he not inferr'd from her extraordinary affliction that he might have an unknown Rival in Spain who though at a great distance might prevent his being happy even in that Country where he was an absolute Prince Zulema thereupon gave his wife order to enquire of the Christian the particulars of her life and by what accident she came to be Slave to Amet. Zoraida was as desirous to do it as the Prince and found it no hard matter to induce the Spanish Slave to satisfie her the other not knowing how to refuse any thing to a person from whom she had receiv'd so many assurances of tenderness and friendship She told Zoraida that she would satisfie her curiosity when she pleas'd but that having onely misfortunes to acquaint her with she fear'd the account thereof would be very tedious to her You will find it otherwise replies Zoraida by the attention I shall give you and my concerns therein will satisfie you that you may safely entrust the secret thereof to a person who infinitely loves you Embracing her with these words she entreated her not to put off any longer the satisfaction she desir'd of her They were all alone and the fair Slave having wip'd off the tears which the memory of her misfortunes drew into her eyes she thus begâ—n â—he relation thereof My name is Sophia said she I am a Spaniard born at Valentia and brought up with all the care and tenderness which persons of quality such as were my Father and Mother could express towards a Daughter who was the first fruits of their marriage and soon appear'd worthy of their affection I had a Brother younger than my self by a year as lovely a child as could be seen he lov'd me as much as I lov'd him and our mutual friendship grew up to such a height that when we were not together there might be observ'd in our countenances such a sadness and disquiet as the most pleasant divertisements of persons of our age were not able to disperse Order was thereupon taken that we should not be asunder we learn'd together whatever is commonly taught children well descended of both sexes â—nd so it happen'd to the great astonishment of all that I came to be as skilful and dextrous as he in all the violent exercises of a Cavalier and he as ingenious in whatever is performed by young Gentlewomen This extraordinary kind of education took so much with a Gentleman an intimate acquaintance of my Father's that he desir'd his children might be brought up with us The business was propos'd to my Friends who approved thereof and the nearness of their houses promoted the design of both parties That Gentleman was not inferiour to my Father either as to quality or wealth He had also onely a Son and a Daughter much about my Brother's age and mine insomuch that it was not doubted but the two Houses would be united one day by a double marriage Don Carlos and Lucia so were the Brother and Sister call'd were equally amiable my Brother lov'd Lucia and she him Don Carlos lov'd me I him as much Our Parents knew it and were so far from being displeas'd thereat that had we not been too young they would then have seen us married together But the happy state of our innocent Loves was disturb'd by the death of my lovely Brother a violent Feaver snatch'd him from hence in eight days and this was the first of my misfortunes Lucia was so troubled thereat that no persuasions could keep her from embracing a Religious life I was sick to death and Don Carlos was so far given over as that his Father began to fear he should see himself without issue so great a grief did he conceive at the loss of my Brother whom he lov'd the danger I was in and his Sister's resolution Don Carlos's Father di'd soon after leaving his Son a vast estate Now was he in a condition to discover the nobleness of his nature the gallantries he invented to please me prevail'd on my vanity made his love more publick and added much to mine Don Carlos often addreâ—s'd himself to my Parents desiring them to consummate his happiness by bestowing their Daughter on him He in the mean time continu'd his extraordinary expences which my Father perceiving and considering his estate could not hold out long at that rate resolv'd we should be married He therefore put Don Carlos in hope that he should ere long be his Son-in-law at which News he discover'd such an extraordinary joy as would have persuaded me that he lov'd me above his own life though I had not been so fully assur'd of it as I was He appointed a Ball for me and invited all the Gallantry of the City to it but to his misfortune and mine there happen'd to be at it a Neapolitan Count whom some affairs of importance had brought into Spain He thought me handsome enough to fall in love with and having enquired what quality my Father was of he went and without any other ceremony demanded me of him in marriage My Father dazled at the wealth and quality of this Stranger promis'd him what he desir'd and that very day sent Don Carlos word that he might forbear all further addresses to his Daughter forbad me to receive his visits and commanded me to look on the Italian Count as the person I should be married to as soon as he weâ—e return'd from Madrid I dissembled my affliction before my Father but as soon as I was got alone Don Carlos presented himself to my imagination as the most aimable person in the world I reflected on all could be quarrel'd at in the Italian Count I conceiv'd an implacable aversion against him and I felt my self so possess'd with the love of Don Carlos that it was equally impossible for me to live without him and to be happy with his Rival My recourse was to my tears but what remedy were they in so great a misfortune While I was in this distraction Don Carlos comes