It is only for a few days, Nicolaes, a few days during which I swear to you that – though absent and engaged in the greatest task that any man can undertake on this earth – I swear to you that I will keep watch over Gilda and defend her honour with my life. If you will make the sacrifice for me and for my cause, Heaven and your country will reward you beyond your dreams. With the death of the Stadtholder my power in the Netherlands will be supreme, and herewith, with my hand in yours, I solemnly plight my troth to Gilda.