The Death of Wallenstein

  You will not be forgotten, governor!  He'll take from you this nest, and bid you shine  In higher station: your fidelity  Well merits it.GORDON           I am content already,  And wish to climb no higher; where great height is,  The fall must needy be great. "Great height, great depth."ILLO  Here you have no more business, for to-morrow  The Swedes will take possession of the citadel.  Come, Terzky, it is supper-time. What think you?  Nay, shall we have the town illuminated  In honor of the Swede? And who refuses  To do it is a Spaniard and a traitor.TERZKY  Nay! nay! not that, it will not please the duke —ILLO  What; we are masters here; no soul shall dare  Avow himself imperial where we've the rule.  Gordon! good-night, and for the last time take  A fair leave of the place. Send out patrols  To make secure, the watchword may be altered.  At the stroke of ten deliver in the keys  To the duke himself, and then you've quit forever  Your wardship of the gates, for on to-morrow  The Swedes will take possession of the citadel.TERZKY (as he is going, to BUTLER)  You come, though, to the castle?BUTLER                   At the right time.

[Exeunt TERZKY and ILLO.

SCENE VIII

GORDON and BUTLER.

GORDON (looking after them)  Unhappy men! How free from all foreboding  They rush into the outspread net of murder  In the blind drunkenness of victory;  I have no pity for their fate. This Illo,  This overflowing and foolhardy villain,  That would fain bathe himself in his emperor's blood.BUTLER  Do as he ordered you. Send round patrols,  Take measures for the citadel's security;  When they are within I close the castle-gate  That nothing may transpire.GORDON (with earnest anxiety)                 Oh! haste not so!  Nay, stop; first tell me —BUTLER                You have heard already,  To-morrow to the Swedes belongs. This night  Alone is ours. They make good expedition.  But we will make still greater. Fare you well.GORDON  Ah! your looks tell me nothing good. Nay, Butler,  I pray you promise me!BUTLER              The sun has set;  A fateful evening doth descend upon us,  And brings on their long night! Their evil stars  Deliver them unarmed into our hands,  And from their drunken dream of golden fortunes  The dagger at their hearts shall rouse them. Well,  The duke was ever a great calculator;  His fellow-men were figures on his chess-board  To move and station, as his game required.  Other men's honor, dignity, good name,  Did he shift like pawns, and made no conscience of  Still calculating, calculating still;  And yet at last his calculation proves  Erroneous; the whole game is lost; and low!  His own life will be found among the forfeits.GORDON  Oh, think not of his errors now! remember  His greatness, his munificence; think on all  The lovely features of his character,  On all the noble exploits of his life,  And let them, like an angel's arm, unseen,  Arrest the lifted sword.BUTLER               It is too late.  I suffer not myself to feel compassion,  Dark thoughts and bloody are my duty now.

[Grasping GORDON's hand.

  Gordon! 'tis not my hatred (I pretend not  To love the duke, and have no cause to love him).  Yet 'tis not now my hatred that impels me  To be his murderer. 'Tis his evil fate.  Hostile occurrences of many events  Control and subjugate me to the office.  In vain the human being meditates  Free action. He is but the wire-worked8 puppet  Of the blind Power, which, out of its own choice,  Creates for him a dread necessity.  What too would it avail him if there were  A something pleading for him in my heart —  Still I must kill him.GORDON              If your heart speak to you  Follow its impulse. 'Tis the voice of God.  Think you your fortunes will grow prosperous  Bedewed with blood – his blood? Believe it not!BUTLER  You know not. Ask not! Wherefore should it happen  That the Swedes gained the victory, and hasten  With such forced marches hitherwards? Fain would I  Have given him to the emperor's mercy. Gordon!  I do not wish his blood, – but I must ransom  The honor of my word, – it lies in pledge —  And he must die, or —     [Passionately grasping GORDON's hand.              Listen, then, and know  I am dishonored if the duke escape us.GORDON  Oh! to save such a man —BUTLER               What!GORDON                   It is worth  A sacrifice. Come, friend! Be noble-minded!  Our own heart, and not other men's opinions,  Forms our true honor.BUTLER (with a cold and haughty air)              He is a great lord,  This duke, and I am of but mean importance.  This is what you would say! Wherein concerns it  The world at large, you mean to hint to me,  Whether the man of low extraction keeps  Or blemishes his honor —  So that the man of princely rank be saved?  We all do stamp our value on ourselves:  The price we challenge for ourselves is given us.  There does not live on earth the man so stationed  That I despise myself compared with him.  Man is made great or little by his own will;  Because I am true to mine therefore he dies!GORDON  I am endeavoring to move a rock.  Thou hadst a mother, yet no human feelings.  I cannot hinder you, but may some God  Rescue him from you!

