Clar. I fear her not, unless fhe chance to fall.
Glo. God forbid that! for he'll take 'vantages.

K. Edw. How many children haft thou, widow? tell me.

Clar. I think he means to beg a child of her.

Glo. Nay, whip me then: he'll rather give her two. Gray. Three, my moft gracious Lord.

Glo. You fhall have four, if you'll be rul'd by him. K. Edw. 'Twere pity they should lofe their father's lands.

Gray. Be pityful, dread Lord, and grant'em then. K. Edw. Lords, give us leave; I'll try this widow's wit. Glo. Ay, good leave have you, for you will have leave,

Till youth take leave, and leave you to the crutch. K. Edw. Now, tell me, Madam, do you love your children?

Gray, Ay, full as dearly as I love myself,

K. Edw. And would you not do much to do them good?

Gray. To do them good I would sustain some harm. K. Edw. Then get your husband's lands to do them good.

Gray. Therefore I came unto your Majefty.

K. Edw. I'll tell you how thefe lands are to be got..
Gray. So fhail you bind me to your Highness' service.
K. Edw. What fervice wilt thou do me if I give them?
Gray. What you command that refts in me to do.
K. Edw. But you will take exceptions to my boon.
Gray. No, gracious Lord, except I cannot do it.
K. Edw. Ay, but thou canst do what I mean to ask..
Gray. Why, then I will do what your Grace com-
mands..

Glo. He plies her hard, and much rain wears the marble.

task?

Clar. As red as fire! nay, then her wax muft melt..
Gray. Why tops my Lord! fhall I not hear my.
K. Edw. An ealy talk, tis but to love a King.
Gray. I hat's foon perform'd, becaule i am a
K. Edw. Why then, thy husband's lands I freely
give thee.

fubject.

Gray. I take my leave with many thousand thanks. Glo. The match is made, the feals it with a curt'fy. K. Edw. But ftay thee, 'tis the fruits of love I mean. Gray. The fruits of love I mean, my loving Liege. K. Edw. Ay, But I fear me in another fenfe.. What love think'st thou 1 fue fo much to get? Gray. My love till death, my humble thanks, my

prayers;

That love which virtue begs, and virtue grants.

K. Edw. No, by my troth, I did not mean fuch love.. Gray. Why then you mean not as I thought you did. K. Edw. But now you partly may perceive my mind. Gray. My mind will never grant what I perceive Your Highness aims at, if I aim aright.

K. Edw. To tell thee plain, I aim to lie with thee.
Gray. To tell you plain, I'd rather lie in prifon.
K. Edw. Why then, thou shalt not have thy husband's
lands.

Gray. Why then, mine honefty fhall be my dower;
For by that lofs I will not purchase them.

K.Ed. Therein thou wrong'ft thy children mightily. Gray. Herein your Highness wrongs both them and But, mighty Lord, this merry inclination [me... Accords not with the fadness of my fuit; Please you difmifs are, or with Ay or No. ·

K Edw. Ay, if thou wilt fay Ay to my request;

No, if thou doft say No to my demand.

Gray, Then, No, my Lord, my fuit is at an end. Glo. The widow likes him not, fhe knits her brows, Clar He is the blunteft wooer in Christendom. K. Edw. Her locks do argue her replete with modefty, Her words do fhew her wit incomparable,

All her perfections challenge iovereignty;

One way or other fhe is for a King;

And the fhall be my love, or else my Queen.

Say that King Edward take thee for his Queen?

Gray. 'Tis better faid than doue, my gracious Lord;

I am a fubject fit to jeft withal,

But far unfit to be a Sovereign.

K. Edw. Sweet widow, by my ftate I fwear to thee,. I fpeak no more than what my foul-intends

And that is, to enjoy thee for my love..

Gray. And that is more than I will yield unto : I know I am too mean to be your Queen,

And yet too good to be your concubine.

K. Edw. You cavil widow; I did mean my Queen. Gray. 'Twill grieve your Grace my fons fhould call you father.

K. Edw. No more than when my daughters call thee mother,

Thou art a widow, and thou haft fome children;
And, by God's mother, I, being but a batchelor,
Have other fome: why, 'tis a happy thing
To be the father unto many fons.

Answer no more, for thou shalt be my Queen.

Glo. The ghoftly father now hath done his fhrift. Clar. When he was made a fhriver, 'twas for fhift. K. Ed. Brothers, you muse what chat we two have had.

