Page:Henry VI Part 2 (1923) Yale.djvu/45

King Henry the Sixth, II. i

And other of your highness' privy council,

As more at large your Grace shall understand.

Car. And so, my Lord Protector, by this means

Your lady is forthcoming yet at London.

This news, I think, hath turn'd your weapon's edge;

'Tis like, my lord, you will not keep your hour.

Glo. Ambitious churchman, leave to afflict my heart:

Sorrow and grief have vanquish'd all my powers;

And, vanquish'd as I am, I yield to thee,

Or to the meanest groom.

King. O God! what mischiefs work the wicked ones,

Heaping confusion on their own heads thereby.

Queen. Gloucester, see here the tainture of thy nest;

And look thyself be faultless, thou wert best.

Glo. Madam, for myself, to heaven I do appeal,

How I have lov'd my king and commonweal;

And, for my wife, I know not how it stands.

Sorry I am to hear what I have heard:

Noble she is, but if she have forgot

Honour and virtue, and convers'd with such

As, like to pitch, defile nobility,

I banish her my bed and company,

And give her, as a prey, to law and shame,

That hath dishonour'd Gloucester's honest name.

King. Well, for this night we will repose us here:

To-morrow toward London back again,

To look into this business thoroughly,

And call these foul offenders to their answers;

And poise the cause in justice' equal scales,

 177 forthcoming: under arrest

180 leave: cease

186 tainture: fouling

187 thou wert best: you had better

193 convers'd: had dealings

202 poise: weigh 