content at once,
And more I could not cipher-out by signs
But that I lov'd Lord Lacy with my heart....
What hopes the prince to gain by Lacy's death?

_P. Edward._ To end the loves 'twixt him and Margaret.

_Margaret._ Why, thinks King Henry's son that Margaret's love
Hangs in th'uncertain balance of proud time?
That death shall make a discord of our thoughts?
No, stab the earl, and, 'fore the morning sun
Shall vaunt him thrice over the lofty east,
Margaret will meet her Lacy in the heavens.

_James the Fourth_ is not, as the title seems to indicate, a chronicle
history play. It is the story of that king's love for Ida, the daughter
of the Countess of Arran, and of the consequent unhappiness of his young
queen, Dorothea. Technically it is Greene's most perfect play, being
carefully divided into acts and scenes, and containing a plot ample
enough to dispense with much of that extraneous matter which obscured
his former plays. An amusing stratum of comic by-play underlies the main
story without interfering with it. Nevertheless the central details are
unattractive, presenting intrigue rather than romance, so that the
effect is less pleasing than that of the previous comedy.

In the hour of the Scottish monarch's union with Dorothea, daughter of
the English king, his wandering eyes fall upon and become enamoured of
Ida, who is standing by amongst the ladies of the court. With
dissembling lips he bids farewell to his new father-in-law; then, alone,
soliloquizes on his own wretchedness. Ateukin, a poor, unscrupulous and
ambitious courtier, overhears him and offers his services, which are
accepted. Ateukin, accordingly, makes overtures to Ida, but without
success. Returning, he persuades the king to sanction the murder of his
queen, to be accomplished by the French hireling, Jaques. By accident
the warrant for her death comes into the possession of a friend of hers,
who prevails upon her to flee into hiding, disguised as a man and
accompanied by her dwarf. They are followed, however, by Jaques, who,
after stabbing her, returns to announce the news to Ateukin. The latter
informs the king and at once sets out to secure Ida's acceptance of her
royal suitor, only to find her already married to a worthy knight,
Eustace. Aware of the consequences to himself of failure he flees the
country. Meanwhile Queen Dorothea, who was not mortally wounded, is
successfully tended in a hospitable