GARC. (_Looking in at the door which Eliza left half open_). What do I
see, righteous Heavens! Can I believe my eyes? Alas! they are,
doubtless, but too faithful witnesses; this is the most terrible of all
my great troubles! This fatal blow completely overwhelms me! When
suspicions raged within me, it was Heaven itself, vaguely but ominously
foretelling me this horrible disgrace.
ALV. What have you seen, my Lord, to disturb you?
GARC. I have seen what I can hardly conceive; the overthrow of all
creation would less astonish me than this accident. It is all over with
me ... Fate ... I cannot speak.
[Footnote: The words from "What have you seen" till "I cannot speak,"
are with some slight alterations, found in the _Misanthrope_, Act iv.,
Scene 2 (see Vol. II).]
ALV. My Lord, endeavour to be composed.
GARC. I have seen... Vengeance! O Heaven!
ALV. What sudden alarm...?
GARC. It will kill me, Don Alvarez, it is but too certain.
ALV. But, my Lord, what can...
GARC. Alas! Everything is undone. I am betrayed, I am murdered!
[Footnote: The last sentences of Don Alvarez and Don Garcia are also
found in the _Misanthrope_, Act iv., Scene 2 (see Vol. II).]
A man, (can I say it and still live) a man in the arms of the faithless
Elvira!
ALV. The Princess, my Lord, is so virtuous...
GARC. Ah, Don Alvarez, do not gainsay what I have seen. It is too much
to defend her reputation, after my eyes have beheld so heinous an
action.
ALV. Our passions, my Lord, often cause us to mistake a deception for a
reality; to believe that a mind nourished by virtue can....
GARC. Prithee leave me, Don Alvarez, a counsellor is in the way upon
such an occasion; I will take counsel only of my wrath.
ALV. (_Aside_). It is better not to answer him when his mind is so
upset.
GARC. Oh! how deeply am I wounded! But I shall see who it is, and punish
with my own hand.... But here she comes. Restrain thyself, O rage!
SCENE VIII.--DONNA ELVIRA, DON GARCIA, DON ALVAREZ.
ELV. Well, what do you want? However bold you may be, how can you hope
for pardon, after the way you have behaved? Dare you again present
yourself before me? And what can you say that will become me to hear?
GARC. That all the wickedness of this world is not to be compared to
your perfidy; that neither fate, hell, nor Heaven in its wrath ever
produced anything so wicked as you are.
[Footnote: The above words of Don Garcia are also in the _Misanthrope_,
Act iv., Scene 3 (see Vol. II).]
ELV. How is this? I expected you would excuse your outrage; but I find
you use other words.
GARC. Yes, yes, other words. You did not think that, the door being by
accident left half open, I should discover the caitiff in your arms, and
thus behold your shame, and my doom. Is it the happy lover who has
returned, or some other rival to me unknown? O Heaven! grant me
sufficient strength to bear such tortures. Now, blush, you have cause to
do so; your treachery is laid bare. This is what the agitations of my
mind prognosticated; it was not without cause that my love took alarm;
my continual suspicions were hateful to you, but I was trying to
discover the misfortune my eyes have beheld; in spite of all your care,
and your skill in dissembling, my star foretold me what I had to fear.
But do not imagine that I will bear unavenged the slight of being
insulted! I know that we have no command over our inclinations; that
love will everywhere spring up spontaneously; that there is no entering
a heart by force, and that every soul is free to name its conqueror;
therefore I should have no reason to complain, if you had spoken to me
without dissembling; you would then have sounded the death-knell of my
hope; but my heart could have blamed fortune alone. But to see my love
encouraged by a deceitful avowal on your part, is so treacherous and
perfidious an action, that it cannot meet with too great a punishment; I
can allow my resentment to do anything. No, no, after such an outrage,
hope for nothing. I am no longer myself, I am mad with rage.
[Footnote: The whole of this speech, from "Now blush," until "mad with
rage," has, with few alterations, been used in the _Misanthrope_. Act
iv., Scene 3 (see Vol. II).]
