KING RICHARD THE THIRD

Act 4 Scene 2

(Sound a sennet. Enter King Richard in pomp, the Duke of Buckingham, Sir William Catesby, other nobles, and a Page)
l1l	King Richard	 Stand all apart.—Cousin of Buckingham.
l2l	Buckingham	My gracious sovereign?
l3l	King Richard	Give me thy hand.
		(Sound a sennet. Here Richard ascendeth the throne)
l4l		Thus high by thy advice
l5l		And thy assistance is King Richard seated.
l6l		But shall we wear these glories for a day?
l7l		Or shall they last, and we rejoice in them?
l8l	Buckingham	Still live they, and for ever let them last.
l9l	King Richard	Ah, Buckingham, now do I play the touch,
l10l		To try if thou be current gold indeed.
l11l		Young Edward lives. Think now what I would speak.
l12l	Buckingham	Say on, my loving lord.
l13l	King Richard	Why, Buckingham, I say I would be king.
l14l	Buckingham	Why, so you are, my thrice-renownèd liege.
l15l	King Richard	Ha? Am I king? ’Tis so. But Edward lives.
l16l	Buckingham	True, noble prince.
	King Richard	O bitter consequence,
l17l		That Edward still should live “true noble prince”.
l18l		Cousin, thou wast not wont to be so dull.
l19l		Shall I be plain? I wish the bastards dead,
l20l		And I would have it immediately performed.
l21l		What sayst thou now? Speak suddenly, be brief.
l22l	Buckingham	Your grace may do your pleasure.
l23l	King Richard	Tut, tut, thou art all ice. Thy kindness freezes.
l24l		Say, have I thy consent that they shall die?
l25l	Buckingham	Give me some little breath, some pause, dear lord,
l26l		Before I positively speak in this.
l27l		I will resolve you herein presently.
		(Exit)
l28l	Catesby	(to another, aside)
		 The King is angry. See, he gnaws his lip.
l29l	King Richard	(aside)
		 I will converse with iron-witted fools
l30l		And unrespective boys. None are for me
l31l		That look into me with considerate eyes.
l32l		High-reaching Buckingham grows circumspect.—
l33l		Boy.
l34l	Page	My lord?
l35l	King Richard	Know’st thou not any whom corrupting gold
l36l		Will tempt unto a close exploit of death?
l37l	Page	I know a discontented gentleman
l38l		Whose humble means match not his haughty spirit.
l39l		Gold were as good as twenty orators,
l40l		And will no doubt tempt him to anything.
l41l	King Richard	What is his name?
	Page	His name, my lord, is Tyrrell.
l42l	King Richard	I partly know the man. Go call him hither, boy.
		( 42 Exit Page)
l43l		(Aside)
		 The deep-revolving, witty Buckingham
l44l		No more shall be the neighbour to my counsels.
l45l		Hath he so long held out with me untired,
l46l		And stops he now for breath? Well, be it so.
		(Enter Lord Stanley Earl of Derby)
l47l		How now, Lord Stanley? What’s the news?
l48l	Stanley	Know, my loving lord,
l49l		The Marquis Dorset, as I hear, is fled
l50l		To Richmond, in those parts beyond the seas
l51l		Where he abides.
l52l	King Richard	Come hither, Catesby.
		(Aside to Catesby)
		 Rumour it abroad
l53l		That Anne, my wife, is very grievous sick.
l54l		I will take order for her keeping close.
l55l		Enquire me out some mean-born gentleman,
l56l		Whom I will marry straight to Clarence’ daughter.
l57l		The boy is foolish, and I fear not him.
l58l		Look how thou dream’st. I say again, give out
l59l		That Anne, my queen, is sick, and like to die.
l60l		About it, for it stands me much upon
l61l		To stop all hopes whose growth may damage me.
