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 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!