NILS LYKKE. I doubt neither your goodwill toward me nor your daughter's; of that I have had full proof. And you will doubtless allow that the necessity which calls for my presence elsewhere must be more vital, since, despite your kindness, I must declare my longer stay at Ostrat impossible.
LADY INGER. Is it even so!—Know you, Sir Councillor, were I evilly disposed, I might fancy you had come to Ostrat to try a fall with me, and that, having lost, you like not to linger on the battlefield among the witnesses of your defeat.
NILS LYKKE (smiling). There might be some show of reason for such a reading of the case; but sure it is that as yetIhold not the battle lost.
LADY INGER. Be that as it may, it might at any rate be retrieved, if you would tarry some days with us. You see yourself, I am still doubting and wavering at the parting of the ways,—persuading my redoubtable assailant not to quit the field.—Well, to speak plainly, the thing is this: your alliance with the disaffected in Sweden still seems to me somewhat—ay, what shall I call it?— somewhat miraculous, Sir Councillor! I tell you this frankly, dear Sir! The thought that has moved the King's Council to this secret step is in truth most politic; but it is strangely at variance with the deeds of certain of your countrymen in bygone years. Be not offended, then, if my trust in your fair promises needs to be somewhat strengthened ere I can place my whole welfare in your hands.
NILS LYKKE. A longer stay at Ostrat would scarce help towards that end; since I purpose not to make any further effort to shake your resolution.
LADY INGER. Then must I pity you from my heart. Ay, Sir Councillor—'tis true I stand here an unfriended widow; yet may you trust my word when I prophesy that this visit to Ostrat will strew your future path with thorns.
NILS LYKKE (with a smile). Is that your prophecy, Lady Inger?
LADY INGER. Truly it is! What can one say dear Sir? 'Tis a calumnious age. Many a scurril knave will make scornful rhymes concerning you. Ere half a year is out, you will be all men's fable; people will stop and gaze after you on the high roads; 'twill be: "Look, look; there rides Sir Nils Lykke, that fared north to Ostrat to trap Inger Gyldenlove, and was caught in his own nets."—Nay nay, why so impatient, Sir Knight! 'Tis not thatIthink so; I do but forecast the thought of the malicious and evil-minded; and of them, alas! there are many.—Ay, 'tis shame; but so it is—you will reap nought but mockery—mockery, because a woman was craftier than you. "Like a cunning fox," men will say, "he crept into Ostrat; like a beaten hound he slunk away." —And one thing more: think you not that Peter Kanzler and his friends will forswear your alliance, when 'tis known that I venture not to fight under a standard borne by you?
NILS LYKKE. You speak wisely, lady! And so, to save myself from mockery—and further, to avoid breaking with all our dear friends in Sweden—I must needs——
LADY INGER (hastily). ——prolong your stay at Ostrat?
OLAF SKAKTAVL (who has been listening). He is in the trap!
NILS LYKKE. No, my noble lady;—I must needs bring you to terms within this hour.
LADY INGER. But what if you should fail?
NILS LYKKE. I shallnotfail.
LADY INGER. You lack not confidence, it seems.
NILS LYKKE. What shall we wager that you make not common cause with myself and Peter Kanzler?
LADY INGER. Ostrat Castle against your knee-buckles.
NILS LYKKE (points to himself and cries:) Olaf Skaktavl—here stands the master of Ostrat!
LADY INGER. Sir Councillor——!
NILS LYKKE (to LADY INGER). I accept not the wager; for in a moment you will gladly give Ostrat Castle, and more to boot, to be freed from the snare wherein not I but you are tangled.
LADY INGER. Your jest, Sir, grows a vastly merry one.
NILS LYKKE. 'Twill be merrier yet—at least for me. You boast that you have overreached me. You threaten to heap on me all men's scorn and mockery. Ah, beware that you stir not up my vengefulness; For with two words I can bring you to your knees at my feet.
LADY INGER. Ha-ha—— ——!(Stops suddenly, as if struck by a foreboding.)And the two words, Nils Lykke?—the two words——?
NILS LYKKE. ——The secret of Sten Sture's son and yours.
LADY INGER (with a shriek). Oh, Jesus Christ——!
OLAF SKAKTAVL. Inger Gyldenlove's son! What say you?
LADY INGER (half kneeling to NILS LYKKE). Mercy! oh be merciful——!
NILS LYKKE (raises her up). Collect yourself, and let us talkcalmly.
LADY INGER (in a low voice, as though bewildered). Did you hear it, Olaf Skaktavl? or was it but a dream? Heard you what he said?
NILS LYKKE. It was no dream, Lady Inger!
LADY INGER. And you know it! You,—you!— Where is he then?Where have you got him? What would you do with him? (Screams.)Do not kill him, Nils Lykke! Give him back to me! Do not killmy child!
OLAF SKAKTAVL. Ah, I begin to understand——
LADY INGER. And this fear——this torturing dread! Through all these years it has been ever with me—— —— and then all fails at last, and I must bear this agony!—Oh Lord my God, is it right of thee? Was it for this thou gavest him to me? (Controls herself and says with forced composure:) Nils Lykke—tell meonething. Where have you got him? Where is he?
NILS LYKKE. With his foster-father.
LADY INGER. Still with his foster-father. Oh, that merciless man——! For ever to deny my prayers.—But itmustnot go on thus! Help me, Olaf Skaktavl!
NILS LYKKE. There will be no need, if only you——
LADY INGER. Hearken, Sir Councillor! What you know you shall know thoroughly. And you too, my old and faithful friend——! Listen then. To-night you bade me call to mind that fatal day when Knut Alfson was slain at Oslo. You bade me remember the promise I made as I stood by his corpse amid the bravest men in Norway. I was scarce full-grown then; but I felt God's strength in me, and methought, as many have thought since, that the Lord himself had set his mark on me and chosen me to fight in the forefront for my country's cause. Was it vanity? Or was it a calling from on high? That I have never clearly known. But woe to him that has a great mission laid upon him. For seven years I fear not to say that I kept my promise faithfully. I stood by my countrymen in all their miseries. All my playmates were now wives and mothers. I alone could give ear to no wooer—not to one. That you know best, Olaf Skaktavl! Then I saw Sten Sture for the first time. Fairer man had never met my sight.
