Adelheid: I might love you as a child, but you are getting too tall and violent.

[Exeunt.

Scene II.—Hall at Jaxthausen. Sickingen and Goetz.

Goetz: So you want to marry a jilted woman?

Sickingen: To be deceived by him is an honour for you both. I want a mistress for my castles and gardens. In the field, at court, I want to stand alone.

[Enter Selbitz.

Selbitz: Bad news! The emperor has put you under the ban, and has sent troops to seize you.

Goetz: Sickingen, you hear. Take back your offer, and leave me!

Sickingen: I shall not turn from you in trouble. No better wooing than in time of war and danger.

Goetz: On one condition. You must publicly detach yourself from me. The emperor loves and esteems you, and your intercession may save me in the hour of need.