WOLSEY. Madam, you
wander from the good we aim at.
QUEEN KATHARINE. My lord, I dare not make myself so guilty,
To give up
willingly that noble title
Your master wed me to: nothing but death
Shall e'er
divorce my dignities.
WOLSEY. Pray hear me.
QUEEN KATHARINE. Would I had never trod this English earth,
Or felt the flatteries that grow upon it!
Ye have angels' faces, but heaven knows your hearts.
What will become of me now,
wretched lady?
I am the most
unhappy woman living.
[To her WOMEN] Alas, poor wenches, where are now
your fortunes?
Shipwreck'd upon a kingdom, where no pity,
No friends, no hope; no
kindred weep for me;
Almost no grave allow'd me. Like the My,
That once was
mistress of the field, and flourish'd,
I'll hang my head and perish.
WOLSEY. If your Grace
Could but be brought to know our ends are honest,
You'd feel more comfort. Why should we, good lady,
Upon what cause, wrong you? Alas, our places,
The way of our
profession" target="_blank" title="n.职业;声明;表白">
profession is against it;
We are to cure such sorrows, not to sow 'em.
For goodness' sake, consider what you do;
How you may hurt yourself, ay, utterly
Grow from the King's
acquaintance, by this carriage.
The hearts of
princes kiss obedience,
So much they love it; but to
stubborn spirits
They swell and grow as terrible as storms.
I know you have a gentle, noble temper,
A soul as even as a calm. Pray think us
Those we
profess, peace-makers, friends, and servants.
CAMPEIUS. Madam, you'll find it so. You wrong your virtues
With these weak women's fears. A noble spirit,
As yours was put into you, ever casts
Such doubts as false coin from it. The King loves you;
Beware you lose it not. For us, if you please
To trust us in your business, we are ready
To use our
utmost studies in your service.
QUEEN KATHARINE. Do what ye will my lords; and pray
forgive me
If I have us'd myself unmannerly;
You know I am a woman,
lacking wit
To make a seemly answer to such persons.
Pray do my service to his Majesty;
He has my heart yet, and shall have my prayers
While I shall have my life. Come,
reverend fathers,
Bestow your counsels on me; she now begs
That little thought, when she set
footing here,
She should have bought her dignities so dear. Exeunt
ACT III.SCENE 2.
London. The palace
Enter the DUKE OF NORFOLK, the DUKE OF SUFFOLK,
the EARL OF SURREY, and the LORD CHAMBERLAIN
NORFOLK. If you will now unite in your complaints
And force them with a
constancy, the Cardinal
Cannot stand under them: if you omit
The offer of this time, I cannot promise
But that you shall
sustain moe new disgraces
With these you bear already.
SURREY. I am joyful
To meet the least occasion that may give me
Remembrance of my father-in-law, the Duke,
To be reveng'd on him.
SUFFOLK. Which of the peers
Have uncontemn'd gone by him, or at least
Strangely neglected? When did he regard
The stamp of nobleness in any person
Out of himself?
CHAMBERLAIN. My lords, you speak your pleasures.
What he deserves of you and me I know;
What we can do to him-though now the time
Gives way to us-I much fear. If you cannot
Bar his
access to th' King, never attempt
Anything on him; for he hath a witchcraft
Over the King in's tongue.
NORFOLK. O, fear him not!
His spell in that is out; the King hath found
Matter against him that for ever mars
The honey of his language. No, he's settled,
Not to come off, in his displeasure.
SURREY. Sir,
I should be glad to hear such news as this
Once every hour.
NORFOLK. Believe it, this is true:
In the
divorce his
contrary proceedings
Are all unfolded;
wherein he appears
As I would wish mine enemy.
SURREY. How came
His practices to light?
SUFFOLK. Most Strangely.
SURREY. O, how, how?
SUFFOLK. The Cardinal's letters to the Pope miscarried,
And came to th' eye o' th' King;
wherein was read
How that the Cardinal did
entreat his Holiness
To stay the judgment o' th'
divorce; for if
It did take place, 'I do' quoth he 'perceive
My king is tangled in
affection to
A creature of the Queen's, Lady Anne Bullen.'