NILS LYKKE. Ah, now it grows clear to me! Sten Sture was then in Norway on a secret errand. We Danes were not to know that he wished your friends well.
LADY INGER. Disguised as a mean serving-man he lived a whole winter under one roof with me. That winter I thought less and less of the country's weal—— ——. So fair a man had I never seen, and I had lived well-nigh five-and-twenty years. Next autumn Sten Sture came once more; and when he departed again he took with him, in all secrecy, a little child. "Twas not folk's evil tongues I feared; but our cause would have suffered had it got about the Sten Sture stood so near to me. The child was given to Peter Kanzler to rear. I waited for better times, that were soon to come. They never came. Sten Sture took a wife two years later in Sweden, and, dying, left a widow——
OLAF SKAKTAVL. ——And with her a lawful heir to his name and rights.
LADY INGER. Time after time I wrote to Peter Kanzler and besought him to give me back my child. But he was ever deaf to my prayers. "Cast in your lot with us once for all," he said, "and I send your son back to Norway; not before." But 'twas even that I dared not do. We of the disaffected party were then ill regarded by many timorous folk. If these had got tidings of how things stood—oh, I know it!—to cripple the mother they had gladly meted to the child the fate that would have been King Christiern's had he not saved himself by flight.[1] But besides that, the Danes were active. They spared neither threats nor promises to force me to join them.
OLAF SKAKTAVL. 'Twas but reason. The eyes of all men were fixed on you as the vane that should show them how to shape their course.
LADY INGER. Then came Herlof Hyttefad's revolt. Do you remember that time, Olaf Skaktavl? Was it not as though the whole land was filled with the sunlight of a new spring. Mighty voices summoned me to come forth;—yet I dared not. I stood doubting— far from the strife—in my lonely castle. At times it seemed as though the Lord God himself were calling me; but then would come the killing dread again to paralyse my will. "Who will win?" that was the question that was ever ringing in my ears. 'Twas but a short spring that had come to Norway. Herlof Hyttefad, and many more with him, were broken on the wheel during the months that followed. None could call me to account; yet there lacked not covert threats from Denmark. What if they knew the secret? At last methought they must know; I knew not how else to understand their words. 'Twas even in that time of agony that Gyldenlove the High Steward, came hither and sought me in marriage. Let any mother that has feared for her child think herself in my place!—and homeless in the hearts of my countrymen. Then came the quiet years. There was now no whisper of revolt. Our masters might grind us down even as heavily as they listed. There were times when I loathed myself. What had I to do? Nought but to endure terror and scorn and bring forth daughters into the world. My daughters! God forgive me if I have had no mother's heart towards them. My wifely duties were as serfdom to me; how then could I love my daughters? Oh, how different with my son!Hewas the child of my very soul. He was the one thing that brought to mind the time when I was a woman and nought but a woman—and him they had taken from me! He was growing up among strangers, who might sow in him the seed of destruction! Olaf Skaktavl—had I wandered like you on the lonely hills, hunted and forsaken, in winter and storm—if I had but held my child in my arms,—trust me, I had not sorrowed and wept so sore as I have sorrowed and wept for him from his birth even to this hour.
OLAF SKAKTAVL. There is my hand. I have judged you too hardly, Lady Inger! Command me even as before; I will obey.—Ay, by all the saints, I know what it is to sorrow for a child.
LADY INGER. Yours was slain by bloody men. But what is death to the restless terror of all these long years?
NILS LYKKE. Mark, then—'tis in your power to end this terror. You have but to reconcile the opposing parties, and neither will think of seizing on your child as a pledge of your faith.
LADY INGER (to herself). This is the vengeance of Heaven.(Looks at him.) In one word, what do you demand?
NILS LYKKE. I demand first that you shall call the people of the northern districts to arms, in support of the disaffected in Sweden.
LADY INGER. And next——?
NILS LYKKE. ——that you do your best to advance young CountSture's ancestral claim to the throne of Sweden.
LADY INGER. His? You demand that I——?
OLAF SKAKTAVL (softly). It is the wish of many Swedes, and 'twould serve our turn too.
NILS LYKKE. You hesitate, lady? You tremble for your son's safety. What better can you wish than to see his half-brother on the throne?
LADY INGER (in thought). True—true——
NILS LYKKE (looks at her sharply). Unless there be other plans afoot——
LADY INGER. What mean you?
NILS LYKKE. Inger Gyldenlove might have a mind to be a—akings mother.
LADY INGER. No, no! Give me back my child, and let who willhave the crowns.But know you so surely that Count Sture is willing——?
NILS LYKKE. Of that he will himself assure you.
LADY INGER. Himself?
NILS LYKKE. Even now.
OLAF SKAKTAVL. How now?
LADY INGER. What say you?
NILS LYKKE. In one word, Count Sture is in Ostrat.
OLAF SKAKTAVL. Here?
NILS LYKKE (to LADY INGER). You have doubtless been told that another rode through the gate along with me? The Count was my attendant.
LADY INGER (softly). I am in his power. I have no longer anychoice.(Looks at him and says:)'Tis well, Sir Councillor—I will assure you of my support.
NILS LYKKE. In writing?
LADY INGER. As you will.
(Goes to the table on the left, sits down, and takes writingmaterials from the drawer.)
NILS LYKKE (aside, standing by the table on the right). At last,then, I win!
LADY INGER (after a moment's thought, turns suddenly in her chair to OLAF SKAKTAVL and whispers). Olaf Skaktavl—I am certain of it now—Nils Lykke is a traitor!
OLAF SKAKTAVL (softly). What? You think——?
LADY INGER. He has treachery in his heart
(Lays the paper before her and dips the pen in the ink.)
OLAF SKAKTAVL. And yet you would give him a written promisethat may be your ruin?
LADY INGER. Hush; leave me to act. Nay, wait and listenfirst——
(Talks with him in a whisper.)
NILS LYKKE (softly, watching them). Ah, take counsel together as much as ye list! All danger is over now. With her written consent in my pocket, I can denounce her when I please. A secret message to Jens Bielke this very night.—I tell him but the truth— that the young Count Sture is not at Ostrat. And then to-morrow, when the road is open—to Trondhiem with my young friend, and thence by ship to Copenhagen with him as my prisoner. Once we have him safe in the castle-tower, we can dictate to Lady Inger what terms we will. And I——? Methinks after this the King will scarce place the French mission in other hands than mine.
