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father, my uncle, and myself? lord Edmund Mortimer, my lord of York, and Owen Glendower? Is there not, besides, the Douglas? Have I not all their letters, to meet me in arms by the ninth of the next month? and are they not, some of them, set forward already? What a pagan rascal is this! an infidel! Ha! you shall see now, in very sincerity of fear and cold heart, will he to the king, and lay open all our proceedings. O, I could divide myself, and go to buffets, for moving such a dish of skimmed milk with so honorable an action! Hang him! let him tell the king. We are prepared; I will set forward to-night.

Enter LADY PERCY.

How now, Kate? I must leave you within these two hours.

Lady. O, my good lord, why are you thus alone? For what offence have I, this fortnight, been A banished woman from my Harry's bed? Tell me, sweet lord, what is't that takes from thee Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep? Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth, And start so often when thou sit'st alone? Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks, And given my treasures, and my rights of thee, To thick-eyed musing, and cursed melancholy? In thy faint slumbers, I by thee have watched, And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars; Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed; Cry, Courage!-to the field! And thou hast talked Of sallies, and retires; of trenches, tents, Of palisadoes, frontiers,3 parapets;

1 Shakspeare either mistook the name of Hotspur's wife (which was not Katharine, but Elizabeth), or else designedly changed it, out of the remarkable fondness he seems to have had for the name of Kate. Hall and Holinshed call her, erroneously, Elinor.

2 Retires are retreats.

3 Frontiers formerly meant, not only the bounds of different territories, but also the forts built along or near those limits.

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Of basilisks,' of cannon, culverin;

Of prisoners' ransom, and of soldiers slain,
And all the 'currents 2 of a heady fight.
Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war,
And thus hath so bestirred thee in thy sleep,
That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow,
Like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream;

And in thy face strange motions have appeared,
Such as we see when men restrain their breath
On some great sudden haste. O, what portents are
these?

Some heavy business hath my lord in hand,

And I must know it, else he loves me not.

Hot. What, ho! is Gilliams with the packet gone?

Enter Servant.

Serv. He is, my lord, an hour ago.

Hot. Hath Butler brought those horses from the sheriff?

Serv. One horse, my lord, he brought even now. Hot. What horse? a roan, a crop-ear, is it not? Serv. It is, my lord.

Hot.

That roan shall be my throne. Well, I will back him straight. O esperance!-3

Bid Butler lead him forth into the park.

[Exit Servant.

Lady. But hear you, my lord.
Hot. What say'st thou, my lady?
Lady. What is it carries you away?
Hot. Why, my horse, my love, my horse.
Lady. Out, you mad-headed ape!

A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen,
As you are tossed with. In faith,

I'll know your business, Harry, that I will.

I fear

my brother Mortimer doth stir

1 Basilisks are a species of ordnance, probably so named from the imaginary serpent or dragon, with figures of which it was ordinary to orna. ment great guns.

2 Occurrences.

3 The motto of the Percy family.

About his title; and hath sent for you,
To line his enterprise. But if you go-
Hot. So far afoot, I shall be weary, love.
Lady. Come, come, you paraquito, answer me
Directly to this question that I ask.

In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry,
An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.
Hot. Away,

Away, you trifler!-Love? I love thee not,
I care not for thee, Kate. This is no world,
To play with mammets, and to tilt with lips;
We must have bloody noses, and cracked crowns,
And pass them current too.-Gods me, my horse!—
What say'st thou, Kate? what wouldst thou have
with me?

Lady. Do you not love me? do you not indeed?
Well, do not then; for since you love me not,
I will not love myself. Do you not love me?
Nay, tell me, if you speak in jest, or no?
Hot. Come, wilt thou see me ride?
And when I am o'horseback, I will swear
I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate;
I must not have you henceforth question me
Whither I go, nor reason whereabout.
Whither I must, I must; and, to conclude,
This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate.
I know you wise; but yet no further wise,
Than Harry Percy's wife: constant you are;
But yet a woman: and for secrecy,

No lady closer; for I well believe

Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know;
And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.
Lady. How! so far?

Hot. Not an inch further. But hark
Whither I go, thither shall you go too;

1 i. e. to strengthen.

you, Kate!

2 Mammets were puppets or dolls, here used by Shakspeare for a female plaything; a diminutive of mam. Mr. Gifford has thrown out a conjecture about the meaning of mammets from the Italian mammetta, which signified a bosom as well as a young wench.

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