LEWIS.Fair Queen of England,worthy Margaret,Sit down with us.It ill befits thy state And birth that thou shouldst stand while Lewis doth sit.QUEEN MARGARET.No,mighty King of France.Now Margaret Must strike her sail and learn a while to serve Where kings command.I was,I must confess,Great Albion's Queen in former golden days;But now mischance hath trod my title down And with dishonour laid me on the ground,Where I must take like seat unto my fortune,And to my humble seat conform myself.LEWIS.Why,say,fair Queen,whence springs this deep despair?QUEEN MARGARET.From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears And stops my tongue,while heart is drown'd in cares.LEWIS.Whate'er it be,be thou still like thyself,And sit thee by our side.[Seats her by him]Yield not thy neck To fortune's yoke,but let thy dauntless mind Still ride in triumph over all mischance.Be plain,Queen Margaret,and tell thy grief;It shall be eas'd,if France can yield relief.QUEEN MARGARET.Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak.Now therefore be it known to noble Lewis That Henry,sole possessor of my love,Is,of a king,become a banish'd man,And forc'd to live in Scotland a forlorn;While proud ambitious Edward Duke of York Usurps the regal title and the seat Of England's true-anointed lawful King.This is the cause that I,poor Margaret,With this my son,Prince Edward,Henry's heir,Am come to crave thy just and lawful aid;And if thou fail us,all our hope is done.Scotland hath will to help,but cannot help;Our people and our peers are both misled,Our treasure seiz'd,our soldiers put to flight,And,as thou seest,ourselves in heavy plight.LEWIS.Renowned Queen,with patience calm the storm,While we bethink a means to break it off.QUEEN MARGARET.The more we stay,the stronger grows our foe.LEWIS.The more I stay,the more I'll succour thee.QUEEN MARGARET.O,but impatience waiteth on true sorrow.And see where comes the breeder of my sorrow!
Enter WARWICK
LEWIS.What's he approacheth boldly to our presence?QUEEN MARGARET.Our Earl of Warwick,Edward's greatest friend.LEWIS.Welcome,brave Warwick!What brings thee to France?[He descends.She ariseth]QUEEN MARGARET.Ay,now begins a second storm to rise;For this is he that moves both wind and tide.WARWICK.From worthy Edward,King of Albion,My lord and sovereign,and thy vowed friend,I come,in kindness and unfeigned love,First to do greetings to thy royal person,And then to crave a league of amity,And lastly to confirm that amity With nuptial knot,if thou vouchsafe to grant That virtuous Lady Bona,thy fair sister,To England's King in lawful marriage.QUEEN MARGARET.[Aside]If that go forward,Henry's hope is done.WARWICK.[To BONA]And,gracious madam,in our king's behalf,I am commanded,with your leave and favour,Humbly to kiss your hand,and with my tongue To tell the passion of my sovereign's heart;Where fame,late ent'ring at his heedful ears,Hath plac'd thy beauty's image and thy virtue.QUEEN MARGARET.King Lewis and Lady Bona,hear me speak Before you answer Warwick.His demand Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love,But from deceit bred by necessity;For how can tyrants safely govern home Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?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,Lewis,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 OF WALES.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?