LADY INGER (still whispering to OLAF SKAKTAVL). Well, you understand me?
OLAF SKAKTAVL. Ay, fully. Let us risk it.
(Goes out by the back, to the right. NILS STENSSON comes in by the first door on the right, unseen by LADY INGER, who has begun to write.)
NILS STENSSON (in a low voice). Sir Knight,—Sir Knight!
NILS LYKKE (moves towards him). Rash boy! What would you here?Said I not you were to wait within until I called you?
NILS STENSSON. How could I? Now you have told me that Inger Gyldenlove is my mother, I thirst more than ever to see her face to face—— Oh, it is she! How proud and lofty she seems! Even thus did I ever picture her. Fear not, dear Sir, I shall do nought rashly. Since I have learnt this secret, I feel, as it were, older and wiser. I will no longer be wild and heedless; I will be even as other well-born youths.—Tell me,—knows she that I am here? Surely you have prepared her?
NILS LYKKE. Ay, sure enough; but——
NILS STENSSON. Well?
NILS LYKKE. ——She will not own you for her son.
NILS STENSSON. Will not own me? But sheismy mother.—Oh, if there be no other way—(takes out a ring which he wears on a cord round his neck)—show her this ring. I have worn it since my earliest childhood; she must surely know its history.
NILS LYKKE. Hide the ring, man! Hide it, I say! You mistake me. Lady Inger doubts not at all that you are her child; but—ay, look about you; look at all this wealth; look at these mighty ancestors and kinsmen whose pictures deck the walls both high and low; look lastly at herself, the haughty dame, used to bear sway as the first noblewoman in the kingdom. Think you it can be to her mind to take a poor ignorant youth by the hand before all men's eyes and say: Behold my son!
NILS STENSSON. Ay, you are right, I am poor and ignorant. I have nought to offer her in return for what I crave. Oh, never have I felt my poverty weigh on me till this hour! But tell me— what think you I should do to win her love? Tell me, dear Sir; sure you must know.
NILS LYKKE. You must win your father's kingdom. But until that may be, look well that you wound not her ears by hinting at kinship or the like. She will bear her as though she believed you to be the real Count Sture, until you have made yourself worthy to be called her son.
NILS STENSSON. Oh, but tell me——!
NILS LYKKE. Hush; hush!
LADY INGER (rises and hands him a paper). Sir Knight—here is my promise.
NILS LYKKE. I thank you.
LADY INGER (notices NILS STENSSON). Ah,—this young man is——?
NILS LYKKE. Ay, Lady Inger, he is Count Sture.
LADY INGER (aside, looks at him stealthily). Feature forfeature;—ay, by God,—it is Sten Sture's son!(Approaches him and says with cold courtesy.)I bid you welcome under my roof, Count! It rests with you whetheror not we shall bless this meeting a year hence.
NILS STENSSON. With me? Oh, do but tell me what I must do!Trust me, I have courage and good-will enough——
NILS LYKKE (listens uneasily). What is this noise and uproar, Lady Inger? There are people pressing hitherward. What does this mean?
LADY INGER (in a loud voice). 'Tis the spirits awaking!
(OLAF SKAKTAVL, EINAR HUK, BIORN, FINN, and a number of Peasants and Retainers come in from the back, on the right.)
THE PEASANTS AND RETAINERS. Hail to Lady Inger Gyldenlove!
LADY INGER (to OLAF SKAKTAVL). Have you told them what is in hand?
OLAF SKAKTAVL. I have told them all they need to know.
LADY INGER (to the Crowd). Ay, now, my faithful house-folk and peasants, now must ye arm you as best you can and will. What I forbade you to-night you have now my fullest leave to do. And here I present to you the young Count Sture, the coming ruler of Sweden—and Norway too, if God will it so.
THE WHOLE CROWD. Hail to him! Hail to Count Sture!
(General excitement. The Peasants and Retainers choose out weapons and put on breastplates and helmets, amid great noise.)
NILS LYKKE (softly and uneasily). The spirits awaking, she said? I but feigned to conjure up the devil of revolt—'twere a cursed spite if he got the upper hand of us.
LADY INGER (to NILS STENSSON). Here I give you the first earnest of our service—thirty mounted men, to follow you as bodyguard. Trust me—ere you reach the frontier many hundreds will have ranged themselves under my banner and yours. Go, then, and God be with you!
NILS STENSSON. Thanks,—Inger Gyldenlove! Thanks—and be sure that you shall never have cause to shame you for—for Count Sture! If you see me again I shall have won my father's kingdom.
NILS LYKKE (to himself). Ay,ifshe see you again!
OLAF SKAKTAVL. The horses wait, good fellows! Are ye ready?
THE PEASANTS. Ay, ay, ay!
NILS LYKKE (uneasily, to LADY INGER). What? You mean not to- night, even now——?
LADY INGER. This very moment, Sir Knight!
NILS LYKKE. Nay, nay, impossible!
LADY INGER. I have said it.
NILS LYKKE (softly, to NILS STENSSON). Obey her not!
NILS STENSSON. How can I otherwise? Iwill; Imust!
NILS LYKKE (with authority). Andme!
NILS STENSSON. I shall keep my word; be sure of that. The secret shall not pass my lips till you yourself release me. But she is my mother!
NILS LYKKE (aside). And Jens Bielke in wait on the road!Damnation! He will snatch the prize out of my fingers——(To LADY INGER.)Wait till to-morrow!
LADY INGER (to NILS STENSSON). Count Sture—do you obey me ornot?
NILS STENSSON. To horse! (Goes up towards the background).
NILS LYKKE (aside). Unhappy boy! He knows not what he does.(To LADY INGER.)Well, since so it must be,—farewell!
(Bows hastily, and begins to move away.)
LADY INGER (detains him). Nay, stay! Not so, Sir Knight,— not so!
NILS LYKKE. What mean you?
