With sweet rehearsal24 of my morning’s dream.

  GLOUCESTER    Methought this staff, mine office-badge25 in court,

  Was broke in twain26: by whom I have forgot,

  But, as I think, it was by th’cardinal:

  And on the pieces of the broken wand

  Were placed the heads of Edmund Duke of Somerset,

  And William de la Pole, first Duke of Suffolk.

  This was my dream: what it doth bode, God knows.

  ELEANOR    Tut, this was nothing but an argument32

  That he that breaks a stick of Gloucester’s grove33

  Shall lose his head for his presumption.

  But list35 to me, my Humphrey, my sweet duke:

  Methought I sat in seat of majesty

  In the cathedral church of Westminster,

  And in that chair38 where kings and queens are crowned,

  Where Henry and Dame Margaret kneeled to me

  And on my head did set the diadem.

  GLOUCESTER    Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide41 outright:

  Presumptuous dame, ill-nurtured42 Eleanor,

  Art thou not second woman in the realm,

  And the Protector’s wife, beloved of44 him?

  Hast thou not worldly pleasure at command,

  Above the reach or compass46 of thy thought?

  And wilt thou still be hammering47 treachery,

  To tumble down thy husband and thyself

  From top of honour to disgrace’s feet?

  Away from me, and let me hear no more!

  ELEANOR    What, what, my lord? Are you so choleric51

  With Eleanor for telling but52 her dream?

  Next time I’ll keep my dreams unto myself,

  And not be checked54.

  GLOUCESTER    Nay, be not angry: I am pleased again.

  Enter [a] Messenger

  MESSENGER    My Lord Protector, ’tis his highness’ pleasure

  You do prepare to ride unto St Albans57,

  Where as the king and queen do mean to hawk58.

  GLOUCESTER    I go. Come, Nell, thou wilt ride with us?

  ELEANOR    Yes, my good lord, I’ll follow presently60.

  Exit Humphrey [Duke of Gloucester with Messenger]

  Follow I must: I cannot go before,

  While Gloucester bears this base62 and humble mind.

  Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood,

  I would remove these tedious stumbling blocks

  And smooth my way upon their headless necks.

  And, being a woman, I will not be slack

  To play my part in Fortune’s pageant67.—

  Calling

  Where are you there? Sir68 John! Nay, fear not, man,

  We are alone: here’s none but thee and I.

  Enter Hume

  HUME    Jesus preserve your royal majesty.

  ELEANOR    What say’st thou? ‘Majesty’: I am but grace71.

  HUME    But by the grace of God, and Hume’s advice,

  Your grace’s title shall be multiplied73.

  ELEANOR    What say’st thou, man? Hast thou as yet conferred

  With Margery Jordan, the cunning75 witch,

  With Roger Bullingbrook, the conjurer76?

  And will they undertake to do me good?

  HUME    This they have promised to show your highness:

  A spirit raised from depth of underground,

  That shall make answer to such questions

  As by your grace shall be propounded81 him.

  ELEANOR    It is enough: I’ll think upon the questions:

  When from St Albans we do make return,

  We’ll see these things effected to the full.

  Giving him money

  Here, Hume, take this reward: make merry, man,

  With thy confederates in this weighty cause.

  Exit Eleanor

  HUME    Hume must make merry with the duchess’ gold:

  Marry88, and shall: but how now, Sir John Hume?

  Seal up your lips, and give no words but mum89:

  The business asketh silent secrecy.

  Dame Eleanor gives gold to bring the witch:

  Gold cannot come amiss, were she a devil.

  Yet have I gold flies from another coast93:

  I dare not say from the rich cardinal

  And from the great and new-made Duke of Suffolk,

  Yet I do find it so: for to be plain,

  They, knowing Dame Eleanor’s aspiring humour97,

  Have hired me to undermine the duchess

  And buzz these conjurations99 in her brain.

  They say ‘A crafty knave does need no broker100’,

  Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal’s broker.

  Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near102

  To call them both a pair of crafty knaves.

  Well, so it stands: and thus, I fear, at last

  Hume’s knavery will be the duchess’ wrack105,

  And her attainture106 will be Humphrey’s fall:

  Sort how it will107, I shall have gold for all.

  Exit

  [Act 1 Scene 3]

  running scene 3

  Enter three or four Petitioners, [Peter] the armourer’s man being one

  FIRST PETITIONER    My masters, let’s stand close1: my Lord Protector

  will come this way by and by, and then we may deliver our

  supplications in the quill3.

  SECOND PETITIONER    Marry, the Lord protect4 him, for he’s a good

  man, Jesu bless him.

