Don Garcia of Navarre | Page 3

DON ALVAREZ, _confidant of Don Garcia, in love with Eliza_.
DON LOPEZ, _another confidant of Don Garcia, in love with Eliza_.
DON PEDRO, gentleman usher to Inez.
A PAGE.
DONNA ELVIRA, Princess of Leon.
DONNA INEZ, _a Countess, in love with Don Silvio, beloved by
Mauregat, the usurper of the Kingdom of Leon_.
ELIZA, confidant to Elvira.
Scene.--ASTORGA, _a city of Spain, in the kingdom of Leon_.

DON GARCIA OF NAVARRE;
OR, THE JEALOUS PRINCE.
(_DON GARCIE DE NAVARRE, OU LE PRINCE JALOUX_.)
* * * * *

ACT I.
SCENE I.--DONNA ELVIRA, ELIZA.
ELVIRA. No, the hidden feelings of my heart were not regulated by
choice: whatever the Prince may be, there is nothing in him to make me
prefer his love. Don Silvio shows, as well as he, all the qualities of a
renowned hero. The same noble virtues and the same high birth made
me hesitate whom to prefer. If aught but merit could gain my heart, the
conqueror were yet to be named; but these chains, with which Heaven
keeps our souls enslaved, decide me, and, though I esteem both equally,
my love is given to Don Garcia.
ELIZA. The love which you feel for him, seems to have very little
influenced your actions, since I, myself, madam, could not for a long
time discover which of the two rivals was the favoured one.
ELV. Their noble rivalry in love, Eliza, caused a severe struggle in my
breast. When I looked on the one, I felt no pangs, because I followed
my own tender inclination; but when I thought I sacrificed the other, I
considered I acted very unjustly; and was of opinion, that Don Silvio's
passion, after all, deserved a happier destiny. I also reflected that a
daughter of the late King of Leon owed some obligation to the house of
Castile; that an intimate friendship had long knit together the interests
of his father and mine. Thus, the more the one made progress in my
heart, the more I lamented the ill success of the other. Full of pity, I
listened to his ardent sighs, and received his vows politely; thus in a
slight degree I tried to make amends for the opposition his love met
with in my heart.

EL. But since you have been informed he previously loved another,
your mind ought to be at rest. Before he loved you, Donna Inez had
received the homage of his heart. As she is your most intimate friend,
and has told you this secret, you are free to bestow your love upon
whom you wish, and cover your refusal to listen to him under the guise
of friendship for her.
ELV. It is true, I ought to be pleased with the news of Don Silvio's
faithlessness, because my heart, that was tormented by his love, is now
at liberty to reject it; can justly refuse his addresses, and, without
scruple, grant its favours to another. But what delight can my heart feel,
if it suffers severely from other pangs; if the continual weakness of a
jealous prince receives my tenderness with disdain, compels me justly
to give way to anger, and thus to break off all intercourse between us?
EL. But as he has never been told that you love him, how can he be
guilty if he disbelieves in his happiness? And does not that which could
flatter his rival's expectations warrant him to suspect your affection?
ELV. No, no; nothing can excuse the strange madness of his gloomy
and unmanly jealousy; I have told him but too clearly, by my actions,
that he can indeed flatter himself with the happiness of being beloved.
Even if we do not speak, there are other interpreters which clearly lay
bare our secret feelings. A sigh, a glance, a mere blush, silence itself, is
enough to show the impulses of a heart. In love, everything speaks: in a
case like this, the smallest glimmer ought to throw a great light upon
such a subject, since the honour which sways our sex forbids us ever to
discover all we feel. I have, I own, endeavoured so to guide my conduct,
that I should behold their merits with an unprejudiced eye. But how
vainly do we strive against our inclinations! How easy is it to perceive
the difference between those favours that are bestowed out of mere
politeness, and such as spring from the heart! The first seem always
forced; the latter, alas! are granted without thinking, like those pure and
limpid streams which spontaneously flow from their native sources.
Though the feelings of pity I showed for Don Silvio moved the Prince,
yet I unwittingly betrayed their shallowness, whilst my very looks,
during this torture, always told him more than I desired they should.

EL. Though the suspicions of