into my chamber without first demanding my permission as he was wont to do He found me as it were dissolv'd into tears nor could he forbear his though he seem'd willing to conceal what lay heavy on his soul till he had discovered the true sentiments of mine He cast himself at my feet and taking me by the hands which he bedew'd with his tears I must then loose you Sophia and a stranger whom you hardly know shall be happier than I because he is somewhat richer He will be possess'd of you Sophia and you consent thereto you whom I have so infinitely lov'd you who would persuade me that you lov'd me and were promis'd me by a Father but alas an unjust Father an interess'd Father and one that hath basely recoyl'd from his word If you are continu'd he a Jewel that may be set at any price 't is onely my fidelity that can purchase you and it is upon the account of that you should be yet mine rather than
I was while I had yet hopes to gain you and though your rigour be great enough soon to free you from a Love and Addresses which you think troublesome you have so accustomed me to suffer that it will be much better done of you to Forbear ever being alone with you said I interrupting him Upon which one of my Women coming into my chamber prevented him from making further discoveries of his insolence and me from expressing my resentment thereof as highly as the occasion requir'd and I found my self inclin'd to do I was very glad since I had not done it upon this account of my Husband and was in hope that wicked Brother would have afforded me less of his love and more of his esteem but he still continued both his prevarications before people and his importunities in private To elude his Transportations and serious Addresses I put on the greatest severity I could so far as to threaten to give his Brother notice of his behaviour towards me I made use of all the ways I could think on to make him sensible of his miscarriage I entreated I wept I promis'd to love him as a Brother but he would needs have that place in my affection which Lovers onely pretend to In fine sometimes born with sometimes sharply treated and still no less amorous than abhorr'd he would have made me the most unfortunate Woman in Spain if my conscience which could not upbraid me with any thing had not establish'd and preserv'd the tranquility of my mind But at last my vertue which had stood out the assaults of so dangerous an enemy forsook me and I became a prey to one I little thought of because I forsook it The Court came to Vailladolid and brought with it that gallantry which makes Ladies that are unaccustom'd to it entertain other thoughts than they had before There is somewhat more than ordinary pleasing in all new things our Ladies thought they saw something in the Courtiers which they observ'd not in those who amongst us went for the greatest Gallants and the Courtiers on the other side endeavour'd to please our Ladies and to insinuate into their favouâ— though they thought them little better than certain Conquests Among the Gallants that follow'd the Court in hopes of some preferment in time for their attendance a Portuguez named Andrado was much taken notice of for the sharpness of his wit the gracefulness of his person and countenance and more particularly for the greatness of his expences a charm that hâ—th a strange power upon unexperienc'd Ladies who measure the excellency of the soul by the magnificence of a man's retinue and his cloaths Wealth he had not much but Gaming brought that which was haply superfluous with others to further his Accommodations and the advantages he made of it were so considerable that he liv'd at as high a rate as the richest and most sumptuous about the Court I was so unhappy as to be thought worth his liking and when through my own vanity and his courtship I was persuaded that he was taken with something in me I thought my self the happiest woman of my quality in the world I should find it no small difficulty to express what artifices he had to force himself into a woman's affections and answerably thereto what an excessive love I had for him That Husband whom not long before I thought so kind so dear and so worthy my respects was grown in my apprehension as despicable as odious For Don-Lewis I had a greater aversion than ever nothing pleas'd me but Andrado I could love no man but him and where-ever I came and had not the sight of him I astonish'd all people with my distractions and disquiets Nor was Andrado's affection to me less violent His predominant passion of Gaming gave way to that of his Love his presents gain'd my Women his Letters and Sonnets took me infinitely and the Musick he was somewhat over-prodigal of gave all the Husbands that liv'd in my street occasion to be thinking In fine he charg'd me so home or I made such weak resistance that I was wholly at his devotion I promis'd him all he could desire insomuch that all the trouble we were at was about the place and the time My Husband was to make one at a Hunting-match which was to have kept him in the Country for several days together I sent notice of it to my dear Portuguez and we appointed the execution of our amorous designs to be the very night after my Husband 's going out of Town I was at a certain hour agreed on between us to leave the back-door of our Garden open and under pretence of passing away some part of the night there by reason of the extraordinary heat to set up a field-bed in a little wainscot Bower open of all sides and surrounded with Orang-trees and Jessemine In fine my Husband left Vailladolid in the morning but from that to night seem'd to me the longest day of my life Night came at last and my Women having set up