No More Learning

_Ulr. _ (_looks at his father, and says_,) Let the man go on!

_Gab. _ I am unarmed, Count, bid your son lay down
His sabre.

_Ulr. _ (_offers it to him contemptuously_). Take it.

_Gab. _ No, sir, 'tis enough
That we are both unarmed--I would not choose
To wear a steel which may be stained with more 210
Blood than came there in battle.

_Ulr. _ (_casts the sabre from him in contempt_). It--or some
Such other weapon in my hand--spared yours
Once, when disarmed and at my mercy.

_Gab. _ True--
I have not forgotten it: you spared me for
Your own especial purpose--to sustain
An ignominy not my own.

_Ulr. _ Proceed.
The tale is doubtless worthy the relater.
But is it of my father to hear further? [_To_ SIEGENDORF.

_Sieg. _ (_takes his son by the hand_).
My son, I know my own innocence, and doubt not
Of yours--but I have promised this man patience; 220
Let him continue.

_Gab. _ I will not detain you,
By speaking of myself much: I began
Life early--and am what the world has made me.
At Frankfort on the Oder, where I passed
A winter in obscurity, it was
My chance at several places of resort
(Which I frequented sometimes, but not often)
To hear related a strange circumstance
In February last. A martial force,
Sent by the state, had, after strong resistance, 230
Secured a band of desperate men, supposed
Marauders from the hostile camp. --They proved,
However, not to be so--but banditti,
Whom either accident or enterprise
Had carried from their usual haunt--the forests
Which skirt Bohemia--even into Lusatia.
Many amongst them were reported of
High rank--and martial law slept for a time.
At last they were escorted o'er the frontiers,
And placed beneath the civil jurisdiction 240
Of the free town of Frankfort. Of _their_ fate
I know no more.

_Sieg. _ And what is this to Ulric?

_Gab. _ Amongst them there was said to be one man
Of wonderful endowments:--birth and fortune,
Youth, strength, and beauty, almost superhuman,
And courage as unrivalled, were proclaimed
His by the public rumour; and his sway,
Not only over his associates, but
His judges, was attributed to witchcraft,
Such was his influence:--I have no great faith 250
In any magic save that of the mine--
I therefore deemed him wealthy. --But my soul
Was roused with various feelings to seek out
This prodigy, if only to behold him.

_Sieg. _ And did you so?

_Gab. _ You'll hear. Chance favoured me:
A popular affray in the public square
Drew crowds together--it was one of those
Occasions where men's souls look out of them,
And show them as they are--even in their faces:
The moment my eye met his, I exclaimed, 260
"This is the man! " though he was then, as since,
With the nobles of the city. I felt sure
I had not erred, and watched him long and nearly;
I noted down his form--his gesture--features,
Stature, and bearing--and amidst them all,
'Midst every natural and acquired distinction,
I could discern, methought, the assassin's eye
And gladiator's heart.

_Ulr. _ (_smiling_). The tale sounds well.

_Gab. _ And may sound better. --He appeared to me
One of those beings to whom Fortune bends, 270
As she doth to the daring--and on whom
The fates of others oft depend; besides,
An indescribable sensation drew me
Near to this man, as if my point of fortune
Was to be fixed by him. --There I was wrong.

_Sieg. _ And may not be right now.

_Gab. _ I followed him,
Solicited his notice--and obtained it--
Though not his friendship:--it was his intention
To leave the city privately--we left it
Together--and together we arrived 280
In the poor town where Werner was concealed,
And Stralenheim was succoured----Now we are on
The verge--_dare_ you hear further?

_Sieg. _ I must do so--
Or I have heard too much.

_Gab. _ I saw in you
A man above his station--and if not
So high, as now I find you, in my then
Conceptions, 'twas that I had rarely seen
Men such as you appeared in height of mind,
In the most high of worldly rank; you were
Poor, even to all save rags: I would have shared 290
My purse, though slender, with you--you refused it.

_Sieg. _ Doth my refusal make a debt to you,
That thus you urge it?

_Gab. _ Still you owe me something,
Though not for that; and I owed you my safety,
At least my seeming safety, when the slaves
Of Stralenheim pursued me on the grounds
That _I_ had robbed him.

_Sieg. _ _I_ concealed you--I,
Whom and whose house you arraign, reviving viper!

_Gab. _ I accuse no man--save in my defence.
You, Count, have made yourself accuser--judge: 300
Your hall's my court, your heart is my tribunal.
Be just, and _I'll_ be merciful!

_Sieg. _ You merciful? --
You! Base calumniator!