Betrayed on all sides, placed in so sad a situation, my love must avenge
itself to the utmost; I shall sacrifice everything here to my frenzy,
and end my despair with my life.
ELV. I have listened to you patiently; can I, in my turn, speak to you
freely?
GARC. And by what eloquent speeches, inspired by cunning....
ELV. If you have still something to say, pray continue; I am ready to
hear you. If not, I hope you will at least listen for a few minutes
quietly to what I have to say.
GARC. Well, then, I am listening. Ye Heavens! what patience is mine!
ELV. I restrain my indignation, and will without any passion reply to
your discourse, so full of fury.
GARC. It is because you see...
ELV. I have listened to you as long as you pleased; pray do the like to
me. I wonder at my destiny, and I believe there was never any thing
under Heaven so marvellous, nothing more strange and incomprehensible,
and nothing more opposed to reason. I have a lover, who incessantly does
nothing else but persecute me; who, amidst all the expressions of his
love, does not entertain for me any feelings of esteem; whose heart, on
which my eyes have made an impression, does not do justice to the lofty
rank granted to me by Heaven; who will not defend the innocence of my
actions against the slightest semblance of false appearances. Yes, I
see ... (_Don Garcia shows some signs of impatience, and wishes to
speak_). Above all, do not interrupt me. I see that my unhappiness is so
great, that one who says he loves me, and who, even if the whole world
were to attack my reputation, ought to claim to defend it against all,
is he who is its greatest foe. In the midst of his love, he lets no
opportunity pass of suspecting me; he not only suspects me, but breaks
out into such violent fits of jealousy that love cannot suffer without
being wounded. Far from acting like a lover who would rather die than
offend her whom he loves, who gently complains and seeks respectfully
to have explained what he thinks suspicious, he proceeds to extremities
as soon as he doubts, and is full of rage, insults, and threats. However,
this day I will shut my eyes to everything that makes him odious to me,
and out of mere kindness afford him an opportunity of being reconciled,
though he insulted me anew. This great rage with which you attacked me
proceeds from what you accidentally saw; I should be wrong to deny what
you have seen; I own you might have some reason to be disturbed at it.
GARC. And is it not...
ELV. Listen to me a little longer, and you shall know what I have
resolved. It is necessary that our fates should be decided. You are now
upon the brink of a great precipice; you will either fall over it, or
save yourself, according to the resolution you shall take. If,
notwithstanding what you have seen, Prince, you act towards me as you
ought, and ask no other proof but that I tell you you are wrong; if you
readily comply with my wishes and are willing to believe me innocent
upon my word alone, and no longer yield to every suspicion, but blindly
believe what my heart tells you; then this submission, this proof of
esteem, shall cancel all your offences; I instantly retract what I said
when excited by well-founded anger. And if hereafter I can choose for
myself, without prejudicing what I owe to my birth, then my honour,
being satisfied with the respect you so quickly show, promises to reward
your love with my heart and my hand. But listen now to what I say. If
you care so little for my offer as to refuse completely to abandon your
jealous suspicions; if the assurance which my heart and birth give you
do not suffice; if the mistrust that darkens your mind compels me,
though innocent, to convince you, and to produce a clear proof of my
offended virtue, I am ready to do so, and you shall be satisfied; but
you must then renounce me at once, and for ever give up all pretensions
to my hand. I swear by Him who rules the Heavens, that, whatever fate
may have in store for us, I will rather die than be yours! I trust these
two proposals may satisfy you; now choose which of the two pleases you.
GARC. Righteous Heaven! Was there ever anything more artful and
treacherous? Could hellish malice produce any perfidy so black? Could it
have invented a more severe and merciless way to embarrass a lover? Ah!
ungrateful woman, you know well how to take advantage of my great
weakness, even against myself, and to employ for your own purposes that
excessive, astonishing, and fatal love which you inspired.
[Footnote: The phrase "Ah! ungrateful woman" until "inspired" is also
found in the _Misanthrope_, Act iv., Scene 3 (see Vol. II).]