a bed in the Garden I pretended before them an extraordinary sleepiness so that as soon as they had undress'd me I bid them go to their beds one onely excepted who was privy to my design I was hardly got into bed and the maid that stâ—id with me whose name was Marina had but lock'd that door of the Garden which came from the house and open'd the back-door when my Women came in all haste to tell me that my Husband was return'd I had but so much time as to get that door lock'd which I had caus'd to be open'd to let in Andrado My Husband came to me with his ordinary caresses and I leave it to you to imagine how I entertain'd them He told me the occasion of his so sudden return was that the Gentleman who had invited him to Hunting had been thrown by his Horse and broke a Leg and having added to that an account of what else had happened that day he commended my ingenuity in making choice of a place to avoid the inconveniencies of the heat and would needs pass away the night with me He immediately put off his cloaths and came into bed to me All I could do was to put on the best countenance I could and to smother the trouble I was in at his return and to assure him by some forc'd caresses of mine that I was not insensible of his Andrado in the mean time came according to the appointment and finding that door lock'd which he should have found open he with the assistance of his Lacquey made a shift to get over the Garden wall with hopes notwithstanding that obstacle to pass away the night with me He hath avow'd to me since that his engaging himself in so presumptuous and dangerous a design proceeded meerly from a motive of jealousie as being in a manner confident that some Rival more in my favour than himself was admitted to those enjoyments which he had been put
is least expected One day it happened that the two young Gentlemen having tyred their Tailors Barbers Millaners Shoomakers Sempsters and all those other Trades which young Gallants put upon the rack when they would dazle their eys whom they pretend to adore or to say all in a word made themselves as fine as Castor and Pollux and not making the least doubt to become Masters of the out-works at least of the places they besieg'd there comes an unlucky Scrich-owl I mean an old Servant-maid to acquaint the two Cousins that the Indian Spark Husband to the fair Castilian was come to Madrid without so much as sending a Letter before him from Sevil where the Ship came in that the two fair Cousins knew not what he meant by his surprising them in that manner and intreated the Gallants to have patience till such time as Virginia had made such discovery of the humours of her Indian as to know how to deal with him and that they should not onely forbear visiting them but even appearing before their Windows till further order Thus was all the trimming scouring and poudring of that day clearly lost nay as if upon this account of their Mistresses they had a remorse for their vanity for two days after they had no more care of themselves than if they had been irreprievable Malefactors They understood from common report about the Town that the Indian â—nd Virginia had been privately married that he â—as naturally jealous a person of experience as being turn'd of forty years of age and had taken such order in his house and was so vigilant over the actions of his Wife that her Gallants if she had any could not hope so much as a sight of her at her Window The further order they had been promised came not and they thought long to expect it They made their appearance in the Street where their Mistresses liv'd and rode up and down as they were wont before their doors yet could never see either going in or coming out any face they knew or meet with any Boy or Maid they had any acquaintance with They one day saw the Husband go in accompanied by his Brother a person handsome enough and so young that he was then a young Student in the University All this did but add to their affliction and heighten the trouble they were in They went forth betimes in the morning they came not home till 't were very late and spent both time and pains to no purpose At last one Holiday being upon the Sentry they saw coming out at the Break of Day one of Violenta's Maids to go to Mass They made her stand at the Church-door and through the persuasion of a many Presents Don Rodrigues prevailed with her to carry a Letter to her Mistress The business of it was this THE LETTER Madam I Find a greater unkindness in your oblivion of me than I feel torment in my own jealousie since there is no remedy for this latter now that you are at the disposal of a Husband However you are not to think your self beyond the reach of my importunities though you have discharged me your remembrance I beg of you as the last favour I am to expect to let me know whether I have yet any ground to hope or must resolve not to live any longer Yours c. DON RODRIGUES They followed the Maid at a distance she delivered the Letter as she had promised them and having made a sign to them to come near the house she dropped out at the Window the Answer you are like to read THE LETTER A Jealous man that hath not been married long is but little from his Wife and cannot so soon think himself dispensed from the duty he conceives lies upon him to express his tenderness over her and observe her actions There is some talk of taking a journey to Vailladolid without my company which if it happen I shall vindicate my self satisfie my engagements and pay my debts This Letter which they both with a certain emulation kiss'd a hundred and a hundred times reviv'd their decaying hopes and nourish'd them for some days but at last not hearing any thing