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Show Theodore VIII. Dramatis Personae: "' Markus Hannus, Duke of Norfolk. Perry Heath Wolsey. Thomas Kearns Cromwell. . Time: The Present. Hannus (addressing Heath) And .,so we'll leave you to your meditation. ( How to live better. For your stubborn answer About the giving back of the Secretaryship to us, Theodore shall know ft, and, no doubt, shall thank you. So faro you well, my cherished post ofilce hoodoo. ' (Exit Marcus.) P. H. Wolsey (to T. K. C). So farewell to the little bunch you hand me. Farewell, a long farewell, to all my grossness! This is the state of man: Today he puts forth His tenticles for spoils, tomorrow clutches .them, And bears his brazen blushes thick upon him; The third day comes exposure, a Bristow thrust; And, when he thinks, good easy grafter, surely Suspicion is declining, nips his loot And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured Like to a bold highwayman on a scudder This many summers on a sea of boodling; But some beyond my depth; my high cheek bones At length exposed me; and my conscience left me Weary, with postal bribes, and to the mercy Of limboed streams that must forever grime me. Base Bristow and you other sleuths, I hate ye; I feel like hell is opened: O, how wretched Is that poor man who banks on people's blindness! There is, betwixt that soft smile I have practiced And that stern look of Justice, grinning shapes And pangs and fears more fierce than Hannus' frown; And when he's caught, he falls like Lucifer, Never to steal again (sobs). Thomas K. Cromwell (with great emotion) O, my lord, Must I then leave you? Must I needs forego So good, so noble, and so true a master? How well you helped me buy my Senate seat And steered the facile pen in praise of me Teddy shall have my service; but my prayers (hie) Forever, and forever, shall be Heath's. (Curtain.) |