Because you have been taken by surprise, and cannot find an excuse, you
cunningly offer to forgive me. You pretend to be good-natured, and
invent some trick to divert the consequences of my vengeance; you wish
to ward off the blow that threatens a wretch, by craftily entangling me
with your offer. Yes, your artifices would fain avert an explanation
which must condemn you; pretending to be completely innocent, you will
give convincing proof of it only upon such conditions as you think and
most fervently trust I will never accept; but you are mistaken if you
think to surprise me. Yes, yes, I am resolved to see how you can defend
yourself; by what miracle you can justify the horrible sight I beheld,
and condemn my anger.
ELV. Consider that, by this choice, you engage yourself to abandon all
pretensions to the heart of Donna Elvira.
GARC. Be it so! I consent to everything; besides, in my present
condition, I have no longer any pretensions.
ELV. You will repent the wrath you have displayed.
GARC. No, no, your argument is a mere evasion; I ought rather to tell
you that somebody else may perhaps soon repent. The wretch, whoever he
may be, shall not be fortunate enough to save his life, if I wreak my
vengeance.
ELV. Ha! This can no longer be borne; I am too angry foolishly to
preserve longer my good nature. Let me abandon the wretch to his own
devices, and, since he will undergo his doom, let him--Eliza!... (_To
Don Garcia_). You compel me to act thus; but you shall see that this
outrage will be the last.
SCENE IX.--DONNA ELVIRA, DON GARCIA, ELIZA, DON ALVAREZ.
ELV. (_To Eliza_). Desire my beloved to come forth ... Go, you
understand me, say that I wish it.
GARC. And can I...
ELV. Patience, you will be satisfied.
EL. (_Aside, going out_). This is doubtless some new trick of our
jealous lover.
ELV. Take care at least that this righteous indignation perseveres in
its ardour to the end; above all, do not henceforth forget what price
you have paid to see your suspicions removed.
SCENE X.--DONNA ELVIRA, DON GARCIA, DONNA INEZ, ELIZA, DON ALVAREZ.
ELV. (_To Don Garcia, showing him Donna Inez_). Thanks to Heaven, behold
the cause of the generous suspicions you showed. Look well on that face,
and see if you do not at once recognize the features of Donna Inez.
GARC. O Heavens!
ELV. If the rage which fills your heart prevents you from using your
eyes, you can ask others, and thus leave no room for doubt. It was
necessary to pretend she was dead, so that she might escape from the
tyrant who persecuted her: she disguised herself in this manner the
better to profit by her pretended death. (_To Donna Inez_). You will
pardon me, Madam, for having consented to betray your secrets and to
frustrate your expectations; but I am exposed to Don Garcia's insolence;
I am no longer free to do as I wish; my honour is a prey to his
suspicions, and is every moment compelled to defend itself. This jealous
man accidentally saw us embrace, and then he behaved most disgracefully.
(_To Don Garcia_). Yes, behold the cause of your sudden rage, and the
convincing witness of my disgrace. Now, like a thorough tyrant, enjoy
the explanation you have provoked; but know that I shall never blot from
my memory the heinous outrage done to my reputation. And if ever I
forget my oath, may Heaven shower its severest chastisements upon my
head; may a thunderbolt descend upon me if ever I resolve to listen to
your love. Come, Madam, let us leave this spot, poisoned by the looks of
a furious monster; let us quickly flee from his bitter attacks, let us
avoid the consequences of his mad rage, and animated by just motives,
let us only pray that we may soon be delivered from his hands.
INEZ. (_To Don Garcia_). My Lord, your unjust and violent suspicions
have wronged virtue itself.
SCENE XI.--DON GARCIA, DON ALVAREZ.
GARC. What gleam of light clearly shows me my error, and, at the same
time, involves my senses in such a profound horror that, dejected, I can
see nothing but the dreadful object of a remorse that kills me! Ah! Don
Alvarez, I perceive you were in the right; but hell breathed its poison
into my soul; through a merciless fatality I am my worst enemy. What
does it benefit me to love with the most ardent passion that an amorous
heart ever displayed, if this love continually engenders suspicions
which torment me, and thus renders itself hateful! I must, I must justly
revenge by my death the outrage committed against her divine charms.
