Act III
Scene I
London. A street.
The trumpets sound. Enter the young Prince, the Dukes ofGloucester and Buckingham, Cardinal Bourchier, Catesby, and others. | |
Buckingham | Welcome, sweet prince, to London, to your chamber. |
Gloucester |
Welcome, dear cousin, my thoughts’ sovereign:
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Prince |
No, uncle; but our crosses on the way
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Gloucester |
Sweet prince, the untainted virtue of your years
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Prince | God keep me from false friends! but they were none. |
Gloucester | My lord, the mayor of London comes to greet you. |
Enter the Lord Mayor, and his train. | |
Mayor | God bless your grace with health and happy days! |
Prince |
I thank you, good my lord; and thank you all.
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Enter Lord Hastings. | |
Buckingham | And, in good time, here comes the sweating lord. |
Prince | Welcome, my lord: what, will our mother come? |
Hastings |
On what occasion, God he knows, not I,
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Buckingham |
Fie, what an indirect and peevish course
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Cardinal |
My Lord of Buckingham, if my weak oratory
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Buckingham |
You are too senseless-obstinate, my lord,
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Cardinal |
My lord, you shall o’er-rule my mind for once.
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Hastings | I go, my lord. |
Prince |
Good lords, make all the speedy haste you may. Exeunt Cardinal and Hastings.
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Gloucester |
Where it seems best unto your royal self.
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Prince |
I do not like the Tower, of any place.
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Buckingham |
He did, my gracious lord, begin that place;
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Prince |
Is it upon record, or else reported
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Buckingham | Upon record, my gracious lord. |
Prince |
But say, my lord, it were not register’d,
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Gloucester | Aside. So wise so young, they say, do never live long. |
Prince | What say you, uncle? |
Gloucester |
I say, without characters, fame lives long.
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Prince |
That Julius Caesar was a famous man;
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Buckingham | What, my gracious lord? |
Prince |
An if I live until I be a man,
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Gloucester | Aside. Short summers lightly have a forward spring. |
Enter young York, Hastings, and the Cardinal. | |
Buckingham | Now, in good time, here comes the Duke of York. |
Prince | Richard of York! how fares our loving brother? |
York | Well, my dread lord; so must I call you now. |
Prince |
Ay, brother, to our grief, as it is yours:
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Gloucester | How fares our cousin, noble Lord of York? |
York |
I thank you, gentle uncle. O, my lord,
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Gloucester | He hath, my lord. |
York | And therefore is he idle? |
Gloucester | O, my fair cousin, I must not say so. |
York | Then is he more beholding to you than I. |
Gloucester |
He may command me as my sovereign;
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York | I pray you, uncle, give me this dagger. |
Gloucester | My dagger, little cousin? with all my heart. |
Prince | A beggar, brother? |
York |
Of my kind uncle, that I know will give;
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Gloucester | A greater gift than that I’ll give my cousin. |
York | A greater gift! O, that’s the sword to it. |
Gloucester | Ay, gentle cousin, were it light enough. |
York |
O, then, I see, you will part but with light gifts;
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Gloucester | It is too heavy for your grace to wear. |
York | I weigh it lightly, were it heavier. |
Gloucester | What, would you have my weapon, little lord? |
York | I would, that I might thank you as you call me. |
Gloucester | How? |
York | Little. |
Prince |
My Lord of York will still be cross in talk:
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York |
You mean, to bear me, not to bear with me:
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Buckingham |
With what a sharp-provided wit he reasons!
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Gloucester |
My lord, will’t please you pass along?
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York | What, will you go unto the Tower, my lord? |
Prince | My lord protector needs will have it so. |
York | I shall not sleep in quiet at the Tower. |
Gloucester | Why, what should you fear? |
York |
Marry, my uncle Clarence’ angry ghost:
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Prince | I fear no uncles dead. |
Gloucester | Nor none that live, I hope. |
Prince |
An if they live, I hope I need not fear.
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Buckingham |
Think you, my lord, this little prating York
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Gloucester |
No doubt, no doubt: O, ’tis a parlous boy;
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Buckingham |
Well, let them rest. Come hither, Catesby.