Glo. The widow likes it not, for fhe looks fad.

K. Edw. You'd think it strange if I should marry her. Clar. To whom, my Lord?

K. Ed. Why, Clarence, to myself.

Gle. That would be ten days' wonder at the leaft. Clar. That's a day longer than a wonder lasts. Glo. By fo much is the wonder in extremes. K. Edw. Well, jeft on, brothers; I can tell you both, Her fuit is granted for her husband's lands.

Enter a Nobleman.

Nob. My gracious Lord, Henry your foe is taken, And brought your prisoner to your palace gate.

K. Edw. See that he be convey'd unto the Tower: And go we, brothers, to the man that took him, To queftion of his apprehenfion,

Widow, go you along : Lords, use her honourably. [Exeunt.

SCENNE

III.

Manet Gloucester.

Glo, Ay Edward will ufe women honourably. Would he were wafted, marrow, bones, and all, That from his loins no hopeful branch may fpring, To cross me from the golden time I look for.

And yet between my foul's defire and me,

(The luftful Edward's title buried),

Is Clarence, Henry, and his fon young Edward;
And all the unlook'd for iffue of their bodies,
To take their rooms ere I can place myself.
A cold Premeditation for my purpose !
Why, then I do but dream on fov'reignty,
Like one that ftands upon a promontory,
And fpies a far-off fhore where he would tread,
Wifhing his foot were equal with his eye,
And chides the fea that funders him from thence,
Saying he'll lade it dry to have his way.
So do I wifh, the crown being fo far off,
And fo I chide the means that keep me from it;
And fo (I fay) I'll cut the caufes off,

Flatt'ring my mind with things impoffible..
My eye's too quick, my heart o'er weens too much,
Unless my hand and ftrength could equal them.
Well, fay there is no kingdom then for Richard:
What other pleasure can the world afford?
I'll make my heaven in a lady's lap,

And deck my body in gay ornaments,

And 'witch fweet ladies with my words and looks.
Oh miferable thought! and more unlikely,
Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns.
Why, Love forfwore me in my mother's womb;
And, for I fhould not deal in her foft laws,
She did corrupt frail Nature with fome bribe
To fink mine arm up like a wither'd fhrub,
To make an envious mountain on my back,.
Where fits Deformity to mock my body;
To fhape my legs of an unequal fize,
To disproportion me in every part:
Like to a chaos, or unlick'd bear-whelp,
That carries no impreffion like the dam..
And am I then a man to be belov'd?

Oh, monftrous fault, to harbour fuch a thought!
Then fince this earth affords no joy to me,
But to command, to check, to o'erbear fuch
As are of better perfon than myself;

I'll make my heav'n to dream upon the crown;
And, while I live, t'account this world but hell,,
Until the head this mif-fhap'd trunk doth bear.

Be round impaled with a glorious crown.
And yet I know not how to get the crown,
For many lives stand between me and home :
And I (like one loft in a thorny wood,

That rends the thorns, and is rent with the thorns.
Seeking a way, and straying from the way,
Not knowing how to find the open air,
But toiling defp'rately to find it out)
Torment myself to catch the English crown,
And from that torment 1 will free myself,
Or hew my way out with a bloody ax.
Why, I can fmile, and murther while I fmile;
And cry, Content, to that which grieves my heart;
And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,

And frame my face to all occafions:

I'll drown more failors than the mermaid fhall,
I'll flay more gazers than the basilisk,
I'll play the orator as well as Neftor,
Deceive more flily than Ulyffes could,
And, like a Sinon, take another Troy :
I can add colours ev'n to the cameleon;
Change fhapes with Proteus, for advantages;
And fet th' afpiring Catiline to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down.

SCENE IV. Changes to France.

[Exit.

Flourish, Enter King Lewis, Lady Bona, Bourbon, Ed-
ward Prince of Wales, Queen Margaret, and the
Earl of Oxford. Lewis fits and rifeth up again.
K. Lew. Fair Queen of England, worthy Margaret,
Sit down with us; it ill befits thy ftate

And birth, that thou fhould'ft ftand while Lewis fits.
Queen. No, mighty King of France; now Margaret
Mult ftrike her fail, and learn a while to serve,
Where Kings command. I was, I must confefs,
Great Albion's Queen in former golden days:
But now mifchance hath trode my title down,
And with difhonour laid me on the ground;
Where I must take like feat unto my fortune,
And to my humble feat conform myself.