EDWARD
I pray let us see it. What have we there?
10 Read it, Spencer.
SPENCER [JUNIOR] reads their names.
Why so, they barked apace a month ago;
Now, on my life, they’ll neither bark nor bite.
Now, sirs, the news from France. Gloucester, I trow
The lords of France love England’s gold so well
As Isabella gets no aid from thence.
What now remains? Have you proclaimed, my lord,
Reward for them can bring in Mortimer?
SPENCER
My lord, we have, and if he be in England,
20 ’A will be had ere long, I doubt it not.
EDWARD
‘If, dost thou say? Spencer, as true as death,
He is in England’s ground. Our port-masters
Are not so careless of their king’s command.
Enter a POST [with letters].
How now, what news with thee? From whence come these?
POST
Letters, my lord, and tidings forth of France,
To you, my lord of Gloucester, from Levune.
EDWARD Read.
SPENCER [JUNIOR] reads the letter.
SPENCER ‘My duty to your honour promised, etc. I have, according
to instructions in that behalf, dealt with the King of France
30 his lords, and effected that the queen, all discontented and
discomforted, is gone; whither, if you ask, with Sir John of
Hainault, brother to the marquis, into Flanders. With them
are gone Lord Edmund and the Lord Mortimer, having in
their company divers of your nation and others; and, as
constant report goeth, they intend to give King Edward battle
in England sooner than he can look for them. This is all the
news of import.
Your honour’s in all service, Levune.’
EDWARD
Ah, villains, hath that Mortimer escaped?
40 With him is Edmund gone associate?
And will Sir John of Hainault lead the round?
Welcome, a’ God’s name, madam, and your son.
England shall welcome you and all your rout.
Gallop apace, bright Phoebus, through the sky,
And dusky night, in rusty iron car,
Between you both shorten the time, I pray,
That I may see that most desirèd day
When we may meet these traitors in the field.
Ah, nothing grieves me but my little boy
50 Is thus misled to countenance their ills.
Come, friends, to Bristol, there to make us strong;
And, winds, as equal be to bring them in
As you injurious were to bear them forth.
[Exeunt.]
[Scene 17]
Enter the QUEEN, her son [PRINCE EDWARD], EDMUND [EARL OF KENT], MORTIMER [JUNIOR], and SIR JOHN [OF HAINAULT],
QUEEN
Now, lords, our loving friends and countrymen,
Welcome to England all with prosperous winds.
Our kindest friends in Belgia have we left
To cope with friends at home – a heavy case,
When force to force is knit, and sword and glaive
In civil broils makes kin and countrymen
Slaughter themselves in others, and their sides
With their own weapons gored. But what’s the help?
Misgoverned kings are cause of all this wrack,
And, Edward, thou art one among them all
10 Whose looseness hath betrayed thy land to spoil
And made the channels overflow with blood.
Of thine own people patron shouldst thou be,
But thou –
MORTIMER Nay, madam, if you be a warrior,
Yet must not grow so passionate in speeches.
Lords, sith that we are by sufferance of heaven
Arrived and armèd in this prince’s right,
Here for our country’s cause swear we to him
All homage, fealty, and forwardness;
And, for the open wrongs and injuries
20 Edward hath done to us, his queen, and land,
We come in arms to wreck it with the sword,
That England’s queen in peace may repossess
Her dignities and honours, and withal
We may remove these flatterers from the king
That havocs England’s wealth and treasury.
SIR JOHN
Sound trumpets, my lord, and forward let us march.
Edward will think we come to flatter him.
KENT
I would he never had been flattered more.
[Trumpets sound. Exeunt.]
[Scene 18]
Enter the KING, BALDOCK, and SPENCER THE SON, flying about the stage.
SPENCER
Fly, fly, my lord! The queen is over-strong;
Her friends do multiply, and yours do fail.
Shape we our course to Ireland, there to breathe.
EDWARD
What, was I born to fly and run away,
5 And leave the Mortimers conquerors behind?
Give me my horse, and let’s r’enforce our troops,
And in this bed of honour die with fame.
BALDOCK
O no, my lord, this princely resolution
Fits not the time. Away! We are pursued.
[Exeunt.]
[Scene 19]
[Enter] EDMUND [EARL OF KENT] alone, with a sword and target.
KENT
This way he fled, but I am come too late.
Edward, alas, my heart relents for thee.
Proud traitor, Mortimer, why dost thou chase
Thy lawful king, thy sovereign, with thy sword,
Vile wretch, and why hast thou, of all unkind,
Borne arms against thy brother and thy king?
Rain showers of vengeance on my cursèd head,
Thou God, to whom in justice it belongs
To punish this unnatural revolt!
Edward, this Mortimer aims at thy life;
10 O, fly him, then! But, Edmund, calm this rage.
Dissemble or thou diest, for Mortimer
And Isabel do kiss while they conspire;
And yet she bears a face of love, forsooth.
Fie on that love that hatcheth death and hate!
