The Complete Plays (74 page)

To overthrow those
sectious
Puritans.

And know, my lord, the Pope will sell his triple crown,

Ay, and the catholic Philip, King of Spain,

Ere I shall want, will cause his Indians

To rip the golden bowels of America.

50     Navarre, that cloaks
them
underneath his wings,

Shall feel the house of Lorraine is his foe.

Your highness needs not fear mine army's force;

'Tis for your safety, and your enemies' wrack.

HENRY

Guise, wear our crown, and be thou King of France,

And as
dictator
make or war or peace,

Whilst I cry
‘
placet
'
like a senator.

I cannot brook thy haughty insolence:

Dismiss thy camp, or else by our edict

Be thou proclaimed a traitor throughout France.

GUISE
[
aside
]

60     The choice is hard, I must dissemble.

[
To
KING HENRY
]

My lord, in token of my true humility,

And
simple meaning
to your majesty,

I kiss your grace's hand and take my leave,

Intending to dislodge my camp with speed.

HENRY

Then farewell, Guise, the king and thou are friends.

Exit
GUISE
.

EPERNOUN

But trust him not, my lord, for had your highness

Seen with what a pomp he entered Paris,

And how the citizens with gifts and shows

Did entertain him,

70     And promised to be at his command –

Nay, they feared not to speak in the streets

That the Guise durst stand in arms against the king

For not effecting of
His Holiness'
will.

HENRY

Did they of Paris entertain him so?

Then means he present treason to our state.

Well, let me alone. Who's within there?

Enter one with a pen and ink.

Make a discharge of all my council straight,

And I'll subscribe my name and seal it straight.

My head shall be my council, they are false;

80     And, Epernoun, I will be ruled by thee.

EPERNOUN

My lord, I think for safety of your royal person,

It would be good the Guise were made away,

And so
to quite your grace of all suspect.

HENRY

First, let us set our hand and seal to this,

And then I'll tell thee what I mean to do.

He writes.

So, convey this to the council presently;

Exit one.

And Epernoun, though I seem mild and calm,

Think not but I am
tragical
within.

I'll secretly convey me unto Blois;

90     For, now that Paris takes the Guise's part,

Here is no staying for the King of France,

Unless he mean to be betrayed and die.

But, as I live, so sure the Guise shall die.

Exeunt.

Enter the
KING OF NAVARRE
,
reading of a letter, and
BARTUS
.

NAVARRE

My lord, I am advertisèd from France

That the Guise hath taken arms against the king,

And that Paris is revolted from his grace.

BARTUS

Then hath your grace fit opportunity

To show your love unto the King of France,

Offering him aid against his enemies,

Which cannot but be thankfully received.

NAVARRE

Bartus, it shall be so; post then to France,

And there salute his highness in our name;

10     Assure him all the aid we can provide

Against the Guisians and their complices.

Bartus, be gone; commend me to his grace,

And tell him, ere it be long, I'll visit him.

BARTUS

I will, my lord.

Exit.

NAVARRE
[
calling out
]

Pleshé!

Enter
PLESHÉ.

PLESHÉ
  My lord.

NAVARRE

Pleshé, go muster up our men with speed,

And let them march away to France amain,

For we must aid the king against the Guise.

Be gone, I say, 'tis time that we were there.

PLESHÉ
I go, my lord.

[
Exit
PLESHÉ
.]

NAVARRE

20     That wicked Guise, I fear me much, will be

The ruin of that famous realm of France,

For his aspiring thoughts aim at the crown,

And takes his
vantage
on religion

To plant the Pope and popelings in the realm

And bind it wholly to the see of Rome.

But if that God do prosper mine attempts,

And send us safely to arrive in France,

We'll beat him back and drive him to his death

That basely seeks the ruin of his realm.

Exit.

Enter the
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD
,
and three
MURDERERS
.

CAPTAIN

Come on, sirs. What, are you resolutely
bent
,

Hating the life and honour of the Guise?

What, will you not fear, when you see him come?

FIRST MURDERER
Fear him, said you? Tush, were he here, we would kill him presently.

SECOND MURDERER
O that his heart were leaping in my hand!

THIRD MURDERER
But when will he come, that we may murder him?

CAPTAIN
Well, then, I see you are resolute.

10     
FIRST MURDERER
Let us alone, I warrant you.

CAPTAIN
Then, sirs, take your standings within this chamber, for anon the Guise will come.

ALL THREE MURDERERS
You will give us our money?

CAPTAIN

Ay, ay, fear not. Stand close. So, be resolute.

[
The
MURDERERS
hide
.]

Now falls the star whose influence governs France,

Whose light was deadly to the Protestants.

Now must he fall and perish in his height.

Enter the
KING
[
HENRY
]
and
EPERNOUN
.

HENRY
Now, captain of my guard, are these murderers ready?

CAPTAIN
They be, my good lord.

HENRY

20     But are they resolute and armed to kill,

Hating the life and honour of the Guise?

CAPTAIN
I warrant ye, my lord.