[Exit GORDON.

BUTLER9 (alone)  I treasured my good name all my life long;  The duke has cheated me of life's best jewel,  So that I blush before this poor weak Gordon!  He prizes above all his fealty;  His conscious soul accuses him of nothing;  In opposition to his own soft heart  He subjugates himself to an iron duty.  Me in a weaker moment passion warped;  I stand beside him, and must feel myself  The worst man of the two. What though the world  Is ignorant of my purposed treason, yet  One man does know it, and can prove it, too —  High-minded Piccolomini!  There lives the man who can dishonor me!  This ignominy blood alone can cleanse!  Duke Friedland, thou or I. Into my own hands  Fortune delivers me. The dearest thing a man has is himself.

SCENE IX

[A gothic and gloomy apartment at the DUCHESS FRIEDLAND's.

THEKLA on a seat, pale, her eyes closed. The DUCHESS and LADY NEUBRUNN busied about her. WALLENSTEIN and the COUNTESS in conversation.

WALLENSTEIN  How knew she it so soon?COUNTESS               She seems to have  Foreboded some misfortune. The report  Of an engagement, in which had fallen  A colonel of the imperial army, frightened her.  I saw it instantly. She flew to meet  The Swedish courier, and with sudden questioning,  Soon wrested from him the disastrous secret.  Too late we missed her, hastened after her,  We found her lying in his arms, all pale,  And in a swoon.WALLENSTEIN           A heavy, heavy blow!  And she so unprepared! Poor child! how is it?

[Turning to the DUCHESS.

  Is she coming to herself?DUCHESS                Her eyes are opening —COUNTESS  She lives!THEKLA (looking around her)        Where am I?WALLENSTEIN (steps to her, raising her up in his arms)  Come, cheerly, Thekla! be my own brave girl!  See, there's thy loving mother. Thou art in  Thy father's arms.THEKLA (standing up)            Where is he? Is he gone?DUCHESS  Who gone, my daughter?THEKLA              He – the man who uttered  That word of misery.DUCHESS             Oh, think not of it!  My Thekla!WALLENSTEIN        Give her sorrow leave to talk!  Let her complain – mingle your tears with hers,  For she hath suffered a deep anguish; but  She'll rise superior to it, for my Thekla  Hath all her father's unsubdued heart.THEKLA  I am not ill. See, I have power to stand.  Why does my mother weep? Have I alarmed her?  It is gone by – I recollect myself.

[She casts her eyes round the room, as seeking some one.

  Where is he? Please you, do not hide him from me.  You see I have strength enough: now I will hear him.DUCHESS  No; never shall this messenger of evil  Enter again into thy presence, Thekla!THEKLA  My father —WALLENSTEIN         Dearest daughter!THEKLA                  I'm not weak.  Shortly I shall be quite myself again.  You'll grant me one request?WALLENSTEIN                 Name it, my daughter.THEKLA  Permit the stranger to be called to me,  And grant me leave, that by myself I may  Hear his report and question him.DUCHESS                    No, never!COUNTESS  'Tis not advisable – assent not to it.WALLENSTEIN  Hush! Wherefore wouldst thou speak with him, my daughter?THEKLA  Knowing the whole, I shall be more collected;  I will not be deceived. My mother wishes  Only to spare me. I will not be spared —  The worst is said already: I can hear  Nothing of deeper anguish!COUNTESS and DUCHESS                Do it not.THEKLA  The horror overpowered me by surprise,  My heart betrayed me in the stranger's presence:  He was a witness of my weakness, yea,  I sank into his arms; and that has shamed me.  I must replace myself in his esteem,  And I must speak with him, perforce, that he,  The stranger, may not think ungently of me.WALLENSTEIN  I see she is in the right, and am inclined  To grant her this request of hers. Go, call him.

[LADY NEUBRUNN goes to call him.

