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Duchess of Gloucester

madam, ye hear I am sent for.

Queen then begone:

leave me alone in desolation.

Duchess of Ireland

adieu, good aunt, I will see ye shortly there.

King Richard's kindred are not welcome here.

Queen

will ye all leave me then? oh woe is me,

I now am crowned a Queen of misery.

Duchess of Gloucester

where didst thou leave my husband, Cheyney,

speak!

Cheyney

accompenied with the Dukes of York and Lancaster

who, as I guess, intend to ride with him,

for which he wished me haste your grace's presence.

Duchess of Gloucester

thou seest the passions of the Queen are such

I may not too abruptly leave her highness;

but tell my lord I will see him presently.

Queen

sawest thou King Richard, Cheyney? prithee, tell me:

what revels keep his flattering minions?

Cheyney

they sit in council to devise strange fashions,

and suit themselves in wild and antic habits

such as this Kingdom never yet beheld:

french hose, italian cloaks, and spanish hats,

polonian shoes with peaks a handful long,

tied to their knees with chains of pearl and gold.

their plumed tops fly waving in the air

a cubit high above their wanton heads.

Tresilian with King Richard likewise sits

devising taxes, and strange shifts for money

to build again the hall at Westminster

to feast and revel in; and when abroad they come,

four hundred archers in a guard attends them.

Queen

oh, certain ruin of this famous Kingdom!

fond Richard, thou buildest a hall to feast in

and starvest thy wretched subjects to erect it.

woe to those men that thus incline thy soul

to these remorseless acts and deeds so foul!

Flourish [within]

Duchess of Gloucester

the trumpets tell us that King Richard is coming.

I will take my leave, fair Queen; but credit me

ere many days, again I will visit ye.

Duchess of Ireland

I will home to Langley, with my uncle York,

and there lament alone my wretched state.

Exeunt both the Duchesses

Queen

blest heaven conduct ye both. Queen Anne alone

for Richard's follies still must sigh and groan.

Exit Queen

Act III, Scene 1

Scene 1: London: the Court]

Sound a sennet. Enter King Richard, Bagot, Bushy, Greene and Scroope, very richly attired in new fashions; and Treslian, whispering with the King. A guard of archers after them.

King

Come, my Tresilian.

Thus like an emperor shall King Richard reign

and you so many Kings attendant on him.

our guard of archers, keep the doors, I charge ye,

let no man enter to disturb our pleasures.

thou toldest me, kind Tresilian, thou hadst devised

blank charters, to fill up our treasury

opening the chests of hoarding cormorants

that laugh to see their Kingly sovereign lack.

let us know the means, we may applaud thy wit.

Tresilian

see here, my lord: only with parchment, innocent

sheepskins. ye see here is no fraud, no clause, no

deceit in the writing.

All

why, there is nothing writ!

Tresilian

there is the trick on it!

these blank charters shall be forthwith sent

to every Shrieve through all the shires of England,

with charge to call before them presently

all landed men, freeholders, Farmers, Grasiers,

or any else that have ability.

then in your highness' name they shall be charged

to set their names, and forthwith seal these blanks.

that done, these shall return to court again,

but cartloads of money soon shall follow them.

Scroope

excellent Tresilian!

Bushy

noble lord chief justice!

Bagot

where should his grace get such a councillor!

Green

not if his beard were off! prithee Tresilian,

off with it. sfoot, thou seest we have not a beard

amongst us! thou sendest our barbers there to poll

the whole country. sfoot, let some shave thee!

Bushy

it would become thee better in faith, and make thee

look more grim when thou sitst in judgment.

Tresilian

I tell ye, gallants: I will not lose a hair of my

lordship and King Richard's favour for the pope's

revenues.

Enter the Queen Green

by your leave, there, give way to the Queen!

King

now, Anne-a-Beame, how cheers my