Chapter XXIV: Act IV: Scene: Room of the ELECTOR

SCENE I

_The_ ELECTOR _is standing with documents in his hand near a table set with lights_. NATALIE _enters through the centre door and, still some distance away, falls on her knees to him_.

NATALIE. My noble uncle Frederick of the Mark!

ELECTOR (_laying the papers aside_).
My Natalie!

[_He seeks to raise her._]

NATALIE. No, no!

ELECTOR. What is your wish?

NATALIE. As it behooves me, at your feet in dust
To plead your pardon for my cousin Homburg.
Not for myself I wish to know him safe--
My heart desires him and confesses it--
Not for myself I wish to know him safe;
Let him go wed whatever wife he will.
I only ask, dear uncle, that he live,
Free, independent, unallied, unbound,
Even as a flower in which I find delight;
For this I plead, my sovereign lord and friend,
And such entreaty you will heed, I know.

ELECTOR (_raising her to her feet_).
My little girl! What words escaped your lips?
Are you aware of how your cousin Homburg
Lately offended?

NATALIE. But, dear uncle!

ELECTOR. Well?
Was it so slight?

NATALIE. Oh, this blond fault, blue-eyed,
Which even ere it faltered: Lo, I pray!
Forgiveness should raise up from the earth--
Surely you will not spurn it with your foot?
Why, for its mother's sake, for her who bore it,
You'll press it to your breast and cry: "Weep not!
For you are dear as loyalty herself."
Was it not ardor for your name's renown
That lured him in the fight's tumultuous midst
To burst apart the confines of the law?
And oh, once he had burst the bonds asunder,
Trod he not bravely on the serpent's head?
To crown him first because he triumphs, then
Put him to death--that, surely, history
Will not demand of you. Dear uncle mine,
That were so stoical and so sublime
That men might almost deem it was inhuman!
And God made nothing more humane than you.

ELECTOR. Sweet child, consider! If I were a tyrant,
I am indeed aware your words ere now
Had thawed the heart beneath the iron breast.
But this I put to you: Have I the right
To quash the verdict which the court has passed?
What would the issue be of such an act?

NATALIE. For whom? For you?

ELECTOR. For me? No! Bah! For me!
My girl, know you no higher law than me!
Have you no inkling of a sanctuary
That in the camp men call the fatherland?

NATALIE. My liege! Why fret your soul? Because of such
Upstirring of your grace, this fatherland
Will not this moment crash to rack and ruin!
The camp has been your school. And, look, what there
You term unlawfulness, this act, this free
Suppression of the verdict of the court,
Appears to me the very soul of law.
The laws of war, I am aware, must rule;
The heart, however, has its charter, too.
The fatherland your hands upbuilt for us,
My noble uncle, is a fortress strong,
And other greater storms indeed will bear
Than this unnecessary victory.
Majestically through the years to be
It shall uprise, beneath your line expand,
Grow beautiful with towers, luxuriant,
A fairy country, the felicity
Of those who love it, and the dread of foes.
It does not need the cold cementing seal
Of a friend's life-blood to outlast the calm
And glorious autumn of my uncle's days!

ELECTOR. And cousin Homburg thinks this?

NATALIE. Cousin Homburg?

ELECTOR. Does he believe it matters not at all
If license rule the fatherland, or law?

NATALIE. This poor dear boy!

ELECTOR. Well, now?

NATALIE. Oh, uncle dear,
To that I have no answer save my tears!

ELECTOR (_in surprise_).
Why that, my little girl? What has befallen?

NATALIE (_falteringly_).
He thinks of nothing now but one thing: rescue!
The barrels at the marksmen's shoulders peer
So ghastly, that, giddy and amazed,
Desire is mute, save one desire: To live.
The whole great nation of the Mark might sink
To wrack mid flare and thunderbolt; and he
Stand by nor even ask: What comes to pass?--
Oh, what a hero's heart have you brought low?

[_She turns away, sobbing._]

ELECTOR (_utterly amazed_).
No, dearest Natalie! No, no, indeed!
Impossible!--He pleads for clemency?

NATALIE. If you had only, only not condemned him!

ELECTOR. Come, tell me, come! He pleads for clemency?
What has befallen, child? Why do you sob?
You met? Come, tell me all. You spoke with him?

NATALIE (_pressed against his breast_).
In my aunt's chambers but a moment since,
Whither in mantle, lo, and plumèd hat
Stealthily through the screening dusk he came--
Furtive, perturbed, abashed, unworthy all,
A miserable, pitiable sight.
I never guessed a man could sink so low
Whom history applauded as her hero.
For look--I am a woman and I shrink
From the mere worm that draws too near my foot;
But so undone, so void of all control,
So unheroic quite, though lion-like
Death fiercely came, he should not find me thus!
Oh, what is human greatness, human fame!