LADY INGER (in a low voice). Nils Lykke—you are a traitor! Hush! Let no one see there is dissension in the camp of the leaders. You have won Peter Kanzler's trust by some devilish cunning that as yet I see not through. You have forced me to rebellious acts—not to help our cause, but to further your own plots, whatever they may be. I can draw back no more. But think not therefore that you have conquered! I shall contrive to make you harmless——
NILS LYKKE (lays his hand involuntarily on his sword). LadyInger!
LADY INGER. Be calm, Sir Councillor! Your life is safe. Butyou come not outside the gates of Ostrat before victory is ours.
NILS LYKKE. Death and destruction!
LADY INGER. It boots not to resist. You come not from thisplace. So rest you quiet; 'tis your wisest course.
NILS LYKKE (to himself). Ah,—I am overreached. She has beencraftier than I. (A thought strikes him.) But if I yet——?
LADY INGER (to OLAF SKAKTAVL). Ride with Count Sture's troopsto the frontier; then without pause to Peter Kanzler, and bringme back my child. Now has he no longer any plea for keeping fromme what is my own.(Adds, as OLAF SKAKTAVL is going:)Wait; a token.—He that wears Sten Sture's ring is my son.
OLAF SKAKTAVL. By all the saints, you shall have him!
LADY INGER. Thanks,—thanks, my faithful friend!
NILS LYKKE (to FINN, whom he has beckoned to him unobserved, and with whom he has been whispering). Good—now manage to slip out. Let none see you. The Swedes are in ambush two miles hence. Tell the commander that Count Sture is dead. The young man you see there must not be touched. Tell the commander so. Tell him the boy's life is worth thousands to me.
FINN. It shall be done.
LADY INGER (who has meanwhile been watching NILS LYKKE). And now go, all of you; go with God! (Points to NILS LYKKE.) This noble knight cannot find it in his heart to leave his friends at Ostrat so hastily. He will abide here with me till the tidings of your victory arrive.
NILS LYKKE (to himself). Devil!
NILS STENSSON (seizes his hand). Trust me—you shall not havelong to wait!
NILS LYKKE. It is well; it is well! (Aside.) All may yet besaved. If only my message reach Jens Bielke in time——
LADY INGER (to EINAR HUK, the bailiff, pointing to FINN). Andlet that man be placed under close guard in the castle dungeon.
FINN. Me?
THE BAILIFF AND THE SERVANTS. Finn!
NILS LYKKE (aside). My last anchor gone!
LADY INGER (imperatively). To the dungeon with him!
(EINAR HUK, BIORN, and a couple of the house-servants leadFINN out to the left.)
ALL THE REST (except NILS LYKKE, rushing out to the right).Away! To horse,—to horse! Hail to Lady Inger Gyldenlove!
LADY INGER (passes close to NILS LYKKE as she follows the others).Who wins?
NILS LYKKE (remains alone). Who? Ay, woe to you;—your victory will cost you dear.Iwash my hands of it. 'Tis notIthat am murdering him. But my prey is escaping me none the less; and the revolt will grow and spread!—Ah, 'tis a foolhardy, a frantic game I have been playing here! (Listens at the window.) There they go clattering out through the gateway.—Now 'tis closed after them—and I am left here a prisoner. No way of escape! Within half-an-hour the Swedes will be upon him. 'Twill be life or death. But if they should take him alive after all?—Were I but free, I could overtake the Swedes ere they reach the frontier, and make them deliver him up. (Goes towards the window in the background and looks out.) Damnation! Guards outside on every hand. Can there be no way out of this? (Comes quickly forward again; suddenly stops and listens.) What is that? Music and singing. It seems to come from Elina's chamber. Ay, it is she that is singing. Then she is still awake—— (A thought seems to strike him.) Elina!—Ah, ifthatcould be! If it could but——And why should I not? Am I not still myself? Says not the song:—
Fair maidens a-many they sigh and they pine; "Ah God, that Nils Lykke were mine, mine, mine."
And she——? —— ——Elina Gyldenlove shall set me free!
(Goes quickly but stealthily towards the first door on the left.)
[1] King Christian II. of Denmark (the perpetrator of the massacre at Stockholm known as the Blood-Bath) fled to Holland in 1523, five years before the date assigned to this play, in order to escape death or imprisonment at the hands of his rebellious nobles, who summoned his uncle, Frederick I., to the throne. Returning to Denmark in 1532, Christian was thrown into prison, where he spent the last twenty-seven years of his life.
(The Banquet Hall. It is still night. The hall is but dimly lighted by a branch-candlestick on the table, in front, on the right.)
(LADY INGER is sitting by the table, deep in thought.)
LADY INGER (after a pause). They call me keen-witted beyond all others in the land. I believe they are right. The keenest- witted—— No one knows how I became so. For more than twenty years I have fought to save my child.Thatis the key to the riddle. Ay, that sharpens the wits! My wits? Where have they flown to-night? What has become of my forethought? There is a ringing and rushing in my ears. I see shapes before me, so life-like that methinks I could lay hold on them. (Springs up.) Lord Jesus—what is this? Am I no longer mistress of my reason? Is it to come to that——? (Presses her clasped hands over her head; sits down again, and says more calmly:) Nay, 'tis nought. It will pass. There is no fear;—it will pass. How peaceful it is in the hall to-night! No threatening looks from forefathers or kinsfolk. No need to turn their faces to the wall. (Rises again.) Ay, 'twas well that I took heart at last. We shall conquer;—and then I am at the end of my longings. I shall have my child again. (Takes up the light as if to go, but stops and says musingly:) At the end? The end? To get him back? Is that all?—is there nought further? (Sets the light down on the table.) That heedless word that Nils Lykke threw forth at random—— How could he see my unborn thought? (More softly.) A king's mother? A king's mother, he said——Why not? Have not my forefathers ruled as kings, even though they bore not the kingly name? Has notmyson as good a title as the other to the rights of the house of Sture? In the sight of God he has—if so be there is justice in Heaven. And in an hour of terror I have signed away his rights. I have recklessly squandered them, as a ransom for his freedom. If they could be recovered?—Would Heaven be angered, if I——? Would it call down fresh troubles on my head if I were to——? Who knows; who knows! It may be safest to refrain. (Takes up the light again.) I shall have my child again.Thatmust suffice me. I will try to rest. All these desperate thoughts,—I will sleep them away. (Goes towards the back, but stops in the middle of the hall, and says broodingly:) A king's mother!
