_Agr._ True; the liberty Should cover it: but in thy veins there runs That which outcries thy speech; which, wert thou dumb, Would speak thee guilty, and being tongued proclaims Thy needful sentence. ’Twas done bitterly. 320 I know thy song. Dost thou believe, Britannicus, That I could give the tale another ending?— —Suppose, I say, I read it in some book Writ differently: how that the proud usurper, Owing all to his mother—dost thou follow me?— How, when he came to power, instead of sharing With her who had toiled for him, and in her love Had parted from all praise, looking to reap In him the fuller recompense of glory, How he, when time came he should make return, Denied her even the common duty owed 331 By son to mother, set her will aside, Laughed at her, added to her shames, reproached her, Mocked her with presents taken openly Out of her treasures,—as to say outright, All now is mine, thou hast no claim at all; See what I choose to give, thank me for these— Held her as nothing, hated her, brought in His strumpet to her chamber,—that was the sum— And she then, when she saw her love derided, 340 I say, repented, came to the boy she had wronged.... _Br._ I know, I know. _Agr._ Then, if thou knowest, say; What said he, when she told him she would turn Her love on him, would set him in the place Whence she had thrust him out? What said he? _Br._ Nothing. _Agr._ Nothing! _Br._ Nay, I remember he said thus: Wronged have I been by all, and none can right me; All hath been false to me save sorrow only; Justice and truth forsworn: There is no word 349 That I dare speak; yet if thou stoop to insult me My tongue will show my wrongs are not forgotten. _Agr._ My dearest boy, believe me. _Br._ The last time Thou call’dst me thus ’twas when my father died. I thought then ’twas in kindness, afterwards I found the meaning. _Agr._ Yea, I confess I wronged thee; That is my meaning now: had I not wronged thee, My speech would have no sense at all: ’tis this I come to urge: in this thou must believe me. Canst thou not see, had I no pity in me, No true remorseful pangs, yet still my wrongs 360 Would move me thus? Though thou trust not my love, Read in these tears of anger and despair The depth of my set purpose, my revenge. _Br._ I partly do believe thee. _Agr._ Believe me wholly, And my revenge is thine.