HENRY THE SIXTH PART 3

Act 3 Scene 3

(Two chairs of state. Flourish. Enter King Louis of France, his sister the Lady Bona, Lord Bourbon his admiral, Prince Edward, Queen Margaret, and the Earl of Oxford. Louis goes up upon the state, sits, and riseth up again)
l1l	King Louis	 Fair Queen of England, worthy Margaret,
l2l		Sit down with us. It ill befits thy state
l3l		And birth that thou shouldst stand while Louis doth sit.
l4l	Queen Margaret	No, mighty King of France, now Margaret
l5l		Must strike her sail and learn a while to serve
l6l		Where kings command. I was, I must confess,
l7l		Great Albion’s queen in former golden days,
l8l		But now mischance hath trod my title down,
l9l		And with dishonour laid me on the ground,
l10l		Where I must take like seat unto my fortune
l11l		And to my humble state conform myself.
l12l	King Louis	Why, say, fair Queen, whence springs this deep despair?
l13l	Queen Margaret	From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears
l14l		And stops my tongue, while heart is drowned in cares.
l15l	King Louis	Whate’er it be, be thou still like thyself,
l16l		And sit thee by our side.
		(Seats her by him)
		 Yield not thy neck
l17l		To fortune’s yoke, but let thy dauntless mind
l18l		Still ride in triumph over all mischance.
l19l		Be plain, Queen Margaret, and tell thy grief.
l20l		It shall be eased if France can yield relief.
l21l	Queen Margaret	Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts,
l22l		And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak.
l23l		Now, therefore, be it known to noble Louis
l24l		That Henry, sole possessor of my love,
l25l		Is of a king become a banished man,
l26l		And forced to live in Scotland a forlorn,
l27l		While proud ambitious Edward, Duke of York,
l28l		Usurps the regal title and the seat
l29l		Of England’s true-anointed lawful King.
l30l		This is the cause that I, poor Margaret,
l31l		With this my son, Prince Edward, Henry’s heir,
l32l		Am come to crave thy just and lawful aid.
l33l		An if thou fail us all our hope is done.
l34l		Scotland hath will to help, but cannot help#
l35l		Our people and our peers are both misled,
l36l		Our treasure seized, our soldiers put to flight,
l37l		And, as thou seest, ourselves in heavy plight.
l38l	King Louis	Renownèd Queen, with patience calm the storm,
l39l		While we bethink a means to break it off.
l40l	Queen Margaret	The more we stay, the stronger grows our foe.
l41l	King Louis	The more I stay, the more I’ll succour thee.
l42l	Queen Margaret	O, but impatience waiteth on true sorrow.
		( 42 Enter the Earl of Warwick)
l43l		And see where comes the breeder of my sorrow.
l44l	King Louis	What’s he approacheth boldly to our presence?
l45l	Queen Margaret	Our Earl of Warwick, Edward’s greatest friend.
l46l	King Louis	Welcome, brave Warwick. What brings thee to France?
		(He descends. She ariseth)
l47l	Queen Margaret	(aside)
		 Ay, now begins a second storm to rise,
l48l		For this is he that moves both wind and tide.
l49l	Warwick	(to King Louis)
		 From worthy Edward, King of Albion,
l50l		My lord and sovereign, and thy vowèd friend,
l51l		I come in kindness and unfeignèd love,
l52l		First, to do greetings to thy royal person,
l53l		And then, to crave a league of amity,
l54l		And lastly, to confirm that amity
l55l		With nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant
l56l		That virtuous Lady Bona, thy fair sister,
l57l		To England’s King in lawful marriage.
l58l	Queen Margaret	(aside)
		 If that go forward, Henry’s hope is done.
l59l	Warwick	(to Lady Bona)
		 And, gracious madam, in our King’s behalf
l60l		I am commanded, with your leave and favour,
l61l		Humbly to kiss your hand, and with my tongue
l62l		To tell the passion of my sovereign’s heart,
l63l		Where fame, late ent’ring at his heedful ears,
l64l		Hath placed thy beauty’s image and thy virtue.