ELECTOR (_confused_).
Well, then, by God of heaven and of earth!
Take courage, then, my girl, for he is free!

NATALIE. What, my liege lord?

ELECTOR. I pardon him, I say!
I'll send the necessary word at once.

NATALIE. Oh, dearest, is it really true?

ELECTOR. You heard.

NATALIE. You will forgive him? And he need not die?

ELECTOR. Upon my word! I swear it! How shall I
Oppose myself to such a warrior's judgment?
Within my heart of hearts, as you know well,
I deeply do esteem his inner sense;
If he can say the verdict is unjust,
I cancel the indictment; he is free!

[_He brings her a chair._]

Will you sit here and wait a little while?

[_He goes to the table, seats himself and writes. Pause._]

NATALIE (_softly_).
Why dost thou knock so at thy house, my heart?

ELECTOR (_writing_).
The Prince is over in the Castle?

NATALIE. Pardon!
He has returned to his captivity.

ELECTOR (_finishes his letter and seals it; thereupon he returns
with the letter to the_ PRINCESS).
Well, well, my little niece, my daughter, wept!
And I, whose place it is to make her glad
Was forced to cloud the heaven of her fair eyes!

[_He puts his arm about her_.]

Will you go bring the note to him yourself?

NATALIE. How? To the City Hall?

ELECTOR (_presses the letter into her hand_).
Why not? Ho, lackeys!

[_Enter lackeys_.]

Go, have the carriage up! Her ladyship
Has urgent business with Colonel Homburg.

[_The lackeys go out_.]

Now he can thank you for his life forthwith.

[_He embraces her_.]

Dear child, and do you like me now once more?

NATALIE (_after a pause_).
I do not know and do not seek to know
What woke your favor, liege, so suddenly.
But truly this, I feel this in my heart,
You would not make ignoble sport of me.
The letter hold whate'er it may--I trust
That it hold pardon--and I thank you for it.

[_She kisses his hand_.]

ELECTOR. Indeed, my little girl, indeed. As sure
As pardon lies in Cousin Homburg's wish.

SCENE II

_Room of the_ PRINCESS. _Enter_ PRINCESS NATALIE, _followed by two ladies-in-waiting and Captain of Cavalry_, COUNT REUSS.

NATALIE (_precipitantly_).
What is it, Count? About my regiment?
Is it of moment? Can it wait a day?

REUSS (_handing her a letter_).
Madam, a note for you from Colonel Kottwitz.

NATALIE (_opening it_).
Quick, give it me! What's in it?

REUSS. A petition,
Frankly addressed, though deferentially,
As you will note, to our liege lord, his Highness,
In furtherance of our chief, the Prince of Homburg.

NATALIE (_reading_).
"Petition, loyally presented by
The regiment of Princess Orange"--so.

[_Pause._]

This document--whose hand composed it, pray?

REUSS. As the formations of the dizzy script
May let you guess, by none but Colonel Kottwitz.
His noble name stands foremost on the list.

NATALIE. The thirty signatures which follow it?

REUSS. The names of officers, most noble lady,
Each following each according to his rank.

NATALIE. And they sent me the supplication--me?

REUSS. My lady, most submissively to beg
If you, our colonel, likewise, at their head
Will fill the space left vacant, with your name?

[_Pause._]

NATALIE. Indeed, I hear, the Prince, my noble kinsman,
By our lord's own volition shall be freed,
Wherefore there scarce is need for such a step.

REUSS (_delighted_).
What? Truly?

NATALIE. Yet I'll not deny my hand
Upon a document, which, wisely used,
May prove a weight upon the scales to turn
Our sovereign's decision--even prove
Welcome, mayhap, to introduce the issue.
According to your wish, therefore, I set
Myself here at your head and write my name.

[_She goes to a desk and is about to write._]

REUSS. Indeed, you have our lively gratitude!

[_Pause._]

NATALIE (_turning to him again_).
My regiment alone I find, Count Reuss!
Why do I miss the Bomsdorf Cuirassiers
And the dragoons of Götz and Anhalt-Pless?

REUSS. Not, as perchance you fear, because their hearts
Are cooler in their throbbing than our own.
It proves unfortunate for our petition
That Kottwitz is in garrison apart
At Arnstein, while the other regiments
Are quartered in the city here. Wherefore
The document lacks freedom easily
In all directions to expand its force.

NATALIE. Yet, as it stands, the plea seems all too thin.--
Are you sure, Count, if you were on the spot
To interview the gentlemen now here,
That they as well would sign the document?