from their forgetful Mistresses they renew'd their marches and countermarches before their windows spent whole nights there and could not see any going to and fro no more than if the house had been haunted and no body liv'd in it But one day it happen'd that these two despairing Lovers being in the Church comes in Mistress Bride Don Rodrigues went and kneel'd down close by her as t' were to outface an old Gentleman-Usher that had brought her thither He in few words made his complaints to her she in as few excus'd her self and at last she told Don Rodrigues that her husband was not yet gone to Vailladolid though he talk'd of going every day that her impatience to have a private meeting with him was no less than his and that she knew but one way to satisfie his desires which absolutely depended on Don Pedro. My husband said she is a man whom when once fallen asleep the shooting off of great Guns would hardly awake and it is four or five days since we spoke one to another by reason of a little difference that is happened between us which is not yet ripened to aâ— overtures of reconciliation I have been at mâ— Cousin Violanta to supply my place in the Bed but she is not well and in regard she and Dâ—â— Pedro are the onely persons that are privy tâ— our Loves and that I am unwilling there shoulâ— be any more though it concern'd my life wâ— must make use of him in her stead and if he loves you so well as to do it prevail with him tâ— go into bed to my husband after he is fallen asleep There seems at first to be something oâ— hazard in such an enterprise but it being consider'd withall that my husband and I are at â— distance and that he is not easily awak'd doubâ— not but all may prove well enough as I imagine to my self and this is the utmost I can do for you This happy stratageme of Love which Doâ— Rodrigues was so hot to understand upon the first proposal of it prov'd a cooler to his desires when he had heard it for he was not onely in doubt whether his Cousin would act the dangerous part which was impos'd upon him in that extravagant adventure but was in suspence whether he should so much as propose it to him His Mistress continu'd firm to her resolution and as she parted with her dissatisfy'd Gallant assur'd him that if the proposition she made to him were not well entertain'd and put in execution as she had directed there were never any thing to be hoped from her nay she gave him leave to forget her though a time had been she would sooner have sign'd the sentence of her own death The time and place broke off the discourse between Don Rodrigues and his Lady she return'd home
his whole Estate upon condition she would become a Nun and go into the same Convent where Seraphina was whom he acquainted that Laura was her Daughter He writ to Madrid to his Cousin Don Rodrigues and sent him the History of his Life and Adventures and acknowledged that his embracing of so erroneous an opinion had reduced him to that misfortune which he feared most of any and against which he thought he had used the greatest precaution He died Laura was neither troubled at it not glad of it she went into the Nunnery where her Mother was who finding the Estate left by Don Pedro to her Daughter to be very great founded a Convent and became the first Abbess of it The History of Don Pedro was divulged after his death and served to satisfie those that made any doubt of it That without wit Virtue cannot be perfect That a witty Woman may be Virtuous of her self And that a simple Woman cannot be such without the assistance and good directions of some other THE HYPOCRITES The Second Novel THE most delightful season of the year was putting the Fields and Trees into a verdant Livery when a certain Woman came into Toledo a City which as well for its antiquity as its eminence takes place of any in Spain The woman was handsome young subtil and such a profess'd enemy to Truth that for whole years together that Vertue came not so much as once into her mouth and what is yet much more to be admir'd is that Truth was never the worse for 't at least never complain'd of it She had either the artifice or the good fortune to be ever very successful in her lies and there is not any thing more certain than that a fiction of her dressing hath sometimes met with approbation of the severest enemies of Falshood This was a Sâ—â—â—nce she was so great a professor in as that her Dictates would have furnish'd the best custom'd Astrologâ—rs the Poets and the Mountebanks in a word this natural endowment was such in her that the conjunction of it with the beauty of her countenance in a short time got her pieces of Gold answerably to her insinuations and the crafty designs she carried on Her eyes were black sweet sprightly full of gallantry and yet unmerciful Hectors that had been convicted of four or five murthers and stood charg'd with the suspition of above fifty which could not be fully prov'd against them but as for the unfortunate wretches whom they had wounded it is hard to ghess nay indeed to imagine the number of them For matter of dressing she had an excellency and happiness in it beyond any of her sex insomuch that the least pin fasten'd by her hand wanted not its particular grace For what especially related to her head she never troubled any for either advice or assistance as making her Looking-glass at the same time her Councel of State her Councel of War and her Exchequer How fatal must it be for any man to see such a Woman since that if he saw her he could not forbear falling in love with her and if he lov'd her he could not do it long and be withal long without trouble This Lady accomplish'd as I have describ'd her came into Toledo just in