l65l	Queen Margaret	King Louis and Lady Bona, hear me speak
l66l		Before you answer Warwick. His demand
l67l		Springs not from Edward’s well-meant honest love,
l68l		But from deceit, bred by necessity.
l69l		For how can tyrants safely govern home
l70l		Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?
l71l		To prove him tyrant this reason may suffice—
l72l		That Henry liveth still# but were he dead,
l73l		Yet here Prince Edward stands, King Henry’s son.
l74l		Look, therefore, Louis, that by this league and marriage
l75l		Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour,
l76l		For though usurpers sway the rule a while,
l77l		Yet heav’ns are just and time suppresseth wrongs.
l78l	Warwick	Injurious Margaret.
	Prince Edward	And why not “Queen”?
l79l	Warwick	Because thy father Henry did usurp,
l80l		And thou no more art prince than she is queen.
l81l	Oxford	Then Warwick disannuls great John of Gaunt,
l82l		Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain#
l83l		And, after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth,
l84l		Whose wisdom was a mirror to the wisest#
l85l		And, after that wise prince, Henry the Fifth,
l86l		Who by his prowess conquerèd all France.
l87l		From these our Henry lineally descends.
l88l	Warwick	Oxford, how haps it in this smooth discourse
l89l		You told not how Henry the Sixth hath lost
l90l		All that which Henry the Fifth had gotten?
l91l		Methinks these peers of France should smile at that.
l92l		But for the rest, you tell a pedigree
l93l		Of threescore and two years—a silly time
l94l		To make prescription for a kingdom’s worth.
l95l	Oxford	Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy liege,
l96l		Whom thou obeyedest thirty and six years,
l97l		And not bewray thy treason with a blush?
l98l	Warwick	Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right,
l99l		Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree?
l100l		For shame—leave Henry, and call Edward king.
l101l	Oxford	Call him my king by whose injurious doom
l102l		My elder brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere,
l103l		Was done to death? And more than so, my father,
l104l		Even in the downfall of his mellowed years,
l105l		When nature brought him to the door of death?
l106l		No, Warwick, no—while life upholds this arm,
l107l		This arm upholds the house of Lancaster.
l108l	Warwick	And I the house of York.
l109l	King Louis	Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford,
l110l		Vouchsafe, at our request, to stand aside
l111l		While I use further conference with Warwick.
		(Queen Margaret comes down from the state and, with Prince Edward and Oxford, stands apart)
l112l	Queen Margaret	 Heavens grant that Warwick’s words bewitch him not.
l113l	King Louis	Now, Warwick, tell me even upon thy conscience,
l114l		Is Edward your true king? For I were loath
l115l		To link with him that were not lawful chosen.
l116l	Warwick	Thereon I pawn my credit and mine honour.
l117l	King Louis	But is he gracious in the people’s eye?
l118l	Warwick	The more that Henry was unfortunate.
l119l	King Louis	Then further, all dissembling set aside,
l120l		Tell me for truth the measure of his love
l121l		Unto our sister Bona.
	Warwick	Such it seems
l122l		As may beseem a monarch like himself.
l123l		Myself have often heard him say and swear
l124l		That this his love was an eternal plant,
l125l		Whereof the root was fixed in virtue’s ground,
l126l		The leaves and fruit maintained with beauty’s sun,
l127l		Exempt from envy, but not from disdain,
l128l		Unless the Lady Bona quit his pain.
l129l	King Louis	(to Lady Bona)
		 Now, sister, let us hear your firm resolve.
l130l	Lady Bona	Your grant, or your denial, shall be mine.
l131l		(To Warwick)
		 Yet I confess that often ere this day,
l132l		When I have heard your king’s desert recounted,
l133l		Mine ear hath tempted judgement to desire.
l134l	King Louis	(to Warwick)
		 Then, Warwick, thus—our sister shall be Edward’s.
l135l		And now, forthwith, shall articles be drawn
l136l		Touching the jointure that your king must make,
l137l		Which with her dowry shall be counterpoised.
l138l		(To Queen Margaret)
		 Draw near, Queen Margaret, and be a witness
l139l		That Bona shall be wife to the English king.