REUSS. Here in the city, madam? Head for head!
The entire cavalry would pledge itself
With signatures. By God, I do believe
That a petition might be safely launched
Amid the entire army of the Mark!

NATALIE (_after a pause_).
Why does not some one send out officers
To carry on the matter in the camp?

REUSS. Pardon! The Colonel put his foot on that.
He said that he desired to do no act
That men might christen with an ugly name.

NATALIE. Queer gentleman! Now bold, now timorous!
But it occurs to me that happily
The Elector, pressed by other business,
Charged me to issue word that Kottwitz, cribbed
Too close in his position, march back hither.
I will sit down at once and do it!

[_She sits down and writes._]

REUSS. By Heaven,
Most excellent, my lady! An event
That could not timelier prove for our petition!

NATALIE (_as she writes_).
Use it, Count Reuss, as well as you know how.

[_She finishes her note, seals it and rises to her feet again._]

Meanwhile this note, you understand, remains
In your portfolio; you will not go
To Arnstein with it, nor convey 't to Kottwitz
Until I give more definite command.

[_She gives him the letter._]

A LACKEY (_entering_).
According to the sovereign's order, madam,
The coach is ready in the yard, and waiting.

NATALIE. Go, call it to the door. I'll come at once.

[_Pause, during which she steps thoughtfully to the table and draws on her gloves._]

Count, I desire to interview Prince Homburg.
Will you escort me thither? In my coach
There is a place I put at your disposal.

REUSS. Madam, a great distinction, I assure you--

[_He offers her his arm._]

NATALIE (_to the ladies-in-waiting_).
Follow, my friends!--It well may be that there
I shall decide about the note erelong.

[_Exeunt omnes._]

SCENE III

_The_ PRINCE'S _cell. The_ PRINCE Of HOMBURG _hangs his hat on the wall
and sinks, carelessly reclining, on a mattress spread out on the floor._

THE PRINCE. The dervish calls all life a pilgrimage,
And that, a brief one. True!--Of two short spans
This side of earth to two short spans below.
I will recline upon the middle path.
The man who bears his head erect today
No later than tomorrow on his breast
Bows it, all tremulous. Another dawn,
And, lo, it lies a skull beside his heel!
Indeed, there is a sun, they say, that shines
On fields beyond e'en brighter than these fields.
I do believe it; only pity 'tis
The eye, that shall perceive the splendor, rots.

SCENE IV

_Enter_ PRINCESS NATALIE _on the arm of_ COUNT REUSS, _and followed by
ladies-in-waiting. A footman with a torch precedes them. The_ PRINCE
OF HOMBURG.

FOOTMAN. Her Highness Princess Natalie of Orange!

THE PRINCE (_rising_).
Natalie!

FOOTMAN. Here she comes herself!

NATALIE (_with a bow to the COUNT_). I beg
Leave us a little moment to ourselves.

[COUNT REUSS _and the footman go._]

THE PRINCE. Beloved lady!

NATALIE. Dear good cousin mine!

THE PRINCE (_leading her up stage_).
What is your news? Speak! How stand things with me?

NATALIE. Well. All is well, just as I prophesied.
Pardoned are you, and free; here is a letter
Writ by his hand to verify my words.

THE PRINCE. It cannot be! No, no! It is a dream!

NATALIE. Read! Read the letter! See it for yourself!

THE PRINCE (_reading_).
"My Prince of Homburg, when I made you prisoner
Because of your too premature attack,
I thought that I was doing what was right--
No more; and reckoned on your acquiescence.
If you believe that I have been unjust,
Tell me, I beg you in a word or two,
And forthwith I will send you back your sword."

[NATALIE _turns pale. Pause. The_ PRINCE _regards her questioningly._]

NATALIE (_feigning sudden joy_).
Well, there it stands! It only needs two words,
My dear, sweet friend!

[_She presses his hand._]

THE PRINCE. Ah, precious lady mine!

NATALIE. Oh, blessed hour that dawns across my world!
Here, take it, take the pen, take it and write.

THE PRINCE. And here the signature?

NATALIE. The F--his mark!
Oh, Bork! Be glad with me. His clemency
Is limitless, I knew it, as the sea!
Do bring a chair, for he must write at once.

THE PRINCE. He says, if I believed--

NATALIE (_interrupting_). Why, yes, of course!
Quick now! Sit down. I'll tell you what to say.

[_She sets a chair in place for him._]

THE PRINCE. I wish to read the letter once again.

NATALIE (_tearing the letter from his hand_).
Why so? Did you not see the pit already
Yawning beneath you in the graveyard yonder?
The time is urgent. Come, sit down and write.

