José Echegaray

“ What is this worse pallor, these sadder tears, and still mournfuller tragedies?
Don Lorenzo. [Seizing his arm.] Madman! The pallor of crime, the tears of remorse, the consciousness of one's own infamy.
Edward. And this infamy, this remorse, this crime would lie in furthering your daughter's happiness?
Don Lorenzo. [Despairingly.] It should not be—but so it is nevertheless. [Pause.] And this makes my torment. This is the idea that will drive me mad.
Inés. No, no, father. You must not say that. Do what you think best without thought of me. What does it matter whether I live or die? ”

“ Doña Ángela. And why? You seem already to be growing as ordinary and weak as any poor mother. Does duty not order you to let your daughter die? Then let her die. Does it not also command you to cast the dying Juana into a prison-cell? Then hasten to procure her condemnation. You see, Lorenzo, I have some logic too, in my own way.
Don Lorenzo. Infernal logic.
Doña Ángela. And yours? From what sublime sphere does it descend?
Don Lorenzo. [Moves still further off.] Let me be, let me be. I can stand no more. My own Inés—and my mother! ”

“ To-day, no less a madman, I send you the last. [Kisses his hand to her with cry and expression of desperate grief.]
Doña Ángela. Lorenzo!
Don Lorenzo. Don't come near me. I might strangle you in my arms. [Ángela recoils.] Farewell, Inés, my only child. Be happy—if you can. To you I say nothing. I could not speak to you unkindly. [Walks a few steps feebly, then stops. Repulses roughly those who rush to his assistance.] Let me be. I require no one. My brow is damp with sweat, and thirst is upon my dry lips, and a fiery heat seems to swell my eyelids. ”

“ Doña Ángela. I know nothing about it. I feel, I can't argue.
Don Lorenzo. My whole soul rises up in revolt against the idea. To become an accomplice in the most repugnant, because most cowardly, of crimes! To enjoy usurped wealth and a name I have no right to, and all that is not ours! God has not willed it so, and what he has not willed should not be. Inés, you and I, all sunk in the mire! ”

“ That there was something hidden in the locket a vigilance so alert as mine had easily discovered, and what the paper contained misgiving helped me to divine. That was why I took the locket. It was mine by right. It had cost me twenty years of tears and anguish, than which none more bitter or intolerable have ever been shed.
Don Lorenzo. Forgiveness, remorse, a secret—and my mother! I cannot imagine what you would say. Confused shades gather and drift before my mind, and pain strikes my heart in lightning flashes. You are raving, and you make me rave too.
Juana. No, no. ”

“ The duchess!
Don Lorenzo. [Angrily, while Juana tears paper from him, and conceals it.] Again! leave me alone. What do you want?
Doña Ángela. Lorenzo, Lorenzo.
Edward. [Rushes in.] Don Lorenzo!
Don Lorenzo. You, also—go away, go all of you.
Doña Ángela. Mercy upon us, what is this? What can it mean? What is the matter with you, Lorenzo? do be sensible.
Don Lorenzo. Away, away! I implore, if needs be I am ready to kneel to you, but only leave me. Oh, human selfishness! They think there is nothing else besides their passions and interests. Tomás, Ángela, Edward, the duchess—all of them. ”

“ Don Lorenzo. Tomás!
Doña Ángela. You really believe——
Dr. Tomás. I believe that Inés has inherited her father's excitable and fantastical imagination. To-day the fever of love runs like a fiery wave in her veins. If you don't marry her to Edward,—and that very soon—and she should be given to understand that her hopes are not destined to be realised, though I cannot predict in what way, I unhappily know that the delirium of fantasy, and the violence of her affection will eventually kill her. ”

“ Tomás. It is illustrious, my dear fellow.
Don Lorenzo. Illustrious, no—but respectable, yes. Besides, I have some millions that I have inherited, and which I will make over to the duchess and to Edward, that they may be enabled thereby to renovate a coronet somewhat the worse for wear. So you may be sure of it. Inés will be happy, and her happiness will be ours.
Doña Ángela. And yours—also ours, who live in you—you, my husband, who are, when science does not blunt your sense, the best, the kindest, and most loving of men. ”