		(Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford come forward)
l140l	Prince Edward	 To Edward, but not to the English king.
l141l	Queen Margaret	Deceitful Warwick—it was thy device
l142l		By this alliance to make void my suit!
l143l		Before thy coming Louis was Henry’s friend.
l144l	King Louis	And still is friend to him and Margaret.
l145l		But if your title to the crown be weak,
l146l		As may appear by Edward’s good success,
l147l		Then ’tis but reason that I be released
l148l		From giving aid which late I promisèd.
l149l		Yet shall you have all kindness at my hand
l150l		That your estate requires and mine can yield.
l151l	Warwick	(to Queen Margaret)
		 Henry now lives in Scotland at his ease,
l152l		Where having nothing, nothing can he lose.
l153l		And as for you yourself, our quondam queen,
l154l		You have a father able to maintain you,
l155l		And better ’twere you troubled him than France.
l156l	Queen Margaret	Peace, impudent and shameless Warwick, peace!
l157l		Proud setter-up and puller-down of kings!
l158l		I will not hence till, with my talk and tears,
l159l		Both full of truth, I make King Louis behold
l160l		Thy sly conveyance and thy lord’s false love,
		(Post blowing a horn within)
l161l		For both of you are birds of selfsame feather.
l162l	King Louis	Warwick, this is some post to us or thee.
		(Enter the Post)
l163l	Post	(to Warwick)
		 My lord ambassador, these letters are for you,
l164l		Sent from your brother Marquis Montague#
l165l		(To Louis)
		 These from our King unto your majesty#
l166l		(To Queen Margaret)
		 And, madam, these for you, from whom I know not.
		(They all read their letters)
l167l	Oxford	(to Prince Edward)
		 I like it well that our fair Queen and mistress
l168l		Smiles at her news, while Warwick frowns at his.
l169l	Prince Edward	Nay, mark how Louis stamps as he were nettled.
l170l		I hope all’s for the best.
l171l	King Louis	Warwick, what are thy news? And yours, fair Queen?
l172l	Queen Margaret	Mine, such as fill my heart with unhoped joys.
l173l	Warwick	Mine, full of sorrow and heart’s discontent.
l174l	King Louis	What! Has your king married the Lady Gray?
l175l		And now to soothe your forgery and his,
l176l		Sends me a paper to persuade me patience?
l177l		Is this th’ alliance that he seeks with France?
l178l		Dare he presume to scorn us in this manner?
l179l	Queen Margaret	I told your majesty as much before—
l180l		This proveth Edward’s love and Warwick’s honesty.
l181l	Warwick	King Louis, I here protest in sight of heaven
l182l		And by the hope I have of heavenly bliss,
l183l		That I am clear from this misdeed of Edward’s,
l184l		No more my king, for he dishonours me,
l185l		But most himself, if he could see his shame.
l186l		Did I forget that by the house of York
l187l		My father came untimely to his death?
l188l		Did I let pass th’ abuse done to my niece?
l189l		Did I impale him with the regal crown?
l190l		Did I put Henry from his native right?
l191l		And am I guerdoned at the last with shame?
l192l		Shame on himself, for my desert is honour.
l193l		And to repair my honour, lost for him,
l194l		I here renounce him and return to Henry.
l195l		(To Queen Margaret)
		 My noble Queen, let former grudges pass,
l196l		And henceforth I am thy true servitor.
l197l		I will revenge his wrong to Lady Bona
l198l		And replant Henry in his former state.
l199l	Queen Margaret	Warwick, these words have turned my hate to love,
l200l		And I forgive and quite forget old faults,
l201l		And joy that thou becom’st King Henry’s friend.
