(holding him back). Nothing? Do I not see, that all thelifeblood
Has left your cheeks — look you not like a ghost?
That even my brother but affects a calmness? 10
Page (enters). An Aid-de-Camp enquires for the Count Tertsky.
[TERTSKY follows the Page.
Wallenstein. Go, hear his business. [To ILLO.
This could not have happened
So unsuspected without mutiny.
Who was on guard at the gates?
Illo. ‘Twas Tiefenbach. 15
Wallenstein. Let Tiefenbach leave guard without delay,
And Tertsky’s grenadiers relieve him. [ILLO is going.
Stop!
Hast thou heard aught of Butler?
Illo. Him I met.
He will be here himself immediately.
Butler remains unshaken.
[ILLO exit. WALLENSTEIN is following him.
Countess. Let him not leave thee, sister! go, detain him! 20
There’s some misfortune.
Duchess (clinging to him). Gracious heaven! What is it?
Wallenstein. Be tranquil! leave me, sister! dearest wife!
We are in camp, and this is nought unusual;
Here storm and sunshine follow one another
With rapid interchanges. These fierce spirits 25
Champ the curb angrily, and never yet
Did quiet bless the temples of the leader.
If I am to stay, go you. The plaints of women
Ill suit the scene where men must act.
[He is going: TERTSKY returns.
Tertsky. Remain here. From this window must we see it. 30
Wallenstein (to the Countess). Sister, retire!
Countess. No — never.
Wallenstein. ‘Tis my will.
Tertsky (leads the Countess aside, and drawing her attention to the
Duchess). Theresa!
Duchess. Sister, come! since he commands it.
SCENE VII
WALLENSTEIN, TERTSKY.
Wallenstein (stepping to the window). What now, then?
Tertsky. There are strange movements among all the troops,
And no one knows the cause. Mysteriously,
With gloomy silentness, the several corps
Marshal themselves, each under its own banners. 5
Tiefenbach’s corps makes threatening movements; only
The Pappenheimers still remain aloof
In their own quarters, and let no one enter.
Wallenstein. Does Piccolomini appear among them?
Tertsky. We are seeking him: he is no where to be met with. 10
Wallenstein. What did the Aid-de-Camp deliver to you?
Tertsky. My regiments had dispatched him; yet once more
They swear fidelity to thee, and wait
The shout for onset, all prepared, and eager.
Wallenstein. But whence arose this larum in the camp? 15
It should have been kept secret from the army,
Till fortune had decided for us at Prague.
Tertsky. O that thou hadst believed me! Yester evening
Did we conjure thee not to let that skulker,
That fox, Octavio, pass the gates of Pilsen. 20
Thou gav’st him thy own horses to flee from thee.
Wallenstein. The old tune still! Now, once for all, no more
Of this suspicion — it is doting folly.
Tertsky. Thou did’st confide in Isolani too;
And lo! he was the first that did desert thee. 25
Wallenstein. It was but yesterday I rescued him
From abject wretchedness. Let that go by.
I never reckon’d yet on gratitude.
And wherein doth he wrong in going from me?
He follows still the god whom all his life 30
He has worshipped at the gaming table. With
My Fortune, and my seeming destiny,
He made the bond, and broke it not with me.
I am but the ship in which his hopes were stowed,
And with the which well-pleased and confident 35
He traversed the open sea; now he beholds it
In imminent jeopardy among the coast-rocks,
And hurries to preserve his wares. As light
As the free bird from the hospitable twig
Where it had nested, he flies off from me: 40
No human tie is snapped betwixt us two.
Yea, he deserves to find himself deceived,
Who seeks a heart in the unthinking man.
Like shadows on a stream, the forms of life
Impress their characters on the smooth forehead, 45
Nought sinks into the bosom’s silent depth:
Quick sensibility of pain and pleasure