THE PRINCE (_smiling_).
Truly, you act as though it had the power
To plump down, panther-fashion, on my back.

[_He sits down and seizes a pen._]

NATALIE (_turning away with a sob_).
Write, if you do not want to make me cross.

[_The_ PRINCE _rings for a lackey, who enters._]

THE PRINCE. Bring pen and paper, seal and sealing-wax.

[_The lackey, having collected these and given them to the_ PRINCE, _goes out. The_ PRINCE _writes. Pause, during which he tears the letter he has begun in two and throws the pieces under the table_.]

A silly opening!

[_He takes another sheet_.]

NATALIE (_picking up the letter_). What did you say?
Good heavens! Why, it's right, it's excellent.

THE PRINCE (_under his breath_).
Bah! That's a blackguard's wording, not a Prince's.
I'll try to put it in some other way.

[_Pause. He clutches at the_ ELECTOR'S _letter which the_ PRINCESS _holds in her hand._]

What is it, anyway, his letter says?

NATALIE (_keeping it from him_).
Nothing at all!

THE PRINCE. Give it to me!

NATALIE. You read it!

THE PRINCE (_snatches it from her_).
What if I did? I only want to see
How I'm to phrase my answer.

NATALIE (_to herself_). God of earth!
Now all is done with him!

THE PRINCE (_surprised_). Why, look at this!
As I'm alive, most curious! You must
Have overlooked the passage.

NATALIE. Why! Which one?

THE PRINCE. He calls on me to judge the case myself!

NATALIE. Well, what of that?

THE PRINCE. Gallant, i' faith, and fine!
Exactly what a noble soul would say!

NATALIE. His magnanimity is limitless!
But you, too, friend, do _your_ part now, and write,
As he desires. All that is needed now
Is but the pretext, but the outer form.
As soon as those two words are in his hands,
Presto, the quarrel's at an end.

THE PRINCE (_putting the letter away_). No, dear!
I want to think it over till tomorrow.

NATALIE. Incomprehensible! Oh, what a change!
But why, but why?

THE PRINCE (_rising in passionate excitement_).
I beg you, ask me not!
You did not ponder what the letter said.
That he did me a wrong--and that's the crux--
I cannot tell him that. And if you force me
To give him answer in my present mood,
By God, it's this I'll tell him--"You did right!"

[_He sinks down beside the table, again with folded arms, and stares at the letter._]

NATALIE (_pale_).
You imbecile, you! What a thing to say!

[_She bends over him, deeply stirred_.]

THE PRINCE (_pressing her hand_).
Come, just a second now! I think--

[_He ponders_.]

NATALIE. What is it?

THE PRINCE. I'll know soon now what I shall write to him.

NATALIE (_painfully_).
Homburg!

THE PRINCE (_taking up his pen_)
Yes, dear. What is it?

NATALIE. Sweetest friend!
I prize the impulse that upstirred your heart;
But this I swear to you: the regiment
Has been detailed, whose muskets are to sound
At dawn the reconciling burial rite
Above the grave where your dead body lies.
If you cannot resist the law's decree,
Nor, noble as you are, do what he asks
Here in this letter to repeal it, then
I do assure you he will loftily
Accept the situation, and fulfil
The sentence on the morrow ruthlessly.

THE PRINCE (_writing_).
No matter!

NATALIE. What? No matter?

THE PRINCE. Let him do
What his soul bids. I must do what I must.

NATALIE (_approaching him frightened_).
Oh, terrible! You are not writing there?

THE PRINCE (_concluding_).
"Homburg!" And dated, "Fehrbellin, the twelfth."
So, it's all ready. Frank!

[_He closes and seals the letter_.]

NATALIE. Dear God in heaven!

THE PRINCE (_rising_).
Here, take this to the Castle to my liege!

[_The lackey goes out_.]

I will not face man who faces me
So nobly, with a knave's ignoble front!
Guilt, heavy guilt, upon my conscience weighs,
I fully do confess. Can he but grant
Forgiveness, when I contest for it,
I do not care a straw for any pardon.

NATALIE (_kissing him_).
This kiss, for me! And though twelve bullets made
You dust this instant, I could not resist
Caroling, sobbing, crying: Thus you please me!
However, since you follow your heart's lead,
I may be pardoned if I follow mine.
Count Reuss!

[_The footman opens the door. The_ COUNT _enters_.]

REUSS. Here!

NATALIE. Go, and bear the note I gave
Post-haste to Arnstein and to Colonel Kottwitz!
The regiment shall march, our liege directs.
Ere midnight I shall look to see it here!

[_Exeunt omnes_.]