“ Inés. And you also, mother, you also. [Embraces Doña Ángela. Don Lorenzo and Dr. Tomás move away from sofa, where Doña Ángela and Inés remain seated, and come to the middle of the stage.]
Dr. Tomás. Poor philosopher! Neither of those two has read a single page of all your books, and both know more than you do. You think yourself strong, and in their hands you are as soft as wax. You think yourself a sage, and in their arms you are an innocent, not to say a fool. You think yourself just and uncorruptible, and upon the will of those two women you could be led into any injustice or weakness. ”

“ We must marry Inés to Edward.
Don Lorenzo. I would like it well indeed, Ángela. Edward is a good fellow, very intelligent, and passionately attached to our girl, but——
Doña Ángela. But what? Are we not also noble, and why should Edward's mother, the Duchess of Almonte, oppose the union? And what matter if she does, since it is he, and not she, that is to be married?
Don Lorenzo. Ángela, think well upon it. Ought we to encourage a son in revolt against his mother?
Doña Ángela. You think well upon it. Lorenzo, ought we to sacrifice our child to that woman's vanity? ”

“ Don Lorenzo enters C., and stands listening to Inés.
Don Lorenzo. [Aside.] Dead, she said?
Edward. You dead! No, Inés, don't say such a thing.
Inés. Why not? If I do not die of sorrow—should fortune ever again smile upon me, then must I die of remorse.
Don Lorenzo. [Aside.] Of remorse! She! Should fortune ever again smile upon her! What worse fate floats in the air and hangs threateningly above my head? Remorse!—I have again caught another passing word. I traverse rooms and galleries, and wander from one place to another, pricked by insufferable anguish. ”

“ Don Lorenzo. [Seated at table reading attentively.] 'Mercy, my niece,' replied Don Quixote, 'is that which God this moment has shown me, despite my sins. Already my mind is clear and free, unclogged of the obscurities of ignorance, which my unhappy and incessant readings of those detestable books of chivalry cast upon me like a heavy shadow. Already have I sounded the depth of their delusions and absurdities, and I now regret nothing but that this awakening should have come so late that I have no longer time to seek compensation in reading those other books which are the light of the soul. ”

“ Do you not feel that it is my duty, Ángela—and you, too, Inés?
Doña Ángela. In any case it is a work of charity.
Don Lorenzo. It is a just reparation. [Exit by door L.]
Dr. Tomás. He is the best of men, and the most credulous. He will believe, as an article of faith, anything that the poor old creature may tell him. He will even help her to invent some extravagant tale. Ah, madam, we ought to make an examination of this library like that great and witty one the priest and barber made of the ingenious hidalgo's library. ”

“ It is war to the knife against all evil under any form or disguise whatsoever. Not so?
Don Lorenzo. So it is.
Dr. Tomás. Then let us instantly apply your theory. But truly I had forgotten it, and it is quite a romance. Lend me your attention. Listen, ladies. [Doña Ángela and Inés approach.]
Don Lorenzo. What is it?
Dr. Tomás. To-day a woman begged me to take you in her name——
Don Lorenzo. What?
Dr. Tomás. A kiss.
Doña Ángela. To him?
Don Lorenzo. To me?
Dr. Tomás. Yes. [To Doña Ángela.] But don't be alarmed, dear madam. It is the kiss of an aged dame, and it comes drenched in tears. ”

“ Doña Ángela. Hear me further. You will have to acknowledge Juana the nurse as your mother.
Don Lorenzo. That is the only way left me to wipe away the stain of an iniquitous sentence. Here alone were reason sufficient to prove the crime of the silence you counsel.
Doña Ángela. And here, I say, is reason sufficient to command silence as an imperative duty. Can't you see that if Juana be innocent of the wrong imputed, she is guilty of a much greater,—which is called illegal retention of personal rights? You know it well. Falsification of a family is quite as bad as degrading or destroying it. ”

“ Don Lorenzo. To lose a son were a terrible misfortune.
Duchess. [Gently and approaching Don Lorenzo.] Will you not consent to bestow also the name of son upon my boy?
Inés. [In low voice of entreaty.] Answer, father.
Don Lorenzo. [Looks sadly at his daughter, takes her head between his hands, and contemplates her yearningly.] How sweet you are! It seems incredible that you should not prove stronger than the law of honour.
Duchess. [Unable to control herself.] To make an end of the matter, Señor de Avendaña, do you wish my son, the Duke of Almonte, to give his name to your daughter Inés? ”