SURREY. Has the King this?
SUFFOLK. Believe it.
SURREY. Will this work?
CHAMBERLAIN. The King in this perceives him how he coasts
And hedges his own way. But in this point
All his tricks
founder, and he brings his physic
After his patient's death: the King already
Hath married the fair lady.
SURREY. Would he had!
SUFFOLK. May you be happy in your wish, my lord!
For, I
profess, you have it.
SURREY. Now, all my joy
Trace the conjunction!
SUFFOLK. My amen to't!
NORFOLK. An men's!
SUFFOLK. There's order given for her
coronation;
Marry, this is yet but young, and may be left
To some ears unrecounted. But, my lords,
She is a
gallant creature, and complete
In mind and feature. I
persuade me from her
Will fall some
blessing to this land, which shall
In it be memoriz'd.
SURREY. But will the King
Digest this letter of the Cardinal's?
The Lord forbid!
NORFOLK. Marry, amen!
SUFFOLK. No, no;
There be moe wasps that buzz about his nose
Will make this sting the sooner. Cardinal Campeius
Is stol'n away to Rome; hath ta'en no leave;
Has left the cause o' th' King unhandled, and
Is posted, as the agent of our Cardinal,
To second all his plot. I do assure you
The King cried 'Ha!' at this.
CHAMBERLAIN. Now, God
incense him,
And let him cry 'Ha!' louder!
NORFOLK. But, my lord,
When returns Cranmer?
SUFFOLK. He is return'd in his opinions; which
Have satisfied the King for his
divorce,
Together with all famous colleges
Almost in Christendom. Shortly, I believe,
His second marriage shall be publish'd, and
Her
coronation. Katharine no more
Shall be call'd queen, but
princess" target="_blank" title="n.公主;王妃;亲王夫人">
princess dowager
And widow to Prince Arthur.
NORFOLK. This same Cranmer's
A
worthy fellow, and hath ta'en much pain
In the King's business.
SUFFOLK. He has; and we shall see him
For it an archbishop.
NORFOLK. So I hear.
SUFFOLK. 'Tis so.
Enter WOLSEY and CROMWELL
The Cardinal!
NORFOLK. Observe, observe, he's moody.
WOLSEY. The
packet, Cromwell,
Gave't you the King?
CROMWELL. To his own hand, in's bedchamber.
WOLSEY. Look'd he o' th' inside of the paper?
CROMWELL. Presently
He did unseal them; and the first he view'd,
He did it with a serious mind; a heed
Was in his
countenance. You he bade
Attend him here this morning.
WOLSEY. Is he ready
To come abroad?
CROMWELL. I think by this he is.
WOLSEY. Leave me
awhile. Exit CROMWELL
[Aside] It shall be to the Duchess of Alencon,
The French King's sister; he shall marry her.
Anne Bullen! No, I'll no Anne Bullens for him;
There's more in't than fair
visage. Bullen!
No, we'll no Bullens. Speedily I wish
To hear from Rome. The Marchioness of Pembroke!
NORFOLK. He's discontented.
SUFFOLK. May be he hears the King
Does whet his anger to him.
SURREY. Sharp enough,
Lord, for thy justice!
WOLSEY. [Aside] The late Queen's
gentlewoman, a knight's
daughter,
To be her
mistress'
mistress! The Queen's queen!
This candle burns not clear. 'Tis I must snuff it;
Then out it goes. What though I know her virtuous
And well deserving? Yet I know her for
A spleeny Lutheran; and not
wholesome to
Our cause that she should lie i' th' bosom of
Our hard-rul'd King. Again, there is
sprung up
An
heretic, an arch one, Cranmer; one
Hath crawl'd into the favour of the King,
And is his oracle.
NORFOLK. He is vex'd at something.
Enter the KING,
reading of a
schedule, and LOVELL
SURREY. I would 'twere something that would fret the string,
The master-cord on's heart!
SUFFOLK. The King, the King!
KING. What piles of
wealth hath he accumulated
To his own portion! And what expense by th' hour
Seems to flow from him! How, i' th' name of thrift,
Does he rake this together?-Now, my lords,