SCENE XVII

_To these enter the_ DUCHESS, _who rushes into the Chamber_

THEKLA _and the_ COUNTESS _follow her_.

DUCHESS.

O Albrecht!

What hast thou done?

WALLENSTEIN.

And now comes this beside.

COUNTESS.

Forgive me, brother! It was not in my power--

They know all.

DUCHESS.

What hast thou done?

COUNTESS (_to_ TERZKY).

Is there no hope? Is all lost utterly?

TERZKY.

All lost. No hope. Prague in the Emperor's hands,

The soldiery have ta'en their oaths anew.

COUNTESS.

That lurking hypocrite, Octavio!

Count Max is off too.

TERZKY.

Where can he be? He's

Gone over to the Emperor with his father.

[THEKLA _rushes out into the arms of her mother, hiding her

face in her bosom_.]

DUCHESS (_enfolding her in her arms_).

Unhappy child! and more unhappy mother!

WALLENSTEIN (_aside to_ TERZKY).

Quick! Let a carriage stand in readiness

In the court behind the palace. Scherfenberg

Be their attendant; he is faithful to us;

To Egra he'll conduct them, and we follow.

[_To_ ILLO, _who returns_.]

Thou hast not brought them back?

ILLO.

Hear'st thou the uproar?

The whole corps of the Pappenheimers is

Drawn out: the younger Piccolomini,

Their colonel, they require: for they affirm

That he is in the palace here, a prisoner;

And if thou dost not instantly deliver him,

They will find means to free him with the sword.

[_All stand amazed_.]

TERZKY.

What shall we make of this?

WALLENSTEIN.

Said I not so?

O my prophetic heart! he is still here.

He has not betray'd me--he could not betray me.

I never doubted of it.

COUNTESS.

If he be

Still here, then all goes well; for I know what

[_Embracing_ THEKLA]

Will keep him here forever.

TERZKY.

It can't be.

His father has betray'd us, is gone over

To the Emperor--the son could not have ventured

To stay behind.

THEKLA (_her eyes fixed on the door_).

There he is!

The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 03 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes · 第 17 / 27 章