“ Bermúdez to call. He is the first authority upon all such cases.
Doña Ángela. But it is impossible, it is surely impossible.
Dr. Tomás. It would rejoice me to learn so, and we need not lose hope. But impossible, madam! Ah, human reason is so slight a thing.
Doña Ángela. Oh, my dear husband! No, I cannot bear—it cannot be.
Dr. Tomás. Come, come, Doña Ángela. Have sense and courage, if only for your daughter's sake, for poor Inés. And who knows yet? We have to see if Don Lorenzo has any explanation to offer—any proof——
Doña Ángela. ”

“ Only ourselves, and we will hold our tongue. Dr. Tomás is almost one of the family. Death will shortly seal the lips of that unhappy woman. And, after all, Don Lorenzo is a father; he will do for Inés' sake that which you refuse to do for mine. Why, mother dear, need we go in search of misery and death when felicity is within our reach?
Duchess. Ah, see how contact with crime perverts the noblest minds! Unfortunate boy, do you not understand that you are proposing a monstrous thing to me? that you wish me to be an accomplice to a felony? ”

“ Don Lorenzo. It is easy enough to lament vanity and misfortune. The important thing is to find a remedy against evil.
Doña Ángela. Why not speak to the duchess? They say she is a kind woman, apart from her aristocratic pretensions, and that she idolises Edward. Let us go to her, and beseech and implore her.
Don Lorenzo. I beseech! I implore! Humiliate myself! It is certainly not my place to entreat for her son's hand. She it is who should come to my house and beg for that of my daughter. Social convention, the respect of woman, and my own honour ordain it so. ”

“ Inés wishes to see you. She calls upon your name through heart-breaking sobs, for you are her sole consolation.
Duchess. Poor child!
Doña Ángela. She will not remain in bed, though we begged her to do so, and her nervous agitation is such that she fills us with terror. If strength had not failed her, she would have come to look for you. In kindness, duchess, do go to my stricken girl, and console her, you who are so affectionate a mother. 'Tis a most afflicted mother that implores you.
Edward. And you will tell her that there is still hope, that all depends upon Don Lorenzo—won't you? ”

“ Doña Ángela. Do you want my forgiveness? Do you want me to continue blessing the hour I became your wife, as I have always blessed it till to-day?
Don Lorenzo. Yes.
Doña Ángela. Then do your duty as a man of honour, but in silence, prudently, without ostentation, or noise, or scandal.
Don Lorenzo. Why? The duchess would never consent to her son's marriage with Inés even at that price.
Doña Ángela. Edward answers for his mother's consent.
Don Lorenzo. She will never give in.
Doña Ángela. She will. She is a woman and a mother. We have not all attained such perfection as yours. ”

“ Doña Ángela. Here you see the philosopher, the sage, the perfect man overflowing with vanity and pride. [Goes over to Dr. Tomás who is standing at table reading.]
Don Lorenzo. You are unjust, Ángela. It is not pride, but common dignity—yes, dignity. It is not honourable to us to go a-begging on Inés' behalf the ducal coronet another family chooses to withhold from her—she who wears herself a far fairer crown. ”

“ Tomás, stands for breath and then slowly advances; is poorly and darkly clad.
Edward. [Turning round.] What a sombre group! Why does this black cloud come to dim the azure of our heaven?
Inés. It is Juana, my father's nurse. Oh, it is quite a story. I will tell it to you afterwards.
Don Lorenzo. Easy, Juana, easy——
Juana. Who is that young lady?
Don Lorenzo. Inés, my daughter. Come hither, Inés. [Inés approaches, followed by Edward.]
Juana. How very lovely! She looks like an angel. To find such a creature at one's side in the hour of eternal darkness would seem a presage of heaven. ”

“ Inés. What sinister vision is it that frights my gaze? Those men? Oh, father, do not enter there.
Edward. Come, Inés, come.
Inés. [To her father.] No, no. I beseech you, father.
Don Lorenzo. [Going towards her.] Inés!
Inés. Those men—there—look! [Points to closet. Don Lorenzo stands and follows her eyes. At that moment the keepers, hearing her cry, lift the curtain and show themselves.]
Edward. [Leading Inés away.] At last!
SCENE IX
Don Lorenzo, Braulio and Benito. ”