Act 5. Scene III - Page 2

eternal peace,
And lay them gently on thy tender side.
Who art thou? say, that I may honour thee.

MARGARET
Margaret my name, and daughter to a king,
The King of Naples, whosoe'er thou art.

SUFFOLK
An earl I am, and Suffolk am I call'd.
Be not offended, nature's miracle,
Thou art allotted to be ta'en by me:
So doth the swan her downy cygnets save,
Keeping them prisoner underneath her wings.
Yet, if this servile usage once offend.
Go, and be free again, as Suffolk's friend.

She is going

O, stay! I have no power to let her pass;
My hand would free her, but my heart says no
As plays the sun upon the glassy streams,
Twinkling another counterfeited beam,
So seems this gorgeous beauty to mine eyes.
Fain would I woo her, yet I dare not speak:
I'll call for pen and ink, and write my mind.
Fie, de la Pole! disable not thyself;
Hast not a tongue? is she not here?
Wilt thou be daunted at a woman's sight?
Ay, beauty's princely majesty is such,
Confounds the tongue and makes the senses rough.

MARGARET
Say, Earl of Suffolk--if thy name be so--
What ransom must I pay before I pass?
For I perceive I am thy prisoner.

SUFFOLK
How canst thou tell she will deny thy suit,
Before thou make a trial of her love?

MARGARET
Why speak'st thou not? what ransom must I pay?

SUFFOLK
She's beautiful, and therefore to be woo'd;
She is a woman, therefore to be won.

MARGARET
Wilt thou accept of ransom? yea, or no.

SUFFOLK
Fond man, remember that thou hast a wife;
Then how can Margaret be thy paramour?

MARGARET
I were best to leave him, for he will not hear.

SUFFOLK
There all is marr'd; there lies a cooling card.

MARGARET
He talks at random; sure, the man is mad.

SUFFOLK
And yet a dispensation may be had.

MARGARET
And yet I would that you would answer me.

SUFFOLK
I'll win this Lady Margaret. For whom?
Why, for my king: tush, that's a wooden thing!

MARGARET
He talks of wood: it is some carpenter.

SUFFOLK
Yet so my fancy may be satisfied,
And peace established between these realms
But there remains a scruple in that too;
For though her father be the King of Naples,
Duke of Anjou and Maine, yet is he poor,
And our nobility will scorn the match.

MARGARET
Hear ye, captain, are you not at leisure?

SUFFOLK
It shall be so, disdain they ne'er so much.
Henry is youthful and will quickly yield.
Madam, I have a secret to reveal.

MARGARET
What though I be enthrall'd? he seems a knight,
And will not any way dishonour me.

SUFFOLK
Lady, vouchsafe