Page:Stories from Old English Poetry-1899.djvu/202

180 Cordelia then told him simply that she loved him as she ought to love a father who had bred and reared her; that she should always honor and obey him above all others; but if she had a husband, she should think it her duty to give him half her love and care, and not, like her sisters, give her father all.

On this Lear went into one of his terrible fits of rage. He was so sorely disappointed at Cordelia’s answer that he could not wait to let his reason see how wise it was. He stamped and raved, and without delay divided the large portion he had reserved for Cordelia between her sisters. He bade her instantly leave the court, and never see his face again. One of his oldest nobles, the Earl of Kent, interceded for her so boldly, that the king’s rage turned on him also, and he banished him, on pain of death, from his kingdom. Then he called forth Cordelia’s lovers, the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France, and told them if either of them wished Cordelia, stripped of rank and wealth, they might take her where she stood; from him she should have nothing. Burgundy said that since she had no fortune, he could scarcely afford to marry her; but the French King said nobly, that he could see virtues in the maiden worth more than lands or gold, and if she would, she should be his bride and the Queen of France.