the close of the evening much about the time that all the young Gentlemen of quality in the City were preparing for a Mask to be represented at the Nuptial solemnity of a strange Lord who was to be married to a Lady of one of the best Families in the Country The Windows were become a kind of Firmament by reason of the Torches which were placed in them but much more in respect of the Ladies who look'd out at them the great number of lights having restor'd to the streets that day which the night had depriv'd them of The Ladies of meaner quality clad in their mantles discover'd to those who beheld them no more than what they thought most worth the looking on Many Bravoes or rather to use the modern word Trapanners Blades and Hectors were hunting after some prize a sort of people that great Cities ever were and will be pester'd with who trouble themselves not much whether their good fortunes be real provided they be thought such or at least doubted of who never set upon any but in considerable numbers and that with insolence enough and who upon their good faces and a short hanger within their breeches assume to themselves a jurisdiction over the lives of others and think to make all the women die for love and the men for fear O what work would this day have found the soft-headed Complementers and Cajollers of Woman-kind and what low and pitiful equivocations were there us'd But among the rest a young man who of a Schollar was not long before turn'd Page was so prodigal of his Rhetorical fooleries before our Lady errant as if he had thought beyond all language to express how highly he admir'd her He had seen her alight out of the Hackney Coach that brought her and was so dazled at the sight of her that not content with that he had follow'd her to the house where she had taken a chamber and thence up and down to all those places whither she went out of a desire to see something At last the strange Lady having seated her self in a place she thought convenient to see the Maskers go by the eloquent Page dress'd that day all in linnen much finer than ordinary had soon fastned on some discourse with her he being not the first man she had ever seen Of all the women in the world she had the best faculty to engage a young conceited fool upon many impertinencies and that with the greatest insinuation and most unsuspected malice that could be Imagine then if finding this Page a Talker beyond all confidence whether she engag'd him not to speak much more than he knew She besotted him with flatteries and commendations and afterwards did what she would with him She learn'd of him that he serv'd an old Gentleman of Andaluzia Uncle to him who was upon marriage and upon whose account the whole City was in solemnity that he was one of the wealthiest men there of his quality and that he hâ—d not any to make his heir but that Nephew whom he had a great tenderness for though he were one of the most dissolute young men in all Spain one that fell in love with all the women he saw and besides the common Slugs and such as he could command upon the account of his Gallantry or his Presents had sometimes exercis'd his satyrical violences upon Maids without any regard of their qualities and conditions To this he added that his riots and extravagances had made him a dear Nephew to his Uncle and out of that reflection was he the more inclin'd to see him married to try if upon a change of his condition there would ensue a change of manners While the Page was revealing all the secrets
but she would by no means permit it representing to him that she was married and that her Husband was to meet her in a Coach and whisper'd him in the ear that she was somewhat distrustful of her own servants but above all stood in fear of the displeasure of her Husband This slight expression of confidence rais'd in Don Sancho an imagination that she had some kindness for him He took leave of her and carryed more upon his own hopes than the Post-horse he had under him if I may so say he set forward towards Madrid He was no sooner arriv'd but he made enquiry after Helenilla and her habitation according to the directions she had given him His servants were tir'd to find her out and the endeavours of his friends were not spar'd yet all to no purpose Helenilla Montufar and the venerable Mendez were no sooner got to Madrid but they were thinking which way to get out of it They were sensible they could not avoid the Cavalier of Toledo if they staid there and that if they gave him a more particular account of their persons and quality they should find him as dangerous an Enemy as they thought him then their passionate Servant Helenilla put all the goods she had into a sure hand and the very next day after her arrival putting her self and her train into the habit of Pilgrims she took her way towards Burgos the place where Mendez was born and where she had still a sister living of the same profession with her self In the mean time Don Sancho out of all hopes of meeting with Helenilla returns to Toledo with so much shame and confusion that from his departure out of Madrid till he came to his own house he was not heard to speak one word After he had saluted his wife who entertain'd him with thousands of caresses and kindnesses she gave him some Letters from his Brother wherein he found that he lay very sick at one of the chiefest Cities of Spain where he possess'd the greatest dignities of the Cathedral Church and was one of the richest Clergy-men in that Country He stai'd but one night at Toledo and the next morning took Poste to go and see his Brother recover'd or possess himself of what he left if he di'd While Don Sancho is upon his way to his Brother Helenilla