HENRY

Then come, proud Guise, and here disgorge thy breast

Surcharged with surfeit of ambitious thoughts;

Breathe out that life wherein my death was hid,

And end thy endless treasons with thy death.

   
Enter the
GUISE
[
within
]
and knocketh.

GUISE

Holà, varlet, hé
!
[
EPERNOUN
goes to the door
.]

Epernoun, where is the king?

EPERNOUN

Mounted
his royal cabinet.

GUISE
[
within
]

I prithee tell him that the Guise is here.

EPERNOUN

30     An please your grace, the duke of Guise doth crave

Access unto your highness.

HENRY
        Let him come in.

[
Aside
]

Come, Guise, and see thy traitorous guile outreached,

And perish in the pit thou mad'st for me.

The
GUISE
comes to the
KING
.

GUISE

Good morrow to your majesty.

HENRY

Good morrow to my loving cousin of Guise.

How fares it this morning with your excellence?

GUISE

I heard your majesty was scarcely pleased

That in the court I bare so great a train.

HENRY

They were to blame that said I was displeased,

40     And you, good cousin, to imagine it.

'Twere hard with me if I should doubt my kin,

Or be suspicious of my dearest friends.

Cousin, assure you I am resolute –

Whatsoever any whisper in mine ears –

Not to suspect disloyalty in thee,

And so, sweet coz, farewell.

Exit
KING
[
with
EPERNOUN
and
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD
].

GUISE

So, now sues the king for favour to the Guise,

And all his minions stoop when I command.

Why, this 'tis to have an army in the field.

50     Now by the holy sacrament I swear,

As ancient Romans over their captive lords,

So will I triumph over this wanton king

And he shall follow my proud chariot's wheels.

Now do I but begin to look about,

And all my former time was spent in vain.

Hold, sword, for in thee is the duke of Guise's hope.

Enter one of the
MURDERERS
.

Villain, why dost thou look so ghastly? Speak!

THIRD MURDERER
O pardon me, my lord of Guise!

GUISE
Pardon thee? Why, what hast thou done?

60      
THIRD MURDERER
O my lord, I am one of them that is set to murder you.

GUISE
To murder me, villain?

THIRD MURDERER
Ay, my lord; the rest have ta'en their standings in the next room; therefore, good my lord, go not forth.

GUISE

Yet Caesar
shall go forth.

Let mean conceits and baser men fear death:

Tut, they are peasants, I am duke of Guise;

And princes with their looks engender fear.

[
Enter two
MURDERERS
.]

FIRST MURDERER
[
within
] Stand close, he is coming; I know

70      him by his voice.

GUISE
As pale as ashes
! Nay, then 'tis time to look about.

ALL
Down with him, down with him!

They stab him.

GUISE
O, I have my death's wound! Give me leave to speak.

SECOND MURDERER
Then pray to God, and ask forgiveness of the king.

GUISE

Trouble me not, I ne'er offended him,

Nor will I ask forgiveness of the king.

O, that I have not power to stay my life,

Nor immortality to be revenged!

80     To die by peasants, what a grief is this!

Ah,
Sixtus
, be revenged upon the king;

Philip and Parma
, I am slain for you.

Pope, excommunicate, Philip, depose

The wicked branch of cursed Valois his line.

Vive la messe!
Perish Huguenots!

Thus Caesar did go forth, and thus he died.

He dies.

Enter
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD
.

CAPTAIN
What, have you done? Then stay a while, and I'll go call the king. But see where he comes.

[
Enter the
KING, EPERNOUN
,
and
ATTENDANTS
.]

My lord, see where the Guise is slain.

HENRY

90     Ah, this sweet sight is physic to my soul.

Go fetch his son for to behold his death.

[
Exit an
ATTENDANT
.]

Surcharged with guilt of thousand massacres,

Monsieur of Lorraine, sink away to hell!

And in remembrance of those bloody broils

To which thou didst allure me, being alive,

And here in presence of you all, I swear

I ne'er was King of France until this hour.

This is the traitor that hath spent my gold

In making foreign wars and civil broils.

100   Did he not draw a sort of English priests

From
Douai
to the seminary at Rheims

To hatch forth treason 'gainst their natural queen?

Did he not cause the King of
Spain's huge fleet

To threaten England and to menace me?

Did he not injure
monsieur that's deceased
?

Hath he not made me in the Pope's defence

To spend the treasure that should strength my land

In civil broils between Navarre and me?

Tush, to be short, he meant to
make me monk
,

110   Or else to murder me, and so be king.

Let Christian princes that shall hear of this

(As all the world shall know our Guise is dead)

Rest satisfied with this: that here I swear,

Ne'er was there king of France so
yoked
as I.

EPERNOUN

My lord, here is his son.

Enter the
GUISE'S SON
.

HENRY

Boy, look where your father lies.

GUISE'S SON

My father slain! Who hath done this deed?

HENRY

Sirrah, 'twas I
that
slew him, and will slay

Thee too an thou prove such a traitor.

GUISE'S SON

120   Art thou king and hast done this bloody deed?