The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume Iii Part 74

WALLENSTEIN.

From the falseness of my friends Has risen the whole of my unprosperous fortunes.

The warning should have come before! At present I need no revelation from the stars To know that.

SENI.

Come and see! trust thine own eyes!

A fearful sign stands in the house of life-- An enemy; a fiend lurks close behind The radiance of thy planet.--O be warn'd!

Deliver not up thyself to these heathens, To wage a war against our holy church.

WALLENSTEIN (_laughing gently_).

The oracle rails that way! Yes, yes! Now I recollect. This junction with the Swedes Did never please thee--lay thyself to sleep, Baptista! Signs like these I do not fear.

GORDON (_who during the whole of this dialogue has shown marks of extreme agitation, and now turns to_ WALLENSTEIN).

My Duke and General! May I dare presume?

WALLENST.

Speak freely.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WALLENSTEIN WARNED BY HIS FRIENDS As performed at the Munic.i.p.al Theatre, Hamburg, 1906]

GORDON.

What if 'twere no mere creation Of fear, if G.o.d's high providence vouchsafed To interpose its aid for your deliverance, And made that mouth its organ?

WALLENSTEIN.

Ye're both feverish!

How can mishap come to me from the Swedes!

They sought this junction with me--'tis their interest.

GORDON _(with difficulty suppressing his emotion)_.

But what if the arrival of these Swedes-- What if this were the very thing that wing'd The ruin that is flying to your temples?

[_Flings himself at his feet_.]

There is yet time, my Prince.

SENI.

O hear him! hear him!

GORDON _(rises)_.

The Rhinegrave's still far off. Give but the orders, This citadel shall close its gates upon him.

If then he will besiege us, let him try it.

But this I say; he'll find his own destruction With his whole force before these ramparts, sooner Than weary down the valor of our spirit.

He shall experience what a band of heroes, Inspirited by an heroic leader, Is able to perform. And if indeed It be thy serious wish to make amend For that which thou hast done amiss--this, this Will touch and reconcile the Emperor, Who gladly turns his heart to thoughts of mercy And Friedland, who returns repentant to him, Will stand yet higher in his Emperor's favor Than e'er he stood when he had never fallen.

WALLENSTEIN (_contemplates him with surprise, remains awhile, betraying strong emotion_).

Gordon--your zeal and fervor lead you far.

Well, well--an old friend has a privilege.

Blood, Gordon, has been flowing. Never, never Can the Emperor pardon me; and if he could, Yet I--I never could let myself be pardon'd.

Had I foreknown what now has taken place, That he, my dearest friend, would fall for me My first death-offering; and had the heart Spoken to me, as now it has done--Gordon, It may be, I might have bethought myself; It may be too, I might not. Might or might not Is now an idle question. All too seriously Has it begun to end in nothing, Gordon!

Let it then have its course.

[_Stepping to the window._]

All dark and silent-at the castle too All is now hush'd--Light me, Chamberlain!

[_The_ GROOM OF THE CHAMBER, _who had entered during the last dialogue, and had been standing at a distance and listening to it with visible expressions of the deepest interest, advances in extreme agitation, and throws himself at the_ DUKE'S _feet._]

And thou too! But I know why thou dost wish My reconcilement with the Emperor.

Poor man! he hath a small estate in Carinthia, And fears it will be forfeited because He's in my service. Am I then so poor That I no longer can indemnify My servants? Well! to no one I employ Means of compulsion. If 'tis thy belief That fortune has fled from me, go! forsake me.

This night for the last time mayst thou unrobe me, And then go over to thy Emperor.

Gordon, good night! I think to make a long Sleep of it: for the struggle and the turmoil Of this last day or two was great. May't please you!

Take care that they awake me not too early.

[_Exit_ WALLENSTEIN, _the_ GROOM OF THE CHAMBER _lighting him_.SENI _follows_, GORDON _remains on the darkened stage, following the_ DUKE _with his eye, till he disappears at the farther end of the gallery: then by his gestures the old man expresses the depth of his anguish and stands leaning against a pillar._]

SCENE VI

GORDON, BUTLER (_at first behind the scenes_)

BUTLER (_not yet come into view of the stage_).

Here stand in silence till I give the signal.

GORDON (_starts up_).

'Tis he! he has already brought the murderers.

BUTLER.

The lights are out. All lies in profound sleep.

GORDON. What shall I do? Shall I attempt to save him?

Shall I call up the house? alarm the guards?

BUTLER (_appears, but scarcely on the stage_).

A light gleams. .h.i.ther from the corridor.