Edmund, away. Bristol to Longshanks’ blood
Is false. Be not found single for suspect;
Proud Mortimer pries near into thy walks.
Enter the QUEEN, MORTIMER [JUNIOR], the young PRINCE [EDWARD], and SIR JOHN OF HAINAULT.
QUEEN
Successful battles gives the God of kings
To them that fight in right and fear his wrath.
20 Since then successfully we have prevailed,
Thanks be heaven’s great architect and you.
Ere farther we proceed, my noble lords,
We here create our well-belovèd son,
Of love and care unto his royal person,
Lord Warden of the realm; and sith the Fates
Have made his father so infortunate,
Deal you, my lords, in this, my loving lords,
As to your wisdoms fittest seems in all.
KENT
Madam, without offence if I may ask,
30 How will you deal with Edward in his fall?
PRINCE
Tell me, good uncle, what Edward do you mean?
KENT
Nephew, your father; I dare not call him king.
MORTIMER
My lord of Kent, what needs these questions?
’Tis not in her controlment, nor in ours,
But as the realm and Parliament shall please,
So shall your brother be disposèd of.
[Aside to the QUEEN]
I like not this relenting mood in Edmund.
Madam, ’tis good to look to him betimes.
QUEEN [
to MORTIMER JUNIOR]
40 My lord, the Mayor of Bristol knows our mind.
MORTIMER
Yea, madam, and they ’scape not easily
That fled the field.
QUEEN Baldock is with the king;
A goodly chancellor, is he not, my lord?
SIR JOHN
So are the Spencers, the father and the son.
KENT [aside]
This Edward is the ruin of the realm.
Enter RICE ap HOWELL and the MAYOR OF BRISTOL, with SPENCER THE FATHER [captive, and GUARDS].
RICE ap HOWELL
God save Queen Isabel and her princely son!
Madam, the mayor and citizens of Bristol,
In sign of love and duty to this presence,
Present by me this traitor to the state:
50 Spencer, the father to that wanton Spencer
That like the lawless Catiline of Rome
Revelled in England’s wealth and treasury.
QUEEN
We thank you all.
MORTIMER Your loving care in this
Deserveth princely favours and rewards.
But where’s the king and the other Spencer fled?
RICE ap HOWELL
Spencer the son, created earl of Gloucester,
Is with that smooth-tongued scholar Baldock gone
And shipped but late for Ireland with the king.
MORTIMER
Some whirlwind fetch them back or sink them all!
60 They shall be started thence, I doubt it not.
PRINCE
Shall I not see the king my father yet?
KENT [aside]
Unhappy Edward, chased from England’s bounds!
SIR JOHN
Madam, what resteth? Why stand ye in a muse?
QUEEN
I rue my lord’s ill fortune; but alas,
Care of my country called me to this war.
MORTIMER
Madam, have done with care and sad complaint;
Your king hath wronged your country and himself,
And we must seek to right it as we may.
Meanwhile, have hence this rebel to the block.
[To SPENCER SENIOR]
70 Your lordship cannot privilege your head.
SPENCER SENIOR
Rebel is he that fights against his prince;
So fought not they that fought in Edward’s right.
MORTIMER
Take him away, he prates, [SPENCER SENIOR is led away.]
You, Rice ap Howell,
Shall do good service to her majesty,
Being of countenance in your country here,
To follow these rebellious runagates.
We in mean while, madam, must take advice
How Baldock, Spencer, and their complices
May in their fall be followed to their end.
Exeunt.
[Scene 20]
Enter the ABBOT, MONKS, [KING] EDWARD, SPENCER [JUNIOR], and BALDOCK [disguised as monks].
ABBOT
Have you no doubt, my lord, have you no fear.
As silent and as careful will we be
To keep your royal person safe with us,
Free from suspect and fell invasion
Of such as have your majesty in chase,
Yourself – and those your chosen company –
As danger of this stormy time requires.
EDWARD
Father, thy face should harbour no deceit.
O, hadst thou ever been a king, thy heart,
10 Pierced deeply with sense of my distress,
Could not but take compassion of my state.
Stately and proud, in riches and in train,
Whilom I was, powerful and full of pomp;
But what is he whom rule and empery
Have not in life or death made miserable?
Come, Spencer, come, Baldock, come sit down by me;
Make trial now of that philosophy
That in our famous nurseries of arts
Thou sucked’st from Plato and from Aristotle.
20 Father, this life contemplative is heaven.
O, that I might this life in quiet lead!
But we, alas, are chased, and you my friends;
Your lives and my dishonour they pursue.
Yet, gentle monks, for treasure, gold, nor fee
Do you betray us and our company.
MONKS
Your grace may sit secure if none but we
Do wot of your abode.
SPENCER
Not one alive; but shrewdly I suspect
A gloomy fellow in a mead below.
’A gave a long look after us, my lord,
30 And all the land, I know, is up in arms –
Arms that pursue our lives with deadly hate.
