Aum. Stay thy revengeful hand; Thou hast no cause to fear. York. [Within] Open the door, secure, fool-hardy king: Shall I, for love, speak treason to thy face? Open the door, or I will break it open. [Bolingbroke opens the Door. Enter YORK. Boling. What is the matter, uncle? speak; Recover breath; tell us how near is danger, That we may arm us to encounter it. York. Peruse this writing here, and thou shalt know The treason that my haste forbids me show. Aum. Remember, as thou read'st, thy promise past: I do repent me; read not my name there, My heart is not confederate with my hand. York. Twas, villain, ere thy hand did set it down.I tore it from the traitor's bosom, king: Fear, and not love, begets his penitence: Forget to pity him, lest thy pity prove A serpent that will sting thee to the heart. Boling. O heinous, strong, and bold conspiracy!— O loyal father of a treacherous son! Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain, York. So shall my virtue be his vice's bawd; Boling. What shrill-voic'd suppliant makes this eager cry? Duch. A woman, and thine aunt, great king; 'tis I. Speak with me, pity me, open the door; A beggar begs, that never begg'd before. Boling. Our scene is alter'd,-from a serious thing, And now chang'd to The Beggar and the King. My dangerous cousin, let your mother in; I know, she's come to pray for your foul sin. York. If thou do pardon, whosoever pray, More sins, for this forgiveness, prosper may. This fester'd joint cut off, the rest rests sound; This, let alone, will all the rest confound. Enter DUCHESS. Duch. O king, believe not this hard-hearted man; Love, loving not itself, none other can. York. Thou frantic woman, what dost thou make here? Shall thy old dugs once more a traitor rear? Duch. Sweet York, be patient: hear me, gentle liege. Boling. Rise up, good aunt. Not yet, I thee beseech: For ever will I kneel upon my knees, [Kneels. York. Against them both, my true joints bended be. Ill may'st thou thrive, if thou grant any grace! [Kneels. Duch. Pleads he in earnest? look upon his face; His eyes do drop no tears, his prayers are in jest; His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast; He prays but faintly, and would be denied ; We pray with heart, and soul, and all beside: His weary joints would gladly rise, I know; Our knees shall kneel till to the ground they grow: His prayers are full of false hypocrisy; Our prayers do out-pray his; then let them have Duch. Boling. Good aunt, stand up. Duch. I do not sue to stand, Pardon is all the suit I have in hand. Boling. I pardon him, as God shall pardon me. Twice saying pardon, doth not pardon twain, Boling. I pardon him. Duch. With all my heart A god on earth thou art. Boling. But for our trusty brother-in-law, and the abbot, With all the rest of that consorted crew, Destruction straight shall dog them at the heels.— To Oxford, or where'er these traitors are: They shall not live within this world, I swear, new. SCENE IV. Enter EXTON and a Servant. Exton. Didst thou not mark the king, what words he spake? Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear? Serv. Those were his very words. Exton. Have I no friend? quoth he: he spake it twice, And urg'd it twice together; did he not? Serv. He did. Exton. And, speaking it, he wistfully look'd on me ; As who should say,-I would, thou wert the man That would divorce this terror from my heart; Meaning, the king at Pomfret. Come, let's go; I am the king's friend, and will rid his foe. [Exeunt. SCENE V. POMFRET. The Dungeon of the Castle. Enter KING RICHARD. K. Rich. I have been studying how I may compare This prison, where I live, unto the world: And, for because the world is populous, And here is not a creature but myself, I cannot do it ;-Yet I'll hammer it out. My brain I'll prove the female to my soul; My soul, the father: and these two beget A generation of still-breeding thoughts, And these same thoughts people this little world; In humours, like the people of this world, For no thought is contented. The better sort,As thoughts of things divine, are intermix'd With scruples, and do set the word itself Against the word: As thus,-Come little ones; and then again,— Is pointing still, in cleansing thein from tears. |