DUCHESS  But I, thy mother, will be present —THEKLA                     'Twere  More pleasing to me if alone I saw him;  Trust me, I shall behave myself the more  Collectedly.WALLENSTEIN         Permit her her own will.  Leave her alone with him: for there are sorrows,  Where of necessity the soul must be  Its own support. A strong heart will rely  On its own strength alone. In her own bosom,  Not in her mother's arms, must she collect  The strength to rise superior to this blow.  It is mine own brave girl. I'll have her treated  Not as the woman, but the heroine.

[Going.

COUNTESS (detaining him)  Where art thou going? I heard Terzky say  That 'tis thy purpose to depart from hence  To-morrow early, but to leave us here.WALLENSTEIN  Yes, ye stay here, placed under the protection  Of gallant men.COUNTESS           Oh, take us with you, brother.  Leave us not in this gloomy solitude.  To brood o'er anxious thoughts. The mists of doubt  Magnify evils to a shape of horror.WALLENSTEIN  Who speaks of evil? I entreat you, sister,  Use words of better omen.COUNTESS                Then take us with you.  Oh leave us not behind you in a place  That forces us to such sad omens. Heavy  And sick within me is my heart —  These walls breathe on me like a churchyard vault.  I cannot tell you, brother, how this place  Doth go against my nature. Take us with you.  Come, sister, join you your entreaty! Niece,  Yours too. We all entreat you, take us with you!WALLENSTEIN  The place's evil omens will I change,  Making it that which shields and shelters for me  My best beloved.LADY NEUBRUNN (returning)           The Swedish officer.WALLENSTEIN  Leave her alone with me.DUCHESS (to THEKLA, who starts and shivers)  There – pale as death! Child, 'tis impossible  That thou shouldst speak with him. Follow thy mother.THEKLA  The Lady Neubrunn then may stay with me.

[Exeunt DUCHESS and COUNTESS.

SCENE X

THEKLA, THE SWEDISH CAPTAIN, LADY NEUBRUNN.

CAPTAIN (respectfully approaching her)  Princess – I must entreat your gentle pardon —  My inconsiderate rash speech. How could! —THEKLA (with dignity)  You have beheld me in my agony.  A most distressful accident occasioned  You from a stranger to become at once  My confidant.CAPTAIN          I fear you hate my presence,  For my tongue spake a melancholy word.THEKLA  The fault is mine. Myself did wrest it from you.  The horror which came o'er me interrupted  Your tale at its commencement. May it please you,  Continue it to the end.CAPTAIN               Princess, 'twill  Renew your anguish.THEKLA             I am firm, —  I will be firm. Well – how began the engagement?CAPTAIN  We lay, expecting no attack, at Neustadt,  Intrenched but insecurely in our camp,  When towards evening rose a cloud of dust  From the wood thitherward; our vanguard fled  Into the camp, and sounded the alarm.  Scarce had we mounted ere the Pappenheimers,  Their horses at full speed, broke through the lines,  And leaped the trenches; but their heedless courage  Had borne them onward far before the others —  The infantry were still at distance, only  The Pappenheimers followed daringly  Their daring leader —

[THEKLA betrays agitation in her gestures. The officer pauses till she makes a sign to him to proceed.

CAPTAIN              Both in van and flanks  With our whole cavalry we now received them;  Back to the trenches drove them, where the foot  Stretched out a solid ridge of pikes to meet them.  They neither could advance, nor yet retreat;  And as they stood on every side wedged in,  The Rhinegrave to their leader called aloud,  Inviting a surrender; but their leader,  Young Piccolomini —

[THEKLA, as giddy, grasps a chair.

             Known by his plume,  And his long hair, gave signal for the trenches;  Himself leaped first: the regiment all plunged after.  His charger, by a halbert gored, reared up,  Flung him with violence off, and over him  The horses, now no longer to be curbed, —

[THEKLA, who has accompanied the last speech with all the marks of increasing agony, trembles through her whole frame and is falling. The LADY NEUBRUNN runs to her, and receives her in her arms.

