"I am not yet of Percy's mind, the Hotspur of the North; he that kills me some six or seven dozens of Scots at a breakfast, washes his hands, and says to his wife—Fy upon this quiet life! I want work. O my sweet Harry, says she, how many hast thou killed to-day? Give my roan horse a drench, says he; and answers, Some fourteen, an hour after; a trifle, a trifle."[1] This scene, in which we see the real domestic life of Percy and his wife, is as delightful as it is succinct a scene in which she checks the boisterous hero with the boldest words :
- "Lady Percy. Come, come, you paraquito, answer me
Directly unto this question that I ask :
In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry,
An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.
- Hotspur. Away,
Away, you trifler ! Love? I love thee not,
I care not for thee, Kate : this is no world
To play with mammets, and to tilt with lips :
We must have bloody noses and crack'd crowns,
And pass them current too.—Gods me, my horse !—
What say'st thou, Kate? what wouldst thou have with me?
- Lady Percy. Do you not love me? do you not, indeed?
Well, do not, then ; for since you love me not,
I will not love myself. Do you not love me?
Nay, tell me if you speak in jest or no.
- Hotspur. Come, wilt thou see me ride ?
And when I am o' horseback, I will swear
I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate ;
I must not have you henceforth question me
Whither I go, nor reason whereabout :
- ↑ first Part of King Henry IV., act ii. sc. 4.