What advice can I follow now? Alas! I have lost the only object which
made life dear to me! As I relinquished all hope of ever being beloved
by her, it is much easier to abandon life itself.
ALV. My Lord...
GARC. No, Don Alvarez, my death is necessary. No pains, no arguments
shall turn me from it; yet my approaching end must do some signal
service to the Princess. Animated by this noble desire, I will seek some
glorious means of quitting life; perform some mighty deed worthy of my
love, so that in expiring for her sake she may pity me, and say, it was
excess of love that was my sole offence. Thus she shall see herself
avenged! I must attempt a deed of daring, and with my own hand give to
Mauregat that death he so justly deserves. My boldness will forestall
the blow with which Castile openly threatens him. With my last breath, I
shall have the pleasure of depriving my rival of performing such a
glorious deed.
ALV. So great a service, my Lord, may perhaps obliterate all remembrance
of your offence; but to risk....
GARC. Let me fulfil my duty, and strive to make my despair aid in this
noble attempt.
ACT V.
SCENE I.--DON ALVAREZ, ELIZA.
ALV. No, never was anyone more astonished. He had just planned that
lofty undertaking; inspired by despair, he was all anxiety to kill
Mauregat; eager to show his courage, and to reap the advantage of this
lawful deed; to endeavour to obtain his pardon, and prevent the
mortification of seeing his rival share his glory. As he was leaving
these walls, a too accurate report brought him the sad tidings, that the
very rival whom he wished to forestall had already gained the honour he
hoped to acquire: had anticipated him, in slaying the traitor, and urged
the appearance of Don Alphonso, who will reap the fruits of Don Silvio's
prompt success, and come to fetch the Princess, his sister. It is
publicly said and generally believed, that Don Alphonso intends to give
the hand of his sister as a reward for the great services Don Silvio has
rendered him, by clearing for him a way to the throne.
EL. Yes, Donna Elvira has heard this news, which has been confirmed by
old Don Louis, who has sent her word that Leon is now awaiting her happy
return and that of Don Alphonso, and that there, since fortune smiles
upon her, she shall receive a husband from the hands of her brother. It
is plain enough from these few words that Don Silvio will be her
husband.
ALV. This blow to the Prince's heart...
EL. Will certainly be severely felt. I cannot help pitying his distress;
yet, if I judge rightly, he is still dear to the heart he has offended;
it did not appear to me that the Princess was well pleased when she
heard of Don Silvio's success, and of the approaching arrival of her
brother, or with the letter; but...
SCENE II.--DONNA ELVIRA, DONNA INEZ, ELIZA, DON ALVAREZ.
ELV. Don Alvarez, let the Prince come hither. (_Don Alvarez leaves_).
Give me leave, Madam, to speak to him in your presence concerning this
piece of news, which greatly surprises me; and do not accuse me of
changing my mind too quickly, if I lose all my animosity against him.
His unforeseen misfortune has extinguished it; he is unhappy enough
without the addition of my hatred. Heaven, who treats him with so much
rigour, has but too well executed the oaths I took. When my honour was
outraged, I vowed openly never to be his; but as I see that fate is
against him, I think I have treated his love with too great severity;
the ill success that follows whatever he does for my sake, cancels his
offence, and restores him my love. Yes, I have been too well avenged;
the waywardness of his fate disarms my anger, and now, full of
compassion, I am seeking to console an unhappy lover for his
misfortunes. I believe his love well deserves the compassion I wish to
show him.
INEZ. Madam, it would be wrong to blame the tender sentiments you feel
for him. What he has done for you ... He comes; and his paleness shows
how deeply he is affected by this surprising stroke of fate.
SCENE III.--DON GARCIA, DONNA ELVIRA, DONNA INEZ, ELIZA.
GARC. Madam, you must think me very bold in daring to come here to show
you my hateful presence...
