ARKCODEX
Act IV, Scene 4
1Before the palace.
2Enter Queen Margaret.
3Queen MargaretSo, now prosperity begins to mellow
And drop into the rotten mouth of death.
Here in these confines slily have I lurk’d,
To watch the waning of mine adversaries.
A dire induction am I witness to,
And will to France, hoping the consequence
Will prove as bitter, black, and tragical.
Withdraw thee, wretched Margaret: who comes here?
4Enter Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess of York.
5Queen ElizabethAh, my young princes! ah, my tender babes!
My unblown flowers, new-appearing sweets!
If yet your gentle souls fly in the air
And be not fix’d in doom perpetual,
Hover about me with your airy wings
And hear your mother’s lamentation!
6Queen MargaretHover about her; say, that right for right
Hath dimm’d your infant morn to aged night.
7DuchessSo many miseries have crazed my voice,
That my woe-wearied tongue is mute and dumb,
Edward Plantagenet, why art thou dead?
8Queen MargaretPlantagenet doth quit Plantagenet.
Edward for Edward pays a dying debt.
9Queen ElizabethWilt thou, O God, fly from such gentle lambs,
And throw them in the entrails of the wolf?
When didst thou sleep when such a deed was done?
10Queen MargaretWhen holy Harry died, and my sweet son.
11DuchessBlind sight, dead life, poor mortal living ghost,
Woe’s scene, world’s shame, grave’s due by life usurp’d,
Brief abstract and record of tedious days,
Rest thy unrest on England’s lawful earth, Sitting down.
Unlawfully made drunk with innocents’ blood!
12Queen ElizabethO, that thou wouldst as well afford a grave
As thou canst yield a melancholy seat!
Then would I hide my bones, not rest them here.
O, who hath any cause to mourn but I? Sitting down by her.
13Queen MargaretIf ancient sorrow be most reverend,
Give mine the benefit of seniory,
And let my woes frown on the upper hand.
If sorrow can admit society, Sitting down with them.
Tell o’er your woes again by viewing mine:
I had an Edward, till a Richard kill’d him;
I had a Harry, till a Richard kill’d him:
Thou hadst an Edward, till a Richard kill’d him;
Thou hadst a Richard, till a Richard killed him;
14DuchessI had a Richard too, and thou didst kill him;
I had a Rutland too, thou holp’st to kill him.
15Queen MargaretThou hadst a Clarence too, and Richard kill’d him.
From forth the kennel of thy womb hath crept
A hell-hound that doth hunt us all to death:
That dog, that had his teeth before his eyes,
To worry lambs and lap their gentle blood,
That foul defacer of God’s handiwork,
That excellent grand tyrant of the earth,
That reigns in galled eyes of weeping souls,
Thy womb let loose, to chase us to our graves.
O upright, just, and true-disposing God,
How do I thank thee, that this carnal cur
Preys on the issue of his mother’s body,
And makes her pew-fellow with others’ moan!
16DuchessO Harry’s wife, triumph not in my woes!
God witness with me, I have wept for thine.
17Queen MargaretBear with me; I am hungry for revenge,
And now I cloy me with beholding it.
Thy Edward he is dead, that stabb’d my Edward;
Thy other Edward dead, to quit my Edward;
Young York he is but boot, because both they
Match not the high perfection of my loss:
Thy Clarence he is dead that kill’d my Edward;
And the beholders of this tragic play,
The adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey,
Untimely smother’d in their dusky graves.
Richard yet lives, hell’s black intelligencer,
Only reserved their factor, to buy souls
And send them thither: but at hand, at hand,
Ensues his piteous and unpitied end:
Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray,
To have him suddenly convey’d away.
Cancel his bond of life, dear God, I pray,
That I may live to say, The dog is dead!
18Queen ElizabethO, thou didst prophesy the time would come
That I should wish for thee to help me curse
That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back’d toad!
19Queen MargaretI call’d thee then vain flourish of my fortune;
I call’d thee then poor shadow, painted queen;
The presentation of but what I was;
The flattering index of a direful pageant;
One heaved a-high, to be hurl’d down below;
A mother only mock’d with two sweet babes;
A dream of what thou wert, a breath, a bubble,
A sign of dignity, a garish flag,
To be the aim of every dangerous shot;
A queen in jest, only to fill the scene.
