Narrower and narrower, till at length ye force him-- Yes, ye,---ye force him, in his desperation, I see with boding heart the near approach All must remain pure betwixt him and me; And, ere the day-light dawns, it must be known Which I must lose---my father, or my friend. [During his exit the curtain drops. ACT IV. SCENE I.-A Room fitted up for astrological labours and provided with celestial charts, with globes, telescopes, quadrants, and other mathematical instruments.---Seven colossal figures, representing the planets, each with a transparent star of a different colour on its head, stand in a semi-circle in the background, so that Mars and Saturn are nearest the eye.---The remainder of the Scene, and its disposition, is given in the fourth Scene of the second Act.-There must be a curtain over the figures, which may be dropped, and conceal them on occasions. [In the fifth Scene of this Act it must be dropped; but in the seventh Scene, it must be again drawn up wholly or in part.] Wallenstein at a black table, on which a Speculum Astrologicum is described with chalk. Seni is taking observations through a window. Wal. All well---and now let it be ended, Seni. The dawn commences, and Mars rules the hour. We know enough. Seni. Your Highness must permit me Just to contemplate Venus. She's now rising: [Contemplating the figure on the table. That makes each influence of double strength. Wal. And sun and moon, too, in the Sextile aspect, The soft light with the vehement---so I love it. Seni. And both the mighty Lumina by no Wal. The empire of Saturnus is gone by: And his are all things that eschew the light. Parts o'er my head, and takes once more its flight; For the heavens journey still, and sojourn not. Wal. It suffers no delaying. Wal. Open, Seni! [While Seni opens the doors for Tertsky, Wallenstein draws the curtain over the figures. Ter. (enters.) Hast thou already heard it? He is taken. Galas has given him up to the Emperor. [Seni draws off the black table and exit. SCENE II. Wallenstein, Count Tertsky. Wal. (to Tertsky.) Who has been taken ?--- Ter. The man who knows our secrets, who knows every Negotiation with the Swede and Saxon, Through whose hands all and every thing has passed Wal. (drawing back.) Nay, not Sesina?---Say, Ter. All on his road for Regenspurg to the He was plunged down upon by Galas' agent, To Thur, to Kinsky, to Oxenstirn, to Arnheim: All this is in their hands; they have now an insight Into the whole---our measures, and our motives. SCENE III. To them enters Illo. Illo. (to Tertsky.) Has he heard it? Ter. He has heard it. Illo. (to Wallenstein.) Thinkest thou still |