BALDOCK
We were embarked for Ireland, wretched we,
With awkward winds and sore tempests driven,
To fall on shore and here to pine in fear
Of Mortimer and his confederates.
EDWARD
Mortimer! Who talks of Mortimer?
Who wounds me with the name of Mortimer,
That bloody man? Good father, on thy lap
Lay I this head, laden with mickle care.
40 O, might I never open these eyes again,
Never again lift up this drooping head,
O, never more lift up this dying heart!
SPENCER
Look up, my lord. Baldock, this drowsiness
Betides no good; here even we are betrayed.
Enter, with Welsh hooks, [SOLDIERS,] RICE ap HOWELL, a MOWER, and the EARL OF LEICESTER.
MOWER
Upon my life, those be the men ye seek.
RICE ap HOWELL
Fellow, enough. My lord, I pray be short.
A fair commission warrants what we do.
LEICESTER [aside]
The queen’s commission, urged by Mortimer.
What cannot gallant Mortimer with the queen?
50 Alas, see where he sits and hopes unseen
T’escape their hands that seek to reave his life.
Too true it is, Quem dies vidit veniens superbum,
Hunc dies vidit fugiens iacentem.
But, Leicester, leave to grow so passionate.
Spencer and Baldock, by no other names
I arrest you of high treason here.
Stand not on titles, but obey th’arrest;
’Tis in the name of Isabel the queen.
60 My lord, why droop you thus?
EDWARD
O day, the last of all my bliss on earth,
Centre of all misfortune! O my stars!
Why do you lour unkindly on a king?
Comes Leicester, then, in Isabella’s name
To take my life, my company from me?
Here, man, rip up this panting breast of mine
And take my heart in rescue of my friends.
RICE ap HOWELL
Away with them.
SPENCER [to LEICESTER]
It may become thee yet
To let us take our farewell of his grace.
ABBOT
70 My heart with pity earns to see this sight,
A king to bear these words and proud commands.
EDWARD
Spencer, ah, sweet Spencer, thus then must we part?
SPENCER
We must, my lord; so will the angry heavens.
EDWARD
Nay, so will hell and cruel Mortimer,
The gentle heavens have not to do in this.
BALDOCK
My lord, it is in vain to grieve or storm.
Here humbly of your grace we take our leaves.
Our lots are cast; I fear me, so is thine.
EDWARD
In heaven we may, in earth never shall we meet.
80 And, Leicester, say, what shall become of us?
LEICESTER
Your majesty must go to Killingworth.
&nb
sp; EDWARD
‘Must’! ’Tis somewhat hard when kings must go.
LEICESTER
Here is a litter ready for your grace
That waits your pleasure, and the day grows old.
RICE ap HOWELL
As good be gone as stay and be benighted.
EDWARD
A litter hast thou? Lay me in a hearse,
And to the gates of hell convey me hence;
Let Pluto’s bells ring out my fatal knell,
And hags howl for my death at Charon’s shore,
For friends hath Edward none, but these, and these,
90 And these must die under a tyrant’s sword.
RICE ap HOWELL
My lord, be going. Care not for these,
For we shall see them shorter by the heads.
EDWARD
Well, that shall be shall be. Part we must,
Sweet Spencer, gentle Baldock, part we must.
[He discards his robes.]
Hence, feignèd weeds! Unfeignèd are my woes.
Father, farewell. Leicester, thou stay’st for me,
And go I must. Life, farewell, with my friends.
Exeunt EDWARD [guarded] and LEICESTER.
SPENCER
O, is he gone? Is noble Edward gone,
Parted from hence, never to see us more?
100 Rend, sphere of heaven, and fire, forsake thy orb;
Earth melt to air! Gone is my sovereign,
Gone, gone, alas, never to make return.
BALDOCK
Spencer, I see our souls are fleeted hence;
We are deprived the sunshine of our life.
Make for a new life, man; throw up thy eyes
And heart and hand to heaven’s immortal throne;
Pay nature’s debt with cheerful countenance.
Reduce we all our lessons unto this:
To die, sweet Spencer, therefore live we all;
110 Spencer, all live to die, and rise to fall.
RICE ap HOWELL Come, come, keep these preachments till you
come to the place appointed. You, and such as you are, have
made wise work in England. Will your lordships away?
MOWER
Your worship, I trust, will remember me?
RICE ap HOWELL Remember thee, fellow? What else? Follow
me to the town.
[Exeunt, with SPENCER JUNIOR and BALDOCK guarded.]
[Scene 21]
Enter the KING [crowned], LEICESTER, with a BISHOP [OF WINCHESTER, and TRUSSELL] for the crown, [with ATTENDANTS].
LEICESTER
Be patient, good my lord, cease to lament.
Imagine Killingworth Castle were your court,
And that you lay for pleasure here a space,
Not of compulsion or necessity.
EDWARD
Leicester, if gentle words might comfort me,
Thy speeches long ago had eased my sorrows,
The Complete Plays Page 45