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