The Thirty Years' War - James Aitken Wylie

a diligent student of the stars, and never undertook
anything of moment without first trying to
discover, with the help of an Italian astrologer
whom he kept under his roof, whether the
constellations promised success, or threatened
disaster, to the project he was meditating. Like all
who have been believers in the occult sciences, he
was reserved, haughty, inscrutable, and whether in
the saloons of his palace, or in his tent, there was a
halo of mystery around him. No one shared his
secrets, no one could read his thoughts: on his face
there never came smile; nor did mirth ever brighten
the countenances of those who stood around him.
In his palace no heavy footfall, no loud voices,
might be heard: all noises must be hushed; silence
and awe must wait continually in that grand but
gloomy chamber, where Wallenstein sat apart from
his fellows, while the stars, as they traced their path
in the firmament, were slowly working out the
brilliant destinies which an eternal Fate had
decreed for him. The master-passions of his soul
were pride and ambition; and if he served Rome it
was because he judged that this was his road to
those immense dignities and powers which he had
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