Duch. Against her will! good king, look to't in time; She'll hamper thee, and dandle thee like a baby: Though in this place most master wear no breeches, She shall not strike Dame Eleanor unreveng'd. Buck. Lord cardinal, I will follow Eleanor, And listen after Humphrey, how he proceeds: She's tickled now; her fury(29) needs no spurs, She'll gallop fast (30) enough to her destruction. Re-enter GLOSTER. Glo. Now, lords, my choler being over-blown Suf. Before we make election, give me leave York. I'll tell thee, Suffolk, why I am unmeet: War. That can I witness; and a fouler fact Did never traitor in the land commit. Suf. Peace, headstrong Warwick! War. Image of pride, why should I hold my peace? Enter Servants, bringing in HORNER and PETER. [Exit. [Exit. K. Hen. What mean'st thou, Suffolk? tell me, what are these? Suf. Please it your majesty, this is the man That doth accuse his master of high treason: And that your majesty was an usurper. K. Hen. Say, man, were these thy words? Hor. An't shall please your majesty, I never said nor thought any such matter: God is my witness, I am falsely accused by the villain. Pet. [holding up his hands] By these ten bones, my lords, he did speak them to me in the garret one night, as we were scouring my Lord of York's armour. York. Base dunghill villain and mechanical, I'll have thy head for this thy traitor's speech.I do beseech your royal majesty, Let him have all the rigour of the law. Hor. Alas, my lord, hang me, if ever I spake the words. My accuser is my prentice; and when I did correct him for his fault the other day, he did vow upon his knees he would be even with me; I have good witness of this: therefore, I beseech your majesty, do not cast away an honest man for a villain's accusation. K. Hen. Uncle, what shall we say to this in law? (32) K. Hen. Then be it so.-My Lord of Somerset, Pet. Alas, my lord, I cannot fight; for God's sake, pity my case! The spite of man prevaileth against me. O Lord, have mercy upon me! I shall never be able to fight a blow: O Lord, my heart! Glo. Sirrah, or you must fight, or else be hang'd. K. Hen. Away with them to prison! and the day Of combat shall be the last of the next month.Come, Somerset, we'll see thee sent away. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. The same. The Duke of GLOSTER's garden. Enter MARGERY JOURDAIN, HUME, SOUTHWELL, and BOLINGBROKE. Hume. Come, my masters; the duchess, I tell you, expects performance of your promises. Boling. Master Hume, we are therefore provided: will her ladyship behold and hear our exorcisms? Hume. Ay, what else? fear you not her courage. Boling. I have heard her reported to be a woman of an invincible spirit: but it shall be convenient, Master Hume, that you be by her aloft, while we be busy below; and so, I pray you, go in God's name, and leave us. [Exit Hume.] Mother Jourdain, be you prostrate, and grovel on the earth; -John Southwell, read you ;-and let us to our work. Enter Duchess above; and presently HUME. Duch. Well said, my masters; and welcome all. To this gear, the sooner the better. (33) Boling. Patience, good lady; wizards know their times: That time best fits the work we have in hand. [Here they do the ceremonies belonging, and make the Spir. Adsum. M. Jour. Asmath, By the eternal God, whose name and power Thou tremblest at, answer that I shall ask; For, till thou speak, thou shalt not pass from hence. Spir. Ask what thou wilt:—that I had said and done! Ishall of him become?" Spir. The duke yet lives that Henry shall depose; But him outlive, and die a violent death. [As the Spirit speaks, Southwell writes the answers. Boling. "What fates await the Duke of Suffolk ?" Spir. By water shall he die, and take his end. Boling. "What shall befall the Duke of Somerset ?” Spir. Let him shun castles; Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains Than where castles mounted stand.— Have done, for more I hardly can endure. Boling. Descend to darkness and the burning lake! False (35) fiend, avoid! [Thunder and lightning. Spirit descends. Enter YORK and BUCKINGHAM, breaking in with their Guards. What, madam, are you there? the king and commonweal My lord protector will, I doubt it not, See you well guerdon'd for these good deserts. Duch. Not half so bad as thine to England's king, Injurious duke, that threatest where's no cause. Buck. True, madam, none at all:—what call you this ?— Away with them! let them be clapp'd up close, We'll see your trinkets here forthcoming all. Away! (37) [Exeunt, above, Duchess and Hume, guarded. Exeunt, below, Southwell, Bolingbroke, &c. guarded. York. Lord Buckingham, methinks you watch'd her well: A pretty plot, well chosen to build upon! Now, pray, my lord, let's see the devil's writ. What have we here? [Reads. ་ "The duke yet lives that Henry shall depose; But him outlive, and die a violent death.” Why, this is just Aio te, Eacida, Romanos vincere posse. "Tell me what fate awaits the Duke of Suffolk? By water shall he die, and take his end.— What shall betide the Duke of Somerset ?(38) Let him shun castles; Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains Than where castles mounted stand." Come, come, my lord;(39) These oracles are hardly attain'd, And hardly understood.(40) The king is now in progress towards Saint Alban's, Thither go these news, as fast as horse can carry them,—(41) A sorry breakfast for my lord protector. Buck. Your grace shall give me leave, my Lord of York, To be the post, in hope of his reward. York. At your pleasure, my good lord. - Who's within there, ho! Enter a Servant. Invite my Lords of Salisbury and Warwick [Exeunt. ACT II. SCENE I. Saint Alban's. Enter King HENRY, Queen MARGARET, GLOSTER, Cardinal, and SUFFOLK, with Falconers hallooing. Q. Mar. Believe me, lords, for flying at the brook, I saw not better sport these seven years' day: Aio te, Eacida, Romanos vincere posse] The ambiguous oracle, which Ennius (in his Annales) feigns to have been given by the Pythian Apollo to Pyrrhus. See Cicero De Divin. lib. ii. 56. |