Where is thy husband now? where be thy brothers?
Where are thy children? wherein dost thou joy?
Who sues to thee and cries “God save the queen”?
Where be the bending peers that flatter’d thee?
Where be the thronging troops that follow’d thee?
Decline all this, and see what now thou art:
For happy wife, a most distressed widow;
For joyful mother, one that wails the name;
For queen, a very caitiff crown’d with care;
For one being sued to, one that humbly sues;
For one that scorn’d at me, now scorn’d of me;
For one being fear’d of all, now fearing one;
For one commanding all, obey’d of none.
Thus hath the course of justice wheel’d about,
And left thee but a very prey to time;
Having no more but thought of what thou wert,
To torture thee the more, being what thou art.
Thou didst usurp my place, and dost thou not
Usurp the just proportion of my sorrow?
Now thy proud neck bears half my burthen’d yoke;
From which even here I slip my weary neck,
And leave the burthen of it all on thee.
Farewell, York’s wife, and queen of sad mischance:
These English woes will make me smile in France.
20Queen ElizabethO thou well skill’d in curses, stay awhile,
And teach me how to curse mine enemies!
21Queen MargaretForbear to sleep the nights, and fast the days;
Compare dead happiness with living woe;
Think that thy babes were fairer than they were,
And he that slew them fouler than he is:
Bettering thy loss makes the bad causer worse:
Revolving this will teach thee how to curse.
22Queen ElizabethMy words are dull; O, quicken them with thine!
23Queen MargaretThy woes will make them sharp, and pierce like mine. Exit.
24DuchessWhy should calamity be full of words?
25Queen ElizabethWindy attorneys to their client woes,
Airy succeeders of intestate joys,
Poor breathing orators of miseries!
Let them have scope: though what they do impart
Help not all, yet do they ease the heart.
26DuchessIf so, then be not tongue-tied: go with me,
And in the breath of bitter words let’s smother
My damned son, which thy two sweet sons smother’d.
I hear his drum: be copious in exclaims.
27Enter King Richard, marching, with drums and trumpets.
28King RichardWho intercepts my expedition?
29DuchessO, she that might have intercepted thee,
By strangling thee in her accursed womb,
From all the slaughters, wretch, that thou hast done!
30Queen ElizabethHidest thou that forehead with a golden crown,
Where should be graven, if that right were right,
The slaughter of the prince that owed that crown,
And the dire death of my two sons and brothers?
Tell me, thou villain slave, where are my children?
31DuchessThou toad, thou toad, where is thy brother Clarence?
And little Ned Plantagenet, his son?
32Queen ElizabethWhere is kind Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey?
33King RichardA flourish, trumpets! strike alarum, drums!
Let not the heavens hear these tell-tale women
Rail on the Lord’s enointed: strike, I say! Flourish. Alarums.
Either be patient, and entreat me fair,
Or with the clamorous report of war
Thus will I drown your exclamations.
34DuchessArt thou my son?
35King RichardAy, I thank God, my father, and yourself.
36DuchessThen patiently hear my impatience.
37King RichardMadam, I have a touch of your condition,
Which cannot brook the accent of reproof.
38DuchessO, let me speak!
39King RichardDo then; but I’ll not hear.
40DuchessI will be mild and gentle in my speech.
41King RichardAnd brief, good mother; for I am in haste.
42DuchessArt thou so hasty? I have stay’d for thee,
God knows, in anguish, pain and agony.
43King RichardAnd came I not at last to comfort you?
44DuchessNo, by the holy rood, thou know’st it well,
Thou camest on earth to make the earth my hell.
A grievous burthen was thy birth to me;
Tetchy and wayward was thy infancy;
Thy school-days frightful, desperate, wild, and furious,
Thy prime of manhood daring, bold, and venturous,
Thy age confirm’d, proud, subdued, bloody, treacherous,
More mild, but yet more harmful, kind in hatred:
What comfortable hour canst thou name,
That ever graced me in thy company?
45King RichardFaith, none, but Humphrey Hour, that call’d your grace
To breakfast once forth of my company.
If I be so disgracious in your sight,
Let me march on, and not offend your grace.
Strike the drum.
46DuchessI prithee, hear me speak.
47King RichardYou speak too bitterly.
48DuchessHear me a word;
For I shall never speak to thee again.