_Gab. _ I. 'Twill rest
With me at last to be so. You concealed me--
In secret passages known to yourself,
You said, and to none else. At dead of night,
Weary with watching in the dark, and dubious
Of tracing back my way, I saw a glimmer,
Through distant crannies, of a twinkling light:
I followed it, and reached a door--a secret 310
Portal--which opened to the chamber, where,
With cautious hand and slow, having first undone
As much as made a crevice of the fastening,
I looked through and beheld a purple bed,
And on it Stralenheim! --

_Sieg. _ Asleep! And yet
You slew him! --Wretch!

_Gab. _ He was already slain,
And bleeding like a sacrifice. My own
Blood became ice.

_Sieg. _ But he was all alone!
You saw none else? You did not see the----
[_He pauses from agitation_.

_Gab. _ No,
_He_, whom you dare not name, nor even I 320
Scarce dare to recollect, was not then in
The chamber.

_Sieg. _ (_to_ ULRIC). Then, my boy! thou art guiltless still--
Thou bad'st me say _I_ was so once. --Oh! now
Do thou as much.

_Gab. _ Be patient! I can _not_
Recede now, though it shake the very walls
Which frown above us. You remember,--or
If not, your son does,--that the locks were changed
Beneath _his_ chief inspection on the morn
Which led to this same night: how he had entered
He best knows--but within an antechamber, 330
The door of which was half ajar, I saw
A man who washed his bloody hands, and oft
With stern and anxious glance gazed back upon--
The bleeding body--but it moved no more.

_Sieg. _ Oh! God of fathers!

_Gab. _ I beheld his features
As I see yours--but yours they were not, though
Resembling them--behold them in Count Ulric's!
Distinct as I beheld them, though the expression
Is not now what it then was! --but it was so
When I first charged him with the crime--so lately. 340

_Sieg. _ This is so--

_Gab. _ (_interrupting him_). Nay--but hear me to the end!
_Now_ you must do so. --I conceived myself
Betrayed by you and _him_ (for now I saw
There was some tie between you) into this
Pretended den of refuge, to become
The victim of your guilt; and my first thought
Was vengeance: but though armed with a short poniard
(Having left my sword without), I was no match
For him at any time, as had been proved
That morning--either in address or force. 350
I turned and fled--i' the dark: chance rather than
Skill made me gain the secret door of the hall,
And thence the chamber where you slept: if I
Had found you _waking_, Heaven alone can tell
What vengeance and suspicion might have prompted;
But ne'er slept guilt as Werner slept that night.

_Sieg. _ And yet I had horrid dreams! and such brief sleep,
The stars had not gone down when I awoke.
Why didst thou spare me? I dreamt of my father--
And now my dream is out!

_Gab. _ 'Tis not my fault, 360
If I have read it. --Well! I fled and hid me--
Chance led me here after so many moons--
And showed me Werner in Count Siegendorf!
Werner, whom I had sought in huts in vain,
Inhabited the palace of a sovereign!
You sought me and have found me--now you know
My secret, and may weigh its worth.

_Sieg. _ (_after a pause_). Indeed!

_Gab. _ Is it revenge or justice which inspires
Your meditation?

_Sieg. _ Neither--I was weighing
The value of your secret.

_Gab. _ You shall know it 370
At once:--When you were poor, and I, though poor,
Rich enough to relieve such poverty
As might have envied mine, I offered you
My purse--you would not share it:--I'll be franker
With you: you are wealthy, noble, trusted by
The imperial powers--you understand me?

_Sieg. _ Yes.

_Gab. _ Not quite. You think me venal, and scarce true:
'Tis no less true, however, that my fortunes
Have made me both at present. You shall aid me:
I would have aided you--and also have 380
Been somewhat damaged in my name to save
Yours and your son's. Weigh well what I have said.

_Sieg. _ Dare you await the event of a few minutes'
Deliberation?

_Gab. _ (_casts his eyes on_ ULRIC, _who is
leaning against a pillar_). If I should do so?

_Sieg. _ I pledge my life for yours. Withdraw into
This tower. [_Opens a turret-door_.

_Gab. _ (_hesitatingly_). This is the second _safe_ asylum
You have offered me.

_Sieg. _ And was not the first so?

_Gab. _ I know not that even now--but will approve
The second. I have still a further shield. --
I did not enter Prague alone; and should I 390
Be put to rest with Stralenheim, there are
Some tongues without will wag in my behalf.
Be brief in your decision! [200]

_Sieg. _ I will be so. --
My word is sacred and irrevocable
Within _these_ walls, but it extends no further.

_Gab. _ I'll take it for so much.

_Sieg. _ (_points to_ ULRIC'S _sabre, still upon the ground_).
Take also _that_--
I saw you eye it eagerly, and him
Distrustfully.

