Page:CromwellHugo.djvu/423

Cromwell [to Richard.] Richard, you, my son and heir,
Should to the army and the Parliament
Be presently admitted. To that end
I make you now a colonel and a peer,
And member of the Privy Council, too.
Richard [saluting his father, with embarrassment.
But, Sir, the labours of the House—my tastes—
You are, indeed, my father and my lord.
But, by your leave, I dare to say that I
Have more than I desire or deserve.
I love the woods and fields, ease and repose;
I love to hunt the roebuck and the stag;
I love my rural haunts—where no revolts
I fear save 'mongst my falcons and my hounds.

[Cromwell, displeased and discountenanced, dismisses him with a gesture.

Cromwell [bitterly, aside.
Would that the other were the elder!—Ah!
What profiteth me all that I may do?

[Enter Carr, in custody of the High Sheriff. He makes his way slowly through the crowd, gazes indignantly at the paraphernalia of royalty all about, and walks gravely toward Cromwell's throne.

Scene 14.—The Same, Carr.

Carr [folding his arms and looking Cromwell in the face.
What wouldst thou have?—Tyrant by force of crimes,
Are prison cells no shelter against thee?
What would the apostate, what the renegade,
With me?
A Voice in the Crowd. With me? Peace, madman!