NEUBRUNN  My dearest lady!CAPTAIN           I retire.THERLA                 'Tis over.  Proceed to the conclusion.CAPTAIN                Wild despair  Inspired the troops with frenzy when they saw  Their leader perish; every thought of rescue  Was spurned; they fought like wounded tigers; their  Frantic resistance roused our soldiery;  A murderous fight took place, nor was the contest  Finished before their last man fell.  THEKLA (faltering).                     And where —  Where is – you have not told me all.CAPTAIN (after a pause)                     This morning  We buried him. Twelve youths of noblest birth  Did bear him to interment; the whole army  Followed the bier. A laurel decked his coffin;  The sword of the deceased was placed upon it,  In mark of honor by the Rhinegrave's self,  Nor tears were wanting; for there are among us  Many, who had themselves experienced  The greatness of his mind and gentle manners;  All were affected at his fate. The Rhinegrave  Would willingly have saved him; but himself  Made vain the attempt – 'tis said he wished to die.NEUBRUNN (to THEKLA, who has hidden her countenance)  Look up, my dearest lady —THEKLA                Where is his grave?CAPTAIN  At Neustadt, lady; in a cloister church  Are his remains deposited, until  We can receive directions from his father.THEKLA  What is the cloister's name?CAPTAIN                 Saint Catherine's.THEKLA  And how far is it thither?CAPTAIN                Near twelve leagues.THEKLA  And which the way?CAPTAIN            You go by Tirschenreut  And Falkenberg, through our advanced posts.THEKLA                         Who  Is their commander?CAPTAIN             Colonel Seckendorf.

[THEKLA steps to the table, and takes a ring from a casket.

THEKLA  You have beheld me in my agony,  And shown a feeling heart. Please you, accept

[Giving him the ring.

  A small memorial of this hour. Now go!CAPTAIN (confusedly)  Princess —

[THEKLA silently makes signs to him to go, and turns from him.

     The captain lingers, and is about to speak. LADY NEUBRUNN repeats     the signal, and he retires.

SCENE XI

THEKLA, LADY NEUBRUNN.

THEKLA (falls on LADY NEUBRUNN's neck)  Now gentle Neubrunn, show me the affection  Which thou hast ever promised – prove thyself  My own true friend and faithful fellow-pilgrim.  This night we must away!NEUBRUNN               Away! and whither?THEKLA  Whither! There is but one place in the world.  Thither, where he lies buried! To his coffin!NEUBRUNN  What would you do there?THEKLA               What do there?  That wouldst thou not have asked, hadst thou e'er loved.  There, that is all that still remains of him!  That single spot is the whole earth to me.NEUBRUNN  That place of death —THEKLA              Is now the only place  Where life yet dwells for me: detain me not!  Come and make preparations; let us think  Of means to fly from hence.NEUBRUNN                 Your father's rageTHEKLA  That time is past —  And now I fear no human being's rage.NEUBRUNN  The sentence of the world! The tongue of calumny!THEKLA  Whom am I seeking? Him who is no more.  Am I then hastening to the arms – O God!  I haste – but to the grave of the beloved.NEUBRUNN  And we alone, two helpless, feeble women?THEKLA  We will take weapons: my arm shall protect thee.NEUBRUNN  In the dark night-time?THEKLA               Darkness will conceal us.NEUBRUNN  This rough tempestuous night —THEKLA                  Had he a soft bed  Under the hoofs of his war-horses?NEUBRUNN                    Heaven!  And then the many posts of the enemy!THEKLA  They are human beings. Misery travels free  Through the whole earth.NEUBRUNN               The journey's weary length —THEKLA  The pilgrim, travelling to a distant shrine  Of hope and healing doth not count the leagues.NEUBRUNN  How can we pass the gates?THEKLA                Gold opens them.  Go, do but go.NEUBRUNN          Should we be recognized —THEKLA  In a despairing woman, a poor fugitive,  Will no one seek the daughter of Duke Friedland.NEUBRUNN  And where procure we horses for our flight?THEKLA  My equerry procures them. Go and fetch him.NEUBRUNN  Dares he, without the knowledge of his lord?THEKLA  He will. Go, only go. Delay no longer.NEUBRUNN  Dear lady! and your mother?THEKLA                 Oh! my mother!NEUBRUNN  So much as she has suffered too already;  Your tender mother. Ah! how ill prepared  For this last anguish!THEKLA              Woe is me! My mother!

[Pauses.

