
L. Grey. The fruits of love I mean, my loving liege.
K. Edw. Ay, but I fear me, in another sense.
What love, think'st thou, I sue so much to get?
L. Grey. My love till death, my humble thanks,
my prayers;

That love, which virtue begs, and virtue grants.
K. Edw. No, by my troth, I did not mean such love.
L. Grey. Why, then you mean, not as I thought
you did.

[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.
K. Edw. You'd think it strange, if I should marry
Clar. To whom, my lord?
K. Edw.

[her.
Why, Clarence, to myself.
Glo. That would be ten days' wonder, at the least.
Clar. That's a day longer than a wonder lasts.
Glo. By so much is the wonder in extremes.
K. Edw. Well, jest on, brothers: I can tell you
Her suit is granted for her husband's lands. [both,
Enter a Nobleman.

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,
And all the unlook'd-for issue of their bodies,
To take their rooms, ere I can place myself:
A cold premeditation for my purpose!
Why, then I do but dream on sovereignty;
Like one that stands upon a promontory,
And spies a far-off shore where he would tread,
Wishing his foot were equal with his eye;
And chides the sea that sunders him from thence,
Saying-he'll lade it dry to have his way :
So do I wish the crown, being so far off;
And so I chide the means that keep me from it;
And so I say I'll cut the causes off,
Flattering me with impossibilities.-
My eye's too quick, my heart o'erweens too much,
Unless my hand and strength could equal them.
Well, say there is no kingdom then for Richard;
What other pleasure can the world afford?
I'll make my heaven in a lady's lap,
And deck my body in gay ornaments,
And witch sweet ladies with my words and looks.
O miserable thought! and more unlikely,
Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns!
Why, love forswore me in my mother's womb:
And, for I should not deal in her soft laws,
She did corrupt frail nature with some bribe
To shrink mine arm up like a wither'd shrub;
To make an envious mountain on my back,
Where sits deformity to mock my body;
To shape my legs of an unequal size;
To disproportion me in every part,
Like to a chaos, or an unlick'd bear-whelp,
That carries no impression like the dam.
And am I then a man to be belov'd?

O, monstrous fault, to harbour such a thought!
Then, since this earth affords no joy to me,
But to command, to check, to o'erbear such
As are of better person than myself,

I'll make my heaven-to dream upon the crown;
And, whiles I live, to account this world but hell,
Until my mis-shap'd trunk that bears this head,
Be round impaled with a glorious crown.
And yet I know not how to get the crown,
For many lives stand between me and home;
And I,-like one lost in a thorny wood,

That rents the thorns, and is rent with the thorns;
Seeking a way, and straying from the way.
Not knowing how to find the open air,
But toiling desperately to find it out,-
Torment myself to catch the English crown:
And from that torment I will free myself,
Or hew my way out with a bloody axe.
Why, I can smile, and murder while I smile :
And cry, content, to that which grieves my heart;
And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,
And frame my face to all occasions.

I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall;
I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk;
I'll play the orator as well as Nestor,
Deceive more slily than Ulysses could,
And, like a Sinon, take another Troy :
I can add colours to the cameleon;
Change shapes, with Proteus, for advantages,
And set the murd'rous Machiavel to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut! were it further off, I'll pluck it down.

[Rising.

[sit.

Sit down with us; it ill befits thy state,
And birth, that thou should'st stand, while Lewis doth
Q. Mar. No, mighty king of France; now Margaret
Must strike her sail, and learn awhile to serve,
Where kings command. I was, I must confess,
Great Albion's queen in former golden days:
But now mischance hath trod my title down,
And with dishonour laid me on the ground;
Where I must take like seat unto my fortune,
And to my humble seat conform myself.
K. Lew. Why, say, fair queen, whence springs this
deep despair?
[tears,
Q. Mar. From such a cause as fills mine eyes with
And stops my tongue, while heart is drown'd in cares.
K. Lew. Whate'er it be, be thou still like thyself,
And sit thee by our side: yield not thy neck

[Seats her by him.
To fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind
Still ride in triumph over all mischance.
Be plain, queen Margaret, and tell thy grief;
It shall be eas'd, if France can yield relief.

Q. Mar. Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts,

And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak.
Now, therefore, be it known to noble Lewis,-
That Henry, sole possessor of my love,

Is, of a king, become a banish'd man,
And forc'd to live in Scotland a forlorn;
While proud ambitious Edward, duke of York,
Usurps the regal title, and the seat

Of England's true-anointed lawful king.
This is the cause, that I, poor Margaret,-
With this my son, prince Edward, Henry's heir,-
Am come to crave thy just and lawful aid;
And, if thou fail us, all our hope is done :
Scotland hath will to help, but cannot help;
Our people and our peers are both misled,
Our treasure seiz'd, our soldiers put to flight,
And, as thou see'st, ourselves in heavy plight.
K. Lew. Renowned queen, with patience calm the
While we bethink a means to break it off. [storm,
Q. Mar. The more we stay, the stronger grows
our foe.

K. Lew. The more I stay, the more I'll succour thee.
Q. Mar. O, but impatience waiteth on true sorrow:
And see,
where comes the breeder of my sorrow.

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?

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,
Humbly to kiss your hand, and with my tongue
To tell the passion of my sovereign's heart;
Where fame, late entering at his heedful ears,
Hath plac'd thy beauty's image, and thy virtue.

Q. Mar. King Lewis,-and lady Bona, hear me
Before you answer Warwick. His demand [speak,
Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love,
But from deceit, bred by necessity;
For how can tyrants safely govern home,
Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?
To prove him tyrant, this reason may suffice,-
That Henry liveth still but were he dead,
Yet here prince Edward stands, king Henry's son.
Look therefore, Lewis, that by this league and marriage
Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour :
For though usurpers sway the rule a while,
Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs.
War. Injurious Margaret!
Prince.

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,
To link with him that were not lawful chosen.
War. Thereon I pawn my credit and mine honour.
K. Lew. But is he gracious in the people's eye?
War. The more, that Henry was unfortunate.
K. Lew. Then further, all dissembling set aside,
Tell me for truth the measure of his love
Unto our sister Bona.

War.

Such it seems, As may beseem a monarch like himself.

Myself have often heard him say, and swear,—
That this his love was an eternal plant;
Whereof the root was fix'd in virtue's ground,
The leaves and fruit maintain'd with beauty's sun;
Exempt from envy, but not from disdain,
Unless the lady Bona quit his pain.

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?