_Reiss._ Mr. Wellenberg!-- _Well._ Oh, that God--(Rises.) _Reiss._ I want to speak with you. _Well._ No, no! I will not.--Keep off, keep at six yards distance from me at least. _Reiss._ I must have a private conversation with you. _Well._ God forbid! _Soph._ Dear Mr. Wellenberg grant it; I entreat you. _Well._ Can I?--ask him. _P. Coun._ I beg, I entreat you. _Well._ (after a pause?) Well, yes. Yes then, I will run the risk. _Soph._ I thank you. _Well._ But--(beckons the Privy Counsellor to come near him, and whispers to him.) _P. Coun._ Yes, I will. Come along. _Reiss._ (alarmed.) What,--what, will you? _P. Coun._ Nothing that can give you any uneasiness. _Reiss._ Where do you intend to go? _P. Coun._ To win this hand and your esteem. Come along. (All exeunt, except Reissman and Wellenberg.) SCENE XI. Aulic Counsellor REISSMAN, Lawyer WELLENBERG. _Reiss._ Ay, dear Mr. Wallenberg, you are--it is--why are you--I cannot conceive for what reason you left my house in that abrupt manner. _Well._ The warning came from above to the unworthy. (Takes the bottle out of his pocket.) What is this? (putting it on the chair.) Answer me that! _Reiss._ How!--(snatching at it.) _Well._ Keep off!--It is poison! _Reiss._ Ay, good God! _Well._ There is poison in the wine you pressed me to drink. _Reiss._ Should you by some unfortunate mistake-- _Well._ It is poison! it was intended to close my lips for ever! Lulled to sleep by your artful proposals, I might have passed into the other world according to the old proverb, "Dead men tell no tales;" but you forgot that I should rise against you at the last day. _Reiss._ (assuming courage.) Mr. Lawyer, dare you-- _Well._ I dare call you an assassin, _Reiss._ Who knows what you have been doing with this bottle in the mean while? _Well._ So you think to escape by your cunning? This moment I see, and you feel, the mark which the Almighty has impressed on your brow. Your mind is callous, and yet you are so struck with terror, that your tongue cleaves to the roof of your mouth, and cannot perform its office. _Reiss._ But, you, you-- _Well._ Silence! Is your soul insensible to the trepidation of your body, or what I have not in my power to do? Here stands the evidence of the crime, there the delinquent, and here I stand, either as judge or a merciful man, if you deliver yourself up vanquished into my hands; and, if not, as your accuser before the tribunal of the public. Kneel down this moment, the sword of justice hangs over your head! _Reiss._ (shaking.) My God! _Well._ You are at the end of your career! The judgment of heaven is committed to my hands, but mercy reigns in my heart: act in such a manner, that my heart may preponderate; for I am a man whom you have driven to extremes. _Reiss._ (with terror.) What, what must I?-- _Well._ To the extreme, I say. I can hardly refrain from demanding justice. _Reiss._ What is your demand then?