Henry VI, Part II by William Shakespeare
Act 1 - Scene 2
GLOUCESTER’S house.
Eleanor : Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd corn,
[p]Hanging the head at
Ceres' plenteous load?
[p]Why doth the great Duke Humphrey knit his
brows,
[p]As frowning at the favours of the world?
[p]Why are thine
eyes fixed to the sullen earth,
[p]Gazing on that which seems to dim
thy sight?
[p]What seest thou there? King Henry's diadem,
[p]Enchased
with all the honours of the world?
[p]If so, gaze on, and grovel on
thy face,
[p]Until thy head be circled with the same.
[p]Put forth thy
hand, reach at the glorious gold.
[p]What, is't too short? I'll
lengthen it with mine:
[p]And, having both together heaved it
up,
[p]We'll both together lift our heads to heaven,
[p]And never more
abase our sight so low
[p]As to vouchsafe one glance unto the ground.
Eleanor : What dream'd my lord? tell me, and I'll requite it
[p]With sweet
rehearsal of my morning's dream.
Eleanor : Tut, this was nothing but an argument
[p]That he that breaks a stick
of Gloucester's grove
[p]Shall lose his head for his
presumption.
[p]But list to me, my Humphrey, my sweet
duke:
[p]Methought I sat in seat of majesty
[p]In the cathedral church
of Westminster,
[p]And in that chair where kings and queens are
crown'd;
[p]Where Henry and dame Margaret kneel'd to me
[p]And on my
head did set the diadem.
Eleanor : What, what, my lord! are you so choleric
[p]With Eleanor, for telling
but her dream?
[p]Next time I'll keep my dreams unto myself,
[p]And
not be cheque'd.
Messenger : My lord protector, 'tis his highness' pleasure
[p]You do prepare to
ride unto Saint Alban's,
[p]Where as the king and queen do mean to
hawk.
Eleanor : Yes, my good lord, I'll follow presently.
[p][Exeunt GLOUCESTER and
Messenger]
[p]Follow I must; I cannot go before,
[p]While Gloucester
bears this base and humble mind.
[p]Were I a man, a duke, and next of
blood,
[p]I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks
[p]And smooth
my way upon their headless necks;
[p]And, being a woman, I will not be
slack
[p]To play my part in Fortune's pageant.
[p]Where are you there?
Sir John! nay, fear not, man,
[p]We are alone; here's none but thee
and I.
Father John Hume : Jesus preserve your royal majesty!
Eleanor : What say'st thou? majesty! I am but grace.
Father John Hume : But, by the grace of God, and Hume's advice,
[p]Your grace's title
shall be multiplied.
Eleanor : What say'st thou, man? hast thou as yet conferr'd
[p]With Margery
Jourdain, the cunning witch,
[p]With Roger Bolingbroke, the
conjurer?
[p]And will they undertake to do me good?
Father John Hume : This they have promised, to show your highness
[p]A spirit raised from
depth of under-ground,
[p]That shall make answer to such
questions
[p]As by your grace shall be propounded him.
Eleanor : It is enough; I'll think upon the questions:
[p]When from St. Alban's
we do make return,
[p]We'll see these things effected to the
full.
[p]Here, Hume, take this reward; make merry, man,
[p]With thy
confederates in this weighty cause.
Father John Hume : Hume must make merry with the duchess' gold;
[p]Marry, and shall. But
how now, Sir John Hume!
[p]Seal up your lips, and give no words but
mum:
[p]The business asketh silent secrecy.
[p]Dame Eleanor gives gold
to bring the witch:
[p]Gold cannot come amiss, were she a
devil.
[p]Yet have I gold flies from another coast;
[p]I dare not say,
from the rich cardinal
[p]And from the great and new-made Duke of
Suffolk,
[p]Yet I do find it so; for to be plain,
[p]They, knowing
Dame Eleanor's aspiring humour,
[p]Have hired me to undermine the
duchess
[p]And buz these conjurations in her brain.
[p]They say 'A
crafty knave does need no broker;'
[p]Yet am I Suffolk and the
cardinal's broker.
[p]Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go
near
[p]To call them both a pair of crafty knaves.
[p]Well, so it
stands; and thus, I fear, at last
[p]Hume's knavery will be the
duchess' wreck,
[p]And her attainture will be Humphrey's fall:
[p]Sort
how it will, I shall have gold for all.
Previous: Act 1 - Scene 1
Next: Act 1 - Scene 3