49King RichardSo.
50DuchessEither thou wilt die, by God’s just ordinance,
Ere from this war thou turn a conqueror,
Or I with grief and extreme age shall perish
And never look upon thy face again.
Therefore take with thee my most heavy curse;
Which, in the day of battle, tire thee more
Than all the complete armour that thou wear’st!
My prayers on the adverse party fight;
And there the little souls of Edward’s children
Whisper the spirits of thine enemies
And promise them success and victory.
Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end;
Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend. Exit.
51Queen ElizabethThough far more cause, yet much less spirit to curse
Abides in me; I say amen to all.
52King RichardStay, madam; I must speak a word with you.
53Queen ElizabethI have no more sons of the royal blood
For thee to murder: for my daughters, Richard,
They shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens;
And therefore level not to hit their lives.
54King RichardYou have a daughter call’d Elizabeth,
Virtuous and fair, royal and gracious.
55Queen ElizabethAnd must she die for this? O, let her live,
And I’ll corrupt her manners, stain her beauty;
Slander myself as false to Edward’s bed;
Throw over her the veil of infamy:
So she may live unscarr’d of bleeding slaughter,
I will confess she was not Edward’s daughter.
56King RichardWrong not her birth, she is of royal blood.
57Queen ElizabethTo save her life, I’ll say she is not so.
58King RichardHer life is only safest in her birth.
59Queen ElizabethAnd only in that safety died her brothers.
60King RichardLo, at their births good stars were opposite.
61Queen ElizabethNo, to their lives bad friends were contrary.
62King RichardAll unavoided is the doom of destiny.
63Queen ElizabethTrue, when avoided grace makes destiny:
My babes were destined to a fairer death,
If grace had bless’d thee with a fairer life.
64King RichardYou speak as if that I had slain my cousins.
65Queen ElizabethCousins, indeed; and by their uncle cozen’d
Of comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life.
Whose hand soever lanced their tender hearts,
Thy head, all indirectly, gave direction:
No doubt the murderous knife was dull and blunt
Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart,
To revel in the entrails of my lambs.
But that still use of grief makes wild grief tame,
My tongue should to thy ears not name my boys
Till that my nails were anchor’d in thine eyes;
And I, in such a desperate bay of death,
Like a poor bark, of sails and tackling reft,
Rush all to pieces on thy rocky bosom.
66King RichardMadam, so thrive I in my enterprise
And dangerous success of bloody wars,
As I intend more good to you and yours
Than ever you or yours were by me wrong’d!
67Queen ElizabethWhat good is cover’d with the face of heaven,
To be discover’d, that can do me good?
68King RichardThe advancement of your children, gentle lady.
69Queen ElizabethUp to some scaffold, there to lose their heads?
70King RichardNo, to the dignity and height of honour,
The high imperial type of this earth’s glory.
71Queen ElizabethFlatter my sorrows with report of it;
Tell me what state, what dignity, what honour,
Canst thou demise to any child of mine?
72King RichardEven all I have; yea, and myself and all,
Will I withal endow a child of thine;
So in the Lethe of thy angry soul
Thou drown the sad remembrance of those wrongs
Which thou supposest I have done to thee.
73Queen ElizabethBe brief, lest that be process of thy kindness
Last longer telling than thy kindness’ date.
74King RichardThen know, that from my soul I love thy daughter.
75Queen ElizabethMy daughter’s mother thinks it with her soul.
76King RichardWhat do you think?
77Queen ElizabethThat thou dost love my daughter from thy soul:
So from thy soul’s love didst thou love her brothers;
And from my heart’s love I do thank thee for it.
78King RichardBe not so hasty to confound my meaning:
I mean, that with my soul I love thy daughter,
And mean to make her queen of England.
79Queen ElizabethSay then, who dost thou mean shall be her king?
80King RichardEven he that makes her queen: who should be else?
81Queen ElizabethWhat, thou?
82King RichardI, even I: what think you of it, madam?
83Queen ElizabethHow canst thou woo her?
84King RichardThat would I learn of you,
As one that are best acquainted with her humour.
85Queen ElizabethAnd wilt thou learn of me?
86King RichardMadam, with all my heart.
