Act 5

Scene 1

Lindamire, Don Alvar

Moncade arrested! Oh most cruel disgrace!
Good gods, must I believe this woeful news?

I wish to Heaven that I had your doubts,
But, Madame, I saw it with mine own eyes.

Ah! There is no way round this newest pain,
And I can feel my resolve losing strength;
This last blow takes me out, alas, he’s lost!
All hope is dashed by this revelation;
His exile left me with a shred of hope,
We seemed to have a bit of good fortune,
His journey home was set without concern;
But if the King sees him as the State’s enemy,
Believe me, Don Alvar, we have lost all,
My sadness and envy deem that ‘tis so.

But what will this deep sorrow drive you to?

Ah! What decision can I make like this?

Escape, while such a thing is possible.

Escape to where, flying the Crown’s fury?
Where can I hide from an enragèd King?
No, no, I’ll wait my fate with patient calm.

But since you love a guilty man, you will
Be seen as criminal and punished sure.
That is the logic of the State, which holds
Great sway over the minds of fragile Kings.

If Moncade is the victim of that logic,
Then I will buy my crime with all my heart;
And should the King condemn me to his fate,
He spares me from the burden of more choice.
For fear by Heaven that his ardent rage
Blinds him to think I may not be guilty,
Let’s go reveal to him my heart’s secret.
Too much I’ve heeded wicked modesty,
And now without its rule, by my true wish,
I’ll lose this innocence to my desires,
And by the happy justice that shall come,
I’ll share my lover’s destiny forever.
Let’s run now to the King, that some vain hope...

Scene 2

[Enter CARLOS]

Madame, there’s no need to go to such great pains. You may await the King at your lodgings, where he is now bound, having just ordered me to hold you there.

A pretty pretext for such violence.

I do with some regret carry out this ordinance, but the King’s orders....

In this one case,
They seem to be in concert with my heart.
The King does honour me more than I knew,
To treat me as an equal to Moncade.
I don’t deserve this rank; but I may earn it
By imitating him as best I can.
I know this hero was guilty of nothing,
But loving too much what he thought was lovely.
I’ll follow his example, and til death
I hope to share both his crime and his fate.
My glory is the envy of good hearts,
Which I know Carlos has. Tell the King so.
And to be sure to banish all rude thoughts,
Take back again the counsel that you gave:
Fly, noble friend, escape this earth for good,
I see that Heaven has declared a war,
Earth’s people doubtless have enraged the gods:
They have forbid all virtue from these lands.
And since the virtuous must tremble here,
Such men as you have much to doubt and fear.

Ah! Madame, calm this boiling speech of yours,
And temper the excess of your behaviour.

No, no, dear Don Alvar, I’ll play no more,
And having no more hope, I’ll no more fear.

But Madame, the King may have arrived before us, we must, if you please...

Yes, Carlos, that’s enough,
Let’s go.

Forgive me— gods! The King is here, and we have worn his patience.

Scene 3

[Enter the King and Clotaire]

Now see, my Lord, how I retire myself,
And I do so without the least complaint.

Stop, stop right there. Thou shalt be needed soon.
Thou hast too much to do with this business
To spare thyself from bearing witness now.
Carlos, thou understandst?

I will attend to things.   [Exit]

Scene 4

Madame, I promise that despite your spite,
I share in all your soul’s pains as my own.

Your heart can then dispense with any pains.
Mine are not quite as big as you might think.

Sweet one, from thine own lips we’ve heard thee swear
How much the guilty one holds thee in sway;
Thou canst not hide thy passion from us now...

No, no, if you would like, I’ll swear again, Seigneur:
Is it a crime to love a great hero
Whom all the world holds in its high esteem?

Now hearing this, my Lord, what wait you for?

Thou call’st the object of my rage such names
As thy tenacious passion bids, and thou
Darest even now disregard my fury?

Well! Why, Seigneur, twas you that lit the flame
That rages in my heart despite myself.
In putting Moncade at the height of glory,
In letting him claim honour after honour,
In burnishing his glorious exploits,
You made him so enchanting to mine eyes.
Had you not built him up with all your grace,
Then his great kindness, faith, his selflessness,
His zeal, and his respect for you yourself
Would not have caught my penetrating eyes.
The greatest virtue crumbles under rage,
The firmest men fall from that high, steep cliff,
Yet I saw him carry all your favour
And did not see his heart stumble at all.
He was a conqueror but not a brute,
Bashful favourite, sincere courtesan,
You’ve known him to be so, yet you’re surprised
That after all this, Moncade charms my soul?

Madame, the only thing that now remains
Of all that glory is its memory.
No longer does a great King grant his gifts
To elevate him to such heights as those.
This is the end and goal of kingly rage,
Which all that are his subjects must find just,
And since you claim to know this glorious Prince,
You should quit fooling your own heart and eyes!
Yes, you must realise that such a King
Would not without reason treat a subject so.
And when I saw this change, knowing the King,
I did suspect Moncade a thousandfold,
I think him rude, ambitious, and a traitor,
I think his virtue, as he shows to us,
Is but a false mask, which he used to hide....

Ah! Sir, can this speech really come from you?
What do I hear, great gods, what calumny
Comes from the Prince Clotaire? Deep treachery!

Don Alvar, what an outburst...

            Forgive me,
If that despite my respect it bursts forth.
But when I see this Prince accuse Moncade,
A Prince whose life and province he preserved,
And for whom countless times with all good grace
He craved some boon from you, your Majesty,
I can’t deny, even your mighty self
Could not constrain me to keep my silence.
I know Moncade, ‘tis I, Seigneur, ‘tis I,
That best can answer you about his faith.
‘Tis I alone know his designs, his soul.
We hide our defects from our love’s object,
Adoring Lindamire, we can presume
That he put on some virtues to seem great.
But I who watched him with an extreme care,
And whom he loved as equal to himself,
Seeing him so accused before mine eyes,
I must reject, great King, this unjust blot.

