My mother, being heir unto the crown,

Married Richard, Earl of Cambridge, who was son

To Edmund Langley, Edward the Third’s fifth son.

By her I claim the kingdom: she was heir

To Roger, Earl of March, who was the son

Of Edmund Mortimer, who married Phillipe,

Sole daughter unto Lionel, Duke of Clarence.

So if the issue of the elder son

Succeed before the younger, I am king.

WARWICK

What plain proceedings is more plain than this?

Henry doth claim the crown from John of Gaunt,

The fourth son; York claims it from the third:

Till Lionel’s issue fails, John’s should not reign.

It fails not yet, but flourishes in thee

And in thy sons, fair slips of such a stock.

Then, father Salisbury, kneel we together,

And in this private plot be we the first

That shall salute our rightful sovereign

With honour of his birthright to the crown.

SALISBURY and WARWICK (kneeling)

Long live our sovereign Richard, England’s king!

YORK

We thank you, lords;

⌈Salisbury and Warwick rise⌉

but I am not your king

Till I be crowned, and that my sword be stained

With heart-blood of the house of Lancaster—

And that’s not suddenly to be performed,

But with advice and silent secrecy.

Do you, as I do, in these dangerous days,

Wink at the Duke of Suffolk’s insolence,

At Beaufort’s pride, at Somerset’s ambition,

At Buckingham, and all the crew of them,

Till they have snared the shepherd of the flock,

That virtuous prince, the good Duke Humphrey.

᾽Tis that they seek, and they, in seeking that,

Shall find their deaths, if York can prophesy.

SALISBURY

My lord, break off—we know your mind at full.

WARWICK

My heart assures me that the Earl of Warwick

Shall one day make the Duke of York a king.

YORK

And Neville, this I do assure myself—

Richard shall live to make the Earl of Warwick

The greatest man in England but the King. Exeunt

2.3 Sound trumpets. Enter King Henry and state, with guard, to banish the Duchess: King Henry and Queen Margaret, Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, the Duke of Suffolk [and the Duke of Buckingham, Cardinal [Beaufort], and, led with officers, Dame Eleanor Cobham the Duchess, Margery Jordan the witch, John Southwell and Sir John Hume the two priests, and Roger Bolingbroke the conjuror; then enter to them] the Duke of York and the Earls of Salisbury rand Warwick⌉

KING HENRY (to the Duchess)

Stand forth, Dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloucester’s wife.

She comes forward

In sight of God and us your guilt is great;

Receive the sentence of the law for sins

Such as by God’s book are adjudged to death.

(To the Witch, Southwell, Hume, and Bolingbroke)

You four, from hence to prison back again;

From thence, unto the place of execution.

The witch in Smithfield shall be burned to ashes,

And you three shall be strangled on the gallows.

⌈Exeunt Witch, Southwell, Hume, and Bolingbroke, guarded⌉

(To the Duchess)

You, madam, for you are more nobly born,

Despoiled of your honour in your life,

Shall, after three days’ open penance done,

Live in your country here in banishment

With Sir John Stanley in the Isle of Man.

DUCHESS

Welcome is banishment; welcome were my death.

GLOUCESTER

Eleanor, the law, thou seest, hath judged thee;

I cannot justify whom the law condemns.

⌈Exit the Duchess, guarded⌉

Mine eyes are full of tears, my heart of grief.

Ah, Humphrey, this dishonour in thine age

Will bring thy head with sorrow to the grave.

(To King Henry)

I beseech your majesty, give me leave to go.

Sorrow would solace, and mine age would ease.

KING HENRY

Stay, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester. Ere thou go,

Give up thy staff. Henry will to himself

Protector be; and God shall be my hope,

My stay, my guide, and lantern to my feet.

And go in peace, Humphrey, no less beloved

Than when thou wert Protector to thy King.

QUEEN MARGARET

I see no reason why a king of years

Should be to be protected like a child.

God and King Henry govern England’s helm!

Give up your staff, sir, and the King his realm.

GLOUCESTER

My staff? Here, noble Henry, is my staff.

As willingly do I the same resign

As erst thy father Henry made it mine;

And even as willing at thy feet I leave it

As others would ambitiously receive it.

He lays the staff at King Henry’s feet

Farewell, good King. When I am dead and gone,

May honourable peace attend thy throne. Exit

QUEEN MARGARET

Why, now is Henry King and Margaret Queen,

And Humphrey Duke of Gloucester scarce himself,

That bears so shrewd a maim; two pulls at once—

His lady banished and a limb lopped off.

She picks up the staff

This staff of honour raught, there let it stand

Where it best fits to be, in Henry’s hand.

She gives the staff to King Henry

SUFFOLK

Thus droops this lofty pine and hangs his sprays;

Thus Eleanor’s pride dies in her youngest days.

YORK

Lords, let him go. Please it your majesty,

This is the day appointed for the combat,