L.
Gon. (L. C.)
It was great ignorance, Gloster's eyes being out,
To let him live; where he arrives, he moves
All hearts against us: Edmund, I think, is gone.
In pity to his misery, to dispatch him.
Osw. (L.)
No, madam, he's return'd on speedy summons
Back to your sister.
Gon.
Ah! I like not that;
Such speed must have the wings of love. Where's Albany?
Osw.
Madam, within; but never man so chang'd;
I told him of the uproar of the peasants,
-- 51 --
He smil'd at it; when I inform'd him
Of Gloster's treason—
Gon.
Trouble him no further;
It is his coward spirit. Back to our sister.
Hasten her musters on, and let her know,
I have given the distaff into my husband's hands;
That done, with special care deliver these dispatches
In private, to young Gloster.
Enter Captain of the Guard, R.
Cap. (R.)
O, madam, most unseasonable news!
The Duke of Cornwall's dead of his late wound,
Whose loss your sister has in part supply'd,
Making brave Edmund general of her forces.
Gon.
One way, I like this well;
But, being a widow, and my Gloster with her,
'T may blast the promis'd harvest of our love.
[Aside.
A word more, sir: [To Oswald] add speed to your journey;
And if you chance to meet with that blind traitor,
Preferment falls on him that cuts him off.
[Exeunt Goneril and Captain, R. Oswald, L.
Edmund Kean [1830], King Lear. A tragedy, In Five Acts, by William Shakspeare. Printed from the acting copy, with remarks, biographical and critical, by D.—G. To which are added, description of the costume,—cast of the characters,—entrances and exits,—relative positions of the performers on the stage, and the whole of the stage business, As performed at the Theatres Royal, London. Embellished with a fine engraving, By Mr. White, from a Drawing taken in the Theatre, by Mr R. Cruikshank (John Cumberland [etc.], London) [word count] [S34400].