		(Exit Catesby)
l62l		(Aside)
		 I must be married to my brother’s daughter,
l63l		Or else my kingdom stands on brittle glass.
l64l		Murder her brothers, and then marry her?
l65l		Uncertain way of gain, but I am in
l66l		So far in blood that sin will pluck on sin.
l67l		Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye.—
		(Enter Sir James Tyrrell; he kneels)
l68l		Is thy name Tyrrell?
l69l	Tyrrell	James Tyrrell, and your most obedient subject.
l70l	King Richard	Art thou indeed?
	Tyrrell	Prove me, my gracious lord.
l71l	King Richard	Dar’st thou resolve to kill a friend of mine?
l72l	Tyrrell	Please you, but I had rather kill two enemies.
l73l	King Richard	Why there thou hast it: two deep enemies,
l74l		Foes to my rest, and my sweet sleep’s disturbers,
l75l		Are they that I would have thee deal upon.
l76l		Tyrrell, I mean those bastards in the Tower.
l77l	Tyrrell	Let me have open means to come to them,
l78l		And soon I’ll rid you from the fear of them.
l79l	King Richard	Thou sing’st sweet music. Hark, come hither, Tyrrell.
l80l		Go, by this token. Rise, and lend thine ear.
		(Richard whispers in his ear)
l81l		’Tis no more but so. Say it is done,
l82l		And I will love thee, and prefer thee for it.
l83l	Tyrrell	I will dispatch it straight.
l84l	[King Richard]	Shall we hear from thee, Tyrrell, ere we sleep?
		(Enter Buckingham)
l85l	[Tyrrell]	 Ye shall, my lord.
		(Exit)
l86l	Buckingham	 My lord, I have considered in my mind
l87l		The late request that you did sound me in.
l88l	King Richard	Well, let that rest. Dorset is fled to Richmond.
l89l	Buckingham	I hear the news, my lord.
l90l	King Richard	Stanley, he is your wife’s son. Well, look to it.
l91l	Buckingham	My lord, I claim the gift, my due by promise,
l92l		For which your honour and your faith is pawned:
l93l		Th’ earldom of Hereford, and the movables
l94l		Which you have promisèd I shall possess.
l95l	King Richard	Stanley, look to your wife. If she convey
l96l		Letters to Richmond, you shall answer it.
l97l	Buckingham	What says your highness to my just request?
l98l	King Richard	I do remember me, Henry the Sixth
l99l		Did prophesy that Richmond should be king,
l100l		When Richmond was a little peevish boy.
l101l		A king...perhaps...perhaps.
	Buckingham	My lord?
l102l	King Richard	How chance the prophet could not at that time
l103l		Have told me, I being by, that I should kill him?
l104l	Buckingham	My lord, your promise for the earldom.
l105l	King Richard	Richmond? When last I was at Exeter,
l106l		The Mayor in courtesy showed me the castle,
l107l		And called it “Ruge-mount”—at which name I started,
l108l		Because a bard of Ireland told me once
l109l		I should not live long after I saw “Richmond”.
l110l	Buckingham	My lord?
l111l	King Richard	Ay? What’s o’clock?
l112l	Buckingham	I am thus bold to put your grace in mind
l113l		Of what you promised me.
	King Richard	But what’s o’clock?
l114l	Buckingham	Upon the stroke of ten.
l115l	King Richard	Well, let it strike!
l116l	Buckingham	Why “let it strike”?
l117l	King Richard	Because that, like a jack, thou keep’st the stroke
l118l		Betwixt thy begging and my meditation.
l119l		I am not in the giving vein today.
l120l	Buckingham	Why then resolve me, whe’er you will or no?
l121l	King Richard	Thou troublest me. I am not in the vein.
		(Exit Richard, followed by all but Buckingham)
l122l	Buckingham	 And is it thus? Repays he my deep service
l123l		With such contempt? Made I him king for this?
l124l		O let me think on Hastings, and be gone
l125l		To Brecon, while my fearful head is on.
		(Exit at another door)