87Queen ElizabethSend to her, by the man that slew her brothers,
A pair of bleeding-hearts; thereon engrave
Edward and York; then haply she will weep:
Therefore present to her—as sometime Margaret
Did to thy father, steep’d in Rutland’s blood—
A handkerchief; which, say to her, did drain
The purple sap from her sweet brother’s body.
And bid her dry her weeping eyes therewith.
If this inducement force her not to love,
Send her a story of thy noble acts;
Tell her thou madest away her uncle Clarence,
Her uncle Rivers; yea, and, for her sake,
Madest quick conveyance with her good aunt Anne.
88King RichardCome, come, you mock me; this is not the way
To win our daughter.
89Queen ElizabethThere is no other way;
Unless thou couldst put on some other shape,
And not be Richard that hath done all this.
90King RichardSay that I did all this for love of her.
91Queen ElizabethNay, then indeed she cannot choose but hate thee,
Having bought love with such a bloody spoil.
92King RichardLook, what is done cannot be now amended:
Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes,
Which after hours give leisure to repent.
If I did take the kingdom from your sons,
To make amends, Ill give it to your daughter.
If I have kill’d the issue of your womb,
To quicken your increase, I will beget
Mine issue of your blood upon your daughter:
A grandam’s name is little less in love
Than is the doting title of a mother;
They are as children but one step below,
Even of your mettle, of your very blood;
Of all one pain, save for a night of groans
Endured of her, for whom you bid like sorrow.
Your children were vexation to your youth,
But mine shall be a comfort to your age.
The loss you have is but a son being king,
And by that loss your daughter is made queen.
I cannot make you what amends I would,
Therefore accept such kindness as I can.
Dorset your son, that with a fearful soul
Leads discontented steps in foreign soil,
This fair alliance quickly shall call home
To high promotions and great dignity:
The king, that calls your beauteous daughter wife,
Familiarly shall call thy Dorset brother;
Again shall you be mother to a king,
And all the ruins of distressful times
Repair’d with double riches of content.
What! we have many goodly days to see:
The liquid drops of tears that you have shed
Shall come again, transform’d to orient pearl,
Advantaging their loan with interest
Of ten times double gain of happiness.
Go, then my mother, to thy daughter go;
Make bold her bashful years with your experience;
Prepare her ears to hear a wooer’s tale;
Put in her tender heart the aspiring flame
Of golden sovereignty; acquaint the princess
With the sweet silent hours of marriage joys:
And when this arm of mine hath chastised
The petty rebel, dull-brain’d Buckingham,
Bound with triumphant garlands will I come
And lead thy daughter to a conqueror’s bed;
To whom I will retail my conquest won,
And she shall be sole victress, Caesar’s Caesar.
93Queen ElizabethWhat were I best to say? her father’s brother
Would be her lord? or shall I say, her uncle?
Or, he that slew her brothers and her uncles?
Under what title shall I woo for thee,
That God, the law, my honour and her love,
Can make seem pleasing to her tender years?
94King RichardInfer fair England’s peace by this alliance.
95Queen ElizabethWhich she shall purchase with still lasting war.
96King RichardSay that the king, which may command, entreats.
97Queen ElizabethThat at her hands which the king’s King forbids.
98King RichardSay, she shall be a high and mighty queen.
99Queen ElizabethTo wail the tide, as her mother doth.
100King RichardSay, I will love her everlastingly.
101Queen ElizabethBut how long shall that title “ever” last?
102King RichardSweetly in force unto her fair life’s end.
103Queen ElizabethBut how long fairly shall her sweet life last?
104King RichardSo long as heaven and nature lengthens it.
105Queen ElizabethSo long as hell and Richard likes of it.
106King RichardSay, I, her sovereign, am her subject love.
107Queen ElizabethBut she, your subject, loathes such sovereignty.
108King RichardBe eloquent in my behalf to her.
109Queen ElizabethAn honest tale speeds best being plainly told.
110King RichardThen in plain terms tell her my loving tale.
111Queen ElizabethPlain and not honest is too harsh a style.
112King RichardYour reasons are too shallow and too quick.
113Queen ElizabethO no, my reasons are too deep and dead;
Too deep and dead, poor infants, in their grave.
114King RichardHarp not on that string, madam; that is past.
115Queen ElizabethHarp on it still shall I till heart-strings break.