ELV. Prince, let us talk no more of my resentment; your fate has made a
change in my heart. Its severity, and your wretched condition have
extinguished my anger, and our peace is made. Yes, though you have
deserved the misfortunes with which Heaven in its wrath has afflicted
you; though your jealous suspicions have so ignominiously, so almost
incredibly, sullied my fame, yet I must needs confess that I so far
commiserate your misfortune, as to be somewhat displeased with our
success. I hate the famous service Don Silvio has rendered us, because
my heart must be sacrificed to reward it; I would, were it in my power,
bring back the moments when destiny put only my oath in my way. But you
know that it is the doom of such as we are, to be always the slaves of
public interests; that Heaven has ordained that my brother, who disposes
of my hand, is likewise my King. Yield, as I do, Prince, to that
necessity which rank imposes upon those of lofty birth. If you are very
unfortunate in your love, be comforted by the interest I take in you;
and though you have been overwhelmed by fate, do not employ the power
which your valour gives you in this place: it would, doubtless be
unworthy of you to struggle against destiny; whilst it is in vain to
oppose its decrees, a prompt submission shows a lofty courage. Do not
therefore resist its orders; but open the gates of Astorga to my brother
who is coming; allow my sad heart to yield to those rights which he is
entitled to claim from me; perhaps that fatal duty, which I owe him
against my will, may not go so far as you imagine.
GARC. Madam, you give me proofs of exquisite goodness in endeavouring to
lighten the blow that is prepared for me, but without such pains you may
let fall upon me all the wrath which your duty demands. In my present
condition, I can say nothing. I have deserved the worst punishments
which fate can inflict; and I know that, whatever evils I may suffer, I
have deprived myself of the right to complain of them. Alas, amidst all
my misfortunes, on what grounds can I be bold enough to utter any
complaint against you? My love has rendered itself a thousand times
odious, and has done nothing but outrage your glorious charms; when by a
just and noble sacrifice, I was endeavouring to render some service to
your family, fortune abandoned me, and made me taste the bitter grief of
being forestalled by a rival. After this, Madam, I have nothing more to
say. I deserve the blow which I expect; and I see it coming, without
daring to call upon your heart to assist me. What remains for me in this
extreme misfortune is to seek a remedy in myself, and, by a death which
I long for, free my heart from all those tribulations. Yes, Don Alphonso
will soon be here; already my rival has made his appearance; he seems to
have hurried hither from Leon, to receive his reward for having killed
the tyrant. Do not fear that I shall use my power within these walls to
offer him any resistance. If you allowed it, there is no being on earth
which I would not defy in order to keep you; but it is not for me, whom
you detest, to expect such an honourable permission. No vain attempts of
mine shall offer the smallest opposition to the execution of your just
designs. No, Madam, your feelings are under no compulsion; you are
perfectly free. I will open the gates of Astorga to the happy conqueror,
and suffer the utmost severity of fate.
SCENE IV.--DONNA ELVIRA, DONNA INEZ, ELIZA.
ELV. Madam, do not ascribe all my afflictions to the interest which I
take in his unhappy lot. You will do me but justice if you believe that
you have a large share in my heart-felt grief; that I care more for
friendship than for love. If I complain of any dire misfortune, it is
because Heaven in its anger has borrowed from me those shafts which it
hurls against you, and has made my looks guilty of kindling a passion
which treats your kind heart unworthily.
INEZ. This is an accident caused, doubtless, by your looks, for which
you ought not to quarrel with Heaven. If the feeble charms which my
countenance displays have exposed me to the misfortune of my lover
abandoning me, Heaven could not better soften such a blow than by making
use of you to captivate that heart. I ought not to blush for an
inconstancy which indicates the difference between your attractions and
mine. If this change makes me sigh, it is from foreseeing that it will
be fatal to your love; amidst the sorrow caused by friendship, I am
angry for your sake that my few attractions have failed to retain a
heart whose devotion interferes so greatly with the love you feel for
another.
ELV. Rather blame your silence, which, without reason, concealed the
understanding between your hearts. If I had known this secret sooner, it
might perhaps have spared us both some sad trouble; I might then coldly
and justly have refused to listen to the sighs of a fickle lover, and
perhaps have sent back whence they strayed...
INEZ. Madam, he is here.
ELV. You can remain without even looking at him. Do not go away, Madam,
but stay, and, though you suffer, hear what I say to him.
