dare say. I mean, in this very room I can name - "
The king shot me his best Must I chop off your head? look and I fell silent. He nodded and looked to the map. "To Regan and Cornwall I leave this third of the kingdom, no smaller or less valuable than that bestowed upon Goneril. Now, Cordelia, our joy, who is courted by so many eligible young nobles, what can you say to receive a third more opulent than your sisters?"
Cordelia stood at her chair, not making her way to the middle of the room as her sisters had. "Nothing," she said.
"Nothing?" asked the king.
"Nothing."
"You'll get nothing for nothing," said Lear. "Speak again."
"Well, you can't blame her, really, can you?" I interjected. "I mean you've given all the good bits to Goneril and Regan, haven't you? What's left, a bit of Scotland rocky enough to starve a sheep and this poxy river near Newcastle?" I'd taken the liberty of going over to the map. "I'd say nothing is a fair start for bargaining. You should counter with Spain, majesty."
Now Cordelia moved to the center of the room. "I'm sorry, Father, that I can't heave my heart into my mouth like my sisters. I love you according to my bond as a daughter, no more, no less."
"Be careful what you say, Cordelia," said Lear. "Your dowry is draining away with every word."
"My lord, you have sired me, raised me, and loved me. I return those duties back, as is proper: I obey you, love you, and most honor you. But how can my sisters say they love you above all? They have husbands. Don't they have to reserve some love for them?"
"Yes, but have you met their husbands?" said I. There was growling from various points around the table. How can you call yourself a noble if you'll just start growling for no reason. Uncivilized, it is.
"When I shall marry, you can rest assured that my husband will get at least half my care and half my love as well. To say anything else I'd be lying to you."
This was Edmund's doing, I was sure of it. Somehow he'd known that Cordelia would answer this way and had convinced the king to ask the question. And she did not know that her father had been wrestling with his own mortality and worth for the week. I hopped over to the princess and whispered, "Lying now would be the better part of valor. Repent later. Throw the old gent a bone, lass."
"So this is how you feel?" asked the king.
"Aye, my lord. It is."
"So young and so untender," said Lear.
"So young, my lord, and true," said Cordelia.
"So young, and so bloody stupid," said the puppet Jones.
"Fine, child. So be it. Let your truth be your dowry, then. For by the radiance of the sun, the dark of the night, all the saints, the Holy Mother, the orbs of the sky, and Nature herself, I disown you."
In his spirituality Lear is - well - flexible. When pressed for a curse or a blessing he will sometimes invoke gods from a half-dozen pantheons, just to be sure to catch the ear of whichever might be on watch that day.
"No property, land, or title shall be yours. Cannibals of darkest Merica, who would sell their own young in the meat market, shall be closer to me than you, my used-to-be daughter."
I wondered about that. No one had ever seen a Merican, being as they are mythical. Legend goes that in the name of profit they did sell the limbs of their own children as food - that was before they burned the world, of course. Since I didn't expect a state visit from the merchant cannibals of the apocalypse anytime soon, it appeared my liege was either herniating the metaphor or speaking the tongue of a frothing nutter.
Kent stood then. "My liege!"
"Sit down, Kent!" the king barked. "Come not between the dragon and his wrath. I loved her the best, and hoped that she would take care of me in my dotage, but since she doesn't love me enough, only in the grave will there be peace for Lear."
Cordelia looked more confused than hurt. "But, Father - "
"Out of my sight! Where is France? Where is Burgundy? Finish this business! Goneril, Regan, your younger sister's share of the kingdom shall be divided between you. Let Cordelia marry her own pride. Cornwall and Albany shall divide the power and property of a king evenly.