Chapter: Scoena Quarta.

Enter King, Aumerle, Greene, and Bagot.

  Rich. We did obserue. Cosine Aumerle,
How far brought you high Herford on his way?
  Aum. I brought high Herford (if you call him so)
But to the next high way, and there I left him

   Rich. And say, what store of parting tears were shed?
  Aum. Faith none for me: except the Northeast wind
Which then grew bitterly against our face,
Awak'd the sleepie rhewme, and so by chance
Did grace our hollow parting with a teare

   Rich. What said our Cosin when you parted with him?
  Au. Farewell: and for my hart disdained y my tongue
Should so prophane the word, that taught me craft
To counterfeit oppression of such greefe,
That word seem'd buried in my sorrowes graue.
Marry, would the word Farwell, haue lengthen'd houres,
And added yeeres to his short banishment,
He should haue had a volume of Farwels,
But since it would not, he had none of me

   Rich. He is our Cosin (Cosin) but 'tis doubt,
When time shall call him home from banishment,
Whether our kinsman come to see his friends,
Our selfe, and Bushy: heere Bagot and Greene
Obseru'd his Courtship to the common people:
How he did seeme to diue into their hearts,
With humble, and familiar courtesie,
What reuerence he did throw away on slaues;
Wooing poore Craftes-men, with the craft of soules,
And patient vnder-bearing of his Fortune,
As 'twere to banish their affects with him.
Off goes his bonnet to an Oyster-wench,
A brace of Dray-men bid God speed him well,
And had the tribute of his supple knee,
With thankes my Countrimen, my louing friends,
As were our England in reuersion his,
And he our subiects next degree in hope

   Gr. Well, he is gone, & with him go these thoughts:
Now for the Rebels, which stand out in Ireland,
Expedient manage must be made my Liege
Ere further leysure, yeeld them further meanes
For their aduantage, and your Highnesse losse

   Ric. We will our selfe in person to this warre,
And for our Coffers, with too great a Court,
And liberall Largesse, are growne somewhat light,
We are inforc'd to farme our royall Realme,
The Reuennew whereof shall furnish vs
For our affayres in hand: if that come short
Our Substitutes at home shall haue Blanke-charters:
Whereto, when they shall know what men are rich,
They shall subscribe them for large summes of Gold,
And send them after to supply our wants:
For we will make for Ireland presently.
Enter Bushy.

Bushy, what newes?
  Bu. Old Iohn of Gaunt is verie sicke my Lord,
Sodainly taken, and hath sent post haste
To entreat your Maiesty to visit him

   Ric. Where lyes he?
  Bu. At Ely house

   Ric. Now put it (heauen) in his Physitians minde,
To helpe him to his graue immediately:
The lining of his coffers shall make Coates
To decke our souldiers for these Irish warres.
Come Gentlemen, let's all go visit him:
Pray heauen we may make hast, and come too late.
Enter.

 Aumerle reports to King Richard that he just escorted Bolingbroke to the edge of town, where things got a little awkward. Richard wants every juicy detail and is all, "Did anyone cry when Bolingbroke left?" Aumerle says he didn't cry, but a northeast wind might have made his eyes water. Aumerle then tells the king that all Bolingbroke said in the end was "Farewell." Aumerle claims he didn't say anything back because he didn't want to be a phony by wishing him good luck. Instead, he pretended to be too sad to talk. Richard is a teensy bit worried. The commoners really like Bolingbroke, who's sort of a man of the people. Banishing Bolingbroke could turn out to be a seriously bad PR move for Richard. Green chimes in that Richard's got much bigger fish to fry: the rebels in Ireland are acting up again. Richard snaps out of it and is all, "Ugh. Those Irish rebels are such a pain. Looks like I'll have to go to war myself." There's just one tiny problem: Richard is broke because he's spent so much money decorating his palace, buying fancy clothes, and tricking out his coaches with fancy rims and the best horses. It turns out there's not a lot of cash leftover for a war. We find out that Richard also did a dangerous thing: he basically mortgaged his right to tax the people in order to get a little extra money fast. This means he's letting his deputies collect money from the richest men. How the heck is he going to raise any money now? A man named Bushy comes in to announce that John of Gaunt is sick. Richard says the timing is perfect. Hopefully Gaunt will hurry up and die so Richard can snatch up his land and money and use it to fund the war in Ireland. Brain Snack: Legally Richard doesn't actually have a right to take Gaunt's land when the old man dies. According to a system called "primogeniture," the eldest son gets to inherit all of his father's land, wealth, and titles. So technically all of Gaunt's property should go to his oldest son, Henry Bolingbroke. This is important.

