There, now, I am ready, and if the governor
comes he will find me hard at work. And now I will briefly tell you
how I got here; then I will hear what plans you may have formed,
and I will tell you mine."
"For myself, I have no plans," the count said. "I am helpless, and
must for the present submit to whatever may befall me. That I will
not renounce the cause of my religion you may be sure; as for my
wife, we know not yet whether, when they remove me to the fortress,
they will allow her to accompany me or not. If they do, she will
stay with me, but it is more likely that they will not. The emperor
is merciless to those who oppose him. They will more likely keep
her under their eye here or in Vienna. But for ourselves we care
little; our anxiety is for Thekla. It is through her that they
are striking us. You know what they have threatened if I do not
abandon the cause of Protestantism. Thekla is to be placed in
a convent, forced to become a Catholic, and married to the man on
whom the emperor may please to bestow my estates."
"I would rather die, father, than become a Catholic," Thekla
exclaimed firmly.
"Yes, dear!" the count said gently, "but it is not death you have
to face; with a fresh and unbroken spirit, it were comparatively
easy to die, but it needs an energy and a spirit almost superhuman to
resist the pressure which may be placed on those who are committed
to a convent.
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