(Goes slowly out at the back, to the left.)
(After a short pause, NILS LYKKE and ELINA GYLDENLOVE enter noiselessly by the first door on the left. NILS LYKKE has a small lantern in his hand.)
NILS LYKKE. (throws the light from his lantern around, so as tosearch the room). All is still. I must begone.
ELINA. Oh, let me look but once more into your eyes, beforeyou leave me.
NILS LYKKE (embraces her). Elina!
ELINA (after a short pause). Will you come nevermore to Ostrat?
NILS LYKKE. How can you doubt that I will come? Are you not henceforth my betrothed?—But willyoube true tome, Elina? Will you not forget me ere we meet again?
ELINA. Do you ask if Iwillbe true? Have I any will left then? Have I power to be untrue to you, even if I would?—you came by night; you knocked upon my door;—and I opened to you. You spoke to me. What was it you said? You gazed in my eyes. What was the mystic might that turned my brain and lured me, as it were, within a magic net? (Hides her face on his shoulder.) Oh, look not on me, Nils Lykke! You must not look upon me after this—— True, say you ? Do you not own me? I am yours;—I must be yours—to all eternity.
NILS LYKKE. Now, by my knightly honour, ere the year be past, you shall sit as my wife in the hall of my fathers.
ELINA. No vows, Nils Lykke! No oaths to me.
NILS LYKKE. What mean you? Why do you shake your head so mournfully?
ELINA. Because I know that the same soft words wherewith you turned my brain, you have whispered to so many a one before. Nay, nay, be not angry, my beloved! In nought do I reproach you, as I did while yet I knew you not. Now I understand how high above all others is your goal. How can love be aught to you but a pastime, or woman but a toy?
NILS LYKKE. Elina,—hear me!
ELINA. As I grew up, your name was ever in my ears. I hated the name, for meseemed that all women were dishonoured by your life. And yet,—how strange!—when I built up in my dreams the life that should be mine, you were ever my hero, though I knew it not. Now I understand it all—now know I what it was I felt. It was a foreboding, a mysterious longing for you, you only one— for you that were one day to come and glorify my life.
NILS LYKKE (aside, putting down the lantern on the table). How is it with me? This dizzy fascination—— If this it be to love, then have I never known it till this hour.—Is there not yet time ——? Oh horror—Lucia!
(Sinks into a chair.)
ELINA. What ails you? So heavy a sigh——
NILS LYKKE. O, 'tis nought,—nought! Elina,—now will I confess all to you. I have have beguiled many with both words and glances; I have said to many a one what I whispered to you this night. But trust me——
ELINA. Hush! No more of that. My love is no exchange for that you give me. No, no; I love you because your every glance commands it like a king's decree. (Lies down at his feet.) Oh, let me once more stamp that kingly message deep into my soul, though well I know it stands imprinted there for all time and eternity. Dear God—how little I have known myself! 'Twas but to-night I said to my mother: "My pride is my life." And what is my pride? Is it to know that my countrymen are free, or that my house is held in honour throughout the lands? Oh, no, no! My love is my pride. The little dog is proud when he may sit by his master's feet and eat bread-crumbs from his hand. Even so am I proud, so long as I may sit at your feet, while your looks and your words nourish me with the bread of life. See, therefore, I say to you, even as I said but now to my mother: "My love is my life;" for therein lies all my pride, now and evermore.
NILS LYKKE (raises her up on his lap). Nay, nay—not at my feet, but at my side is your place,—should fate set me never so high. Ay, Elina—you have led me into a better path; and if it be granted me some day to atone by a deed of fame for the sins of my reckless youth, the honour shall be yours as well as mine.
ELINA. Ah, you speak as though I were still the Elina that but this evening flung down the flowers at your feet. I have read in my books of the many-coloured life in far-off lands. To the winding of horns the knight rides forth into the greenwood, with his falcon on his wrist. Even so do you go your way through life;—your name rings out before you whithersoever you fare.—All that I desire of your glory, is to rest like the falcon on your arm. I too was blind as he to light and life, till you loosed the hood from my eyes and set me soaring high over the leafy tree- tops;—But, trust me—bold as my flight may be, yet shall I ever turn back to my cage.
NILS LYKKE (rises). Then I bid defiance to the past! See now;— take this ring, and beminebefore God and men—mine, ay,though it should trouble the dreams of the dead.
ELINA. You make me afraid. What is it that——?
NILS LYKKE. It is nought. Come, let me place the ring on your finger.—Even so—now are you my betrothed!
ELINA.INils Lykke's bride! It seems but a dream, all that has befallen this night. Oh, but so fair a dream! My breast is so light. No longer is there bitterness and hatred in my soul. I will atone to all whom I have wronged. I have been unloving to my mother. To-morrow will I go to her; she must forgive me my offence.
NILS LYKKE. And give her consent to our bond.
ELINA. That will she. Oh, I am sure she will. My mother is kind; all the world is kind;—I can feel hatred no more for any living soul—saveone.
NILS LYKKE. Saveone ?
ELINA. Ah, it is a mournful history. I had a sister——
NILS LYKKE. Lucia?
ELINA. Have you known Lucia?
NILS LYKKE. No, no; I have but heard her name.
ELINA. She too gave her heart to a knight. He betrayed her;— and now she is in Heaven.
NILS LYKKE. And you——?
ELINA. I hate him.
NILS LYKKE. Hate him not! If there be mercy in your heart, forgive him his sin. Trust me, he bears his punishment in his own breast.
ELINA. Him I will never forgive! Icannot, even if I would;for I have sworn so dear an oath——(Listening.)Hush! Can you hear——?
NILS LYKKE. What? Where?
ELINA. Without; far off. The noise of many horsemen on thehigh-road.
NILS LYKKE. Ah, it is they! And I had forgotten——! Theyare coming hither. Then is the danger great;—I must begone!
ELINA. But whither? Oh, Nils Lykke, what are you hiding——?
NILS LYKKE. To-morrow, Elina——; for as God lives, I will return then.—Quickly now—where is the secret passage you told me of?
ELINA. Through the grave-vault. See,—here is the trap-door.
NILS LYKKE. The grave-vault! (To himself.) No matter, hemustbe saved!
ELINA (by the window). The horsemen have reached the gate——
(Hands him the lantern.)
