EDWARD. I know it, son; I am not thankless: thou Hast broken all my foes, lighten'd for me The weight of this poor crown, and left me time And peace for prayer to gain a better one. Twelve years of service! England loves thee for it. Thou art the man to rule her! ALDWYTH (_aside_). So, not Tostig! HAROLD. And after those twelve years a boon, my king, Respite, a holiday: thyself wast wont To love the chase: thy leave to set my feet On board, and hunt and hawk beyond the seas! EDWARD. What, with this flaming horror overhead? HAROLD. Well, when it passes then. EDWARD. Ay if it pass. Go not to Normandy--go not to Normandy. HAROLD. And wherefore not, my king, to Normandy? Is not my brother Wulfnoth hostage there For my dead father's loyalty to thee? I pray thee, let me hence and bring him home. EDWARD. Not thee, my son: some other messenger. HAROLD. And why not me, my lord, to Normandy? Is not the Norman Count thy friend and mine? EDWARD. I pray thee, do not go to Normandy. HAROLD. Because my father drove the Normans out Of England?--That was many a summer gone-- Forgotten and forgiven by them and thee. EDWARD. Harold, I will not yield thee leave to go. HAROLD. Why then to Flanders. I will hawk and hunt In Flanders. EDWARD. Be there not fair woods and fields In England? Wilful, wilful. Go--the Saints Pilot and prosper all thy wandering out And homeward. Tostig, I am faint again. Son Harold, I will in and pray for thee. [_Exit, leaning on_ TOSTIG, _and followed by_ STIGAND, MORCAR, _and_ COURTIERS. HAROLD. What lies upon the mind of our good king That he should harp this way on Normandy? QUEEN. Brother, the king is wiser than he seems; And Tostig knows it; Tostig loves the king. HAROLD. And love should know; and--be the king so wise,-- Then Tostig too were wiser than he seems. I love the man but not his phantasies. _Re-enter_ TOSTIG. Well, brother, When didst thou hear from thy Northumbria? TOSTIG. When did I hear aught but this '_When_' from thee? Leave me alone, brother, with my Northumbria: She is _my_ mistress, let _me_ look to her! The King hath made me Earl; make me not fool! Nor make the King a fool, who made me Earl! HAROLD. No, Tostig--lest I make myself a fool Who made the King who made thee, make thee Earl. TOSTIG. Why chafe me then? Thou knowest I soon go wild. GURTH. Come, come! as yet thou art not gone so wild But thou canst hear the best and wisest of us. HAROLD. So says old Gurth, not I: yet hear! thine earldom, Tostig, hath been a kingdom. Their old crown Is yet a force among them, a sun set But leaving light enough for Alfgar's house To strike thee down by--nay, this ghastly glare May heat their fancies. TOSTIG. My most worthy brother, Thou art the quietest man in all the world-- Ay, ay and wise in peace and great in war-- Pray God the people choose thee for their king! But all the powers of the house of Godwin Are not enframed in thee.