  Go instantly.NEUBRUNN          But think what you are doing!THEKLA  What can be thought, already has been thought.NEUBRUNN  And being there, what purpose you to do?THEKLA  There a divinity will prompt my soul.NEUBRUNN  Your heart, dear lady, is disquieted!  And this is not the way that leads to quiet.THEKLA  To a deep quiet, such as he has found,  It draws me on, I know not what to name it,  Resistless does it draw me to his grave.  There will my heart be eased, my tears will flow.  Oh hasten, make no further questioning!  There is no rest for me till I have left  These walls – they fall in on me – a dim power  Drives me from hence – oh mercy! What a feeling!  What pale and hollow forms are those! They fill,  They crowd the place! I have no longer room here!  Mercy! Still more! More still! The hideous swarm,  They press on me; they chase me from these walls —  Those hollow, bodiless forms of living men!NEUBRUNN  You frighten me so, lady, that no longer  I dare stay here myself. I go and call  Rosenberg instantly.

[Exit LADY NEUBRUNN.

SCENE XII

THEKLA  His spirit 'tis that calls me: 'tis the troop  Of his true followers, who offered up  Themselves to avenge his death: and they accuse me  Of an ignoble loitering – they would not  Forsake their leader even in his death; they died for him,  And shall I live?  For me too was that laurel garland twined  That decks his bier. Life is an empty casket:  I throw it from me. Oh, my only hope;  To die beneath the hoofs of trampling steeds —  That is a lot of heroes upon earth!

[Exit THEKLA.10

(The Curtain drops.)

SCENE XIII

THEKLA, LADY NEUBRUNN, and ROSENBERG.

NEUBRUNN  He is here, lady, and he will procure them.THEKLA  Wilt thou provide us horses, Rosenberg?ROSENBERG  I will, my lady.THEKLA           And go with us as well?ROSENBERG  To the world's end, my lady.THEKLA                 But consider,  Thou never canst return unto the duke.ROSENBERG  I will remain with thee.THEKLA               I will reward thee.  And will commend thee to another master.  Canst thou unseen conduct us from the castle?ROSENBERG  I can.THEKLA      When can I go?ROSENBERG              This very hour.  But whither would you, lady?THEKLA                 To – Tell him, Neubrunn.NEUBRUNN  To Neustadt.ROSENBERG         So; I leave you to get ready.

[Exit.

NEUBRUNN  Oh, see, your mother comes.THEKLA                 Indeed! O Heaven!

SCENE XIV

THEKLA, LADY NEUBRUNN, the DUCHESS.

DUCHESS  He's gone! I find thee more composed, my child.THEKLA  I am so, mother; let me only now  Retire to rest, and Neubrunn here be with me.  I want repose.DUCHESS          My Thekla, thou shalt have it.  I leave thee now consoled, since I can calm  Thy father's heart.THEKLA             Good night, beloved mother!     (Falling on her neck and embracing her with deep emotion).DUCHESS  Thou scarcely art composed e'en now, my daughter.  Thou tremblest strongly, and I feel thy heart  Beat audibly on mine.THEKLA              Sleep will appease  Its beating: now good-night, good-night, dear mother.     (As she withdraws from her mother's arms the curtain falls).

ACT V

SCENE I

Butler's Chamber.

BUTLER, and MAJOR GERALDIN.

BUTLER  Find me twelve strong dragoons, arm them with pikes  For there must be no firing —  Conceal them somewhere near the banquet-room,  And soon as the dessert is served up, rush all in  And cry – "Who is loyal to the emperor?"  I will overturn the table – while you attack  Illo and Terzky, and despatch them both.  The castle-palace is well barred and guarded,  That no intelligence of this proceeding  May make its way to the duke. Go instantly;  Have you yet sent for Captain Devereux  And the Macdonald?GERALDIN            They'll be here anon.

[Exit GERALDIN.

BUTLER  Here's no room for delay. The citizens  Declare for him – a dizzy drunken spirit  Possesses the whole town. They see in the duke  A prince of peace, a founder of new ages  And golden times. Arms, too, have been given out  By the town-council, and a hundred citizens  Have volunteered themselves to stand on guard.  Despatch! then, be the word; for enemies  Threaten us from without and from within.

SCENE II

BUTLER, CAPTAIN DEVEREUX, and MACDONALD.