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Catesby |
He for his father’s sake so loves the prince,
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Buckingham | What think’st thou, then, of Stanley? what will he? |
Catesby | He will do all in all as Hastings doth. |
Buckingham |
Well, then, no more but this: go, gentle Catesby,
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Gloucester |
Commend me to Lord William: tell him, Catesby,
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Buckingham | Good Catesby, go, effect this business soundly. |
Catesby | My good lords both, with all the heed I may. |
Gloucester | Shall we hear from you, Catesby, ere we sleep? |
Catesby | You shall, my lord. |
Gloucester | At Crosby Place, there shall you find us both. Exit Catesby. |
Buckingham |
Now, my lord, what shall we do, if we perceive
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Gloucester |
Chop off his head, man; somewhat we will do:
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Buckingham | I’ll claim that promise at your grace’s hands. |
Gloucester |
And look to have it yielded with all willingness.
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Scene II
Before Lord Hastings’ house.
Enter a Messenger. | |
Messenger | What, ho! my lord! |
Hastings | Within. Who knocks at the door? |
Messenger | A messenger from the Lord Stanley. |
Enter Lord Hastings. | |
Hastings | What is’t o’clock? |
Messenger | Upon the stroke of four. |
Hastings | Cannot thy master sleep these tedious nights? |
Messenger |
So it should seem by that I have to say.
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Hastings | And then? |
Messenger |
And then he sends you word
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Hastings |
Go, fellow, go, return unto thy lord;
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Messenger | My gracious lord, I’ll tell him what you say. Exit. |
Enter Catesby. | |
Catesby | Many good morrows to my noble lord! |
Hastings |
Good morrow, Catesby; you are early stirring:
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Catesby |
It is a reeling world, indeed, my lord;
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Hastings | How! wear the garland! dost thou mean the crown? |
Catesby | Ay, my good lord. |
Hastings |
I’ll have this crown of mine cut from my shoulders
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Catesby |
Ay, on my life; and hopes to find you forward
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Hastings |
Indeed, I am no mourner for that news,
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Catesby | God keep your lordship in that gracious mind! |
Hastings |
But I shall laugh at this a twelve-month hence,
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Catesby | What, my lord? |
Hastings |
Ere a fortnight make me elder,
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Catesby |
’Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord,
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Hastings |
O monstrous, monstrous! and so falls it out
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Catesby |
The princes both make high account of you;
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Hastings | I know they do; and I have well deserved it. |
Enter Lord Stanley. | |
Come on, come on; where is your boar-spear, man?
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Stanley |
My lord, good morrow; good morrow, Catesby:
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Hastings |
My lord,
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Stanley |
The lords at Pomfret, when they rode from London,
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Hastings |
Come, come, have with you. Wot you what, my lord?
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Stanley |
They, for their truth, might better wear their heads
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Enter a Pursuivant. | |
Hastings |
Go on before; I’ll talk with this good fellow. Exeunt Stanley and Catesby.
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Pursuivant | The better that your lordship please to ask. |
Hastings |
I tell thee, man, ’tis better with me now
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Pursuivant | God hold it, to your honour’s good content! |
Hastings | Gramercy, fellow: there, drink that for me. Throws him his purse. |
Pursuivant | God save your lordship! Exit. |
Enter a Priest. | |
Priest | Well met, my lord; I am glad to see your honour. |
Hastings |
I thank thee, good Sir John, with all my heart.
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Enter Buckingham. | |
Buckingham |
What, talking with a priest, lord chamberlain?
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Hastings |
Good faith, and when I met this holy man,
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Buckingham |
I do, my lord; but long I shall not stay:
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Hastings | ’Tis like enough, for I stay dinner there. |
Buckingham |
Aside. And supper too, although thou know’st it not.
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Hastings | I’ll wait upon your lordship. Exeunt. |
Scene III
Pomfret Castle.
Enter Sir Richard Ratcliff, with halberds, carrying Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan to death. | |
Ratcliff | Come, bring forth the prisoners. |
Rivers |
Sir Richard Ratcliff, let me tell thee this:
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Grey |
God keep the prince from all the pack of you!
