He descends. She ariseth QUEEN MARGARET Ay, now begins a second storm to rise;For this is he that moves both wind and tide. WARWICK From worthy Edward, King of Albion, My lord and sovereign, and thy vowed friend, I come, in kindness and unfeigned love, First, to do greetings to thy royal person;And then to crave a league of amity;And lastly, to confirm that amity With a nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant That virtuous Lady Bona, thy fair sister, To England's king in lawful marriage. QUEEN MARGARET [Aside] If that go forward, Henry's hope is done. WARWICK [To BONA] And, gracious madam, in our king's behalf, I am commanded, with your leave and favour, Humbly to kiss your hand, and with my tongue To tell the passion of my sovereign's heart;Where fame, late entering at his heedful ears, Hath placed thy beauty's image and thy virtue. QUEEN MARGARET King Lewis and Lady Bona, hear me speak, Before you answer Warwick. His demand Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love, But from deceit bred by necessity;For how can tyrants safely govern home, Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?
To prove him tyrant this reason may suffice, That Henry liveth still: but were he dead, Yet here Prince Edward stands, King Henry's son.
Look, therefore, Lewis, that by this league and marriage Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour;For though usurpers sway the rule awhile, Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs. WARWICK Injurious Margaret! PRINCE EDWARD And why not queen? WARWICK Because thy father Henry did usurp;And thou no more are prince than she is queen. OXFORD Then Warwick disannuls great John of Gaunt, Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain;And, after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth, Whose wisdom was a mirror to the wisest;And, after that wise prince, Henry the Fifth, Who by his prowess conquered all France:
From these our Henry lineally descends. WARWICK Oxford, how haps it, in this smooth discourse, You told not how Henry the Sixth hath lost All that which Henry Fifth had gotten?
Methinks these peers of France should smile at that.
But for the rest, you tell a pedigree Of threescore and two years; a silly time To make prescription for a kingdom's worth. OXFORD Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy liege, Whom thou obeyed'st thirty and six years, And not bewray thy treason with a blush? WARWICK Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right, Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree?
For shame! leave Henry, and call Edward king. OXFORD Call him my king by whose injurious doom My elder brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere, Was done to death? and more than so, my father, Even in the downfall of his mellow'd years, When nature brought him to the door of death?
No, Warwick, no; while life upholds this arm, This arm upholds the house of Lancaster. WARWICK And I the house of York. KING LEWIS XI Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford, Vouchsafe, at our request, to stand aside, While I use further conference with Warwick.
They stand aloof QUEEN MARGARET Heavens grant that Warwick's words bewitch him not! KING LEWIS XI Now Warwick, tell me, even upon thy conscience, Is Edward your true king? for I were loath To link with him that were not lawful chosen. WARWICK Thereon I pawn my credit and mine honour. KING LEWIS XI But is he gracious in the people's eye? WARWICK The more that Henry was unfortunate. KING LEWIS XI Then further, all dissembling set aside, Tell me for truth the measure of his love Unto our sister Bona. WARWICK Such it seems As may beseem a monarch like himself.
Myself have often heard him say and swear That this his love was an eternal plant, Whereof the root was fix'd in virtue's ground, The leaves and fruit maintain'd with beauty's sun, Exempt from envy, but not from disdain, Unless the Lady Bona quit his pain. KING LEWIS XI Now, sister, let us hear your firm resolve. BONA Your grant, or your denial, shall be mine:
To WARWICK
Yet I confess that often ere this day, When I have heard your king's desert recounted, Mine ear hath tempted judgment to desire. KING LEWIS XI Then, Warwick, thus: our sister shall be Edward's;And now forthwith shall articles be drawn Touching the jointure that your king must make, Which with her dowry shall be counterpoised.
Draw near, Queen Margaret, and be a witness That Bona shall be wife to the English king. PRINCE EDWARD To Edward, but not to the English king. QUEEN MARGARET Deceitful Warwick! it was thy device By this alliance to make void my suit:
Before thy coming Lewis was Henry's friend. KING LEWIS XI And still is friend to him and Margaret:
But if your title to the crown be weak, As may appear by Edward's good success, Then 'tis but reason that I be released From giving aid which late I promised.
Yet shall you have all kindness at my hand That your estate requires and mine can yield. WARWICK Henry now lives in Scotland at his ease, Where having nothing, nothing can he lose.