* L. Grey. So shall you bind me to your highness'

service.

* K. Edw. What service wilt thou do me, if I give them?

* L. Grey. What you command, that rests in me
to do.

* K. Edw. But you will take exceptions to my
boon.
* L. Grey. No, gracious lord, except I cannot
do it.

* K. Edw. Ay, but thou canst do what I mean
to ask.

* L. Grey. Why, then I will do what your grace

commands.

* Glo. He plies her hard; and much rain wears

the marble.

[Aside.

* Clar. As red as fire! nay, then her wax must

melt.

[Aside.

L. Grey. Why stops my lord? shall I not hear

my task?

K. Edw. An easy task; 'tis but to love a king.

L. Grey. That's soon perform'd, because I am a

subject.

K. Edw. Why then, thy husband's lands I freely give thee.

L. Grey. I take my leave with many thousand thanks. Glo. The match is made; she seals it with a curt'sy. 'K. Edw. But stay thee, 'tis the fruits of love I * L. Grey. The fruits of love I mean, my loving liege. * K. Edw. Ay, but, I fear me, in another sense. What love, think'st thou, I sue so much to get? 'L. Grey. My love till death, my humble thanks, my prayers;

That love, which virtue begs, and virtue grants. K. Edw. No, by my troth, I did not mean such love.

* L. Grey. Why, then you mean not as I thought you did.

* K. Edw. But now you partly may perceive my mind.

* L. Grey. My mind will never grant what I perceive

* Your highness aims at, if I aim aright.

K. Edw. To tell thee plain, I am to lie with thee. * L. Grey. To tell you plain, I had rather lie in

prison.

K. Edw. Why, then thou shalt not have thy husband's lands.

L. Grey. Why, then mine honesty shall be my dower; For by that loss I will not purchase them.

'K. Edw. Therein thou wrong'st thy children

mightily.

L. Grey. Herein your highness wrongs both them

and me.

But, mighty lord, this merry inclination
' Accords not with the sadness of my suit;
Please you dismiss me, either with ay, or no.

K. Edw. Ay; if thou wilt say ay, to my request:

No; if thou dost say no, to my demand.

L. Grey. Then, no, my lord. My suit is at an end. 'Glo. The widow likes him not, she knits her

brows.

Clar. He is the bluntest wooer in Christendom.

6

[Aside. [Aside.

K. Edw. [Aside.] Her looks do argue her re

plete with modesty;

* Her words do show her wit incomparable;

* All her perfections challenge sovereignty:
One way, or other, she is for a king;
And she shall be my love, or else my queen.-
Say, that king Edward take thee for his queen?

L. Grey. 'Tis better said than done, my gracious

lord:

I am a subject fit to jest withal,
But far unfit to be a sovereign.

K. Edw. Sweet widow, by my state I swear to thee,

I speak no more than what my soul intends;

And that is, to enjoy thee for my love.

L. Grey. And that is more than I will yield unto: 'I know, I am too mean to be your queen; And yet too good to be your concubine.

K. Edw. You cavil, widow; I did mean, my queen. L. Grey. 'Twill grieve your grace, my sons should

call you-father.

K. Edw. No more, than when thy daughters call

thee mother.

Thou art a widow, and thou hast some children;
And, by God's mother, I, being but a bachelor,
Have other some: why, 'tis a happy thing
To be the father unto many sons.

'Answer no more, for thou shalt be my queen.

Glo. The ghostly father now hath done his shrift.

[Aside.

Clar. When he was made a shriver, 'twas for

shift.

[Aside.

K. Edw. Brothers, you muse what chat we two

have had.

* Glo. The widow likes it not, for she looks sad. K. Edw. You'd think it strange if I should marry

her.

Clar. To whon, my lord?

K. Edw.

Why, Clarence, to myself. Glo. That would be ten days' wonder, at the least. Clar. That's a day longer than a wonder lasts.

• Glo. By so much is the wonder in extremes. K. Edw. Well, jest on, brothers: I can tell you

both,

Her suit is granted for her husband's lands.

Enter a Nobleman.

Nob. My gracious lord, Henry your foe is taken, • And brought your prisoner to your palace gate. K. Edw. See, that he be convey'd unto the

Tower:

'And go we, brothers, to the man that took him, To question of his apprehension.Widow, go you along; -Lords, use her honourable. [Exeunt King EDWARD, Lady GREY, CLARENCE,

and Lord.

Glo. Ay, Edward will use women honourably. 'Would he were wasted, marrow, bonés, and all, That from his loins no hopeful branch may spring, To cross me from the golden time I look for! And yet, between my soul's desire, and me, * (The lustful Edward's title buried,) ' Is Clarence, Henry, and his son young Edward, And all the unlook'd-for issue of their bodies, To take their rooms, ere I can place myself: A cold premeditation for my purpose!

* Why, then I do but dream on sovereignty; * Like one that stands upon a promontory,

* And spies a far-off shore where he would tread,

* Wishing his foot were equal with his eye;

* And chides the sea that sunders him from thence,

* Saying-he'll lade it dry to have his way:

* So do I wish the crown, being so far off;

* And so I chide the means that keep me from it;

* And so I say I'll cut the causes off,

* Flattering me with impossibilities.

* My eye's too quick, my heart o'erweens too much, * Unless my hand and strength could equal them. * Well, say there is no kingdom then for Richard; * What other pleasure can the world afford ? 'I'll make my heaven in a lady's lap,

' And deck my body in gay ornaments, And witch sweet ladies with my words and looks. O miserable thought! and more unlikely, Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns! Why, love forswore me in my mother's womb: 'And, for I should not deal in her soft laws 'She did corrupt frail nature with some bribe 'To shrink mine arm up like a wither'd shrub; 'To make an envious mountain on my back, Where sits deformity to mock my body; 'To shape my legs of an unequal size; * To disproportion me in every part, * Like to a chaos, or an unlick'd bear-whelp,1 * That carries no impression like the dam. And am I then a man to be belov'd?

O, monstrous fault, to harbour such a thought! * Then, since this earth affords no joy to me, * But to command, to check, to o'erbear such * As are of better person than myself,

2

* I'll make my heaven-to dream upon the crown;