_Gab. _ (_takes up the sabre_). I will; and so provide
To sell my life--not cheaply.
[GABOR _goes into the turret, which_ SIEGENDORF _closes_.

_Sieg. _ (_advances to_ ULRIC). Now, Count Ulric!
For son I dare not call thee--What say'st thou? 400

_Ulr. _ His tale is true.

_Sieg. _ True, monster!

_Ulr. _ Most true, father!
And you did well to listen to it: what
We know, we can provide against. He must
Be silenced.

_Sieg. _ Aye, with half of my domains;
And with the other half, could he and thou
Unsay this villany.

_Ulr. _ It is no time
For trifling or dissembling. I have said
His story's true; and he too must be silenced.

_Sieg. _ How so?

_Ulr. _ As Stralenheim is. Are you so dull
As never to have hit on this before? 410
When we met in the garden, what except
Discovery in the act could make me know
His death? Or had the Prince's household been
Then summoned, would the cry for the police
Been left to such a stranger? Or should I
Have loitered on the way? Or could _you, Werner_,
The object of the Baron's hate and fears,
Have fled, unless by many an hour before
Suspicion woke? I sought and fathomed you,
Doubting if you were false or feeble: I 420
Perceived you were the latter: and yet so
Confiding have I found you, that I doubted
At times your weakness.

_Sieg. _ Parricide!
no less
Than common stabber! What deed of my life,
Or thought of mine, could make you deem me fit
For your accomplice?

_Ulr. _ Father, do not raise
The devil you cannot lay between us. This
Is time for union and for action, not
For family disputes. While _you_ were tortured,
Could _I_ be calm? Think you that I have heard 430
This fellow's tale without some feeling? --You
Have taught me feeling for _you_ and myself;
For whom or what else did you ever teach it?

_Sieg. _ Oh! my dead father's curse! 'tis working now.

_Ulr. _ Let it work on! the grave will keep it down!
Ashes are feeble foes: it is more easy
To baffle such, than countermine a mole,
Which winds its blind but living path beneath you.
Yet hear me still! --If _you_ condemn me, yet,
Remember _who_ hath taught me once too often 440
To listen to him! _Who_ proclaimed to me
That _there were crimes_ made venial by the occasion?
That passion was our nature? that the goods
Of Heaven waited on the goods of fortune?
_Who_ showed me his humanity secured
By his _nerves_ only? _Who_ deprived me of
All power to vindicate myself and race
In open day? By his disgrace which stamped
(It might be) bastardy on me, and on
Himself--a _felon's_ brand! The man who is 450
At once both warm and weak invites to deeds
He longs to do, but dare not. Is it strange
That I should _act_ what you could _think? _ We have done
With right and wrong; and now must only ponder
Upon effects, not causes. Stralenheim,
Whose life I saved from impulse, as _unknown_,
I would have saved a peasant's or a dog's, I slew
_Known_ as our foe--but not from vengeance. He
Was a rock in our way which I cut through,
As doth the bolt, because it stood between us 460
And our true destination--but not idly.
As stranger I preserved him, and he _owed me_
His _life_: when due, I but resumed the debt.
He, you, and I stood o'er a gulf wherein
I have plunged our enemy. _You_ kindled first
The torch--_you_ showed the path; now trace me that
Of safety--or let me!

_Sieg. _ I have done with life!

_Ulr. _ Let us have done with that which cankers life--
Familiar feuds and vain recriminations
Of things which cannot be undone. We have 470
No more to learn or hide: I know no fear,
And have within these very walls men who
(Although you know them not) dare venture all things.
You stand high with the state; what passes here
Will not excite her too great curiosity:
Keep your own secret, keep a steady eye,
Stir not, and speak not;--leave the rest to me:
We must have no _third_ babblers thrust between us.
[_Exit_ ULRIC.

_Sieg. _ (_solus_). Am I awake? are these my father's halls?
And _you_--my son? _My_ son! _mine! _ I who have ever 480
Abhorred both mystery and blood, and yet
Am plunged into the deepest hell of both!
I must be speedy, or more will be shed--
The Hungarian's! --Ulric--he hath partisans,
It seems: I might have guessed as much. Oh fool!
Wolves prowl in company. He hath the key
(As I too) of the opposite door which leads
Into the turret. Now then! or once more
To be the father of fresh crimes, no less
Than of the criminal! Ho! Gabor! Gabor! 490
[_Exit into the turret, closing the door after him_.


SCENE II. --_The Interior of the Turret_.

GABOR _and_ SIEGENDORF.

_Gab. _ Who calls?

