Page:Wallenstein, a drama in 2 parts - Schiller (tr. Coleridge) (1800).djvu/185

WRANGEL.
Great God in Heaven! Have then the people here
No house and home, no fire-side, no altar?

WALLENSTEIN.
I will explain that to you, how it stands—
The Austrian has a country, ay, and loves it,
And has good cause to love it—but this army,
That calls itself th' Imperial, this that houses
Here in Bohemia, this has none—no country;
This is an outcast of all foreign lands,
Unclaim'd by town or tribe, to whom belongs
Nothing, except the universal sun.

WRANGEL.
But then the Nobles and the Officers?
Such a desertion, such a felony,
It is without example, my Lord Duke,
In the world's history.

WALLENSTEIN.
They are all mine-
Mine unconditionally—mine on all terms.
Not me, your own eyes you may trust.
[He gives him the paper containing the
written oath. Wrangel reads it through,
and, having read it, lays it on the table,
remaining silent.]
So then?
Now comprehend you?

WRANGEL.
Comprehend, who can!
My Lord Duke! I will let the mask drop—yes!

I have