Seigneur, this vehemence and all their rage
Marks them to be confederates in this.
I told you so, that he had bought their hearts,
And won your subjects to him with your favours;
See now what he can do, from these examples,
See just how they disdain the Royal title.

Yes, traitor, those gifts he got from the King,
Doubly enriching his merit and faith,
Made rise this ardour that inspires us now.

After that, great gods, what else can she say?

But if he had our hearts under his thrall,
It was because he did his duty full.

Yes, Lord, he did, I know his innocence.
And if I dare defend him before you,
I do forfeit myself to you, great Prince,
As guarantor of his fidelity.
Yes, if he’s guilty of a single thought
That most unjustly hurts your Majesty,
I will accept, Seigneur, the cruellest doom...

Ah! Such an honour is my due, get off!
Yes, Don Alvar, Moncade does me adore,
So I can answer for him best myself.
Oh King most just and great, now at your knees....

All will be sorted soon. He’s here. Rise thou.

Scene 5

[Enter Moncade]

Come, most unfortunate. See by what proofs
Your secret workings have revealed themselves.
See now the courtiers held most dear by me
Jostling to sacrifice themselves for you.
See Don Alvar, to whom I am less King
Than father, whom I’ve cared for since his first,
Who now defies me for his love of you.
And Lindamire, the source of all my pride,
Would follow your exile, and share your crime.
She loves he who offends me, she has sworn,
And would betray my wishes for that fire.
Is’t possible to think that such a flame....

Oh! Lord, see deeper into her desires,
And do not so severely condemn her,
For but some simple generosity.
‘Tis all, Seigneur, that Lindamire does feel,
There is no love behind her passioned zeal,
And whatsoe’er she’s said to you today,
‘Tis pity, goodness; certainly not love.

Scene 6

[Enter Doña Elvire, Leonor, and Carlos]

You see now, Leonor, my motto is:
The height of joy, always in everything.
But I don’t need to preach my motto here,
Let us retire.

No, stay, thou mayst approach,
Thy presence here shall be necessary,
What I will seek to do needs witnesses.

Yes, to debase me before everyone,
Come here Elvire, we will have need of you,
Knowing of what your soul is capable,
Today you will bear witness to my flame.
I thank you, Lord, for your most thoughtful care,
I’d have the universe to be my witness!

O gods! She’s gone too far.

            I’ll freely swear!

Oh! Don’t believe her, Lord, ‘tis all an act!
Knowing the power she has over you,
She has put on this show of emotion,
Hoping a Monarch that does love her might
Extend some grace to me on her behalf.

I’ve said too much, your efforts are in vain,
Thanks to my vow, we two will share a fate.

What have you done to thus bewitch her soul?
Have you promised that you might take my Crown?
I fear your servant has not served you well.

He did just what he must, and served you well,
‘Tis how magnanimous hearts are seduced,
Not with the hope of perpetrating crimes.
Know me now, Seigneur, that which lit my flame,
His most high virtue, that’s what makes me love,
None but his pure fire could move me so much.

Oh sincere love is such a stupid thing,
Long live good friendship and convenient love!

Now by the gods, Madame, be less sincere,
You compound all my wounds with your fierce zeal,
Be less so generous and more prudent.
Alas! Could I have thought before this day,
My greatest sadness would have been her love!

I know my passion makes me criminal,
But being so is now my greatest wish.
Seigneur, if love of me has doomed Moncade,
I would be in return thus doomed for him.
His love displeases you, and so does mine,
I say what he says, and love as he does.
So order the same pains, and matching fires.

Well! Shall Moncade be happy after this?
Shall he still savour his imperfect joy,
And does his King not know to grant his wish?

Seigneur, has your rage been an act?

               How couldst
Thou dare to deem it otherwise, Moncade?
Thou’rt innocent, and yet I called thee guilty,
And thou who knowst me as a fair Monarch
Call’st me unjust, and darest to think worse too!
Ah! That suspicion has the most offence,
And but that Moncade knows all ways to please,
‘Tis that that truly might enflame mine ire.

What change!

    What have I done!

            Vain ambition!

Learn now the secret of my master plan,
Since that for ten years thou hast known me well,
And ne’er a subject has so loved their lord,
Nor has one been so cherished by a King
With as much fervour as thou art by me:
When I saw thee by melancholy gripped,
It was the only thing that lost me sleep.
I knew the cause, and sought to make it cease:
No doubting thoughts have right to do thee harm;
And so I set to find out whether thee
Or just my favour all the Court adores.
Thou’st heard it all, and now on this great day,
Friend, Lady, King, all bend to bring you joy.

Oh! King of all the Kings the most sublime,
That this day marks your name in history!

Do I deserve this excess of goodness,
For laying for your Highness down my life?
And you, most shining friend, whose rarest soul
Seems guarded all against fortune’s sweet charms,
Share with me now the favour of my King.

I followed but my heart, and so stayed true.

Now by your wedding, let’s achieve our goal.

What do I hear? Oh my! Despair! Ah! Rage!   [Exeunt Clotaire and Carlos]

Scene 7

Prince...

   No, let’s leave him be in his turmoil,
He has well earned his blistering remorse;
And all should learn from his example: none
Can know for certain what a Monarch wills,
And to be sure to not get burned like him,
One must remember to be generous.
But come, let’s go.   [Exeunt all but Elvire and Leonor]

Scene 8

      And you, philosopher,
Will you come join us in the wedding feast?

No, that’s no joyful way to end the day;
I’ll go find comfort in dear Don Lope.

END