INEZ. I consent, Madam; though I very well know that were another in my
place, she would avoid being present at such a conversation.
ELV. If Heaven seconds my wishes, Madam, you shall have no cause to
repine.
SCENE V.--DON ALPHONSO (_believed to be Don Silvio_), DONNA ELVIRA,
DONNA INEZ.
ELV. Before you say a word, my Lord, I earnestly beg that you will deign
to hear me for a moment. Fame has already informed us of the marvellous
deeds you have performed. I wonder to see, as all do, how quickly and
successfully you have changed our lot. I know very well that such an
eminent service can never be sufficiently rewarded, and that nothing
ought to be refused to you for that never-to-be-forgotten deed which
replaces my brother on the throne of his ancestors. But whatever his
grateful heart may offer you, make a generous use of your advantages,
and do not employ your glorious action, my Lord, to make me bend under
an imperious yoke; nor let your love--for you know who is the object of
my passion--persist in triumphing over a well-founded refusal; let not
my brother, to whom they are going to present me, begin his reign by an
act of tyranny over his sister. Leon has other rewards which for the
nonce, may do more honour to your lofty valour. A heart which you can
obtain only by compulsion, would be too mean a reward for your courage.
Can a man be ever really satisfied when, by coercion, he obtains what he
loves? It is a melancholy advantage; a generous-minded lover refuses to
be happy upon such conditions. He will not owe anything to that pressure
which relatives think they have a right to employ; he is ever too fond
of the maiden he loves, to suffer her to be sacrificed as a victim, even
to himself. Not that my heart intends to grant to another what it
refuses to you. No, my Lord, I promise you, and pledge you my word of
honour, that no one shall ever obtain my hand, that a convent shall
protect me against every other...
ALPH. Madam, I have listened long enough to your discourse, and might,
by two words, have prevented it all, if you had given less credit to
false tidings. I know that a common report, which is everywhere
believed, attributes to me the glory of having killed the tyrant; but as
we have been informed, the people alone, stirred up by Don Louis to do
their duty, have performed this honourable and heroic act, which public
rumour ascribed to me. The reason of these tidings was that Don Louis,
the better to carry out his lofty purpose, spread a report that I and my
soldiers had made ourselves masters of the town; by this news he so
excited the people, that they hastened to kill the usurper. He has
managed everything by his prudent zeal, and has just sent me notice of
this by one of his servants. At the same time, a secret has been
revealed to me which will astonish you as much as it surprised me. You
expect a brother, and Leon its true master; Heaven now presents him
before you. Yes, I am Don Alphonso; I was brought up and educated under
the name of Prince of Castile; this clearly proves the sincere
friendship that existed between Don Louis and the King, my father. Don
Louis has all the proofs of this secret, and will establish its truth to
the whole world. But now my thoughts are taken up with other cares; I am
clear how to act towards you; not that my passion is opposed to such a
discovery, or that the brother in my heart quarrels with the lover. The
revelation of this secret has, without the least murmur, changed my
ardour into a love commanded by nature; the tie of relationship which
unites us has so entirely freed me from the love which I entertained for
you, that the highest favour I now long for is the sweet delights of my
first chain, and the means of rendering to the adorable Inez that which
her excessive goodness deserves.
[Footnote: Compare the manner in which Andres, in _The Blunderer_ (Act
v., Scene 15), recognises his sister in Celia.]
But the uncertainty of her lot renders mine miserable; if what is
reported be true, then it will be in vain for Leon to invite me, and for
a throne to wait for me; for a crown could not make me happy. I only
wished for its splendour in order to let me taste the joy of placing it
on the head of that maiden for whom Heaven destined me, and by those
means to repair, as far as I could, the wrong I have done to her
extraordinary virtues. It is from you, Madam, I expect tidings as to
what has become of her. Be pleased to communicate them, and by your
words hasten my despair, or the happiness of my life.
ELV. Do not wonder if I delay answering you; for this news, my Lord,
bewilders me. I will not take upon me to tell your loving heart, whether
Donna Inez be dead or alive; but this gentleman here, who is one of her
most intimate friends, will doubtless give you some information about
her.