NILS LYKKE. Well, now I go——
(Begins to descend.)
ELINA. Go forward along the passage till you reach the coffinwith the death's-head and the black cross; it is Lucia's——
NILS LYKKE (climbs back hastily and shuts the trap-door to).Lucia's! Pah——!
ELINA. What said you?
NILS LYKKE. Nay, nought. It was the scent of the grave that made me dizzy.
ELINA. Hark; they are hammering at the gate!
NILS LYKKE (lets the lantern fall). Ah! too late——!
(BIORN enters hurriedly from the right, carrying a light.)
ELINA (goes towards him). What is amiss, Biorn? What is it?
BIORN. An ambuscade! Count Sture——
ELINA. Count Sture? What of him?
NILS LYKKE. Have they killed him?
BIORN (to ELINA). Where is your mother?
TWO HOUSE-SERVANTS (rushing in from the right). Lady Inger!Lady Inger!
(LADY INGER GYLDENLOVE enters by the first door on the left, with a branch-candlestick, lighted, in her hand, and says quickly:)
LADY INGER. I know all. Down with you to the courtyard! Keepthe gate open for our friends, but closed against all others!
(Puts down the candlestick on the table to the left. BIORNand the two House-Servants go out again to the right.)
LADY INGER (to NILS LYKKE). Sothatwas the trap, SirCouncillor!
NILS LYKKE. Inger Gyldenlove, trust me——!
LADY INGER. An ambuscade that was to snap him up, as soon asyou had got the promise that should destroy me!
NILS LYKKE (takes out the paper and tears it to pieces). Thereis your promise. I keep nothing that can bear witness against you.
LADY INGER. What will you do?
NILS LYKKE. From this hour I am your champion. If I have sinned against you,—by Heaven I will strive to repair my crime. But now Imustout, if I have to hew my way through the gate!—Elina— tell your mother all!—And you, Lady Inger, let our reckoning be forgotten! Be generous—and silent! Trust me, ere the day dawns you shall owe me a life's gratitude.
(Goes out quickly to the right.)
LADY INGER (looks after him with exultation). It is well! Iunderstand him!(Turns to ELINA.)Nils Lykke——? Well——?
ELINA. He knocked upon my door, and set this ring upon my finger.
LADY INGER. And he loves you with all his heart?
ELINA. My mother—you are so strange. Oh, ay—I know—it is my unloving ways that have angered you.
LADY INGER. Not so, dear Elina! You are an obedient child. You have opened your door to him; you have hearkened to his soft words. I know full well what it must have cost you for I know your hatred——
ELINA. But, my mother——
LADY INGER. Hush! We have played into each other's hands. What wiles did you use, my subtle daughter? I saw the love shine out of his eyes. Hold him fast now! Draw the net closer and closer about him, and then—— Ah, Elina, if we could but rend his perjured heart within his breast!
ELINA. Woe is me—what is it you say?
LADY INGER. Let not your courage fail you. Hearken to me. I know a word that will keep you firm. Know then—— (Listening.) They are fighting outside the gate. Courage! Now comes the pinch! (Turns again to ELINA.) Know then, Nils Lykke was the man that brought your sister to her grave.
ELINA (with a shriek). Lucia!
LADY INGER. He it was, as truly as there is an Avenger above us!
ELINA. Then Heaven be with me!
LADY INGER (appalled). Elina——?!
ELINA. I am his bride in the sight of God.
LADY INGER. Unhappy child,—what have you done?
ELINA (in a toneless voice). Made shipwreck of my soul.—Good- night, my mother!
(She goes out to the left.)
LADY INGER. Ha-ha-ha! It goes down-hill now with Inger Gyldenlove's house. There went the last of my daughters. Why could I not keep silence? Had she known nought, it may be she had been happy—after a kind. Itwasto be so. It is written up there in the stars that I am to break off one green branch after another, till the trunk stand leafless at last. 'Tis well, 'tis well! I am to have my son again. Of the others, of my daughters, I will not think. My reckoning? To face my reckoning?—It falls not due till the last great day of wrath.—Thatcomes not yet awhile.
NILS STENSSON (calling from outside on the right). Ho—shut the gate!
LADY INGER. Count Sture's voice——!
NILS STENSSON (rushes in, unarmed, and with his clothes torn, and shouts with a desperate laugh). Well met again, Inger Gyldenlove!
LADY INGER. What have you lost?
NILS STENSSON. My kingdom and my life!
LADY INGER. And the peasants? My servants?—where are they?
NILS STENSSON. You will find the carcasses along the highway.Who has the rest, I know not.
OLAF SKAKTAVL (outside on the right). Count Sture! Whereare you?
NILS STENSSON. Here, here!
(OLAF SKAKTAVL comes in with his right hand wrapped in a cloth).
LADY INGER. Alas Olaf Skaktavl, you too——!
OLAF SKAKTAVL. It was impossible to break through.
LADY INGER. You are wounded, I see!
OLAF SKAKTAVL. A finger the less; that is all.
NILS STENSSON. Where are the Swedes?
OLAF SKAKTAVL. At our heels. They are breaking open the gate——
NILS STENSSON. Oh, Jesus! No, no! Icannot—Iwillnotdie.
OLAF SKAKTAVL. A hiding-place, Lady Inger! Is there no cornerwhere we can hide him?
LADY INGER. But if they search the castle——?
NILS STENSSON. Ay, ay; they will find me! And then to be dragged to prison, or strung up——! Oh no, Inger Gyldenlove,— I know full well,—you will never suffer that to be!
OLAF SKAKTAVL (listening). There burst the lock.
LADY INGER (at the window). Many men rush in at the gateway.
NILS STENSSON. And to lose my lifenow!Now, when my truelife was but beginning! Now, when I have so lately learnt thatI have aught to live for. No, no, no!—Think not I am a coward.Might I but have time to show——
LADY INGER. I hear them now in the hall below.(Firmly to OLAF SKAKTAVL.)Hemustbe saved—cost what it will!
NILS STENSSON (seizes her hand). Oh, I knew it;—you are nobleand good!
OLAF SKAKTAVL. But how? Since we cannot hide him——
NILS STENSSON. Ah, I have it! I have it! The secret——!
LADY INGER. The secret?
