Hurry, Sir Michael, bring this sealed letter as fast as you can to the Lord Marshal. Bring this one to Scroop, and all the rest to whom they are addressed. If you knew how important they were, you would hurry.
SIR MICHAEL
My good lord, I guess their tenor.
SIR MICHAEL
My good lord, I can guess what they say.
ARCHBISHOP
Like enough you do.
Tomorrow, good Sir Michael, is a day
Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men
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Must bide the touch. For, sir, at Shrewsbury,
As I am truly given to understand,
The King with mighty and quick-raisèd power
Meets with Lord Harry. And I fear, Sir Michael,
What with the sickness of Northumberland,
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Whose power was in the first proportion,
And what with Owen Glendower's absence thence,
Who with them was a rated sinew too
And comes not in, o'er-ruled by prophecies,
I fear the power of Percy is too weak
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To wage an instant trial with the King.
ARCHBISHOP
I'm sure you can. Tomorrow, Sir Michael, ten thousand men will try their luck. I'm told that at Shrewsbury, the King—with a huge and quickly assembled army—will fight Harry Percy. I'm afraid, Michael, that without Northumberland, whose army was the largest of all, and without Owen Glendower, who was also being counted on but is absent because his horoscope told him to stay away, I'm afraid that Percy's army will be too weak to fight the King right now.
SIR MICHAEL
Why, my good lord, you need not fear.
There is Douglas and Lord Mortimer.
SIR MICHAEL
Don't worry, sir. Douglas and Mortimer are there.
ARCHBISHOP
No, Mortimer is not there.
ARCHBISHOP
No, Mortimer isn't there.
SIR MICHAEL
But there is Mordake, Vernon, Lord Harry Percy,
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And there is my Lord of Worcester and a head
Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen.
SIR MICHAEL
But Mordake is there, and Vernon, and Harry Percy, and Worcester and a slew of brave warriors and excellent men.