_Sieg. _ I--Siegendorf! Take these and fly!
Lose not a moment!

[_Tears off a diamond star and other jewels, and thrusts
them into_ GABOR'S _hand_.

_Gab. _ What am I to do
With these?

_Sieg. _ Whate'er you will: sell them, or hoard,
And prosper; but delay not, or you are lost!

_Gab. _ You pledged your honour for my safety!

_Sieg. _ And
Must thus redeem it. Fly! I am not master,
It seems, of my own castle--of my own
Retainers--nay, even of these very walls,
Or I would bid them fall and crush me! Fly!
Or you will be slain by----

_Gab. _ Is it even so? 10
Farewell, then! Recollect, however, Count,
You sought this fatal interview!

_Sieg. _ I did:
Let it not be more fatal still! --Begone!

_Gab. _ By the same path I entered?

_Sieg. _ Yes; that's safe still;
But loiter not in Prague;--you do not know
With whom you have to deal.

_Gab. _ I know too well--
And knew it ere yourself, unhappy Sire!
Farewell! [_Exit_ GABOR.

_Sieg. _ (_solus and listening_).
He hath cleared the staircase. Ah! I hear
The door sound loud behind him! He is safe!
Safe! --Oh, my father's spirit! --I am faint-- 20

[_He leans down upon a stone seat, near the wall of
the tower, in a drooping posture_.

_Enter_ ULRIC _with others armed, and with weapons drawn_.

_Ulr. _ Despatch! --he's there!

_Lud. _ The Count, my Lord!

_Ulr. _ (_recognizing_ SIEGENDORF). _You_ here, sir!

_Sieg. _ Yes: if you want another victim, strike!

_Ulr. _ (_seeing him stript of his jewels_).
Where is the ruffian who hath plundered you?
Vassals, despatch in search of him! You see
'Twas as I said--the wretch hath stript my father
Of jewels which might form a Prince's heir-loom!
Away! I'll follow you forthwith.
[_Exeunt all but_ SIEGENDORF _and_ ULRIC.
What's this?
Where is the villain?

_Sieg. _ There are _two_, sir: which
Are you in quest of?

_Ulr. _ Let us hear no more
Of this: he must be found. You have not let him 30
Escape?

_Sieg. _ He's gone.

_Ulr. _ With your connivance?

_Sieg. _ With
My fullest, freest aid.

_Ulr. _ Then fare you well!
[ULRIC _is going_.

_Sieg. _ Stop! I command--entreat--implore! Oh, Ulric!
Will you then leave me?

_Ulr. _ What! remain to be
Denounced--dragged, it may be, in chains; and all
By your inherent weakness, half-humanity,
Selfish remorse, and temporizing pity,
That sacrifices your whole race to save
A wretch to profit by our ruin! No, Count,
Henceforth you have no son!

_Sieg. _ I never had one; 40
And would you ne'er had borne the useless name!
Where will you go? I would not send you forth
Without protection.

_Ulr. _ Leave that unto me.
I am not alone; nor merely the vain heir
Of your domains; a thousand, aye, ten thousand
Swords, hearts, and hands are mine.

_Sieg. _ The foresters!
With whom the Hungarian found you first at Frankfort!

_Ulr. _ Yes--men--who are worthy of the name! Go tell
Your Senators that they look well to Prague;
Their Feast of Peace was early for the times; 50
There are more spirits abroad than have been laid
With Wallenstein!

_Enter_ JOSEPHINE _and_ IDA.

_Jos. _ What is't we hear? My Siegendorf!
Thank Heaven, I see you safe!

_Sieg. _ Safe!

_Ida. _ Yes, dear father!

_Sieg. _ No, no; I have no children: never more
Call me by that worst name of parent.

_Jos. _ What
Means my good Lord?

_Sieg. _ That you have given birth
To a demon!

_Ida_ (_taking_ ULRIC'S _hand_). Who shall dare say this of Ulric?

_Sieg. _ Ida, beware! there's blood upon that hand.

_Ida_ (_stooping to kiss it_).
I'd kiss it off, though it were mine.

_Sieg. _ It is so!

_Ulr. _ Away! it is your father's! [_Exit_ ULRIC.

_Ida. _ Oh, great God! 60
And I have loved this man!
[IDA _falls senseless_--JOSEPHINE _stands speechless with horror_.

_Sieg. _ The wretch hath slain
Them both! --My Josephine! we are now alone!
Would we had ever been so! --All is over
For me! --Now open wide, my sire, thy grave;
Thy curse hath dug it deeper for thy son
In mine! --The race of Siegendorf is past.

The end of the fifth act and the Drama.