NILS STENSSON. Even so; yours and mine!
LADY INGER. Christ in Heaven—you know it?
NILS STENSSON. From first to last. And now when 'tis life or death—— Where is Nils Lykke?
LADY INGER. Fled.
NILS STENSSON. Fled? Then God help me; for he only can unseal my lips.—But what is a promise against a life! When the Swedish captain comes——
LADY INGER. What then? What will you do?
NILS STENSSON. Purchase life and freedom;—tell him all.
LADY INGER. Oh no, no;—be merciful!
NILS STENSSON. Nought else can save me. When I have told himwhat I know——
LADY INGER (looks at him with suppressed excitement). You willbe safe?
NILS STENSSON. Ay, safe! Nils Lykke will speak for me. Yousee, 'tis the last resource.
LADY INGER (composedly, with emphasis). The last resource? Right, right—the last resource stands open to all. (Points to the left.) See, meanwhile you can hide in there.
NILS STENSSON (softly). Trust me—you will never repent of this.
LADY INGER (half to herself). God grant that you speak the truth!
(NILS STENSSON goes out hastily by the furthest door on the left. OLAF SKAKTAVL is following; but LADY INGER detains him.)
LADY INGER. Did you understand his meaning?
OLAF SKAKTAVL. The dastard! He would betray your secret. He would sacrifice your son to save himself.
LADY INGER. When life is at stake, he said, we must try the last resource.—It is well, Olaf Skaktavl,—let it be as he has said!
OLAF SKAKTAVL. What mean you?
LADY INGER. Life for life! One of them must perish.
OLAF SKAKTAVL. Ah—you would——?
LADY INGER. If we close not the lips of him that is within ere he come to speech with the Swedish captain, then is my son lost to me. But if he be swept from my path, when the time comes I can claim all his rights for my own child. Then shall you see that Inger Ottisdaughter has metal in her yet. And be assured you shall not have long to wait for the vengeance you have thirsted after for twenty years.—Hark! They are coming up the stairs! Olaf Skaktavl,—it lies with you whether to-morrow I shall be a childless woman, or——
OLAF SKAKTAVL. So be it! I have one sound hand left yet. (Gives her his hand.) Inger Gyldenlove—your name shall not die out through me.
(Follows NILS STENSSON into the inner room.)
LADY INGER (pale and trembling). But dare I——?(A noise is heard in the room; she rushes with a scream towardsthe door.)No, no,—it must not be!(A heavy fall is heard within; she covers her ears with herhands and hurries back across the hall with a wild look.After a pause she takes her hands cautiously away, listensagain and says softly:)Now it is over. All is still within——Thou sawest it, God—I repented me! But Olaf Skaktavl was tooswift of hand.
(OLAF SKAKTAVL comes silently into the hall.)
LADY INGER (after a pause, without looking at him). Is it done?
OLAF SKAKTAVL. You need fear him no more; he will betray no one.
LADY INGER (as before). Then he is dumb?
OLAF SKAKTAVL. Six inches of steel in his breast. I felled him with my left hand.
LADY INGER. Ay—the right was too good for such work.
OLAF SKAKTAVL. That is your affair;—the thought was yours.— And now to Sweden! Peace be with you meanwhile! When next we meet at Ostrat, I shall bring another with me.
(Goes out by the furthest door on the right.)
LADY INGER. Blood on my hands. Then it was to come to that!—He begins to be dear-bought now.
(BIORN comes in, with a number of Swedish men-at-arms, by thefirst door on the right.)
ONE OF THE MEN-AT-ARMS. Pardon me, if you are the lady of thehouse——
LADY INGER. Is it Count Sture you seek?
THE MAN-AT-ARMS. The same.
LADY INGER. Then you are on the right scent. The Count hassought refuge with me.
THE MAN-AT-ARMS. Refuge? Pardon, my noble lady,—you have nopower to harbour him; for——
LADY INGER. That the Count himself has doubtless understood; and therefore he has—ay, look for yourselves—therefore he has taken his own life.
THE MAN-AT-ARMS. His own life!
LADY INGER. Look for yourselves. You will find the corpse within there. And since he already stands before another judge, it is my prayer that he may be borne hence with all the honour that beseems his noble birth.—Biorn, you know my own coffin has stood ready this many a year in the secret chamber. (To the Men- at-Arms.) I pray that in it you will bear Count Sture's body to Sweden.
THE MAN-AT-ARMS. It shall be as you command. (To one of the others.) Haste with these tidings to Jens Bielke. He holds the road with the rest of the troop. We others must in and——
(One of the Men-at-Arms goes out to the right; the others go with BIORN into the room on the left.)
LADY INGER (moves about for a time in uneasy silence). If Count Sture had not said farewell to the world so hurriedly, within a month he had hung on a gallows, or had sat for all his days in a dungeon. Had he been better served with such a lot? Or else he had bought his life by betraying my child into the hands of my foes. Is itI, then, that have slain him? Does not even the wolf defend her cubs? Who dare condemn me for striking my claws into him that would have reft me of my flesh and blood?—It had to be. No mother but would have done even as I. But 'tis no time for idle musings now. I must to work. (Sits down by the table on the left.) I will write to all my friends throughout the land. They rise as one man to support the great cause. A new king,—regent first, and then king—— (Begins to write, but falls into thought, and says softly:) Whom will they choose in the dead man's place?—A king's mother——? 'Tis a fair word. It has but one blemish—the hateful likeness to another word.—King'smotherand king'smurderer.*—King's mother—one that takes a king's life. King's mother—one that gives a king life.
*The words in the original are "Kongemoder" and "Kongemorder," a difference of one letter only.
(She rises.) Well, then; I will make good what I have taken.—My son shall be king! (She sits down again and begins writing, but pushes the paper away again, and leans back in her chair.) There is no comfort in a house where lies a corpse. 'Tis therefore I feel so strangely. (Turns her head to one side as if speaking to some one.) Not therefore? Why else should it be? (Broodingly.) Is there such a great gulf, then, between openly striking down a foe and slaying one—thus? Knut Alfson had cleft many a brain with his sword; yet was his own as peaceful as a child's. Why then do I ever see this—(makes a motion as though striking with a knife)—this stab in the heart—and the gush of red blood after? (Rings, and goes on speaking while shifting about her papers.) Hereafter I will have none of these ugly sights. I will work both day and night. And in a month—in a month my son will be here—— ——
BIORN (entering). Did you strike the bell, my lady?
