K. Edw.
Why so: now have I ^note done a good day's work:
You peers, continue this ^note united league:
I every day expect an embassage
From my Redeemer to redeem ^note me hence;
And now in peace ^note my soul shall part to ^note heaven,
Since I have set ^note my friends ^note at peace on earth.
Rivers and Hastings ^note, take each other's hand;
Dissemble not your hatred, swear your love.

Riv.
By heaven, my soul ^note is purged from grudging hate;
And with my hand I seal my true heart's love.

Hast.
So thrive I, as I truly ^note swear the like!

K. Edw.
Take heed you dally not before your king;
Lest he that is the supreme King of kings
Confound your hidden falsehood and award
Either of you to be the other's end.

Hast.
So prosper I, as I swear perfect love!

Riv.
And I, as I love Hastings with my heart!

K. Edw.
Madam, yourself are not ^note exempt in this ^note,
Nor your son ^note Dorset; Buckingham, nor you;
You have been factious one against the other.
Wife, love Lord Hastings, let him kiss your hand;
And what you do, do it unfeignedly.

Q. Eliz.
Here ^note, Hastings; I will never more remember
Our former hatred, so thrive I and mine!

K. Edw.
Dorset, embrace him; Hastings, love lord marquess ^note.

Dor.
This ^note interchange of love, I here protest,
Upon my part shall be unviolable ^note.

Hast.
And so swear I ^note, my lord ^note. [They embrace. ^note

K. Edw.
Now, princely Buckingham, seal thou ^note this league
With thy embracements ^note to my wife's ^note allies,
And make me happy in your ^note unity.

Buck. [To the Queen ^note]
Whenever Buckingham doth turn his hate
On you or yours but with all ^note duteous love
Doth cherish you and yours, God punish me
With hate in those where I expect most love!
When I have most need to employ a friend,
And most assured that he is a friend,
Deep, hollow, treacherous and full of guile,
Be he unto ^note me! this do I beg of God ^note,
When I am cold in zeal ^note to you or yours. [They embrace. ^note

K. Edw.
A pleasing cordial, princely Buckingham,
Is this thy vow unto my sickly heart.
There wanteth now our brother Gloucester here,
To make the perfect ^note period of this peace.

Buck.
And, in good time, here comes the noble duke. ^note Enter Gloucester. ^note

Glou.
Good morrow to my sovereign king and queen;
And, princely peers, a happy time of day!

K. Edw.
Happy indeed, as we have spent the day.
Brother ^note, we have done deeds of charity;
Made peace of enmity, fair love of hate,
Between these swelling wrong-incensed ^note peers.

Glou.
A blessed labour, my ^note most sovereign liege ^note:
Amongst ^note this princely heap, if any here,
By false intelligence, or wrong surmise,
Hold me a foe;
If I unwittingly ^note, or in my rage ^{note note},
Have aught ^note committed that is hardly borne
By ^note any in this presence, I desire
To reconcile me to his ^note friendly peace:
'Tis death to me to be at enmity;
I hate it, and desire all good men's love.
First ^note, madam, I entreat true ^note peace of you,
Which I will ^note purchase with my duteous service;
Of you, my noble cousin Buckingham,

If ever any grudge were lodged between us;
Of you, Lord Rivers, and, Lord Grey, of you ^note, ^note
That all without desert have frown'd on me;
Dukes, earls, lords, gentlemen; indeed, of all.
I do not know that Englishman alive
With whom my soul is any jot at odds
More than the infant that is born to-night:
I thank my God for my humility.

Q. Eliz.
A holy day ^note shall this be kept hereafter:
I would to God all strifes ^note were well compounded.
My sovereign liege ^note, I do beseech your ^note majesty ^note
To take our brother Clarence to your grace.

Glou.
Why, madam, have I offer'd love for this,
To be so flouted ^note in this royal presence?
Who knows not that the noble ^note duke is dead? [They all start. ^note
You do him injury to scorn his corse.

Riv. ^note
Who knows not he is dead! who knows he is? ^note

Q. Eliz.
All-seeing heaven, what a world is this!

Buck.
Look I so pale, Lord Dorset, as the rest?

Dor.
Ay, my good lord; and no one ^note in this presence ^note
But his red colour hath forsook his cheeks.

K. Edw.
Is Clarence dead? the order was reversed.

Glou.
But he, poor soul ^note, by your ^note first order died,
And that a winged ^note Mercury did bear;
Some tardy cripple bore ^note the countermand,
That came ^note too lag to see him buried.

God grant that some, less noble and less loyal,
Nearer in bloody thoughts, but ^note not in blood,
Deserve not worse ^note than wretched Clarence did,
And yet go current from suspicion! Enter Derby. ^note

Der.
A boon, my sovereign, for my service done!

K. Edw.
I pray thee ^note, peace: my soul is full of sorrow.

Der.
I will not rise, unless your highness grant. ^note

K. Edw.
Then speak ^note at once what is it thou demand'st. ^note

Der. ^note
The forfeit, sovereign, of my servant's life;
Who slew to-day a riotous gentleman
Lately attendant on ^note the Duke of Norfolk.

K. Edw.
Have I a tongue to doom my brother's death,
And shall that tongue ^note give pardon to a slave?
My brother slew ^note no man; his fault was thought ^note,
And yet his punishment was cruel ^note death.
Who sued to me for him? who, in my rage ^note,
Kneel'd at my feet and bade ^note me be advised?
Who spake ^note of brotherhood? who spake of love ^note?
Who told me how the poor soul did forsake
The mighty Warwick, and did fight for me?
Who told me, in the field by ^note Tewksbury,
When Oxford had me down, he rescued me,
And said ‘Dear brother, live, and be a king’?
Who told me, when we both lay in ^note the field

Frozen almost to death, how he did lap ^note me
Even in his own garments ^note, and gave ^note himself,
All thin and naked ^note, to the numb cold night?
All this from my remembrance brutish wrath
Sinfully pluck'd, and not a man of you
Had so much grace to put it in my mind.
But when your carters or your waiting-vassals
Have done a drunken slaughter and defaced
The precious image of our dear ^note Redeemer,
You straight are on your knees for pardon, pardon;
And I, unjustly too, must grant it you:
But for my brother not a man ^note would speak,
Nor, I ungracious, speak unto ^note myself
For him, poor soul. The proudest of ^note you all
Have been beholding ^note to him in his life;
Yet none of you would once plead ^note for his life.
O God, I fear thy justice will take hold
On me, and you, and mine, and yours ^note for this!
Come, Hastings, help ^{note note} me to my closet. Oh ^note, poor Clarence ^note! [Exeunt ^note some with King and Queen.

Glou.
This is the fruit ^note of rashness ^note. Mark'd ^note you not
How that the guilty ^note kindred of the queen
Look'd pale when they did hear of Clarence' ^note death?
O, they did urge it still unto the king!

God will revenge it. But come, let us in, ^note
To comfort Edward with our company.

Buck.
We wait upon your grace ^note. [Exeunt.

Next section