The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Part 193

Hast thou not worldly pleasure at command Above the reach or compa.s.s of thy thought?

And wilt thou still be hammering treachery To tumble down thy husband and thyself From top of honour to disgrace's feet?

Away from me, and let me hear no more!

d.u.c.h.eSS. What, what, my lord! Are you so choleric With Eleanor for telling but her dream?

Next time I'll keep my dreams unto myself And not be check'd.

GLOUCESTER. Nay, be not angry; I am pleas'd again.

Enter a MESSENGER

MESSENGER. My Lord Protector, 'tis his Highness' pleasure You do prepare to ride unto Saint Albans, Where as the King and Queen do mean to hawk.

GLOUCESTER. I go. Come, Nell, thou wilt ride with us?

d.u.c.h.eSS. Yes, my good lord, I'll follow presently.

Exeunt GLOUCESTER and MESSENGER Follow I must; I cannot go before, While Gloucester bears this base and humble mind.

Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood, I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks And smooth my way upon their headless necks; And, being a woman, I will not be slack To play my part in Fortune's pageant.

Where are you there, Sir John? Nay, fear not, man, We are alone; here's none but thee and I.

Enter HUME

HUME. Jesus preserve your royal Majesty!

d.u.c.h.eSS. What say'st thou? Majesty! I am but Grace.

HUME. But, by the grace of G.o.d and Hume's advice, Your Grace's t.i.tle shall be multiplied.

d.u.c.h.eSS. What say'st thou, man? Hast thou as yet conferr'd With Margery Jourdain, the cunning witch of Eie, With Roger Bolingbroke, the conjurer?

And will they undertake to do me good?

HUME. This they have promised, to show your Highness A spirit rais'd from depth of underground That shall make answer to such questions As by your Grace shall be propounded him d.u.c.h.eSS. It is enough; I'll think upon the questions; When from Saint Albans we do make return We'll see these things effected to the full.

Here, Hume, take this reward; make merry, man, With thy confederates in this weighty cause. Exit HUME. Hume must make merry with the d.u.c.h.ess' gold; Marry, and shall. But, how now, Sir John Hume!

Seal up your lips and give no words but mum: The business asketh silent secrecy.

Dame Eleanor gives gold to bring the witch: Gold cannot come amiss were she a devil.

Yet have I gold flies from another coast- I dare not say from the rich Cardinal, And from the great and new-made Duke of Suffolk; Yet I do find it so; for, to be plain, They, knowing Dame Eleanor's aspiring humour, Have hired me to undermine the d.u.c.h.ess, And buzz these conjurations in her brain.

They say 'A crafty knave does need no broker'; Yet am I Suffolk and the Cardinal's broker.

Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near To call them both a pair of crafty knaves.

Well, so its stands; and thus, I fear, at last Hume's knavery will be the d.u.c.h.ess' wreck, And her attainture will be Humphrey's fall Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all. Exit

SCENE III.

London. The palace

Enter three or four PEt.i.tIONERS, PETER, the Armourer's man, being one

FIRST PEt.i.tIONER. My masters, let's stand close; my Lord Protector will come this way by and by, and then we may deliver our supplications in the quill.

SECOND PEt.i.tIONER. Marry, the Lord protect him, for he's a good man, Jesu bless him!

Enter SUFFOLK and QUEEN

FIRST PEt.i.tIONER. Here 'a comes, methinks, and the Queen with him.

I'll be the first, sure.

SECOND PEt.i.tIONER. Come back, fool; this is the Duke of Suffolk and not my Lord Protector.

SUFFOLK. How now, fellow! Wouldst anything with me?

FIRST PEt.i.tIONER. I pray, my lord, pardon me; I took ye for my Lord Protector.

QUEEN. [Reads] 'To my Lord Protector!' Are your supplications to his lordship? Let me see them. What is thine?

FIRST PEt.i.tIONER. Mine is, an't please your Grace, against John Goodman, my Lord Cardinal's man, for keeping my house and lands, and wife and all, from me.

SUFFOLK. Thy wife too! That's some wrong indeed. What's yours?

What's here! [Reads] 'Against the Duke of Suffolk, for enclosing the commons of Melford.' How now, sir knave!

SECOND PEt.i.tIONER. Alas, sir, I am but a poor pet.i.tioner of our whole township.

PETER. [Presenting his pet.i.tion] Against my master, Thomas Horner, for saying that the Duke of York was rightful heir to the crown.

QUEEN. What say'st thou? Did the Duke of York say he was rightful heir to the crown?

