Baldock and Spencer, two minor figures hoping to gain employment in the court of King Edward II, gossip about the royal family. They observe that the Queen seems pleased by news that Piers Gaveston has been recalled from exile in Ireland, and they incorrectly assume that the Queen and Gaveston are lovers in a scene rife with dramatic irony:
SPENCER
A friend of mine told me in secrecy
That he’s repealed and sent for back again,
And even now a post came from the court
With letters to our lady from the king,
And as she read, she smiled, which makes me think
‘It is about her lover Gaveston.BALDOCK
’Tis like enough, for since he was exiled
She neither walks abroad nor comes in sight.
But I had thought the match had been broke off
And that his banishment had changed her mind.SPENCER
Our lady’s first love is not wavering.
My life for thine, she will have Gaveston.
In one of the very few comic scenes in this altogether serious and gloomy play, Baldock and Spencer discuss recent events in court and their chances of gaining employment there. Spencer observes that the Queen “smiled” upon reading a letter that announced the return of Gaveston, and he therefore assumes that Gaveston is “her lover.” By this point in the play, it is very clear to the audience that Gaveston and the Queen despise each other because he is, in fact, the lover of the King. They assume that she is pleased by his return to court, though the audience is aware that she is merely relieved, as the King has vowed never to speak with her again unless she can convince the nobles to repeal Gaveston’s exile.
