Seb. This ring, indeed, my father, with a cold
And shaking hand, just in the pangs of death,
Put on my finger, with a parting sigh;
And would have, spoke, but faultered in his speech,
With undistinguished sound.
Alv. I know it well,
For I was present.—Now, Almeyda, speak,
And truly tell us how you came by yours.
Alm. My mother, when I parted from her sight
To go to Portugal, bequeathed it to me,
Presaging she should never see me more.
She pulled it from her finger, shed some tears,
Kissed it, and told me 'twas a pledge of love,
And hid a mystery of great importance,
Relating to my fortunes.
Alv. Mark me now,
While I disclose that fatal mystery:—
Those rings, when you were born and thought another's,
Your parents, glowing yet in sinful love,
Bid me bespeak: a curious artist wrought them.
With joints so close, as not to be perceived,
Yet are they both each other's counterpart;
433 Her part had Juan inscribed, and his had Zayda,
(You know those names are theirs,) and in the midst
A heart divided in two halves was placed.
Now, if the rivets of those rings inclosed
Fit not each other, I have forged this lie;
But, if they join, you must for ever part.
[Sebastian pulling off his Ring, Almeyda does the same, and gives it to Alvarez, who unscrews both the Rings, and fits one half to the other[10].
Seb. Now life, or death.
Alm. And either thine, or ours.—
I'm lost for ever.
[Swoons. The Women and Morayma take her up, and carry her off. Sebastian here stands amazed without motion, his eyes fixed upward.
Seb. Look to the queen, my wife; for I am past
All power of aid to her, or to myself.
Alv. His wife! said he, his wife! O fatal sound!
For, had I known it, this unwelcome news
434 Had never reached their ears:
So they had still been blest in ignorance,
And I alone unhappy.
Dor. I knew it, but too late, and durst not speak.
Seb. [Starting out of his amazement.]
I will not live, no not a moment more;
I will not add one moment more to incest;
I'll cut it off, and end a wretched being:
For, should I live, my soul's so little mine,
And so much hers, that I should still enjoy.—
Ye cruel powers,
Take me, as you have made me, miserable;
You cannot make me guilty; 'twas my fate,
And you made that, not I. [Draws his Sword. Antonio and Alvarez lay hold on him, and Dorax wrests the Sword out of his hand.