  Enter Suffolk and Queen [Margaret]

  FIRST PETITIONER    Here a6 comes, methinks, and the queen with

  He goes to meet Suffolk and the Queen

  him. I’ll be the first, sure.

  SECOND PETITIONER    Come back, fool: this is the

  Duke of Suffolk, and not my Lord Protector.

  SUFFOLK    How now, fellow: wouldst10 anything with me?

  FIRST PETITIONER    I pray, my lord, pardon me: I took ye for my

  Lord Protector.

  Reading

  QUEEN MARGARET    ‘To my Lord Protector!’— Are your

  supplications to his lordship? Let me see them: what is thine?

  FIRST PETITIONER    Mine is, an’t15 please your grace, against John

  Goodman, my lord cardinal’s man16, for keeping my house

  and lands and wife and all from me.

  To Second

  SUFFOLK    Thy wife too? That’s some wrong indeed.—

  Petitioner

  What’s yours?

  Reading supplication

  What’s here?— ‘Against the Duke of Suffolk, for

  enclosing the commons21 of Melford.’— How now,

  To Second

  Sir Knave?

  Petitioner

  SECOND PETITIONER    Alas, sir, I am but a poor petitioner

  of our whole township.

  Offering his petition

  PETER    Against my master, Thomas Horner, for

  saying that the Duke of York was rightful heir to the

  crown.

  QUEEN MARGARET    What say’st thou? Did the Duke of York say he

  was rightful heir to the crown?

  PETER    That my master was? No, forsooth30: my master said

  that he was, and that the king was an usurper.

  SUFFOLK    Who is there?

  Enter Servant

  Take this fellow in, and send for his master with a pursuivant33

  presently.— We’ll hear more of your matter before the king.

  Exit [Servant with Peter]

  QUEEN MARGARET    And as for you that love to be protected

  Under the wings of our Protector’s grace,

  Begin your suits anew, and sue to37 him.

  Tears the supplication

  Away, base cullions38!— Suffolk, let them go.

  ALL [PETITIONERS]    Come, let’s be gone.

  Exeunt [Petitioners]

  QUEEN MARGARET    My lord of Suffolk, say, is this the guise40?

  Is this the fashions41 in the court of England?

  Is this the government of Britain’s isle?

  And this the royalty of Albion’s43 king?

  What, shall King Henry be a pupil still

  Under the surly Gloucester’s governance?

  Am I a queen in title and in style46,

  And must be made a subject to a duke?

  I tell thee, Pole48, when in the city Tours

  Thou ran’st a-tilt49 in honour of my love

  And stol’st away the ladies’ hearts of France,

  I thought King Henry had resemblèd thee

  In courage, courtship and proportion52:

  But all his mind is bent53 to holiness,

  To number Ave-Maries on his beads54:

  His champions55 are the prophets and apostles,

  His weapons holy saws56 of sacred writ,

  His study is his tilt-yard57, and his loves

  Are brazen images58 of canonizèd saints.

  I would the college of the cardinals59

  Would choose him Pope, and carry him to Rome,

  And set the triple crown61 upon his head:

  That were a state fit for his holiness62.

  SUFFOLK    Madam, be patient: as I was cause

  Your highness came to England, so will I

  In England work65 your grace’s full content.

  QUEEN MARGARET    Beside the haughty Protector, have we Beaufort

  The imperious churchman, Somerset, Buckingham,

  And grumbling York: and not the least of these

  But69 can do more in England than the king.

  SUFFOLK    And he of these that can do most of all

  Cannot do more in England than the Nevilles:

  Salisbury and Warwick are no simple72 peers.

  QUEEN MARGARET    Not all these lords do vex me half so much

  As that proud dame, the Lord Protector’s wife:

  She sweeps it75 through the court with troops of ladies,

  More like an empress than Duke Humphrey’s wife:

  Strangers77 in court do take her for the queen:

  She bears a duke’s revenues on her back,78

  And in her heart she scorns our poverty:

  Shall I not live to be avenged on her?

  Contemptuous base-born callet81 as she is,

  She vaunted ’mongst her minions82 t’other day,

  The very train of her worst wearing83 gown

  Was better worth84 than all my father’s lands,

  Till Suffolk gave two dukedoms for his daughter85.

  SUFFOLK    Madam, myself have limed a bush86 for her,

  And placed a choir of such enticing birds87,

  That she will light88 to listen to the lays,

  And never mount to trouble you again.

  So let her rest: and, madam, list to me,

  For I am bold to counsel you in this:

  Although we fancy92 not the cardinal,

  Yet must we join with him and with the lords,

  Till we have brought Duke Humphrey in disgrace.

  As for the Duke of York, this late complaint95

  Will make but little for his benefit96:

  So one by one we’ll weed97 them all at last,

  And you yourself shall steer the happy helm.

