Pol. But Malicorn, sagacious on the point,
Cried,—Call the sheriffs, and bid them arm their bands;
Add yet to this, to raise you above hope,
The Guise, my master, will be here to-day.—
For on bare guess of what has been revealed,
He winged a messenger to give him notice;
Yet, spite of all this factor of the fiends
Could urge, they slunk their heads, like hinds in storms.
But see, they come.
Enter Sheriffs, with the Populace.
Gril. Away, I'll have amongst them;
Fly to the king, warn him of Guise's coming,
That he may strait despatch his strict commands
To stop him.[Exit Polin.
1 Sher. Nay, this is colonel Grillon,
The blunderbuss o'the court; away, away,
He carries ammunition in his face.
Gril. Hark you, my friends, if you are not in haste,
Because you are the pillars of the city,
I would inform you of a general ruin.
2 Sher. Ruin to the city! marry, heaven forbid!
Gril. Amen, I say; for, look you, I'm your friend.
'Tis blown about, you've plotted on the king,
To seize him, if not kill him; for, who knows,
When once your conscience yields, how far 'twill stretch;
Next, quite to dash your firmest hopes in pieces,
050 The duke of Guise is dead.
1 Sher. Dead, colonel!
2 Sher. Undone, undone!
Gril. The world cannot redeem you;
For what, sirs, if the king, provoked at last,
Should join the Spaniard, and should fire your city;
Paris, your head,—but a most venomous one,—
Which must be blooded?