QUEEN. Well, if my lord your brother were enlarg❜d.

KENT. I hear of late he hath depos'd himself.
QUEEN. The more my grief.

Y. MOR. And mine.

KENT. Ah, they do dissemble!

[Aside.

QUEEN. Sweet son, come hither, I must talk with

thee.

Y. MOR. You being his uncle, and the next of blood,

Do look to be protector o'er the prince.

KENT. Not I, my lord; who should protect the

son.

But she that gave him life; I mean the queen? PRINCE. Mother, persuade me not to wear the

crown;

Let him be king-I am too young to reign.

QUEEN. But be content, seeing it is his highness' pleasure.

PRINCE. Let me but see him first, and then I will.

KENT. Ay, do, sweet nephew.

QUEEN. Brother, you know it is impossible.

PRINCE. Why, is he dead?

QUEEN. No, God forbid.

KENT. I would those words proceeded from your

heart.

Y. MOR. Inconstant Edmund, dost thou favour

him,

That wast a cause of his imprisonment?

KENT. The more cause have I now to make

amends.

Y. MOR. I tell thee, 'tis not meet that one so false Should come about the person of a prince.

My lord, he hath betray'd the king his brother,
And therefore trust him not.

PRINCE. But he repents, and sorrows for it now. QUEEN. Come son, and go with this gentle lord and me.

PRINCE. With you I will, but not with Mortimer. Y. MOR. Why, youngling, 'sdain'st thou so of Mortimer?

Then I will carry thee by force away.

PRINCE. Help, uncle Kent, Mortimer will wrong

me.

QUEEN. Brother Edmund, strive not; we are his friends;

Isabel is nearer than the earl of Kent.

KENT. Sister, Edward is my charge, redeem him. QUEEN. Edward is myson, and I will keep him. KENT. Mortimer shall know that he hath wrong'd

me!

Hence will I haste to Killingworth castle,

And rescue aged Edward from his foes,
To be reveng'd on Mortimer and thee.

[Aside. [Exeunt omnes.

SCENE III

Enter MATREVIS and GURNEY with the KING. MAT. My lord, be not pensive, we are your friends;

Men are ordain'd to live in misery,

Therefore come,-dalliance dangereth our lives.
EDW. Friends, whither must unhappy Edward go?
Will hateful Mortimer appoint no rest?
Must I be vexed like the nightly bird,
Whose sight is loathsome to all winged fowls?
When will the fury of his mind assuage?
When will his heart be satisfied with blood?
If mine will serve, unbowel straight this breast,
Aad give my heart to Isabel and him;

It is the chiefest mark they level at.

GUR. Not so, my liege, the queen hath given this charge

To keep your grace in safety:

Your passions make your choler to increase.

EDW. This usage makes my misery increase.
But can my air of life continue long,

When all my senses are annoy'd with stench?
Within a dungeon England's king is kept,
Where I am starv'd for want of sustenance,
My daily diet is heart-breaking sobs,
That almost rend the closet of my heart;
Thus lives old Edward not reliev'd by any,
And so must die, though pitied by many.

VOL. II.

7

Oh, water, gentle friends, to cool my thirst,
And clear my body from foul excrements!

MAT. Here's channel water, as our charge is given;

Sit down, for we'll be barbers to your grace.

Edw. Traitors, away! what, will you murder me, Or choke your sovereign with puddle water?

GUR. No, but wash your face, and shave away your beard,

Lest you be known, and so be rescued.

MAT. Why strive you thus? your labour is in vain?

EDW. The wren may strive against the lion's strength,

But all in vain: so vainly do I strive

To seek for mercy at a tyrant's hand.

[They wash him with puddle water, and shave his
beard away.

Immortal powers! that know the painful cares
That wait upon my poor distressed soul!
O level all your looks upon these daring men,
That wrong their liege and sovereign, England's
king.

O Gaveston, it is for thee that I am wrong'd,
For me, both thou and both the Spencers died!
And for your sakes, a thousand wrongs I'll take.
The Spencers' ghosts, wherever they remain,
Wish well to mine; then tush, for them I'll die.
MAT. "Twixt their's and your's shall be no
enmity.

Come, come, away; now put the torches out,
We'll enter in by darkness to Killingworth.
Enter KENT

GUR. How now, who comes there?

MAT. Guard the king sure; it is the earl of Kent.
EDW. O, gentle brother, help to rescue me!
MAT. Keep them asunder; thrust in the king.
KENT. Soldiers, let me but talk to him one word.
GUR. Lay hands upon the earl for his assault.
KENT. Lay down your weapons, traitors, yield the
king.

MAT. Edmund, yield thou thyself, or thou shalt die. KENT. Base villains, wherefore do you gripe me thus!

GUR. Bind him and convey him to the court. KENT. Where is the court but here? here is the

king,

And I will visit him; why stay you me?

MAT. The court is where lord Mortimer remains; Thither shall your honour go; and so farewell.

[Exeunt Matrevis and Gurney, with the King. Kent and the Soldiers remain.

KENT. O miserable is that common-weal, where lords

Keep courts, and kings are lock'd in prison!

SOL. Wherefore stay we? on, sirs, to the court. KENT. Aye, lead me whither you will, even to my

death,

Seeing that my brother cannot be releas'd.

[Exeunt omnes.