Don Garcia of Navarre | Page 7

this letter gave me no umbrage, and though
you kindly allow me to read it, to justify myself, I will not do so.
ELV. If you persist in your refusal, I should be wrong to compel you; it
is sufficient, in short, as I have insisted upon it, to let you see whose
hand it is.
GARC. I ought always to be submissive to you; if it is your pleasure I
should read it for you, I will gladly do so.
ELV. Yes, yes, Prince, here it is; you shall read it for me.
GARC. I only do so, Madam, in obedience to your commands, and I
may say...
ELV. Whatever you please; but pray make haste.
GARC. It comes from Donna Inez, I perceive.
ELV. It does, and I am glad of it, both for your sake and mine.
GARC. (_Reads_). "_In spite of all that I do to show my contempt for
the tyrant, he persists in his love for me; the more effectually to
encompass his designs, he has, since your absence, directed against me
all that violence with which he pursued the alliance between yourself
and his son. Those who perhaps have the right to command me, and
who are inspired by base motives of false honour, all approve this
unworthy proposal. I do not know yet where my persecution will end;
but I will die sooner than give my consent. May you, fair Elvira, be
happier in your fate than I am_. DONNA INEZ." A lofty virtue fortifies
her mind.
ELV. I will go and write an answer to this illustrious friend. Meanwhile,
Prince, learn not to give way so readily to what causes you alarm. I

have calmed your emotion by enlightening you, and the whole affair
has passed off quietly; but, to tell you the truth, a time may come when
I might entertain other sentiments.
GARC. What? you believe then...
ELV. I believe what I ought. Farewell, remember what I tell you; if
your love for me be really so great as you pretend, prove it as I wish.
GARC. Henceforth this will be my only desire; and sooner than fail in
it, I will lose my life.

ACT II.
SCENE I.--ELIZA, DON LOPEZ.
EL. To speak my mind freely to you, I am not much astonished at
anything the Prince may do; for it is very natural, and I cannot
disapprove of it, that a soul inflamed by a noble passion should become
exasperated by jealousy, and that frequent doubts should cross his mind:
but what surprises me, Don Lopez, is to hear that you keep alive his
suspicions; that you are the contriver of them; that he is sad only
because you wish it, jealous only because he looks at everything with
your eyes. I repeat it, Don Lopez, I do not wonder that a man who is
greatly in love becomes suspicious. But, that a man who is not in love
should have all the anxieties of one who is jealous--this is a novelty
that belongs to none but you.
LOP. Let everybody comment on my actions as much as they please.
Each man regulates his conduct according to the goal he wishes to
reach; since my love was rejected by you, I court the favour of the
Prince.
EL. But do you not know that no favour will be granted to him if you
continue to maintain him in this disposition?
LOP. Pray, charming Eliza, was it ever known that those about great

men minded anything but their own interest, or that a perfect courtier
wished to increase the retinue of those same grandees by adding to it a
censor of their faults? Did he ever trouble himself if his conversation
harmed them, provided he could but derive some benefit? All the
actions of a courtier only tend to get into their favour, to obtain a place
in as short a time as possible; the quickest way to acquire their good
graces is by always flattering their weaknesses, by blindly applauding
what they have a mind to do, and by never countenancing anything that
displeases them. That is the true secret of standing well with them.
Good advice causes a man to be looked upon as a troublesome fellow,
so that he no longer enjoys that confidence which he had secured by an
artful subservience. In short, we always see that the art of courtiers
aims only at taking advantage of the foibles of the great, at cherishing
their errors, and never advising them to do things which they dislike.
EL. These maxims may do well enough for a time: but reverses of
fortune have to be dreaded. A gleam of light may at last penetrate the
minds of the deceived nobles, who will then justly avenge themselves
on