Zulimez. You have thrice told already [30]
The years of absence and of secrecy,
[[821]] To which a forced oath bound you; if in truth
A suborned murderer have the power to dictate
A binding oath—

Alvar. My long captivity
Left me no choice: the very wish too languished [35]
With the fond hope that nursed it; the sick babe
Drooped at the bosom of its famished mother.
But (more than all) Teresa's perfidy;
The assassin's strong assurance, when no interest,
No motive could have tempted him to falsehood: 40
In the first pangs of his awaken'd conscience,
When with abhorrence of his own black purpose
The murderous weapon, pointed at my breast,
Fell from his palsied hand—

Zulimez. Heavy presumption!

Alvar. It weighed not with me—Hark! I will tell thee all; 45
As we passed by, I bade thee mark the base
Of yonder cliff—

Zulimez. That rocky seat you mean,
Shaped by the billows?—

Alvar. There Teresa met me
The morning of the day of my departure.
We were alone: the purple hue of dawn 50
Fell from the kindling east aslant upon us,
And blending with the blushes on her cheek,
Suffused the tear-drops there with rosy light.
There seemed a glory round us, and Teresa
The angel of the vision![821:1]

Had'st thou seen [55]
How in each motion her most innocent soul
Beamed forth and brightened, thou thyself would'st tell me,
Guilt is a thing impossible in her!
She must be innocent!

Zulimez. Proceed, my lord!

Alvar. A portrait which she had procured by stealth, 60
(For even then it seems her heart foreboded
[[822]] Or knew Ordonio's moody rivalry)
A portrait of herself with thrilling hand
She tied around my neck, conjuring me,
With earnest prayers, that I would keep it sacred 65
To my own knowledge: nor did she desist,
Till she had won a solemn promise from me,
That (save my own) no eye should e'er behold it
Till my return. Yet this the assassin knew,
Knew that which none but she could have disclosed. 70

Zulimez. A damning proof!