The Works of Frederick Schiller Part 154

SCENE II.

WALLENSTEIN, d.u.c.h.eSS.

WALLENSTEIN.

You went, then, through Vienna, were presented To the Queen of Hungary?

d.u.c.h.eSS.

Yes; and to the empress, too, And by both majesties were we admitted To kiss the hand.

WALLENSTEIN.

And how was it received, That I had sent for wife and daughter hither To the camp, in winter-time?

d.u.c.h.eSS.

I did even that Which you commissioned me to do. I told them You had determined on our daughter's marriage, And wished, ere yet you went into the field, To show the elected husband his betrothed.

WALLENSTEIN.

And did they guess the choice which I had made?

d.u.c.h.eSS.

They only hoped and wished it may have fallen Upon no foreign nor yet Lutheran n.o.ble.

WALLENSTEIN.

And you--what do you wish, Elizabeth?

d.u.c.h.eSS.

Your will, you know, was always mine.

WALLENSTEIN (after a pause).

Well, then,-- And in all else, of what kind and complexion Was your reception at the court?

[The d.u.c.h.eSS casts her eyes on the ground, and remains silent.

Hide nothing from me. How were you received?

d.u.c.h.eSS.

O! my dear lord, all is not what it was.

A canker-worm, my lord, a canker-worm Has stolen into the bud.

WALLENSTEIN.

Ay! is it so?

What, they were lax? they failed of the old respect?

d.u.c.h.eSS.

Not of respect. No honors were omitted, No outward courtesy; but in the place Of condescending, confidential kindness, Familiar and endearing, there were given me Only these honors and that solemn courtesy.

Ah! and the tenderness which was put on, It was the guise of pity, not of favor.

No! Albrecht's wife, Duke Albrecht's princely wife, Count Harrach's n.o.ble daughter, should not so-- Not wholly so should she have been received.

WALLENSTEIN.

Yes, yes; they have taken offence. My latest conduct They railed at it, no doubt.

d.u.c.h.eSS.

O that they had!

I have been long accustomed to defend you, To heal and pacify distempered spirits.

No; no one railed at you. They wrapped them up, O Heaven! in such oppressive, solemn silence!

Here is no every-day misunderstanding, No transient pique, no cloud that pa.s.ses over; Something most luckless, most unhealable, Has taken place. The Queen of Hungary Used formerly to call me her dear aunt, And ever at departure to embrace me----

WALLENSTEIN.

Now she omitted it?

d.u.c.h.eSS (wiping away her tears after a pause).

She did embrace me, But then first when I had already taken My formal leave, and when the door already Had closed upon me, then did she come out In haste, as she had suddenly bethought herself, And pressed me to her bosom, more with anguish Than tenderness.

WALLENSTEIN (seizes her hand soothingly).

Nay, now collect yourself.

And what of Eggenberg and Lichtenstein, And of our other friends there?

d.u.c.h.eSS (shaking her head).

I saw none.

WALLENSTEIN.

The amba.s.sador from Spain, who once was wont To plead so warmly for me?

d.u.c.h.eSS.

Silent, silent!

WALLENSTEIN.

These suns then are eclipsed for us. Henceforward Must we roll on, our own fire, our own light.

d.u.c.h.eSS.

And were it--were it, my dear lord, in that Which moved about the court in buzz and whisper, But in the country let itself be heard Aloud--in that which Father Lanormain In sundry hints and----

WALLENSTEIN (eagerly).

Lanormain! what said he?

d.u.c.h.eSS.

That you're accused of having daringly O'erstepped the powers intrusted to you, charged With traitorous contempt of the emperor And his supreme behests. The proud Bavarian, He and the Spaniards stand up your accusers-- That there's a storm collecting over you Of far more fearful menace than the former one Which whirled you headlong down at Regensburg.

And people talk, said he, of----Ah!

[Stifling extreme emotion.

WALLENSTEIN.

Proceed!

d.u.c.h.eSS.

I cannot utter it!

WALLENSTEIN.

Proceed!

d.u.c.h.eSS.

They talk----