Page:Wallenstein, a drama in 2 parts - Schiller (tr. Coleridge) (1800).djvu/301

MAX.
Where is that voice of truth which I dare follow?
It speaks no longer in my heart. We all
But utter what our passionate wishes dictate.
O that an angel would descend from Heaven,
And scoop for me the right, the uncorrupted,
With a pure hand from the pure Fount of Light.
(His eyes glance on Thekla.)
What other angel seek I? To this heart,
To this unerring heart, will I submit it,
Will ask thy love, which has the power to bless
The happy man alone, averted ever
From the disquieted and guilty—can'st thou
Still love me, if I stay? Say that thou can'st,
And I am the Duke's———

COUNTESS.
Think, niece———
MAX.
Think nothing, Thekla!
Speak what thou feelest.

COUNTESS.
Think upon your father.

MAX.
I did not question thee, as Friedland's daughter.
Thee, the beloved, and the unerring god
Within thy heart, I question. What's at stake?
Not whether diadem of royalty
Be to be won or no—that might'st thou think on.
Thy friend, and his soul's quiet, are at stake;
The fortune of a thousand gallant men,
Who will all follow me; shall I forswear

My