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Vaughan | You live that shall cry woe for this hereafter. |
Ratcliff | Dispatch; the limit of your lives is out. |
Rivers |
O Pomfret, Pomfret! O thou bloody prison,
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Grey |
Now Margaret’s curse is fall’n upon our heads,
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Rivers |
Then cursed she Hastings, then cursed she Buckingham,
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Ratcliff | Make haste; the hour of death is expiate. |
Rivers |
Come, Grey, come, Vaughan, let us all embrace:
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Scene IV
The Tower of London.
Enter Buckingham, Derby, Hastings, the Bishop of Ely, Ratcliff, Lovel, with others, and take their seats at a table. | |
Hastings |
My lords, at once: the cause why we are met
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Buckingham | Are all things fitting for that royal time? |
Derby | It is, and wants but nomination. |
Ely | To-morrow, then, I judge a happy day. |
Buckingham |
Who knows the lord protector’s mind herein?
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Ely | Your grace, we think, should soonest know his mind. |
Buckingham |
Who, I, my lord! we know each other’s faces,
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Hastings |
I thank his grace, I know he loves me well;
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Enter Gloucester. | |
Ely | Now in good time, here comes the duke himself. |
Gloucester |
My noble lords and cousins all, good morrow.
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Buckingham |
Had not you come upon your cue, my lord,
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Gloucester |
Than my Lord Hastings no man might be bolder;
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Hastings | I thank your grace. |
Gloucester | My lord of Ely! |
Ely | My lord? |
Gloucester |
When I was last in Holborn,
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Ely | Marry, and will, my lord, with all my heart. Exit. |
Gloucester |
Cousin of Buckingham, a word with you. Drawing him aside.
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Buckingham | Withdraw you hence, my lord, I’ll follow you. Exit Gloucester, Buckingham following. |
Derby |
We have not yet set down this day of triumph.
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Re-enter Bishop of Ely. | |
Ely | Where is my lord protector? I have sent for these strawberries. |
Hastings |
His grace looks cheerfully and smooth to-day;
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Derby |
What of his heart perceive you in his face
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Hastings |
Marry, that with no man here he is offended;
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Derby | I pray God he be not, I say. |
Re-enter Gloucester and Buckingham. | |
Gloucester |
I pray you all, tell me what they deserve
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Hastings |
The tender love I bear your grace, my lord,
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Gloucester |
Then be your eyes the witness of this ill:
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Hastings | If they have done this thing, my gracious lord— |
Gloucester |
If! thou protector of this damned strumpet,
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Hastings |
Woe, woe for England! not a whit for me;
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Ratcliff |
Dispatch, my lord; the duke would be at dinner:
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Hastings |
O momentary grace of mortal men,
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Lovel | Come, come, dispatch; ’tis bootless to exclaim. |
Hastings |
O bloody Richard! miserable England!
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Scene V
The Tower-walls.
Enter Gloucester and Buckingham, in rotten armour, marvellous ill-favoured. | |
Gloucester |
Come, cousin, canst thou quake, and change thy colour,
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Buckingham |
Tut, I can counterfeit the deep tragedian;
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Gloucester | He is; and, see, he brings the mayor along. |
Enter the Mayor and Catesby. | |
Buckingham | Lord mayor— |
Gloucester | Look to the drawbridge there! |
Buckingham | Hark! a drum. |
Gloucester | Catesby, o’erlook the walls. |
Buckingham | Lord mayor, the reason we have sent— |
Gloucester | Look back, defend thee, here are enemies. |
Buckingham | God and our innocency defend and guard us! |
Gloucester | Be patient, they are friends, Ratcliff and Lovel. |
Enter Lovel and Ratcliff, with Hastings’ head. | |
Lovel |
Here is the head of that ignoble traitor,
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Gloucester |
So dear I loved the man, that I must weep.
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Buckingham |
Well, well, he was the covert’st shelter’d traitor
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Mayor | What, had he so? |
Gloucester |
What, think you we are Turks or infidels?
