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Turn this way, Henry, and regard them not.
EXETER:
They seek revenge and therefore will not yield.
KING HENRY VI:
Ah, Exeter!
WARWICK:
Why should you sigh, my lord?
KING HENRY VI:
Not for myself, Lord Warwick, but my son,
Whom I unnaturally shall disinherit.
But be it as it may: I here entail
The crown to thee and to thine heirs for ever;
Conditionally, that here thou take an oath
To cease this civil war, and, whilst I live,
To honour me as thy king and sovereign,
And neither by treason nor hostility
To seek to put me down and reign thyself.
YORK:
This oath I willingly take and will perform.
WARWICK:
Long live King Henry! Plantagenet embrace him.
KING HENRY VI:
And long live thou and these thy forward sons!
YORK:
Now York and Lancaster are reconciled.
EXETER:
Accursed be he that seeks to make them foes!
YORK:
Farewell, my gracious lord; I'll to my castle.
WARWICK:
And I'll keep London with my soldiers.
NORFOLK:
And I to Norfolk with my followers.
MONTAGUE:
And I unto the sea from whence I came.
KING HENRY VI:
And I, with grief and sorrow, to the court.
EXETER:
Here comes the queen, whose looks bewray her anger:
I'll steal away.
KING HENRY VI:
Exeter, so will I.
QUEEN MARGARET:
Nay, go not from me; I will follow thee.
KING HENRY VI:
Be patient, gentle queen, and I will stay.
QUEEN MARGARET:
Who can be patient in such extremes?
Ah, wretched man! would I had died a maid
And never seen thee, never borne thee son,
Seeing thou hast proved so unnatural a father
Hath he deserved to lose his birthright thus?
Hadst thou but loved him half so well as I,
Or felt that pain which I did for him once,
Or nourish'd him as I did with my blood,
Thou wouldst have left thy dearest heart-blood there,
Rather than have that savage duke thine heir
And disinherited thine only son.
PRINCE EDWARD:
Father, you cannot disinherit me:
If you be king, why should not I succeed?
KING HENRY VI:
Pardon me, Margaret; pardon me, sweet son:
The Earl of Warwick and the duke enforced me.
QUEEN MARGARET:
Enforced thee! art thou king, and wilt be forced?
I shame to hear thee speak. Ah, timorous wretch!
Thou hast undone thyself, thy son and me;
And given unto the house of York such head
As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance.
To entail him and his heirs unto the crown,
What is it, but to make thy sepulchre
And creep into it far before thy time?
Warwick is chancellor and the lord of Calais;
Stern Falconbridge commands the narrow seas;
The duke is made protector of the realm;
And yet shalt thou be safe? such safety finds
The trembling lamb environed with wolves.