William Shakespeare: King Henry VI, First Part

ACT FOURTH 1. SCENE I. Paris. A hall of state. (continued)

KING.
Stain to thy countrymen, thou hear'st thy doom!
Be packing, therefore, thou that wast a knight;
Henceforth we banish thee, on pain of death.

[Exit Fastolfe.]

And now, my lord protector, view the letter
Sent from our uncle Duke of Burgundy.

GLOUCESTER.
What means his grace,
that he hath changed his style?
No more but, plain and bluntly, 'To the King!'
Hath he forgot he is his sovereign?
Or doth this churlish superscription
Pretend some alteration in good will?
What's here? [Reads] 'I have, upon especial cause,
Moved with compassion of my country's wreck,
Together with the pitiful complaints
Of such as your oppression feeds upon,
Forsaken your pernicious faction,
And join'd with Charles, the rightful King of France.'
O monstrous treachery! can this be so,
That in alliance, amity and oaths,
There should be found such false dissembling guile?

KING.
What! doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?

GLOUCESTER.
He doth, my lord, and is become your foe.

KING.
Is that the worst this letter doth contain?

GLOUCESTER.
It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.

KING.
Why, then, Lord Talbot there shall talk with him,
And give him chastisement for this abuse.
How say you, my lord? are you not content?

TALBOT.
Content, my liege! yes; but that I am prevented,
I should have begg'd I might have been employ'd.

KING.
Then gather strength, and march unto him straight:
Let him perceive how ill we brook his treason.
And what offence it is to flout his friends.

TALBOT.
I go, my lord, in heart desiring still
You may behold confusion of your foes.

[Exit.]

[Enter Vernon and Basset.]

VERNON.
Grant me the combat, gracious sovereign.

BASSET.
And me, my lord, grant me the combat too.