Glo. Compassion on the king commands me stoop; War. Behold, my lord of Winchester, the duke my hand. K. Hen. Fye, uncle Beaufort! I have heard you preach, That malice was a great and grievous sin; And will not you maintain the thing you teach, But prove a chief offender in the same? War. Sweet king! the bishop hath a kindly gird. For shame, my lord of Winchester, relent: What! shall a child instruct you what to do? Win. Well, duke of Gloster, I will yield to thee; Love for thy love, and hand for hand I give. Glo. Ay; but I fear me, with a hollow heart. See here, my friends, and loving countrymen; So help me God, as I dissemble not! Win. So help me God, as I intend it not! K. Hen. O loving uncle, kind duke of Gloster, How joyful am I made by this contract! Away, my masters: trouble us no more; But join in friendship, as your lords have done. And so will I. 3 Serv. And I will see what physic the tavern affords. [Aside. [Aside. [Exeunt Mayor, Servants, &c. War. Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign, Which in the right of Richard Plantagenet We do exhibit to your majesty. Glo. Well urg'd, my lord of Warwick: - for, sweet prince, An if your grace mark every circumstance, You have great reason to do Richard right; Especially for those occasions At Eltham-place I told your majesty. K. Hen. And those occasions, uncle, were of force War. Let Richard be restored to his blood; That doth belong unto the house of York, From whence you spring by lineal descent. Plan. Thy humble servant vows obedience, And humble service, till the point of death. K. Hen. Stoop then, and set your knee against my foot; And in reguerdon of that duty done, I girt thee with the valiant sword of York. Rise, Richard, like a true Plantagenet, Plan. And so thrive Richard as thy foes may fall! And as my duty springs, so perish they That grudge one thought against your majesty. All. Welcome, high prince, the mighty duke of York! To cross the seas, and to be crown'd in France. Amongst his subjects, and his loyal friends, As it disanimates his enemies. [Aside. K. Hen. When Gloster says the word, king Henry goes; For friendly counsel cuts off many foes. Glo. Your ships already are in readiness. [Flourish. Exeunt all but Exeter. Exe. Ay, we may march in England, or in France, Not seeing what is likely to ensue. This late dissension, grown betwixt the peers, Burns under feigned ashes of forg'd love, And will at last break out into a flame. As fester'd members rot but by degree, Till bones, and flesh, and sinews, fall away,` His days may finish ere the hapless time. SCENE II. France. Before Rouen. [Exit. Enter LA PUCELLE disguised, and Soldiers dressed like Countrymen, with Sacks upon their Backs. Puc. These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen, Through which our policy must make a breach. Take heed, be wary how you place your words; Talk like the vulgar sort of market-men, That come to gather money for their corn. That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them. 1 Sold. Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city, And we be lords and rulers over Rouen; Therefore we 'll knock. Guard. [Within.] Qui est là? Puc. Paisans, les pauvres gens de France: Poor market-folks, that come to sell their corn. Guard. Enter; go in: the market-bell is rung. [Knocks. [Opens the gates. Puc. Now, Rouen, I'll shake thy bulwarks to the ground. [PUCELLE, &c. enter the City. Enter CHARLES, Bastard of ORLEANS, ALENÇON, and Forces. Char. Saint Dennis bless this happy stratagem, And once again we 'll sleep secure in Rouen. Bast. Here enter'd Pucelle, and her practisants; Now she is there, how will she specify Where is the best and safest passage in? Alen. By thrusting out a torch from yonder tower; Which, once discern'd, shows, that her meaning is, No way to that, for weakness, which she enter❜d. Enter LA PUCELLE on a Battlement: holding out a Torch burning. Puc. Behold! this is the happy wedding torch, Thath joineth Rouen unto her countrymen, But burning fatal to the Talbotites. Bast. See, noble Charles, the beacon of our friend; The burning torch in yonder turret stands. Char. Now shine it like a comet of revenge, A prophet to the fall of all our foes! Alen. Defer no time; delays have dangerous ends: Enter, and cry The Dauphin! presently, And then do execution on the watch. [They enter. Alarums. Enter TALBOT, and English Soldiers. Tal. France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy tears, If Talbot but survive thy treachery. Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress, Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares, That hardly we escap'd the pride of France. [Exeunt to the Town. Alarum: Excursions. Enter, from the Town, BEDFORD, brought in sick in a Chair, with TALBOT, BURGUNDY, and the English Forces. Then, enter on the Walls, LA PUCELLE, CHARLES, Bastard, ALENÇON, REIGNIER, and Others. Puc. Good morrow, gallants. Want ye corn for bread? I think, the duke of Burgundy will fast, Before he 'll buy again at such a rate. 'T was full of darnel; do you like the taste? 1 Bur. Scoff on, vile fiend, and shameless courtezan! Char. Your grace may starve, perhaps, before that time. Bed. O! let no words, but deeds, revenge this treason. Puc. What will you do, good grey-beard? break a lance, And run a tilt at death within a chair? Tal. Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite, Puc. Are you so hot, Sir? - Yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace: If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow. — [TALBOT, and the rest, consult together. God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker? Tal. Dare ye come forth, and meet us in the field? Puc. Belike, your lordship takes us then for fools, To try if that our own be ours, or no. Tal. I speak not to that railing Hecate, But unto thee, Alençon, and the rest. Tal. Signior, hang!-base muleteers of France! Puc. Away, captains! let's get us from the walls, God be wi' you, my lord: we came, but to tell you That we are here. [Exeunt LA PUCELLE, &c. from the Walls. Tal. And there will we be too, ere it be long, Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame. Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house, And I, as sure as English Henry lives, |