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France. A Room in the Palace. | |
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Flourish. Enter LEWIS the French King, his sister LADY BONA, attended: his Admiral called BOURBON; the King takes his state. Then enter QUEEN MARGARET, PRINCE EDWARD, and the EARL OF OXFORD. LEWIS sits, and riseth up again. | |
| K. Lew. Fair Queen of England, worthy Margaret, | |
| Sit down with us: it ill befits thy state | |
| And birth, that thou shouldst stand while Lewis doth sit. | 5 |
| Q. Mar. No, mighty King of France: now Margaret | |
| Must strike her sail, and learn a while 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, | 10 |
| 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? | |
| Q. Mar. From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears | 15 |
| 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. [Seats her by him.] Yield not thy neck | |
| To fortune’s yoke, but let thy dauntless mind | |
| Still ride in triumph over all mischance. | 20 |
| 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, | 25 |
| 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 | 30 |
| 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. | 35 |
| 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 seest, ourselves in heavy plight. | |
| K. Lew. Renowned queen, with patience calm the storm, | 40 |
| While we bethink a means to break it off. | |
| 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. | 45 |
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Enter WARWICK, attended. | |
| K. Lew. What’s he, approacheth boldly to our presence? | |
| Q. Mar. Our Earl of Warwick, Edward’s greatest friend. | |
| 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; | 50 |
| For this is he that moves both wind and tide. | |
| War. From worthy Edward, King of Albion, | |
| My lord and sovereign, and thy vowed friend, | |
| I come, in kindness and unfeigned love, | |
| First, to do greetings to thy royal person; | 55 |
| And then to crave a league of amity; | |
| And lastly to confirm that amity | |
| With nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant | |
| That virtuous Lady Bona, thy fair sister, | |
| To England’s king in lawful marriage. | 60 |
| Q. Mar. If that go forward, Henry’s hope is done. | |
| War. [To BONA.] And, gracious madam, 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 sov’reign’s heart; | 65 |
| 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 speak, | |
| Before you answer Warwick. His demand | |
| Springs not from Edward’s well-meant honest love, | 70 |
| 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, | 75 |
| 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 awhile, | |
| Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs. | 80 |
| 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, | 85 |
| 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: | 90 |
| 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? | |
| Methinks these peers of France should smile at that. | 95 |
| But for the rest, you tell a pedigree | |
| Of threescore and two years; a silly time | |
| To make prescription for a kingdom’s worth. | |
| Oxf. Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy liege, | |
| Whom thou obeyedst thirty and six years, | 100 |
| And not bewray thy treason with a blush? | |
| War. Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right, | |
| Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree? | |
| For shame! leave Henry, and call Edward king. | |
| Oxf. Call him my king, by whose injurious doom | 105 |
| 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, | 110 |
| This arm upholds the house of Lancaster. | |
| War. And I the house of York. | |
| K. Lew. Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford, | |
| Vouchsafe at our request to stand aside, | |
| While I use further conference with Warwick. [They stand aloof. | 115 |
| Q. Mar. Heaven grant that Warwick’s words bewitch him not! | |
| 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. | 120 |
| 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. | 125 |
| 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, | 130 |
| 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: | 135 |
| [To WARWICK.] Yet I confess 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 | 140 |
| 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. | 145 |
| 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, | 150 |
| 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. | 155 |
| War. Henry now lives in Scotland at his ease, | |
| Where having nothing, nothing can he 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. | 160 |
| Q. Mar. Peace! impudent and shameless Warwick, peace; | |
| Proud setter up and puller down of kings; | |
| 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; | 165 |
| For both of you are birds of self-same feather. [A horn winded within. | |
| K. Lew. Warwick, this is some post to us or thee. | |
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Enter a Post. | |
| Mess. My lord ambassador, these letters are for you, | |
