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SCENE V.

WALLENSTEIN, COUNT TERZKY.

WALLENSTEIN (in deep thought, to himself).

She has seen all things as they are-it is so,

And squares completely with my other notices,

They have determined finally in Vienna,

Have given me my successor already;

It is the King of Hungary, Ferdinand,

The emperor's delicate son! he's now their savior,

He's the new star that's rising now! Of us

They think themselves already fairly rid,

And as we were deceased, the heir already

Is entering on possession-Therefore-despatch!

[As he turns round he observes TERZKY, and gives him a letter.

Count Altringer will have himself excused,

And Gallas too-I like not this!

TERZKY.

And if

Thou loiterest longer, all will fall away,

One following the other.

WALLENSTEIN.

Altringer

Is master of the Tyrol passes. I must forthwith

Send some one to him, that he let not in

The Spaniards on me from the Milanese.

-Well, and the old Sesin, that ancient trader

In contraband negotiations, he

Has shown himself again of late. What brings he

From the Count Thur?

TERZKY.

The count communicates

He has found out the Swedish chancellor

At Halberstadt, where the convention's held,

Who says, you've tired him out, and that he'll have

No further dealings with you.

WALLENSTEIN.

And why so?

TERZKY.

He says, you are never in earnest in your speeches;

That you decoy the Swedes-to make fools of them;

Will league yourself with Saxony against them,

And at last make yourself a riddance of them

With a paltry sum of money.

WALLENSTEIN.

So then, doubtless,

Yes, doubtless, this same modest Swede expects

That I shall yield him some fair German tract

For his prey and booty, that ourselves at last

On our own soil and native territory

May be no longer our own lords and masters!

An excellent scheme! No, no! They must be off,

Off, off! away! we want no such neighbors.

TERZKY.

Nay, yield them up that dot, that speck of land-

It goes not from your portion. If you win

The game, what matters it to you who pays it?

WALLENSTEIN.

Off with them, off! Thou understand'st not this.

Never shall it be said of me, I parcelled

My native land away, dismembered Germany,

Betrayed it to a foreigner, in order

To come with stealthy tread, and filch away

My own share of the plunder-Never! never!

No foreign power shall strike root in the empire,

And least of all these Goths! these hungry wolves!

Who send such envious, hot, and greedy glances

Toward the rich blessings of our German lands!

I'll have their aid to cast and draw my nets,

But not a single fish of all the draught

Shall they come in for.

TERZKY.

You will deal, however,

More fairly with the Saxons? they lose patience

While you shift round and make so many curves.

Say, to what purpose all these masks? Your friends

Are plunged in doubts, baffled, and led astray in you.

There's Oxenstiern, there's Arnheim-neither knows

What he should think of your procrastinations,

And in the end I prove the liar; all

Passes through me. I've not even your handwriting.

WALLENSTEIN.

I never give handwriting; and thou knowest it.

TERZKY.

But how can it be known that you are in earnest,

If the act follows not upon the word?

You must yourself acknowledge, that in all

Your intercourses hitherto with the enemy,

You might have done with safety all you have done.

Had you meant nothing further than to gull him

For the emperor's service.

WALLENSTEIN (after a pause, during which he looks narrowly on TERZKY).

And from whence dost thou know

That I'm not gulling him for the emperor's service?

Whence knowest thou that I'm not gulling all of you?

Dost thou know me so well? When made I thee

The intendant of my secret purposes?

I am not conscious that I ever opened

My inmost thoughts to thee. The emperor, it is true,

Hath dealt with me amiss; and if I would

I could repay him with usurious interest

For the evil he hath done me. It delights me

To know my power; but whether I shall use it,

Of that I should have thought that thou couldst speak

No wiser than thy fellows.

TERZKY.

So hast thou always played thy game with us.

[Enter ILLO.

SCENE VI.

ILLO, WALLENSTEIN, TERZKY.

WALLENSTEIN.

How stand affairs without? Are they prepared?

ILLO.

You'll find them in the very mood you wish.

They know about the emperor's requisition,

And are tumultuous.

WALLENSTEIN.

How hath Isolani

declared himself?

ILLO.

He's yours, both soul and body,

Since you built up again his faro-bank.

WALLENSTEIN.

And which way doth Kolatto bend? Hast thou

Made sure of Tiefenbach and Deodati?

ILLO.

What Piccolomini does that they do too.

WALLENSTEIN.

You mean, then, I may venture somewhat with them?

ILLO.

If you are assured of the Piccolomini.

WALLENSTEIN.

Not more assured of mine own self.

TERZKY.

And yet

I would you trusted not so much to Octavio,

The fox!

WALLENSTEIN.

Thou teachest me to know my man?

Sixteen campaigns I have made with that old warrior.

Besides, I have his horoscope;

We both are born beneath like stars-in short,

[With an air of mystery.

To this belongs its own peculiar aspect,

If therefore thou canst warrant me the rest--

ILLO.

There is among them all but this one voice,

You must not lay down the command. I hear

They mean to send a deputation to you.

WALLENSTEIN.

If I'm in aught to bind myself to them

They too must bind themselves to me.

ILLO.

Of course.

WALLENSTEIN.

Their words of honor they must give, their oaths,

Give them in writing to me, promising

Devotion to my service unconditional.

ILLO.

Why not?

TERZKY.

Devotion unconditional?

The exception of their duties towards Austria

They'll always place among the premises.

With this reserve--

WALLENSTEIN (shaking his head).

All unconditional;

No premises, no reserves.

ILLO.

A thought has struck me.

Does not Count Terzky give us a set banquet