In the opening scene of Richard II, Thomas Mowbray has just been accused of treason by Henry Bolingbroke. When he has a chance to respond to this accusation, Mowbray begins by saying he would rather not levy attacks against his accuser for two reasons. The first reason is that getting angry at Bolingbroke will not help his case. Mowbray says that he will remain calm in order to help preserve his innocence. As he puts it, "The blood is hot that must be cool’d for this." Mowbray sees sense in keeping a level head in this stressful situation.
The other reason he gives for his reluctance to discredit Bolingbroke comes from the fact that his accuser's "high blood's royalty" means that attacking the nobleman would be improper. In other words, since Bolinbroke is a relative of the king, an attack on him could be construed as an attack on Richard himself. Mowbray is nothing if not loyal to Richard and therefore wants to make it clear that an attack on the king's kinsman is should not reflect on the king himself. Despite all this, Mowbray launches into a scathing verbal attack on Bolingbroke and agrees to a duel.
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