Don Garcia of Navarre Part 6

EL. Where....

PED. If you are looking for me, Madam, here I am.

EL. Where is your master....

PED. He is hard by; shall I fetch him?

EL. Desire him to come; tell him that he is impatiently expected, and that no one shall see him. (_Alone_). I cannot unravel this mystery; all the precautions he takes ... But here he is already.

SCENE IV.--DONNA INEZ, _in man's dress_, ELIZA.

EL. My Lord, in order to wait for you, we have prepared.... But what do I see? Ah! Madam, my eyes....

INEZ. Do not tell any one, Eliza, I am here; allow me to pa.s.s my sad days in peace. I pretended to kill myself. By this feigned death I got rid of all my tyrants; for this is the name my relatives deserve. Thus I have avoided a dreadful marriage; rather than have consented, I would really have killed myself. This dress, and the report of my death, will keep the secret of my fate from all, and secure me against that unjust persecution which may even follow me hither.

EL. My surprise might have betrayed you, if I had seen you in public; but go into this room and put an end to the sorrow of the Princess; her heart will be filled with joy when she shall behold you. You will find her there alone; she has taken care to see you by herself, and without any witnesses.

SCENE V.--DON ALVAREZ, ELIZA.

EL. Is this not Don Alvarez whom I see?

ALV. The Prince sends me to entreat you to use your utmost influence in his favour. His life is despaired of, unless he obtains by your means, fair Eliza, one moment's conversation with Donna Elvira; he is beside himself ... but here he is.

SCENE VI.--DON GARCIA, DON ALVAREZ, ELIZA.

GARC. Alas. Eliza, feel for my great misfortune; take pity on a heart full of wretchedness, and given up to the bitterest sorrow.

EL. I should look upon your torments, my Lord, with other eyes than the Princess does; Heaven or our mood is the reason why we judge differently about everything. But, as she blames you, and fancies your jealousy to be a frightful monster, if I were in your place I should obey her wishes, and endeavour to conceal from her eyes what offends them. A lover undoubtedly acts wisely when he tries to suit his temper to ours; a hundred acts of politeness have less influence than this unison, which makes two hearts appear as if stirred by the same feelings. This similarity firmly unites them; for we love nothing so much as what resembles ourselves.

GARC. I know it, but alas! merciless fate opposes such a well intentioned plan; in spite of all my endeavours, it continually lays a snare for me, which my heart cannot avoid. It is not because the ungrateful woman, in the presence of my rival, avowed her love for him, and not for me; and that with such an excess of tenderness, that it is impossible I can ever forget her cruelty. But as too much ardour led me to believe erroneously that she had introduced him into this place, I should be very much annoyed if I left upon her mind the impression that she has any just cause of complaint against me. Yes, if I am abandoned, it shall be only through her faithlessness; for as I have come to beg her pardon for my impetuosity, she shall have no excuse for ingrat.i.tude.

EL. Give a little time for her resentment to cool, and do not see her again so soon, my Lord.

GARC. Ah! if you love me, induce her to see me; she must grant me that permission; I do not leave this spot until her cruel disdain at least....

EL. Pray, my Lord, defer this purpose.

GARC. No; make no more idle excuses.

EL. (_Aside_). The Princess herself must find means to send him away, if she says but one word to him. (_To Don Garcia_). Stay here, my Lord, I shall go and speak to her.

GARC. Tell her that I instantly dismissed the person whose information was the cause of my offence, that Don Lopez shall never...

SCENE VII.--DON GARCIA, DON ALVAREZ.

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 pa.s.sions, 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!