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Mayor |
Now, fair befall you! he deserved his death;
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Gloucester |
Yet had not we determined he should die,
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Mayor |
But, my good lord, your grace’s word shall serve,
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Gloucester |
And to that end we wish’d your lordship here,
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Buckingham |
But since you come too late of our intents,
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Gloucester |
Go, after, after, cousin Buckingham.
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Buckingham |
Fear not, my lord, I’ll play the orator
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Gloucester |
If you thrive well, bring them to Baynard’s Castle;
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Buckingham |
I go; and towards three or four o’clock
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Gloucester |
Go, Lovel, with all speed to Doctor Shaw;
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Scene VI
The same.
Enter a Scrivener, with a paper in his hand. | |
Scrivener |
This is the indictment of the good Lord Hastings;
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Scene VII
Baynard’s Castle.
Enter Gloucester and Buckingham, at several doors. | |
Gloucester | How now, my lord, what say the citizens? |
Buckingham |
Now, by the holy mother of our Lord,
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Gloucester | Touch’d you the bastardy of Edward’s children? |
Buckingham |
I did; with his contract with Lady Lucy,
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Gloucester | Ah! and did they so? |
Buckingham |
No, so God help me, they spake not a word;
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Gloucester | What tongueless blocks were they! would not they speak? |
Buckingham | No, by my troth, my lord. |
Gloucester | Will not the mayor then and his brethren come? |
Buckingham |
The mayor is here at hand: intend some fear;
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Gloucester |
I go; and if you plead as well for them
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Buckingham | Go, go, up to the leads; the lord mayor knocks. Exit Gloucester. |
Enter the Mayor and Citizens. | |
Welcome my lord: I dance attendance here;
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Enter Catesby. | |
Here comes his servant: how now, Catesby,
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Catesby |
My lord, he doth entreat your grace
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Buckingham |
Return, good Catesby, to thy lord again;
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Catesby | I’ll tell him what you say, my lord. Exit. |
Buckingham |
Ah, ha, my lord, this prince is not an Edward!
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Mayor | Marry, God forbid his grace should say us nay! |
Buckingham | I fear he will. |
Re-enter Catesby. | |
How now, Catesby, what says your lord? | |
Catesby |
My lord,
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Buckingham |
Sorry I am my noble cousin should
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Enter Gloucester aloft, between two Bishops. Catesby returns. | |
Mayor | See, where he stands between two clergymen! |
Buckingham |
Two props of virtue for a Christian prince,
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Gloucester |
My lord, there needs no such apology:
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Buckingham |
Even that, I hope, which pleaseth God above,
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Gloucester |
I do suspect I have done some offence
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Buckingham |
You have, my lord: would it might please your grace,
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Gloucester | Else wherefore breathe I in a Christian land? |
Buckingham |
Then know, it is your fault that you resign
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Gloucester |
I know not whether to depart in silence,
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Buckingham |
My lord, this argues conscience in your grace;
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Mayor | Do, good my lord, your citizens entreat you. |
Buckingham | Refuse not, mighty lord, this proffer’d love. |
Catesby | O, make them joyful, grant their lawful suit! |
Gloucester |
Alas, why would you heap these cares on me?
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Buckingham |
If you refuse it—as, in love and zeal,
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Gloucester | O, do not swear, my lord of Buckingham. Exit Buckingham with the Citizens. |
Catesby | Call them again, my lord, and accept their suit. |
Another | Do, good my lord, lest all the land do rue it. |
Gloucester |
Would you enforce me to a world of care?
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Re-enter Buckingham and the rest. | |
Cousin of Buckingham, and you sage, grave men,
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Mayor | God bless your grace! we see it, and will say it. |
Gloucester | In saying so, you shall but say the truth. |
Buckingham |
Then I salute you with this kingly title:
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Mayor Citizens |
Amen. |
Buckingham | To-morrow will it please you to be crown’d? |
Gloucester | Even when you please, since you will have it so. |
Buckingham |
To-morrow, then, we will attend your grace:
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Gloucester |
Come, let us to our holy task again.
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