"Yes, good father, these teachings which the worthy Jesuit fathers, in Braunsberg so eloquently instilled into my young mind, I have faithfully followed in my life. But now, in my old age, it sometimes seems to me as if my conscience raised some opposition in the matter..."
"Temptations of the devil! nothing else. Drive them away!"
"That may well be, pious father! Yes, to calm my conscience, I have written a formal confession, in which I openly declare my profession of the Lutheran faith a hypocritical act, and as openly proclaim my adherence to the Catholic Church."
"Hide this confession, show it not to any mortal eye!" interrupted the Jesuit quickly. "Its time will yet come."
"I do not understand your reasons, pious father."
"Listen attentively to what I have to say! Do you think, old man, that I, without important reasons, have ventured up here in the wilderness, daily exposed to hunger, cold, wild beasts, and the still wilder people in this country, who would burn me alive if they knew who I was, and what I was about? Do you think I would have left the wide field in my native land, had I not hoped to accomplish more here? Well, then, I will briefly explain to you my point ... Can anyone hear us? Perhaps there are private passages in these walls."
"Be sure no mortal can hear us."
"Know, then," continued the Jesuit in a low voice, "that we have again before us the never-abandoned plan of bringing heretic Sweden back to the bosom of the Roman Church. There are only two powers which can any longer resist us, and the saints be praised, these powers are becoming day by day more harmless. The House of Stuart, in England, is surrounded by our nets, and in secret does everything for our cause. Sweden still lies stunned by the terrible blow at Nördlingen, and cannot, without fresh miracles, retain its dominant position in Germany. The time has come when our plans are fully matured; we must avail ourselves of our enemies' powerlessness. In a few years England will fall into our hands like a ripe fruit. Sweden, still proud of former victories, shall be forced to do the same. The means to this end will be a change of dynasty."
"Christina, King Gustaf's daughter..."
"Is a nine-year-old child, and besides a girl! We are not without allies in Sweden, who still remember the expelled royal family. The weak Sigismund is dead; Uladislaus, his son, stretches out his hands, with all the impatience of youth, for the crown of his forefathers. It shall be his."