LADY INGER (writing). Bring more lights. See to it in future that there are many lights in the room
(BIORN goes out again to the left.)
LADY INGER (after a pause, rises impetuously). No, no, no;—I cannot guide the pen to-night! My head is burning and throbbing—— (Startled, listens.) What isthat?Ah, they are screwing the lid on the coffin in there. When I was a child they told me the story of Sir Age,* who rose up and walked with his coffin on his back.—If he in there were one night to think of coming with the coffin on his back, to thank me for the loan? (Laughs quietly.) Hm—what have we grown people to do with childish fancies? (Vehemently.) But such stories are hurtful none the less! They give uneasy dreams. When my son is king, they shall be forbidden.
*PronounceOaghe. [Note: "Age" has a ring above the "A","Oaghe" an umlaut above the "e".—D. L.]
(Goes up and down once or twice; then opens the window.)How long is it, commonly, ere a body begins to rot? All therooms must be aired. 'Tis not wholesome here till that be done.
(BIORN comes in with two lighted branch-candlesticks, whichhe places on the tables.)
LADY INGER (who has begun on the papers again).It is well. See you forget not what I have said. Many lights onthe table!What are they about now in there?
BIORN. They are busy screwing down the coffin-lid.
LADY INGER (writing). Are they screwing it downtight?
BIORN. As tight as need be.
LADY INGER. Ay, ay—who can tell how tight it needs to be? Do you see that 'tis well done. (Goes up to him with her hand full of papers, and says mysteriously:) Biorn, you are an old man; butonecounsel I will give you. Be on your guard against all men—both those thataredead and those that are still to die.—Now go in—go in and see to it that they screw the lid down tightly.
BIORN (softly, shaking his head). I cannot make her out.
(Goes back again into the room on the left.)
LADY INGER (begins to seal a letter, but throws it down half- closed; walks up and down awhile, and then says vehemently:) Were I a coward I had never done it—never to all eternity! Were I a coward, I had shrieked to myself: Refrain, ere yet thy soul is utterly lost! (Her eye falls on Sten Sture's picture; she turns to avoid seeing it, and says softly:) He is laughing down at me as though he were alive! Pah! (Turns the picture to the wall without looking at it.) Wherefore did you laugh? Was it because I did evil to your son? But the other,—is not he your son too? And he ismineas well; mark that! (Glances stealthily along the row of pictures.) So wild as they are to-night, I have never seen them yet. Their eyes follow me wherever I may go. (Stamps on the floor.) I will not have it! (Begins to turn all the pictures to the wall.) Ay, if it were the Holy Virgin herself—— ——- Thinkest thounowis the time——? Why didst thou never hear my prayers, my burning prayers, that I might get back my child? Why? Because the monk of Wittenberg is right. There is no mediator between God and man! (She draws her breath heavily and continues in ever-increasing distraction.) It is well that I know what to think in such things. There was no one to see what was done in there. There is none to bear witness against me. (Suddenly stretches out her hands and whispers:) My son! My beloved child! Come to me! Here I am! Hush! I will tell you something: They hate me up there—beyond the stars— because I bore you into the world. It was meant that I should bear the Lord God's standard over all the land. But I went my own way. It is therefore I have had to suffer so much and so long.
BIORN (comes from the room on the left). My lady, I have to tell you—— Christ save me—what is this?
LADY INGER (has climbed up into the high-seat by the right-hand wall). Hush! Hush! I am the King's mother. They have chosen my son king. The struggle was hard ere it came to this—for 'twas with the Almighty One himself I had to strive.
NILS LYKKE (comes in breathless from the right). He is saved!I have Jens Bielke's promise. Lady Inger,—know that——
LADY INGER. Peace, I say! look how the people swarm.(A funeral hymn is heard from the room within.)There comes the procession. What a throng! All bow themselvesbefore the King's mother. Ay, ay; has she not fought for her son—even till her hands grew red withal?—Where are my daughters? Isee them not.
NILS LYKKE. God's blood!—what has befallen here?
LADY INGER. My daughters—my fair daughters! I have none any more. I hadoneleft, and her I lost even as she was mounting her bridal bed. (Whispers.) Lucia's corpse lay in it. There was no room for two.
NILS LYKKE. Ah—it has come to this! The Lord's vengeance is upon me.
LADY INGER. Can you see him? Look, look! It is the King. It is Inger Gyldenlove's son! I know him by the crown and by Sten Sture's ring that he wears round his neck. Hark, what a joyful sound! He is coming! Soon will he be in my arms! Ha-ha!—who conquers, God or I.
(The Men-at-Arms come out with the coffin.)
LADY INGER (clutches at her head and shrieks). The corpse!(Whispers.) Pah! It is a hideous dream.
(Sinks back into the high-seat.)
JENS BIELKE (who has come in from the right, stops and cries in astonishment). Dead! Then after all——
ONE OF THE MEN-AT-ARMS. It was himself——
JENS BIELKE (with a look at NILS LYKKE). He himself——?
NILS LYKKE. Hush!
LADY INGER (faintly, coming to herself). Ay, right; now Iremember it all.
JENS BIELKE (to the Men-at-Arms). Set down the corpse. It isnot Count Sture.
ONE OF THE MEN-AT-ARMS. Your pardon, Captain;—this ring thathe wore round his neck——
NILS LYKKE (seizes his arm). Be still!
LADY INGER (starts up). The ring? The ring?(Rushes up and snatches the ring from him.)Sten Sture's ring! (With a shriek.) Oh, Jesus Christ—my son!
(Throws herself down on the coffin.)
THE MEN-AT-ARMS. Her son?
JENS BIELKE (at the same time). Inger Gyldenlove's son?
NILS LYKKE. So it is.
JENS BIELKE. But why did you not tell me——?
BIORN (trying to raise her up). Help! help! My lady—whatails you?
LADY INGER (in a faint voice, half raising herself). What ailsme? I lack but another coffin, and a grave beside my child.
(Sinks again, senseless on the coffin. NILS LYKKE goes hastilyout to the right. General consternation among the rest.)