I’ll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall; [ccb186] I’ll slay more gazers than the basilisk; I’ll play the orator as well as Nestor, Deceive more slily than Ulysses could, And, like a Sinon, take another Troy. ·ccb190· I can add colours to the chameleon, [ccb191] Change shapes with Proteus for advantages, And set the murderous Machiavel to school. [ccb193] Can I do this, and cannot get a crown? Tut, were it farther off, I’ll pluck it down. [_Exit._ [ccb195] SCENE III. _France. The_ KING’S _palace_. _Flourish. Enter_ LEWIS _the French King, his sister_ BONA, _his Admiral, called_ BOURBON: PRINCE EDWARD, QUEEN MARGARET, _and the_ EARL OF OXFORD. LEWIS _sits, and riseth up again_. _K. Lew._ Fair Queen of England, worthy Margaret, [ccc001] Sit down with us: it ill befits thy state And birth, that thou shouldst stand while Lewis doth sit. [ccc003] _Q. Mar._ No, mighty King of France: now Margaret Must strike her sail and learn awhile to serve ·ccc005· Where kings command. I was, I must confess, Great Albion’s queen in former golden days: But now mischance hath trod my title down, And with dishonour laid me on the ground; Where I must take like seat unto my fortune, ·ccc010· And to my humble seat conform myself. [ccc011] _K. Lew._ Why, say, fair queen, whence springs this deep despair? _Q. Mar._ From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears And stops my tongue, while heart is drown’d in cares. [ccc014] _K. Lew._ Whate’er it be, be thou still like thyself, ·ccc015· And sit thee by our side: [_Seats her by him_] yield not thy neck [ccc016] To fortune’s yoke, but let thy dauntless mind Still ride in triumph over all mischance. Be plain, Queen Margaret, and tell thy grief; It shall be eased, if France can yield relief. ·ccc020· _Q. Mar._ Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts [ccc021] And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak. Now, therefore, be it known to noble Lewis, That Henry, sole possessor of my love, Is of a king become a banish’d man, ·ccc025· And forced to live in Scotland a forlorn; [ccc026] While proud ambitious Edward Duke of York Usurps the regal title and the seat Of England’s true-anointed lawful king. [ccc029] This is the cause that I, poor Margaret, ·ccc030· With this my son, Prince Edward, Henry’s heir, Am come to crave thy just and lawful aid; And if thou fail us, all our hope is done: [ccc033] Scotland hath will to help, but cannot help; Our people and our peers are both misled, ·ccc035· Our treasure seized, our soldiers put to flight, And, as thou seest, ourselves in heavy plight. _K. Lew._ Renowned queen, with patience calm the storm, [ccc038] While we bethink a means to break it off. _Q. Mar._ The more we stay, the stronger grows our foe. ·ccc040· _K. Lew._ The more I stay, the more I’ll succour thee.