Page:Henry VI Part 3 (1923) Yale.djvu/68

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Widow. To tell you plain, I had rather lie in prison.

K. Edw. Why, then thou shalt not have thy husband's lands.

Widow. Why, then mine honesty shall be my dower;

For by that loss I will not purchase them.

K. Edw. Therein thou wrong'st thy children mightily.

Widow. Herein your highness wrongs both them and me.

But, mighty lord, this merry inclination

Accords not with the sadness of my suit:

Please you dismiss me, either with 'ay,' or 'no.'

K. Edw. Ay, if thou wilt say 'ay' to my request;

No, if thou dost say 'no' to my demand.

Widow. Then, no, my lord. My suit is at an end.

Rich. [Aside to Clarence.] The widow likes him not, she knits her brows.

Clar. [Aside to Richard.] He is the bluntest wooer in Christendom.

K. Edw. [Aside.] Her looks do argue her replete with modesty;

Her words do show her wit incomparable;

All her perfections challenge sovereignty:

One way or other, she is for a king;

And she shall be my love, or else my queen.

Say that King Edward take thee for his queen?

Widow. 'Tis better said than done, my gracious lord:

I am a subject fit to jest withal,

But far unfit to be a sovereign.

K. Edw. Sweet widow, by my state I swear to thee,

I speak no more than what my soul intends;

 72 honesty: virtue

77 sadness: seriousness

84 argue: prove 