Page 1723 - Shakespeare - Vol. 4

It seems you are in haste; and if there be
No great offence belongs to’t, give your friend
Some touch of your late business. Affairs that walk,
As they say spirits do, at midnight, have

In them a wilder nature than the business [15]
That seeks dispatch by day.

LOVELL
My lord, I love you,
And durst commend a secret to your ear

Much weightier than this work. The Queen’s in labour,
They say, in great extremity, and feared
She’ll with the labour end.

GARDINER
The fruit she goes with [20]
I pray for heartily, that it may find

Good time, and live; but, for the stock, Sir Thomas,
I wish it grubbed up now.

LOVELL
Methinks I could
Cry the amen, and yet my conscience says

She’s a good creature and, sweet lady, does [25]
Deserve our better wishes.

GARDINER
But, sir, sir,
Hear me, Sir Thomas, y’are a gentleman
Of mine own way; I know you wise, religious;

And let me tell you, it will ne’er be well −
’Twill not, Sir Thomas Lovell, take’t of me − [30]
Till Cranmer, Cromwell − her two hands − and she
Sleep in their graves.

LOVELL

Now, sir, you speak of two