ALPH. (_Recognising Donna Inez_). Ah, Madam, in this dilemma I am happy
to behold again your heavenly beauty. But with what eye can you look
upon a fickle lover, whose crime...
INEZ. Ah! do not insult me, and venture to state that a heart, which I
hold dear, could be inconstant. I cannot bear the thought, and the
apology pains me. All the love you felt for the Princess could not
offend me, because her great worth is a sufficient excuse. The love you
bore her is no proof of your guilt towards me. Learn that if you had
been culpable, the lofty pride within me would have made you sue in vain
to overcome my contempt, and that neither repentance nor commands could
have induced me to forget such an insult.
ELV. Ah, dear brother,--allow me to call you by this gentle name,--you
render your sister very happy! I love your choice, and bless fortune,
which enables you to crown so pure a friendship! Of the two noble hearts
I so tenderly love...
SCENE VI.--DON GARCIA, DONNA ELVIRA, DONNA INEZ, DON ALPHONSO, ELIZA.
GARC. For mercy's sake, Madam, hide from me your satisfaction, and let
me die in the belief that a feeling of duty compels you. I know you can
freely dispose of your hand; I do not intend to run counter to your
wishes. I have proved this sufficiently, as well as my obedience to your
commands. But I must confess that this levity surprises me, and shakes
all my resolutions. Such a sight awakens a storm of passion which I fear
I cannot command, though I would punish myself, if this could make me
lose that profound respect I wish to preserve. Yes, you have ordered me
to bear patiently my unfortunate love; your behest has so much influence
over my heart, that I will rather die than disobey you. But still, the
joy you display tries me too severely; the wisest man, upon such an
occasion, can but ill answer for his conduct. Suppress it, I beseech
you, for a few moments, and spare me, Madam, this cruel trial; however
great your love for my rival may be, do not let me be a wretched witness
of his felicity. This is the smallest favour I think a lover may ask,
even when he is disliked as much as I am. I do not seek this favour for
long, Madam; my departure will soon satisfy you. I go where sorrow shall
consume my soul, and shall learn your marriage only by hearsay; I ought
not to hasten to behold such a spectacle; for, without seeing it, it
will kill me.
INEZ. Give me leave, my Lord, to blame you for complaining, because the
Princess has deeply felt your misfortunes; this very joy at which you
murmur, arises solely from the happiness that is in store for you. She
rejoices in a success which has favoured your heart's desire, and has
discovered that your rival is her brother. Yes, Don Alphonso, whose name
has been so bruited about, is her brother; this great secret has just
now been told to her.
ALPH. My heart, thank Heaven, after a long torture, has all that it can
desire, and deprives you of nothing, my Lord. I am so much the happier,
because I am able to forward your love.
GARC. Alas! my Lord, I am overwhelmed by your goodness, which
condescends to respond to my dearest wishes. Heaven has averted the blow
that I feared; any other man but myself would think himself happy. But
the fortunate discovery of this favourable secret, proves me to be
culpable towards her I adore; I have again succumbed to these wretched
suspicions, against which I have been so often warned, and in vain;
through them my love has become hateful, and I ought to despair of ever
being happy. Yes, Donna Elvira has but too good reason to hate me; I
know I am unworthy of pardon; and whatever success fortune may give me,
death, death alone, is all that I can expect.
ELV. No, no, Prince, your submissive attitude brings more tender
feelings into my heart; I feel that the oath I took is no longer binding
on me; your complaints, your respect, your grief has moved me to
compassion; I see an excess of love in all your actions, and your malady
deserves to be pitied. Since Heaven is the cause of your faults, some
indulgence ought to be allowed to them; in one word, jealous or not
jealous, my King will have no compulsion to employ when he gives me to
you.
GARC. Heaven! enable me to bear the excess of joy which this confession
produces.
ALPH. I trust, my Lord, that after all our useless dissensions, this
marriage may forever unite our hearts and kingdoms. But time presses,
and Leon expects us; let us go therefore, and, by our presence and
watchfulness give the last blow to the tyrant's party.