King Henry VI, Part 2 | Page 7

master, Thomas Horner,

for saying that the Duke of York was rightful heir to the crown.
QUEEN.
What say'st thou? did the Duke of York say he was

rightful heir to the crown?
PETER.
That my master was? no, forsooth; my master said that he

was, and that the king was an usurper.
SUFFOLK.
Who is there? [Enter Servant.] Take this fellow in, and

send for his master with a pursuivant presently.--We'll hear more of
your matter before the king.
[Exit Servant with Peter.]
QUEEN.
And as for you, that love to be protected
Under the wings
of our protector's grace,
Begin your suits anew and sue to him.
[Tears the supplications.]
Away, base cullions!--Suffolk, let them go.

ALL.
Come, let's be gone.
[Exeunt.]
QUEEN.
My Lord of Suffolk, say, is this the guise,
Is this the
fashion in the court of England?
Is this the government of Britain's
isle,
And this the royalty of Albion's king?
What, shall King Henry
be a pupil still
Under the surly Gloster's governance?
Am I a queen
in title and in style,
And must be made a subject to a duke?
I tell
thee, Pole, when in the city Tours
Thou ran'st a tilt in honour of my
love
And stol'st away the ladies' hearts of France,
I thought King
Henry had resembled thee
In courage, courtship, and proportion;

But all his mind is bent to holiness,
To number Ave-Maries on his
beads,
His champions are the prophets and apostles,
His weapons
holy saws of sacred writ,
His study is his tilt-yard, and his loves

Are brazen images of canoniz'd saints.
I would the college of the
cardinals
Would choose him pope and carry him to Rome,
And set
the triple crown upon his head;
That were a state fit for his holiness.
SUFFOLK.
Madam, be patient; as I was cause
Your highness
came to England, so will I
In England work your grace's full content.
QUEEN.
Beside the haughty protector, have we Beaufort
The
imperious churchman, Somerset, Buckingham,
And grumbling York;
and not the least of these
But can do more in England than the king.
SUFFOLK.
And he of these that can do most of all
Cannot do
more in England than the Nevils;
Salisbury and Warwick are no
simple peers.
QUEEN.
Not all these lords do vex me half so much
As that proud
dame, the lord protector's wife.
She sweeps it through the court with
troops of ladies,
More like an empress than Duke Humphrey's wife.

Strangers in court do take her for the queen;
She bears a duke's

revenues on her back,
And in her heart she scorns our poverty.

Shall I not live to be aveng'd on her?
Contemptuous base-born callat
as she is,
She vaunted 'mongst her minions t' other day,
The very
train of her worst wearing gown
Was better worth than all my father's
land
Till Suffolk gave two dukedoms for his daughter.
SUFFOLK.
Madam, myself have lim'd a bush for her,
And plac'd a
quire of such enticing birds
That she will light to listen to the lays,

And never mount to trouble you again.
So, let her rest; and, madam,
list to me,
For I am bold to counsel you in this.
Although we fancy
not the cardinal,
Yet must we join with him and with the lords
Till
we have brought Duke Humphrey in disgrace.
As for the Duke of
York, this late complaint
Will make but little for his benefit.
So,
one by one, we'll weed them all at last,
And you yourself shall steer
the happy helm.
[Sennet. Enter the KING, DUKE HUMPHREY, CARDINAL

BEAUFORT, BUCKINGHAM, YORK, SOMERSET,
SALISBURY,
WARWICK, and the DUCHESS OF GLOSTER.]
KING.
For my part, noble lords, I care not which;
Or Somerset or
York, all's one to me.
YORK.
If York have ill demean'd himself in France,
Then let him
be denay'd the regentship.
SOMERSET.
If Somerset be unworthy of the place,
Let York be
regent; I will yield to him.
WARWICK.
Whether your grace be worthy, yea or no,
Dispute
not that; York is the worthier.
CARDINAL.
Ambitious Warwick, let thy betters speak.
WARWICK.
The cardinal's not my better in the field.

BUCKINGHAM.
All in this presence are thy betters, Warwick.
WARWICK.
Warwick may live to be the best of all.
SALISBURY.
Peace, son!--and show some reason, Buckingham,

Why Somerset should be preferr'd in this.
QUEEN.
Because the king, forsooth, will have it so.
GLOSTER.
Madam, the King is old enough himself
To give his
censure; these are no women's matters.
QUEEN.
If he be old enough, what needs your grace
To be
protector of his excellence?
GLOSTER.
Madam, I am protector of the realm,
And, at his
pleasure, will resign my place.
SUFFOLK.
Resign it then, and leave thine insolence.
Since thou
wert king--as who is king but thou?--
The commonwealth hath daily
run to wrack;
The Dauphin hath prevail'd beyond the seas;
And all
the peers and nobles of the realm
Have been as bondmen to thy
sovereignty.
CARDINAL.
The commons hast thou rack'd; the clergy's bags
Are
lank and lean with thy extortions.
SOMERSET.
Thy sumptuous buildings and thy wife's attire
Have
cost a mass of public treasury.
BUCKINGHAM.
Thy cruelty in execution
Upon offenders hath
exceeded law,
And left thee to the mercy of the law.
QUEEN.
Thy sale of offices and towns in France,
If they were
known, as the suspect is great,
Would make thee quickly hop without
thy