Part 154 (1/2)

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!