Page:Henry IV Part 1 (1917) Yale.djvu/32

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And when I urg'd the ransom once again

Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale,

And on my face he turn'd an eye of death,

Trembling even at the name of Mortimer.

Wor. I cannot blame him: was he not proclaim'd

By Richard that dead is the next of blood?

North. He was; I heard the proclamation:

And then it was when the unhappy king,–

Whose wrongs in us God pardon!—did set forth

Upon his Irish expedition;

From whence he, intercepted, did return

To be depos'd, and shortly murdered.

Wor. And for whose death we in the world's wide mouth

Live scandaliz'd and foully spoken of.

Hot. But, soft! I pray you, did King Richard then

Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer

Heir to the crown?

North.He did; myself did hear it.

Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin king,

That wish'd him on the barren mountains starve.

But shall it be that you, that set the crown

Upon the head of this forgetful man,

And for his sake wear the detested blot

Of murd'rous subornation, shall it be,

That you a world of curses undergo,

Being the agents, or base second means,

The cords, the ladder, or the hangman rather?

O! pardon me that I descend so low,

To show the line and the predicament

Wherein you range under this subtle king.

 145-146 Cf. n.

149 in us: at our hands

163 murd'rous subornation: secret prompting to murder

168 line: rank

predicament: situation, classification

169 range: stand 