| Sent from your brother, Marquess Montague: | 170 |
| These from our king unto your majesty; | |
| [To MARGARET.] And, madam, these for you; from whom I know not. [They all read their letters. | |
| Oxf. I like it well that our fair queen and mistress | |
| Smiles at her news, while Warwick frowns at his. | |
| Prince. Nay, mark how Lewis stamps as he were nettled: | 175 |
| I hope all’s for the best. | |
| K. Lew. Warwick, what are thy news? and yours, fair queen? | |
| Q. Mar. Mine, such as fill my heart with unhop’d joys. | |
| War. Mine, full of sorrow and heart’s discontent. | |
| K. Lew. What! has your king married the Lady Grey? | 180 |
| And now, to soothe your forgery and his, | |
| 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: | 185 |
| This proveth Edward’s love and Warwick’s honesty. | |
| War. King Lewis, I here protest, in sight of heaven, | |
| And by the hope I have of heavenly bliss, | |
| That I am clear from this misdeed of Edward’s; | |
| No more my king, for he dishonours me; | 190 |
| 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? | |
| Did I impale him with the regal crown? | 195 |
| Did I put Henry from his native right? | |
| And am I guerdon’d at the last with shame? | |
| Shame on himself! for my desert is honour: | |
| And, to repair my honour, lost for him, | |
| I here renounce him and return to Henry. | 200 |
| My noble queen, let former grudges pass, | |
| And henceforth I am thy true servitor. | |
| I will revenge his wrong to Lady Bona, | |
| And replant Henry in his former state. | |
| Q. Mar. Warwick, these words have turn’d my hate to love; | 205 |
| And I forgive and quite forget old faults, | |
| And joy that thou becom’st King Henry’s friend. | |
| War. So much his friend, ay, his unfeigned friend, | |
| That, if King Lewis vouchsafe to furnish us | |
| With some few bands of chosen soldiers, | 210 |
| I’ll undertake to land them on our coast, | |
| And force the tyrant from his seat by war. | |
| ’Tis not his new-made bride shall succour him: | |
| And as for Clarence, as my letters tell me, | |
| He’s very likely now to fall from him, | 215 |
| For matching more for wanton lust than honour, | |
| Or than for strength and safety of our country. | |
| Bona. Dear brother, how shall Bona be reveng’d, | |
| But by thy help to this distressed queen? | |
| Q. Mar. Renowned prince, how shall poor Henry live, | 220 |
| Unless thou rescue him from foul despair? | |
| Bona. My quarrel and this English queen’s are one. | |
| War. And mine, fair Lady Bona, joins with yours. | |
| K. Lew. And mine with hers, and thine and Margaret’s. | |
| Therefore, at last, I firmly am resolv’d | 225 |
| You shall have aid. | |
| Q. Mar. Let me give humble thanks for all at once. | |
| K. Lew. Then, England’s messenger, return in post, | |
| And tell false Edward, thy supposed king, | |
| That Lewis of France is sending over masquers, | 230 |
| To revel it with him and his new bride. | |
| Thou seest what’s past; go fear thy king withal. | |
| Bona. Tell him, in hope he’ll prove a widower shortly, | |
| I’ll wear the willow garland for his sake. | |
| Q. Mar. Tell him, my mourning weeds are laid aside, | 235 |
| And I am ready to put armour on. | |
| War. Tell him from me, that he hath done me wrong, | |
| And therefore I’ll uncrown him ere ’t be long. | |
| There’s thy reward: be gone. [Exit Messenger. | |
| K. Lew. But, Warwick, | 240 |
| Thou and Oxford, with five thousand men, | |
| Shall cross the seas, and bid false Edward battle; | |
| And, as occasion serves, this noble queen | |
| And prince shall follow with a fresh supply. | |
| Yet ere thou go, but answer me one doubt: | 245 |
| What pledge have we of thy firm loyalty? | |
| War. This shall assure my constant loyalty: | |
| That if our queen and this young prince agree, | |
| I’ll join mine eldest daughter and my joy | |
| To him forthwith in holy wedlock bands. | 250 |
| Q. Mar. Yes, I agree, and thank you for your motion. | |
| Son Edward, she is fair and virtuous, | |
| Therefore delay not, give thy hand to Warwick; | |
| And, with thy hand, thy faith irrevocable, | |
| That only Warwick’s daughter shall be thine. | 255 |
| Prince. Yes, I accept her, for she well deserves it; | |
| And here, to pledge my vow, I give my hand. [He gives his hand to WARWICK. | |
| K. Lew. Why stay we now? These soldiers shall be levied, | |
| And thou, Lord Bourbon, our high admiral, | |
| Shall waft them over with our royal fleet. | 260 |
| I long till Edward fall by war’s mischance, | |
| For mocking marriage with a dame of France. [Exeunt all except WARWICK. | |
| War. I came from Edward as ambassador, | |
| But I return his sworn and mortal foe: | |
| Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me, | 265 |
| But dreadful war shall answer his demand. | |
| Had he none else to make a stale but me? | |
| Then none but I shall turn his jest to sorrow. | |
| I was the chief that rais’d him to the crown, | |
| And I’ll be chief to bring him down again: | 270 |
| Not that I pity Henry’s misery, | |
| But seek revenge on Edward’s mockery. [Exit. | |
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