The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume Iii Part 65

I can.

THEKLA.

When can I go?

ROSENBERG.

This very hour.

 

But wither would you, Lady?

THEKLA.

To--Tell him, Neubrunn.

NEUBR.

To Neustadt.

ROSENBERG.

So;--I leave you to get ready.

[_Exit._]

NEUBR.

O see, your mother comes.

THEKLA.

Indeed! O Heav'n!

SCENE XIV

THEKLA, LADY NEUBRUNN, _the_ d.u.c.h.eSS

d.u.c.h.eSS.

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.

d.u.c.h.eSS.

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_).

d.u.c.h.eSS.

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 dispatch them both.

The castle-palace is well barr'd 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.

Dispatch! then, be the word; for enemies Threaten us from without and from within.

SCENE II

BUTLER, CAPTAIN DEVEREUX, _and_ MACDONALD