116King RichardNow, by my George, my garter, and my crown—
117Queen ElizabethProfaned, dishonour’d, and the third usurp’d.
118King RichardI swear—
119Queen ElizabethBy nothing; for this is no oath:
The George, profaned, hath lost his holy honour;
The garter, blemish’d, pawn’d his knightly virtue;
The crown, usurp’d, disgraced his kingly glory.
If something thou wilt swear to be believed,
Swear then by something that thou hast not wrong’d.
120King RichardNow, by the world—
121Queen Elizabeth’Tis full of thy foul wrongs.
122King RichardMy father’s death—
123Queen ElizabethThy life hath that dishonour’d.
124King RichardThen, by myself—
125Queen ElizabethThyself thyself misusest.
126King RichardWhy then, by God—
127Queen ElizabethGod’s wrong is most of all.
If thou hadst fear’d to break an oath by Him,
The unity the king thy brother made
Had not been broken, nor my brother slain:
If thou hadst fear’d to break an oath by Him,
The imperial metal, circling now thy brow,
Had graced the tender temples of my child,
And both the princes had been breathing here,
Which now, two tender playfellows to dust,
Thy broken faith hath made a prey for worms.
What canst thou swear by now?
128King RichardThe time to come.
129Queen ElizabethThat thou hast wronged in the time o’erpast;
For I myself have many tears to wash
Hereafter time, for time past wrong’d by thee.
The children live, whose parents thou hast slaughter’d,
Ungovern’d youth, to wail it in their age;
The parents live, whose children thou hast butcher’d,
Old wither’d plants, to wail it with their age.
Swear not by time to come; for that thou hast
Misused ere used, by time misused o’erpast.
130King RichardAs I intend to prosper and repent,
So thrive I in my dangerous attempt
Of hostile arms! myself myself confound!
Heaven and fortune bar me happy hours!
Day, yield me not thy light; nor, night, thy rest!
Be opposite all planets of good luck
To my proceedings, if, with pure heart’s love,
Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts,
I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter!
In her consists my happiness and thine;
Without her, follows to this land and me,
To thee, herself, and many a Christian soul,
Death, desolation, ruin and decay:
It cannot be avoided but by this;
It will not be avoided but by this.
Therefore, good mother—I must can you so—
Be the attorney of my love to her:
Plead what I will be, not what I have been;
Not my deserts, but what I will deserve:
Urge the necessity and state of times,
And be not peevish-fond in great designs.
131Queen ElizabethShall I be tempted of the devil thus?
132King RichardAy, if the devil tempt thee to do good.
133Queen ElizabethShall I forget myself to be myself?
134King RichardAy, if yourself’s remembrance wrong yourself.
135Queen ElizabethBut thou didst kill my children.
136King RichardBut in your daughter’s womb I bury them:
Where in that nest of spicery they shall breed
Selves of themselves, to your recomforture.
137Queen ElizabethShall I go win my daughter to thy will?
138King RichardAnd be a happy mother by the deed.
139Queen ElizabethI go. Write to me very shortly,
And you shall understand from me her mind.
140King RichardBear her my true love’s kiss; and so, farewell. Exit Queen Elizabeth.
Relenting fool, and shallow, changing woman!
141Enter Ratcliff; Catesby following.
142How now! what news?
143RatcliffMy gracious sovereign, on the western coast
Rideth a puissant navy; to the shore
Throng many doubtful hollow-hearted friends,
Unarm’d, and unresolved to beat them back:
’Tis thought that Richmond is their admiral;
And there they hull, expecting but the aid
Of Buckingham to welcome them ashore.
144King RichardSome light-foot friend post to the Duke of Norfolk:
Ratcliff, thyself, or Catesby; where is he?
145CatesbyHere, my lord.
146King RichardFly to the duke: To Ratcliff. Post thou to Salisbury:
When thou comest thither—To Catesby. Dull, unmindful villain,
Why stand’st thou still, and go’st not to the duke?
147CatesbyFirst, mighty sovereign, let me know your mind,
What from your grace I shall deliver to him.
148King RichardO, true, good Catesby: bid him levy straight
The greatest strength and power he can make,
And meet me presently at Salisbury.
149CatesbyI go. Exit.
150RatcliffWhat is’t your highness’ pleasure I shall do
At Salisbury?
151King RichardWhy, what wouldst thou do there before I go?