MACDONALD  Here we are, general.DEVEREUX              What's to be the watchword?BUTLER  Long live the emperor!BOTH (recoiling)              How?BUTLER                 Live the house of Austria.DEVEREUX  Have we not sworn fidelity to Friedland?MACDONALD  Have we not marched to this place to protect him?BUTLER  Protect a traitor and his country's enemy?DEVEREUX  Why, yes! in his name you administered  Our oath.MACDONALD        And followed him yourself to Egra.BUTLER  I did it the more surely to destroy him.DEVEREUX  So then!MACDONALD       An altered case!BUTLER (to DEVEREUX)                Thou wretched man  So easily leavest thou thy oath and colors?DEVEREUX  The devil! I but followed your example;  If you could prove a villain, why not we?MACDONALD  We've naught to do with thinking – that's your business.  You are our general, and give out the orders;  We follow you, though the track lead to hell.BUTLER (appeased)  Good, then! we know each other.MACDONALD                   I should hope so.DEVEREUX  Soldiers of fortune are we – who bids most  He has us.MACDONALD        'Tis e'en so!BUTLER                Well, for the present  You must remain honest and faithful soldiers.DEVEREUX  We wish no other.BUTLER            Ay, and make your fortunes.MACDONALD  That is still better.BUTLER              Listen!BOTH                  We attend.BUTLER  It is the emperor's will and ordinance  To seize the person of the Prince-Duke Friedland  Alive or dead.DEVEREUX          It runs so in the letter.MACDONALD  Alive or dead – these were the very words.BUTLER  And he shall be rewarded from the state  In land and gold who proffers aid thereto.DEVEREUX  Ay! that sounds well. The words sound always well  That travel hither from the court. Yes! yes!  We know already what court-words import.  A golden chain perhaps in sign of favor,  Or an old charger, or a parchment-patent,  And such like. The prince-duke pays better.MACDONALD                         Yes,  The duke's a splendid paymaster.BUTLER                   All over  With that, my friends. His lucky stars are set.MACDONALD  And is that certain?BUTLER             You have my word for it.DEVEREUX  His lucky fortune's all passed by?BUTLER                    Forever.  He is as poor as we.MACDONALD             As poor as we?DEVEREUX  Macdonald, we'll desert him.BUTLER                 We'll desert him?  Full twenty thousand have done that already;  We must do more, my countrymen! In short —  We – we must kill him.BOTH (starting back)              Kill him!BUTLER                   Yes, must kill him;  And for that purpose have I chosen you.BOTH                       Us!BUTLER  You, Captain Devereux, and thee, Macdonald.DEVEREUX (after a pause)  Choose you some other.BUTLER              What! art dastardly?  Thou, with full thirty lives to answer for —  Thou conscientious of a sudden?DEVEREUX                   Nay  To assassinate our lord and general —MACDONALD  To whom we swore a soldier's oath —BUTLER                     The oath  Is null, for Friedland is a traitor.DEVEREUX  No, no! it is too bad!MACDONALD              Yes, by my soul!  It is too bad. One has a conscience too —DEVEREUX  If it were not our chieftain, who so long  Has issued the commands, and claimed our duty —BUTLER  Is that the objection?DEVEREUX              Were it my own father,  And the emperor's service should demand it of me,  It might be done perhaps – but we are soldiers,  And to assassinate our chief commander,  That is a sin, a foul abomination,  From which no monk or confessor absolves us.BUTLER  I am your pope, and give you absolution.  Determine quickly!DEVEREUX            'Twill not do.MACDONALD                    'Twont do!BUTLER  Well, off then! and – send Pestalutz to me.DEVEREUX (hesitates)  The Pestalutz —MACDONALD           What may you want with him?BUTLER  If you reject it, we can find enough —DEVEREUX  Nay, if he must fall, we may earn the bounty  As well as any other. What think you,  Brother Macdonald?MACDONALD            Why, if he must fall,  And will fall, and it can't be otherwise,  One would not give place to this Pestalutz.DEVEREUX (after some reflection)  When do you purpose he should fall?BUTLER                     This night.  To-morrow will the Swedes be at our gates.DEVEREUX  You take upon you all the consequences?BUTLER  I take the whole upon me.DEVEREUX                And it is  The emperor's will, his express absolute will?  For we have instances that folks may like  The murder, and yet hang the murderer.BUTLER  The manifesto says – "alive or dead."  Alive – 'tis not possible – you see it is not.DEVEREUX  Well, dead then! dead! But how can we come at him.  