PETER. That my master was? No, forsooth. My master said that he was, and that the King was an usurper.

SUFFOLK. Who is there? [Enter servant] Take this fellow in, and send for his master with a pursuivant presently. We'll hear more of your matter before the King.

Exit servant with PETER QUEEN. And as for you, that love to be protected Under the wings of our Protector's grace, Begin your suits anew, and sue to him.

[Tears the supplications]

Away, base cullions! Suffolk, let them go.

ALL. Come, let's be gone. Exeunt QUEEN. My Lord of Suffolk, say, is this the guise, Is this the fashions in the court of England?

Is this the government of Britain's isle, And this the royalty of Albion's king?

What, shall King Henry be a pupil still, Under the surly Gloucester's governance?

Am I a queen in t.i.tle and in style, And must be made a subject to a duke?

I tell thee, Pole, when in the city Tours Thou ran'st a tilt in honour of my love And stol'st away the ladies' hearts of France, I thought King Henry had resembled thee In courage, courtship, and proportion; But all his mind is bent to holiness, To number Ave-Maries on his beads; His champions are the prophets and apostles; His weapons, holy saws of sacred writ; His study is his tilt-yard, and his loves Are brazen images of canonized saints.

I would the college of the Cardinals Would choose him Pope, and carry him to Rome, And set the triple crown upon his head; That were a state fit for his holiness.

SUFFOLK. Madam, be patient. As I was cause Your Highness came to England, so will I In England work your Grace's full content.

QUEEN. Beside the haughty Protector, have we Beaufort The imperious churchman; Somerset, Buckingham, And grumbling York; and not the least of these But can do more in England than the King.

SUFFOLK. And he of these that can do most of all Cannot do more in England than the Nevils; Salisbury and Warwick are no simple peers.

QUEEN. Not all these lords do vex me half so much As that proud dame, the Lord Protector's wife.

She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies, More like an empress than Duke Humphrey's wife.

Strangers in court do take her for the Queen.

She bears a duke's revenues on her back, And in her heart she scorns our poverty; Shall I not live to be aveng'd on her?

Contemptuous base-born callet as she is, She vaunted 'mongst her minions t' other day The very train of her worst wearing gown Was better worth than all my father's lands, Till Suffolk gave two dukedoms for his daughter.

SUFFOLK. Madam, myself have lim'd a bush for her, And plac'd a quire of such enticing birds That she will light to listen to the lays, And never mount to trouble you again.

So, let her rest. And, madam, list to me, For I am bold to counsel you in this: Although we fancy not the Cardinal, Yet must we join with him and with the lords, Till we have brought Duke Humphrey in disgrace.

As for the Duke of York, this late complaint Will make but little for his benefit.

So one by one we'll weed them all at last, And you yourself shall steer the happy helm.

Sound a sennet. Enter the KING, DUKE HUMPHREY, CARDINAL BEAUFORT, BUCKINGHAM, YORK, SOMERSET, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and the d.u.c.h.eSS OF GLOUCESTER

KING HENRY. For my part, n.o.ble lords, I care not which: Or Somerset or York, all's one to me.

YORK. If York have ill demean'd himself in France, Then let him be denay'd the regentship.

SOMERSET. If Somerset be unworthy of the place, Let York be Regent; I will yield to him.

WARWICK. Whether your Grace be worthy, yea or no, Dispute not that; York is the worthier.

CARDINAL. Ambitious Warwick, let thy betters speak.

WARWICK. The Cardinal's not my better in the field.

BUCKINGHAM. All in this presence are thy betters, Warwick.

WARWICK. Warwick may live to be the best of all.

SALISBURY. Peace, son! And show some reason, Buckingham, Why Somerset should be preferr'd in this.

QUEEN. Because the King, forsooth, will have it so.

GLOUCESTER. Madam, the King is old enough himself To give his censure. These are no women's matters.

QUEEN. If he be old enough, what needs your Grace To be Protector of his Excellence?

GLOUCESTER. Madam, I am Protector of the realm; And at his pleasure will resign my place.

SUFFOLK. Resign it then, and leave thine insolence.

Since thou wert king- as who is king but thou?- The commonwealth hath daily run to wrack, The Dauphin hath prevail'd beyond the seas, And all the peers and n.o.bles of the realm Have been as bondmen to thy sovereignty.

CARDINAL. The commons hast thou rack'd; the clergy's bags Are lank and lean with thy extortions.

SOMERSET. Thy sumptuous buildings and thy wife's attire Have cost a ma.s.s of public treasury.