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, Louis, that by this league and

marriage

Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour,

For though usurpers sway the rule a while,

Yet heav’ns 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 art 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 the 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 obeyedest 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 mellowed 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 LOUIS

Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford,

Vouchsafe, at our request, to stand aside

While I use further conference with Warwick.

Queen Margaret ⌈comes down from the state and⌉, with Prince Edward and Oxford, stands apart

QUEEN MARGARET

Heavens grant that Warwick’s words bewitch him not.

KING LOUIS

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 LOUIS

But is he gracious in the people’s eye?

WARWICK

The more that Henry was unfortunate.

KING LOUIS

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 fixed in virtue’s ground,

The leaves and fruit maintained with beauty’s sun,

Exempt from envy, but not from disdain,

Unless the Lady Bona quit his pain.

KING LOUIS (to Lady Boa)

Now, sister, let us hear your firm resolve.

LADY 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 judgement to desire.

KING LOUIS (to Warwick)

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.

(To Queen Margaret) Draw near, Queen Margaret, and

be a witness

That Bona shall be wife to the English king.

Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, ⌈and Oxford⌉ come forward

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 Louis was Henry’s friend.

KING LOUIS

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 (to Queen Margaret)

Henry now lives in Scotland at his ease,

Where having nothing, nothing can he lose.

And as for you yourself, our quondam queen,

You have a father able to maintain you,

And better ’twere you troubled him than France.

QUEEN MARGARET

Peace, impudent and shameless Warwick, peace!

Proud setter-up and puller-down of kings!

I will not hence till, with my talk and tears,

Both full of truth, I make King Louis behold

Thy sly conveyance and thy lord’s false love,

Post blowing a horn within

For both of you are birds of selfsame feather.

KING LOUIS

Warwick, this is some post to us or thee.

Enter the Post

POST (to Warwick)

My lord ambassador, these letters are for you,

Sent from your brother Marquis Montague;

(To Louis) These from our King unto your majesty;