But fear not thou, until thy foot be snar'd,
Nor never seek prevention of thy foes.

Glo. Ah, Nell! forbear; thou aimest all awry:
I must offend before I be attainted;

And had I twenty times so many foes,

And each of them had twenty times their power,
All these could not procure me any scathe,
So long as I am loyal, true, and crimeless.
Would'st have me rescue thee from this reproach?
Why, yet thy scandal were not wip'd away,
But I in danger for the breach of law.
Thy greatest help is quiet, gentle Nell;
I pray thee, sort thy heart to patience:

These few days' wonder will be quickly worn.

Enter a Herald.

Her. I summon your grace to his majesty's parliament, holden at Bury the first of this next month.

Glo. And my consent ne'er ask'd herein before?
This is close dealing. Well, I will be there.
My Nell, I take my leave: — and, master sheriff,
Let not her penance exceed the king's commission.
Sher. An't please your grace,
And Sir John Stanley is appointed now
To take her with him to the isle of Man.

[Exit Herald.

here my commission stays;

Glo. Must you, Sir John, protect my lady here?
Stan. So am I given in charge, may't please your grace.
Glo. Entreat her not the worse, in that I pray

You use her well. The world may laugh again;
And I may live to do you kindness, if

You do it her and so, Sir John, farewell.

Duch. What! gone, my lord, and bid me not farewell?
Glo. Witness my tears, I cannot stay to speak.

[Exeunt GLOSTER and Servants.

Duch. Art thou gone too? All comfort go with thee,

For none abides with me: my joy is - death;

Death, at whose name I oft have been afear'd,

Because I wish'd this world's eternity.
Stanley, I pr'ythee, go, and take me hence;
I care not whither, for I beg no favour,
Only convey me where thou art commanded.

Stan. Why, Madam, that is to the isle of Man ;
There to be us'd according to your state.

Duch. That's bad enough, for I am but reproach: And shall I, then, be us'd reproachfully?

Stan. Like to a duchess, and duke Humphrey's lady: According to that state you shall be used.

Duch. Sheriff, farewell, and better than I fare, Although thou hast been conduct of my shame!

Sher. It is my office; and, Madam, pardon me. Duch. Ay, ay, farewell: thy office is discharg'd. Come, Stanley, shall we go?

Stan. Madam, your penance done, throw off this sheet, And go we to attire you for our journey.

Duch. My shame will not be shifted with my sheet:

No; it will hang upon my richest robes,

And show itself, attire me how I can.

Go. lead the way: I long to see my prison.

ACT III. SCENE I.

The Abbey at Bury.

[Exeunt.

A Sennet. Enter to the Parliament, King HENRY, Queen MARGARET, Cardinal BEAUFORT, SUFFOLK, YORK, BUCKINGHAM, and Others.

K. Hen. I muse, my lord of Gloster is not come :

"T is not his wont to be the hindmost man,

Whate'er occasion keeps him from us now.

Q. Mar. Can you not see? or will you not observe The strangeness of his alter'd countenance?

With what a majesty he bears himself;

How insolent of late he is become,

How proud, how peremptory, and unlike himself?

We know the time since he was mild and affable;
And if we did but glance a far-off look,
Immediately he was upon his knee,

That all the court admir'd him for submission:
But meet him now, and, be it in the morn,
When every one will give the time of day,
He knits his brow, and shows an angry eye,
And passeth by with stiff unbowed knee,
Disdaining duty that to us belongs.

Small curs are not regarded when they grin,
But great men tremble when the lion roars;
And Humphrey is no little man in England.
First, note, that he is near you in descent,
And should you fall, he is the next will mount.
Me seemeth, then, it is no policy,

Respecting what a rancorous mind he bears,
And his advantage following your decease,
That he should come about your royal person,
Or be admitted to your highness' council.
By flattery hath he won the commons' hearts,
And, when he please to make commotion,
'T is to be fear'd, they all will follow him.
Now 't is the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted;
Suffer them now, and they 'll o'ergrow the garden,
And choke the herbs for want of husbandry.
The reverent care I bear unto my lord
Made me collect these dangers in the duke.
If it be fond, call it a woman's fear;

Which fear if better reasons can supplant,
I will subscribe and say, I wrong'd the duke.
My lord of Suffolk, Buckingham, and York,
Reprove my allegation, if you can,

Or else conclude my words effectual.

Suf. Well hath your highness seen into this duke; And had I first been put to speak my mind,

I think, I should have told your grace's tale.
The duchess by his subornation,

Upon my life, began her devilish practices :
Or if he were not privy to those faults,
Yet, by reputing of his high descent,
As next the king he was successive heir,
And such high vaunts of his nobility,

Did instigate the bedlam brain-sick duchess,
By wicked means to frame our sovereign's fall.
Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep,
And in his simple show he harbours treason.
The fox barks not when he would steal the lamb :
No, no, my sovereign; Gloster is a man
Unsounded yet, and full of deep deceit.

Car. Did he not, contrary to form of law,
Devise strange deaths for small offences done?

York. And did he not, in his protectorship,
Levy great sums of money through the realm
For soldiers' pay in France, and never sent it?
By means whereof the towns each day revolted.

Buck. Tut! these are petty faults to faults unknown,
Which time will bring to light in smooth duke Humphrey.
K. Hen. My lords, at once: the care you have of us,
To mow down thorns that would annoy our foot,

Is worthy praise; but shall I speak my conscience?
Our kinsman Gloster is as innocent

From meaning treason to our royal person,

As is the sucking lamb, or harmless dove.

The duke is virtuous, mild, and too well given,

To dream on evil, or to work my downfall.

Q. Mar. Ah! what's more dangerous than this fond affiance? Seems he a dove? his feathers are but borrow'd,

For he's disposed as the hateful raven.

Is he a lamb? his skin is surely lent him,
For he 's inclin'd as is the ravenous wolf.
Who cannot steal a shape, that means deceit?
Take heed, my lord; the welfare of us all
Hangs on the cutting short that fraudful man.

Enter SOMErset.

Som. All health unto my gracious sovereign!

K. Hen. Welcome, lord Somerset. What news from France? Som. That all your interest in those territories

Is utterly bereft you: all is lost.

K. Hen. Cold news, lord Somerset; but God's will be done. York. Cold news for me; [Aside.] for I had hope of France, As firmly as I hope for fertile England.

Thus are my blossoms blasted in the bud,
And caterpillars eat my leaves away;
But I will remedy this gear ere long,
Or sell my title for a glorious grave.

Enter GLOSTER.

Glo. All happiness unto my lord the king! Pardon, my liege, that I have stay'd so long.

Suf. Nay, Gloster, know, that thou art come too soon, Unless thou wert more loyal than thou art.

I do arrest thee of high treason here.

Glo. Well, Suffolk, yet thou shalt not see me blush,
Nor change my countenance for this arrest:

A heart unspotted is not easily daunted.
The purest spring is not so free from mud,

As I am clear from treason to my sovereign.
Who can accuse me? wherein am I guilty?

York. 'T is thought, my lord, that you took bribes of France, And, being protector, stayed the soldiers' pay;

By means whereof his highness hath lost France.

Glo. Is it but thought so? What are they that think it? I never robb'd the soldiers of their pay,

Nor ever had one penny bribe from France.

So help me God, as I have watch'd the night,

Ay, night by night, in studying good for England!
That doit that e'er I wrested from the king,
Or any groat I hoarded to my use,
Be brought against me at my trial day!
No: many a pound of mine own proper store,