The town is filled with Terzky's soldiery.MACDONALD  Ay! and then Terzky still remains, and Illo —BUTLER  With these you shall begin – you understand me?DEVEREUX  How! And must they too perish?BUTLER                   They the first.MACDONALD  Hear, Devereux! A bloody evening this.DEVEREUX  Have you a man for that? Commission me —BUTLER  'Tis given in trust to Major Geraldin;  This is a carnival night, and there's a feast  Given at the castle – there we shall surprise them,  And hew them down. The Pestalutz and Lesley  Have that commission. Soon as that is finished —DEVEREUX  Hear, general! It will be all one to you —  Hark ye, let me exchange with Geraldin.BUTLER  'Twill be the lesser danger with the duke.DEVEREUX  Danger! The devil! What do you think me, general,  'Tis the duke's eye, and not his sword, I fear.BUTLER  What can his eye do to thee?DEVEREUX                 Death and hell!  Thou knowest that I'm no milksop, general!  But 'tis not eight days since the duke did send me  Twenty gold pieces for this good warm coat  Which I have on! and then for him to see me  Standing before him with the pike, his murderer.  That eye of his looking upon this coat —  Why – why – the devil fetch me! I'm no milksop!BUTLER  The duke presented thee this good warm coat,  And thou, a needy wight, hast pangs of conscience  To run him through the body in return,  A coat that is far better and far warmer  Did the emperor give to him, the prince's mantle.  How doth he thank the emperor? With revolt  And treason.DEVEREUX         That is true. The devil take  Such thankers! I'll despatch him.BUTLER                    And would'st quiet  Thy conscience, thou hast naught to do but simply  Pull off the coat; so canst thou do the deed  With light heart and good spirits.DEVEREUX                    You are right,  That did not strike me. I'll pull off the coat —  So there's an end of it.MACDONALD               Yes, but there's another  Point to be thought of.BUTLER               And what's that, Macdonald?MACDONALD  What avails sword or dagger against him?  He is not to be wounded – he is —BUTLER (starting up)                   What!MACDONALD  Safe against shot, and stab, and flash! Hard frozen.  Secured and warranted by the black art  His body is impenetrable, I tell you.DEVEREUX  In Ingolstadt there was just such another:  His whole skin was the same as steel; at last  We were obliged to beat him down with gunstocks.MACDONALD  Hear what I'll do.DEVEREUX            Well.MACDONALD                In the cloister here  There's a Dominican, my countryman.  I'll make him dip my sword and pike for me  In holy water, and say over them  One of his strongest blessings. That's probatum!  Nothing can stand 'gainst that.BUTLER                   So do, Macdonald!  But now go and select from out the regiment  Twenty or thirty able-bodied fellows,  And let them take the oaths to the emperor.  Then when it strikes eleven, when the first rounds  Are passed, conduct them silently as may be  To the house. I will myself be not far off.DEVEREUX  But how do we get through Hartschier and Gordon,  That stand on guard there in the inner chamber?BUTLER  I have made myself acquainted with the place,  I lead you through a back door that's defended  By one man only. Me my rank and office  Give access to the duke at every hour.  I'll go before you – with one poinard-stroke  Cut Hartschier's windpipe, and make way for you.DEVEREUX  And when we are there, by what means shall we gain  The duke's bed-chamber, without his alarming  The servants of the court? for he has here  A numerous company of followers.BUTLER  The attendants fill the right wing: he hates bustle,  And lodges in the left wing quite alone.DEVEREUX  Were it well over – hey, Macdonald! I  Feel queerly on the occasion, devil knows.MACDONALD  And I, too. 'Tis too great a personage.  People will hold us for a brace of villains.BUTLER  In plenty, honor, splendor – you may safely  Laugh at the people's babble.DEVEREUX                  If the business  Squares with one's honor – if that be quite certain.BUTLER  Set your hearts quite at ease. Ye save for Ferdinand  His crown and empire. The reward can be  No small one.DEVEREUX  And 'tis his purpose to dethrone the emperor?BUTLER  Yes! Yes! to rob him of his crown and life.DEVEREUX  And must he fall by the executioner's hands,  Should we deliver him up to the emperor  Alive?BUTLER      It were his certain destiny.DEVEREUX  Well! Well! Come then, Macdonald, he shall not  Lie long in pain.

[Exeunt BUTLER through one door, MACDONALD and DEVEREUX through the other.