l202l	Warwick	So much his friend, ay, his unfeignèd friend,
l203l		That if King Louis vouchsafe to furnish us
l204l		With some few bands of chosen soldiers,
l205l		I’ll undertake to land them on our coast
l206l		And force the tyrant from his seat by war.
l207l		’Tis not his new-made bride shall succour him.
l208l		And as for Clarence, as my letters tell me,
l209l		He’s very likely now to fall from him
l210l		For matching more for wanton lust than honour,
l211l		Or than for strength and safety of our country.
l212l	Lady Bona	(to King Louis)
		 Dear brother, how shall Bona be revenged,
l213l		But by thy help to this distressèd Queen?
l214l	Queen Margaret	(to King Louis)
		 Renownèd Prince, how shall poor Henry live
l215l		Unless thou rescue him from foul despair?
l216l	Lady Bona	(to King Louis)
		 My quarrel and this English Queen’s are one.
l217l	Warwick	And mine, fair Lady Bona, joins with yours.
l218l	King Louis	And mine with hers, and thine, and Margaret’s.
l219l		Therefore at last I firmly am resolved:
l220l		You shall have aid.
l221l	Queen Margaret	Let me give humble thanks for all at once.
l222l	King Louis	(to the Post)
		 Then, England’s messenger, return in post
l223l		And tell false Edward, thy supposèd king,
l224l		That Louis of France is sending over masquers
l225l		To revel it with him and his new bride.
l226l		Thou seest what’s passed, go fear thy king withal.
l227l	Lady Bona	(to the Post)
		 Tell him, in hope he’ll prove a widower shortly,
l228l		I’ll wear the willow garland for his sake.
l229l	Queen Margaret	(to the Post)
		 Tell him my mourning weeds are laid aside,
l230l		And I am ready to put armour on.
l231l	Warwick	(to the Post)
		 Tell him from me that he hath done me wrong,
l232l		And therefore I’ll uncrown him ere ’t be long.
l233l		(Giving money)
		 There’s thy reward—be gone.
		( 233 Exit Post)
l234l	King Louis	 But, Warwick, thou and Oxford, with five thousand men,
l235l		Shall cross the seas and bid false Edward battle#
l236l		And, as occasion serves, this noble Queen
l237l		And Prince shall follow with a fresh supply.
l238l		Yet, ere thou go, but answer me one doubt:
l239l		What pledge have we of thy firm loyalty?
l240l	Warwick	This shall assure my constant loyalty:
l241l		That if our Queen and this young Prince agree,
l242l		I’ll join mine eldest daughter and my joy
l243l		To him forthwith in holy wedlock bands.
l244l	Queen Margaret	Yes, I agree, and thank you for your motion.
l245l		(To Prince Edward)
		 Son Edward, she is fair and virtuous,
l246l		Therefore delay not. Give thy hand to Warwick,
l247l		And with thy hand thy faith irrevocable
l248l		That only Warwick’s daughter shall be thine.
l249l	Prince Edward	Yes, I accept her, for she well deserves it,
l250l		And here to pledge my vow I give my hand.
		(He and Warwick clasp hands)
l251l	King Louis	 Why stay we now? These soldiers shall be levied,
l252l		And thou, Lord Bourbon, our high admiral,
l253l		Shall waft them over with our royal fleet.
l254l		I long till Edward fall by war’s mischance
l255l		For mocking marriage with a dame of France.
		(Exeunt all but Warwick)
l256l	Warwick	 I came from Edward as ambassador,
l257l		But I return his sworn and mortal foe.
l258l		Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me,
l259l		But dreadful war shall answer his demand.
l260l		Had he none else to make a stale but me?
l261l		Then none but I shall turn his jest to sorrow.
l262l		I was the chief that raised him to the crown,
l263l		And I’ll be chief to bring him down again.
l264l		Not that I pity Henry’s misery,
l265l		But seek revenge on Edward’s mockery.
		(Exit)