  Sound a sennet. Enter the King [Henry VI with Somerset and] York [whispering on either side of him], Duke Humphrey [of Gloucester], Cardinal, Buckingham, Salisbury, Warwick and the Duchess [Eleanor]

  KING HENRY VI    For my part, noble lords, I care not which:

  Or100 Somerset or York, all’s one to me.

  YORK    If York have ill demeaned101 himself in France,

  Then let him be denied the regentship102.

  SOMERSET    If Somerset be unworthy of the place,

  Let York be regent: I will yield to him.

  WARWICK    Whether your grace be worthy, yea or no,

  Dispute not that: York is the worthier.

  CARDINAL    Ambitious Warwick, let thy betters speak.

  WARWICK    The cardinal’s not my better in the field108.

  BUCKINGHAM    All in this presence109 are thy betters, Warwick.

  WARWICK    Warwick may live to be the best of all.

  SALISBURY    Peace, son, and show some reason, Buckingham,

  Why Somerset should be preferred in this.

  QUEEN MARGARET    Because the king, forsooth, will have it so.

  GLOUCESTER    Madam, the king is old enough himself

  To give his censure115: these are no women’s matters.

  QUEEN MARGARET    If he be old enough, what needs your grace

  To be Protector of his excellence?

  GLOUCESTER    Madam, I am Protector of the realm,

  And at his pleasure will resign my place.

  SUFFOLK    Resign it then and leave120 thine insolence.

  Since thou wert king — as who is king but thou? —

  The commonwealth hath daily run to wrack,

  The dauphin hath prevailed123 beyond the seas,

  And all the peers and nobles of the realm

  Have been as bondmen125 to thy sovereignty.

  CARDINAL    The commons hast thou racked: the clergy’s bags126

  Are lank127 and lean with thy extortions.

  SOMERSET    Thy sumptuous buildings and thy wife’s attire

  Have cost a mass of public treasury129.

  BUCKINGHAM    Thy cruelty in execution

  Upon offenders hath exceeded law,

  And left thee to the mercy of the law.

  QUEEN MARGARET    Thy sale of offices133 and towns in France,

  If they were known, as the suspect134 is great,

  Would make thee quickly hop without thy head135.

  Exit Gloucester

  Queen Margaret drops her fan To Eleanor

  Give me my fan: what, minion136, can ye not?

  She gives the Duchess [Eleanor] a box on the ear

  I cry you mercy137, madam: was it you?

  ELEANOR    Was’t I? Yea, I it was, proud Frenchwoman:

  Could I come near your beauty with my nails,

  I’d set my ten commandments140 in your face.

  KING HENRY VI    Sweet aunt, be quiet: ’twas against her will141.

  ELEANOR    Against her will, good king? Look to’t142 in time,

  She’ll hamper thee and dandle143 thee like a baby:

  Though in this place most master144 wear no breeches,

  She shall not strike Dame Eleanor unrevenged.

  Exit Eleanor

  BUCKINGHAM    Lord Cardinal, I will follow Eleanor,

  And listen after147 Humphrey, how he proceeds:

  She’s tickled148 now, her fury needs no spurs,

  She’ll gallop far enough to her destruction.

  Exit Buckingham

  Enter Humphrey [Duke of Gloucester]

  GLOUCESTER    Now, lords, my choler being overblown

  With walking once about the quadrangle,

  I come to talk of commonwealth affairs.

  As for your spiteful false objections153,

  Prove them, and I lie open to the law:

  But God in mercy so deal with my soul,

  As I in duty love my king and country.

  But to the matter that we have in hand:—

  I say, my sovereign, York is meetest158 man

  To be your regent in the realm of France.

  SUFFOLK    Before we make election, give me160 leave

  To show some reason, of no little force,

  That York is most unmeet of any man.

  YORK    I’ll tell thee, Suffolk, why I am unmeet:

  First, for I cannot flatter thee in pride164:

  Next, if I be appointed for the place,

  My Lord of Somerset will keep me here,

  Without discharge, money, or furniture167,

  Till France be won into the dauphin’s hands:

  Last time I danced attendance on his will

  Till Paris was besieged, famished, and lost.

  WARWICK    That can I witness, and a fouler fact171

  Did never traitor in the land commit.

  SUFFOLK    Peace, headstrong Warwick.

  WARWICK    Image174 of pride, why should I hold my peace?

  Enter [guarded, Horner the] armourer and his man [Peter]

  SUFFOLK    Because here is a man accused of treason:

  Pray God the Duke of York excuse himself!

  YORK    Doth anyone accuse York for177 a traitor?