King Henry VI, Part 3 | Page 6

thou dost, I here divorce myself,

Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed,
Until that act of parliament
be repeal'd
Whereby my son is disinherited.
The northern lords that
have forsworn thy colours
Will follow mine if once they see them
spread;
And spread they shall be to thy foul disgrace
And utter ruin
of the house of York.
Thus do I leave thee.--Come, son, let's away:

Our army is ready; come, we'll after them.
KING HENRY.
Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.
QUEEN MARGARET.
Thou hast spoke too much already; get thee
gone.
KING HENRY.
Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay with me?
QUEEN MARGARET.
Ay, to be murther'd by his enemies.
PRINCE.
When I return with victory from the field
I'll see your
grace; till then I'll follow her.
QUEEN MARGARET.
Come, son, away! we may not linger thus.
[Exeunt Queen Margaret and the Prince.]
KING HENRY.
Poor queen! how love to me and to her son
Hath
made her break out into terms of rage!
Reveng'd may she be on that
hateful duke
Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire,
Will cost
my crown, and like an empty eagle
Tire on the flesh of me and of my
son.
The loss of those three lords torments my heart;
I'll write unto
them, and entreat them fair.--
Come, cousin, you shall be the
messenger.
EXETER.
And I, I hope, shall reconcile them all.
[Exeunt.]

SCENE II. Sandal Castle
[Enter EDWARD, RICHARD, and MONTAGUE.]
RICHARD.
Brother, though I be youngest, give me leave.
EDWARD.
No; I can better play the orator.
MONTAGUE.
But I have reasons strong and forcible.
[Enter YORK.]
YORK.
Why, how now, sons and brother! at a strife?
What is your
quarrel? how began it first?
EDWARD.
No quarrel, but a slight contention.
YORK.
About what?
RICHARD.
About that which concerns your grace and us--
The
crown of England, father, which is yours.
YORK.
Mine, boy? not till King Henry be dead.
RICHARD.
Your right depends not on his life or death.
EDWARD.
Now you are heir, therefore enjoy it now;
By giving
the house of Lancaster leave to breathe,
It will outrun you, father, in
the end.
YORK.
I took an oath that he should quietly reign.
EDWARD.
But for a kingdom any oath may be broken;
I would
break a thousand oaths to reign one year.
RICHARD.
No; God forbid your grace should be forsworn.

YORK.
I shall be, if I claim by open war.
RICHARD.
I'll prove the contrary if you'll hear me speak.
YORK.
Thou canst not, son; it is impossible.
RICHARD.
An oath is of no moment, being not took
Before a true
and lawful magistrate
That hath authority over him that swears.

Henry had none, but did usurp the place;
Then, seeing 't was he that
made you to depose,
Your oath, my lord, is vain and frivolous.

Therefore, to arms! And, father, do but think
How sweet a thing it is
to wear a crown,
Within whose circuit is Elysium
And all that poets
feign of bliss and joy.
Why do we linger thus? I cannot rest
Until
the white rose that I wear be dyed
Even in the lukewarm blood of
Henry's heart.
YORK.
Richard, enough; I will be king, or die.--
Brother, thou
shalt to London presently,
And whet on Warwick to this enterprise.--

Thou, Richard, shalt to the Duke of Norfolk,
And tell him privily
of our intent.--
You, Edward, shall unto my Lord Cobham,
With
whom the Kentishmen will willingly rise.
In them I trust; for they are
soldiers,
Witty, courteous, liberal, full of spirit.--
While you are
thus employ'd, what resteth more
But that I seek occasion how to rise,

And yet the king not privy to my drift,
Nor any of the house of
Lancaster?
[Enter a Messenger.]
But stay.--What news? Why com'st thou in such post?
MESSENGER.
The queen, with all the northern earls and lords,

Intend here to besiege you in your castle.
She is hard by with twenty
thousand men,
And therefore fortify your hold, my lord.
YORK.
Ay, with my sword. What! think'st thou that we fear


them?--
Edward and Richard, you shall stay with me;
My brother
Montague shall post to London.
Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the
rest,
Whom we have left protectors of the king,
With powerful policy strengthen themselves,
And trust not simple
Henry nor his oaths.
MONTAGUE.
Brother, I go; I'll win them, fear it not:
And thus
most humbly I do take my leave.
[Exit.]
[Enter SIR JOHN and SIR HUGH MORTIMER.]
YORK.
Sir John and Sir Hugh Mortimer, mine uncles,
You are
come to Sandal in a happy hour;
The army of the queen mean to
besiege us.
SIR JOHN.
She shall not need; we'll meet her in the field.
YORK.
What, with five thousand men?
RICHARD.
Ay, with five hundred, father, for a need.
A
woman-general! what should we fear?
[A march afar off.]
EDWARD.
I hear their drums; let's set our men in order,
And issue
forth and bid them battle straight.
YORK.
Five men to twenty!--though the odds be great,
I doubt not,
uncle, of our victory.
Many a battle have I won in France
Whenas
the enemy hath been ten to one;
Why should I not now have the like
success?
[Alarum. Exeunt.]

SCENE III. Plains near Sandal Castle.
[Alarums. Enter RUTLAND and his TUTOR]
RUTLAND.
Ah! whither shall I fly