-- My dear friend,
-- I do not know whether you have heard the misfortune which has
fallen upon us. The town and castle of Mansfeld were captured two
months since by a sudden assault of the Imperialists, and my dear
husband was grievously wounded in the defence. He was brought hither
a prisoner, and Thekla and I also carried here. As the count still
lies ill with his wounds he is not placed in a prison, but we are
treated as captives and a close watch is kept upon us. The count
is threatened with the forfeiture of all his possessions unless
he will change sides and join the Imperialists, and some of his
estates have been already conferred upon other nobles as a punishment
for the part he has taken.
"Were my husband well and free he would treat the offers with
scorn, believing that the tide will turn and that he will recover
his possessions. Nor even were he certain of their perpetual
forfeiture would he desert the cause of Protestantism. Moreover,
the estates which I brought him in marriage lie in the north of
Pomerania, and the income there from is more than ample for our needs.
But the emperor has ordered that if the count remain contumacious
Thekla shall be taken from us and placed in a convent, where she
will be forced to embrace Catholicism, and will, when she comes
of age, be given in marriage to some adherent of the emperor, who
will with her receive the greater portion of her father's lands.
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