William Shakespeare: The Life and Death of King Richard III

ACT I. 2. SCENE II. London. Another street. (continued)

ANNE.
Vouchsafe, diffus'd infection of a man,
Of these known evils but to give me leave,
By circumstance, to accuse thy cursed self.

GLOSTER.
Fairer than tongue can name thee, let me have
Some patient leisure to excuse myself.

ANNE.
Fouler than heart can think thee, thou canst make
No excuse current but to hang thyself.

GLOSTER.
By such despair I should accuse myself.

ANNE.
And by despairing shalt thou stand excus'd;
For doing worthy vengeance on thyself,
That didst unworthy slaughter upon others.

GLOSTER.
Say that I slew them not?

ANNE.
Then say they were not slain:
But dead they are, and, devilish slave, by thee.

GLOSTER.
I did not kill your husband.

ANNE.
Why, then he is alive.

GLOSTER.
Nay, he is dead; and slain by Edward's hand.

ANNE.
In thy foul throat thou liest: Queen Margaret saw
Thy murderous falchion smoking in his blood;
The which thou once didst bend against her breast,
But that thy brothers beat aside the point.

GLOSTER.
I was provoked by her slanderous tongue
That laid their guilt upon my guiltless shoulders.

ANNE.
Thou wast provoked by thy bloody mind,
That never dreamt on aught but butcheries:
Didst thou not kill this king?

GLOSTER.
I grant ye.

ANNE.
Dost grant me, hedgehog? then, God grant me too
Thou mayst be damned for that wicked deed!
O, he was gentle, mild, and virtuous.

GLOSTER.
The better for the king of Heaven, that hath him.

ANNE.
He is in heaven, where thou shalt never come.