152RatcliffYour highness told me I should post before.
153King RichardMy mind is changed, sir, my mind is changed.
154Enter Lord Stanley.
155How now, what news with you?
156StanleyNone good, my lord, to please you with the hearing;
Nor none so bad, but it may well be told.
157King RichardHoyday, a riddle! neither good nor bad!
Why dost thou run so many mile about,
When thou mayst tell thy tale a nearer way?
Once more, what news?
158StanleyRichmond is on the seas.
159King RichardThere let him sink, and be the seas on him!
White-liver’d runagate, what doth he there?
160StanleyI know not, mighty sovereign, but by guess.
161King RichardWell, sir, as you guess, as you guess?
162StanleyStirr’d up by Dorset, Buckingham, and Ely,
He makes for England, there to claim the crown.
163King RichardIs the chair empty? is the sword unsway’d?
Is the king dead? the empire unpossess’d?
What heir of York is there alive but we?
And who is England’s king but great York’s heir?
Then, tell me, what doth he upon the sea?
164StanleyUnless for that, my liege, I cannot guess.
165King RichardUnless for that he comes to be your liege,
You cannot guess wherefore the Welshman comes.
Thou wilt revolt, and fly to him, I fear.
166StanleyNo, mighty liege; therefore mistrust me not.
167King RichardWhere is thy power, then, to beat him back?
Where are thy tenants and thy followers?
Are they not now upon the western shore,
Safe-conducting the rebels from their ships!
168StanleyNo, my good lord, my friends are in the north.
169King RichardCold friends to Richard: what do they in the north,
When they should serve their sovereign in the west?
170StanleyThey have not been commanded, mighty sovereign:
Please it your majesty to give me leave,
I’ll muster up my friends, and meet your grace
Where and what time your majesty shall please.
171King RichardAy, ay, thou wouldst be gone to join with Richmond:
I will not trust you, sir.
172StanleyMost mighty sovereign,
You have no cause to hold my friendship doubtful:
I never was nor never will be false.
173King RichardWell,
Go muster men; but, hear you, leave behind
Your son, George Stanley: look your faith be firm,
Or else his head’s assurance is but frail.
174StanleySo deal with him as I prove true to you. Exit.
175Enter a Messenger.
176MessengerMy gracious sovereign, now in Devonshire,
As I by friends am well advertised,
Sir Edward Courtney, and the haughty prelate
Bishop of Exeter, his brother there,
With many more confederates, are in arms.
177Enter another Messenger.
178Second MessengerMy liege, in Kent the Guildfords are in arms;
And every hour more competitors
Flock to their aid, and still their power increaseth.
179Enter another Messenger.
180Third MessengerMy lord, the army of the Duke of Buckingham—
181King RichardOut on you, owls! nothing but songs of death? He striketh him.
Take that, until thou bring me better news.
182Third MessengerThe news I have to tell your majesty
Is, that by sudden floods and fall of waters,
Buckingham’s army is dispersed and scatter’d;
And he himself wander’d away alone,
No man knows whither.
183King RichardI cry thee mercy:
There is my purse to cure that blow of thine.
Hath any well-advised friend proclaim’d
Reward to him that brings the traitor in?
184Third MessengerSuch proclamation hath been made, my liege.
185Enter another Messenger.
186Fourth MessengerSir Thomas Lovel and Lord Marquis Dorset,
’Tis said, my liege, in Yorkshire are in arms.
Yet this good comfort bring I to your grace,
The Breton navy is dispersed by tempest:
Richmond, in Yorkshire, sent out a boat
Unto the shore, to ask those on the banks
If they were his assistants, yea or no;
Who answer’d him, they came from Buckingham
Upon his party: he, mistrusting them,
Hoisted sail and made away for Brittany.
187King RichardMarch on, march on, since we are up in arms;
If not to fight with foreign enemies,
Yet to beat down these rebels here at home.
188Reenter Catesby.
189CatesbyMy liege, the Duke of Buckingham is taken;
That is the best news: that the Earl of Richmond
Is with a mighty power landed at Milford,
Is colder tidings, yet they must be told.
190King RichardAway towards Salisbury! while we reason here,
A royal battle might be won and lost:
Some one take order Buckingham be brought
To Salisbury; the rest march on with me. Flourish. Exeunt.