Enter Salisbury, Pembroke, and Bigot. SALISBURY
I did not think the King so stored with friends. PEMBROKE
Up once again. Put spirit in the French.
If they miscarry, we miscarry too. SALISBURY
That misbegotten devil, Faulconbridge,
In spite of spite, alone upholds the day. 5 PEMBROKE
They say King John, sore sick, hath left the field. Enter Melun, wounded, led by a Soldier. MELUN
Lead me to the revolts of England here. SALISBURY
When we were happy, we had other names. PEMBROKE
It is the Count Melun. SALISBURY
Wounded to death. 10 MELUN
Fly, noble English; you are bought and sold.
Unthread the rude eye of rebellion
And welcome home again discarded faith.
Seek out King John and fall before his feet,
For if the French be lords of this loud day, 15
He means to recompense the pains you take
By cutting off your heads. Thus hath he sworn,
And I with him, and many more with me,
Upon the altar at Saint Edmundsbury,
Even on that altar where we swore to you 20
Dear amity and everlasting love. SALISBURY
May this be possible? May this be true? MELUN
Have I not hideous death within my view,
Retaining but a quantity of life,
Which bleeds away even as a form of wax 25
Resolveth from his figure ’gainst the fire?
What in the world should make me now deceive,
Since I must lose the use of all deceit?
Why should I then be false, since it is true
That I must die here and live hence by truth? 30
I say again, if Louis do win the day,
He is forsworn if e’er those eyes of yours
Behold another daybreak in the East.
But even this night, whose black contagious breath
Already smokes about the burning crest 35
Of the old, feeble, and day-wearied sun,
Even this ill night your breathing shall expire,
Paying the fine of rated treachery
Even with a treacherous fine of all your lives,
If Louis by your assistance win the day. 40
Commend me to one Hubert with your king;
The love of him, and this respect besides,
For that my grandsire was an Englishman,
Awakes my conscience to confess all this.
In lieu whereof, I pray you bear me hence 45
From forth the noise and rumor of the field,
Where I may think the remnant of my thoughts
In peace, and part this body and my soul
With contemplation and devout desires. SALISBURY
We do believe thee, and beshrew my soul 50
But I do love the favor and the form
Of this most fair occasion, by the which
We will untread the steps of damnèd flight,
And like a bated and retirèd flood,
Leaving our rankness and irregular course, 55
Stoop low within those bounds we have o’erlooked
And calmly run on in obedience
Even to our ocean, to our great King John.
My arm shall give thee help to bear thee hence,
For I do see the cruel pangs of death 60
Right in thine eye.—Away, my friends! New flight,
And happy newness, that intends old right. They exit, assisting Melun. | The battle is still raging. Pembroke, Salisbury, and Bigot can't believe that King John's forces are still standing strong. And since they know the King had to leave the battlefield, they realize it's Faulconbridge (the Bastard) who's holding the English troops together. The French Count, Melun, staggers in, badly wounded. He tells the English lords to abandon their rebellion and swear allegiance to King John once more, because if the French and the rebels defeat King John, Louis the Dauphin plans to have all his English allies beheaded. What? Salisbury can't believe it, but Melun explains that since he's about to die, he figures he better tell the truth. That way he'll get a better reward in heaven. Plus, his grandfather was English, so he has some sympathy for them. None of the lords want their heads lopped off, so the take Melun at his word and head back to King John's side. |