The Complete Plays (67 page)

Inconstant Edmund, dost thou favour him,

100  That wast a cause of his imprisonment?

KENT

The more cause have I now to make amends.

MORTIMER

I tell thee 'tis not meet that one so false

Should come about the person of a prince.

[
To
PRINCE EDWARD
]

My lord, he hath betrayed the king his brother,

And therefore trust him not.

PRINCE

But he repents and sorrows for it now.

QUEEN

Come, son, and go with this gentle lord and me.

PRINCE

With you I will, but not with Mortimer.

MORTIMER

110  Why, youngling,
'sdain'st thou so
of Mortimer?

[
Seizing him
] Then I will carry thee by force away.

PRINCE

Help, uncle Kent! Mortimer will wrong me.

[
Exit
MORTIMER JUNIOR
with the
PRINCE
.]

QUEEN

Brother Edmund, strive not; we are his friends.

Isabel is
nearer
than the earl of Kent.

KENT

Sister, Edward is my
charge
.
Redeem him
.

QUEEN

Edward is my son, and I will keep him.

[
Exit the
QUEEN
.]

KENT

Mortimer shall know that he hath wronged me.

Hence will I haste to Killingworth Castle,

And rescue agèd Edward from his foes,

120  To be revenged on Mortimer and thee.

Exit
.

Enter
MATREVIS
and
GURNEY
with the
KING
[
and
SOLDIERS
,
with torches
].

MATREVIS

My lord, be not pensive, we are your friends.

Men are ordained to live in misery;

Therefore come. Dalliance dangereth our lives.

EDWARD

Friends, whither must unhappy Edward go?

Will hateful Mortimer appoint no rest?

Must I be vexèd like the
nightly bird

Whose sight is loathsome to all wingèd fowls?

When will the fury of his mind assuage?

When will his heart be satisfied with blood?

If mine will serve,
unbowel
straight this breast

10       And give my heart to Isabel and him;

It is the chiefest
mark
they level at.

GURNEY

Not so, my liege. The queen hath given this charge

To keep your grace in safety.

Your passions make your dolours to increase.

EDWARD

This usage makes my misery increase.

But can my
air of life
continue long

When all my senses are annoyed with stench?

Within a dungeon England's king is kept,

Where I am starved for want of sustenance;

20       My daily diet is heart-breaking sobs

That almost rents the
closet
of my heart.

Thus lives old Edward, not relieved by any,

And so must die, though pitièd by many.

O, water, gentle friends, to cool my thirst

And clear my body from foul
excrements
!

[
Ditch water is brought onstage
.]

MATREVIS

Here's
channel water
, as our charge is given.

Sit
down, for we'll be barbers to your grace.

EDWARD

Traitors, away! What, will you murder me,

30       Or choke your sovereign with puddle water?

GURNEY

No, but wash your face and shave away your beard,

Lest you be known and so be rescuèd.

MATREVIS

Why strive you thus? Your labour is in vain.

EDWARD

The wren may strive against the lion's strength,

But all in vain, so vainly do I strive

To seek for mercy at a tyrant's hand.

They wash
him with puddle water, and shave his beard away
.

Immortal powers, that knows the painful cares

That waits upon my poor distressèd soul,

O, level all your looks upon these daring men

40       That wrongs their liege and sovereign, England's king.

O Gaveston, it is for thee that I am wronged;

For me, both thou and both the Spencers died,

And for your sakes a thousand wrongs I'll take.

The Spencers' ghosts, wherever they remain,

Wish well to mine. Then, tush, for them I'll die.

MATREVIS

'Twixt theirs and yours shall be no enmity.

Come, come, away. Now put the torches out,

We'll enter in by darkness to Killingworth.

[
They put out their torches
.]

Enter
EDMUND
[
EARL OF KENT
].

GURNEY

How now, who comes there?

[
They draw their swords
.]

MATREVIS

50       Guard the king sure, it is the earl of Kent.

EDWARD

O gentle brother, help to rescue me!

MATREVIS

Keep them asunder!
Thrust in
the king.

KENT

Soldiers, let me but talk to him one word.

GURNEY

Lay hands upon the earl for this assault.

KENT

Lay down your weapons, traitors. Yield the king.

MATREVIS

Edmund, yield thou thyself, or thou shalt die.

[
KENT
is seized
.]

KENT

Base villains, wherefore do you grip me thus?

GURNEY
[
to the
SOLDIERS
]

Bind him and so convey him to the court.

KENT

Where is the court but here? Here is the king,

60        And I will visit him. Why stay you me?

MATREVIS

The court is where Lord Mortimer remains.

Thither shall your honour go, and so farewell.

Exeunt
MATREVIS
and
GURNEY
with the
KING
.

EDMUND
[
EARL OF KENT
]
and the
SOLDIERS
remain
.

KENT

O, miserable is that commonweal

Where lords keep courts and kings are locked in prison!

SOLDIER

Wherefore stay we? On, sirs, to the court.

