King [who has seized the sword and shield]. To me, man of the righteous cause!
[The Duke rushes on the King with a shout of laughter, behind him his men, among them Sköll, Ottar, Gylf, held in check by Hans with upraised sword, stand crowded together at the door. Short conflict. The Duke falls.]
King [to the crowd, his foot upon the prostrate body]. On your knees. [The foremost sink upon their knees, the rest shrink back.]
King [during a long silence looks furtively at the Queen, and the councillors. Then to the crowd]. Carry this man's body outside the door.... Let everyone submit himself unto the peace of God, which henceforth only he who courts his death will violate. Before we part, I will come down to you, and under the free air of heaven I, your Duke, will receive your oath and your allegiance. Away!
[The Duke's men seize the body and hurry out.]
Hans Lorbass [tickling Sköll under the nose with his sword-blade]. Who has it now, thou clown?
Chancellor [approaching hesitatingly]. My gracious Lord and King, I would say: Forgive us, but the strength of all our words must break against thy glorious victory. I only say: We are returned to thee. No reproaches or regrets shall cheapen our return; we only ask [with a glance at the Queen] that honor be spared, and once again, after the cruel conflict of to-day, we offer thee our country's throne in faith and loyalty.
King. I thank you noble lords, and put it from me.
Chancellor. A second time thou turnest thy happiness and ours to lamentation.
King. Stay! Let not a poisoned word pollute this moment, for now at last the riddling clouds of fate prepare to fall. I may slip the fetters from my body, which weakness, shame, unwilling gratitude, sorrow, and mistaken kindnesses, combined to weave about me. I dare to speak, for now the sword has freed me.... For that I have shrunk from thee, my wife, forgive me. Didst thou know how shudderingly I sent myself into an exile of inexpiable guilt! From thence I now return, love-empty; and still the harmony of thy grace, the breath of thy self-forgetful love, wafts like a summer breeze about my head, heavy with blessings. Yes, if I dared to stay, how much of all I have ... Hush!... I know not the path that I must choose. I only know the end. I only know that faint and far away there sounds a voice reproaching my delay. It calls me back into the eternal gray,--that boundless country where thy blessing ends, where no guiding star rises to lead me on. Farewell. Forgive me if thou canst. If not ... I know no word to say that can lift the load of guilt from off my soul.... I must endure and bear it with me silently.