KENT

Ay, lead me whither you will, even to my death,

Seeing that my brother cannot be released.

Exeunt
[,
KENT
guarded
].

Enter
MORTIMER
[
JUNIOR
]
alone
[
with a letter
].

MORTIMER

The king must die, or Mortimer goes down.

The commons now begin to pity him;

Yet he that is the cause of Edward's death

Is sure to pay for it when his son is of age,

And therefore will I do it cunningly.

This letter, written by a friend of ours,

Contains his death, yet bids them save his life.

‘
Edwardum
occidere nolite timere, bonum est'
,

‘Fear not to kill the king, 'tis good he die.'

10       But read it thus, and that's another sense:

‘Edwardum occidere nolite, timere bonum est'
,

‘Kill not the king, 'tis good to fear the worst.'

Unpointed
as it is, thus shall it go,

That,
being dead
, if it chance to be found,

Matrevis and the rest may bear the blame

And we be
quit
that caused it to be done.

Within this room is locked the messenger

That shall convey it and perform the rest,

And by a secret token that he bears

20       Shall he be murdered when the deed is done.

Lightborne
, come forth.

[
Enter
LIGHTBORNE
.]

Art thou as resolute as thou wast?

LIGHTBORNE

What else, my lord? And far more resolute.

MORTIMER

And hast thou cast how to accomplish it?

LIGHTBORNE

Ay, ay, and none shall know which way he died.

MORTIMER

But at his looks, Lightborne, thou wilt relent.

LIGHTBORNE

Relent? Ha, ha! I
use much
to relent.

MORTIMER

Well, do it bravely and be secret.

LIGHTBORNE

You shall not need to give instructions;

'Tis not the first time I have killed a man.

I learned in Naples how to poison flowers,

30       To strangle with a
lawn
thrust through the throat,

To pierce the windpipe with a needle's point,

Or, whilst one is asleep, to take a quill

And blow a little powder in his ears,

Or open his mouth and pour quicksilver down;

But yet I have a braver way than these.

MORTIMER
What's that?

LIGHTBORNE

Nay, you shall pardon me, none shall know my tricks.

MORTIMER

I care not how it is, so it be not spied.

[
Giving the letter
]

Deliver this to Gurney and Matrevis.

40       
At every
ten miles' end thou hast a horse.

[
Giving a token
]

Take this
. Away, and never see me more.

LIGHTBORNE
No?

MORTIMER
No,

Unless thou bring me news of Edward's death.

LIGHTBORNE

That will I quickly do. Farewell, my lord.

[
Exit
LIGHTBORNE
.]

MORTIMER

The prince I rule, the queen do I command;

And, with a lowly
congé
to the ground,

The proudest lords salute me as I pass.

I
seal
, I cancel, I do what I will.

50       
Feared
am I more than loved. Let me be feared,

And when I frown, make all the court look pale.

I view the prince with
Aristarchus' eyes
,

Whose looks were as a breeching to a boy.

They thrust upon me the protectorship

And sue to me for that that I desire,

While at the council table, grave enough,

And not unlike a bashful Puritan,

First I complain of
imbecility
,

60       Saying it is
onus quam gravissimum
,

Till, being interrupted by my friends,

Suscepi
that
provinciam
, as they term it,

And, to conclude, I am Protector now.

Now is all sure. The queen and Mortimer

Shall rule the realm, the king, and none rule us;

Mine enemies will I plague, my friends advance,

And what I list command, who dare control?

Maior
sum quam cui possit fortuna nocere
;

And that this be the coronation day

70       It pleaseth me and Isabel the queen.

[
Trumpets sound offstage
.]

The trumpets sound. I must go take my place.

Enter the young
KING
, [
ARCH
]
BISHOP
[
OF CANTERBURY
],

CHAMPION
, NOBLES, QUEEN
[
and
ATTENDANTS
].

CANTERBURY

Long live King Edward, by the grace of God,

King of England and Lord of Ireland!

CHAMPION

If any Christian, Heathen, Turk, or Jew

Dares but affirm that Edward's not true king,

And will avouch his saying with the sword,

I am the champion that will combat him.

MORTIMER
None comes. Sound, trumpets!

[
The trumpets sound
.]

EDWARD III
Champion,
here's to thee
.

QUEEN

80       Lord Mortimer, now take him to your charge.

Enter
SOLDIERS
with the
EARL OF KENT
prisoner
.

MORTIMER

What traitor have we there, with
blades and bills
?

SOLDIER

Edmund, the earl of Kent.

EDWARD III
     What hath he done?

SOLDIER

'A would have taken the king away perforce

As we were bringing him to Killingworth.

MORTIMER

Did you attempt his rescue, Edmund? Speak.

KENT

Mortimer, I did; he is our king,

And thou compell'st this prince to wear the crown.

MORTIMER

Strike off his head! He shall have martial law.

KENT

Strike off my head? Base traitor, I defy thee.

EDWARD III
[
to
MORTIMER JUNIOR
]

90   My lord, he is my uncle and shall live.

MORTIMER