is upon hers to Burgos having conceiv'd a dissatisfaction of Montufar greater than the love she had sometimes born him He had express'd so little resolution when Don Sancho and his servants stopp'd the Coach that she made no doubt but he was an arrant coward Out of this reflection was he become so odious to her that it was with some violence to her self that she could endure the sight of him insomuch that her thoughts were wholly taken up to find out some way to be rid of this domestick Tyrant and till it were done comforted her self with the hope of seeing her self ere long at liberty and her own disposal This advice was given her by Mendez which prevail'd the more upon her for that it was fortifi'd with all the reasons which her prudence could suggest She could not endure that in a house where she was to live there should be any Montufar to command her who should have the Mistress of it at his devotion and not doing any thing towards it spend what they both had much ado to get She perpetually represented to Helenilla the wretchedness of her condition comparing it to that of the Slaves emploi'd in the Mines who to enrich their Masters with the Gold which they take so much pains to force out of the earth and instead of being better treated for their endeavours are many times rewarded with blows She would be always telling her that Beauty is a flower and consequently of no long continuance and that her Looking-glass which then represented to her but what was most amiable and ever spoke to her advantage would soon entertain her with objects she should be little satisfi'd with and tell her such news as she should not be well pleas'd at Assure your self Madam said she to her that a woman once turn'd of thirty loses something particular of beauty every six months and makes new discoveries every day either in her body or face of some spot or some wrinckle 'T is the malice of Time to make young Women old and to make old Women wrinkled If a Woman that 's grown rich at the cost of her modesty and reputation meets nevertheless with the contempt and reproaches of the world what horrour must she needs raise in people who through want of conduct is reduc'd to both poverty and infamy upon what ground can she hope to be reliev'd in her misery If with the wealth you have made a shift to get by such courses as are not approv'd of by all the world you rais'd the fortunes of some deserving virtuous person who would in requital marry you it were an action acceptable in the sight of God and Men and the end of your Life would expiate the beginning of it but to cast your self away as you do by being at the diposal of a Raskal as lewd as cowardly one whose great atchievements consists in the trappanning of Women who yet are never gain'd by him but with Threats nor kept but by Tyranny is me-thinks the direct way to bring your self to the greatest extremities imaginable and to be the Author of your own ruine With these and the like arguments did the judicious Mendez who was much better at speaking than doing endeavour to exasperate Helenilla against Montufar whom she still lov'd though rather because she was accustom'd to it than that she could give any reason for it as indeed having too long experience of his manners not to have found out of her self all the specious inducements laid down to her by her old Remembrancer Yet did they not prove ineffectual Helenilla took them in very good part and the more readily for that Mendez advis'd her to things which she her self would be not a little the better for if she should put them in execution so that perceiving Montufar coming up to them being to go together to Guadarrama where they were to dine that day they put it off to another time to consider of the course they should take to be rid of him so as never to have a sight of him again All Dinner-time he seemed to be indispos'd having no stomach at all to any thing and as he rose from table he was taken with a shivering and not long after with a violent feaver which stuck close to him the rest of that day and all night and the violence of it being augmented towards the morning put Helenilla and Mendez into good hopeâ— the feaver would do them a courtesie though 't were onely to free them from further trouble how to shake him off Montufar finding himself so weak as that he was not able to stand told the Ladies they must not stir from
no repining at her disposal of things He also laid clean sheets or should have done if he had any on his Master's bed who having bidden the Lady good-night left her in possession of his Chamber double-locking the door upon her and went to Bed I know not upon what pretence to a Gentleman of his acquaintance that had a Chamber in the same House He slept in all likelihood better in his Friend 's than the Lady he had recommended to his own Bed did in his he never drew bit till the cries about the Streets awoke him she ceas'd not weeping and bewailing her self all night long Don Garcias got up rubb'd and powder'd and made himself as spruce and as youthful as he could Being come to his own Chamber-door he lay'd his Ear to the Key-hole and having heard the poor Lady still bemoaning her self he made no difficulty to go in to her His presence heightened the violence of her affliction and not able to look on him with any command of her grief You see said she to him a woman who was no longer since than yesterday the most esteem'd of any in Vailladolid but at present the most despicable and most infamous and in a condition now much more likely to raise compassion than she hath sometime been to cause envy But how great soever the misfortune may be whereto I am reduc'd the seasonable kindness I receiv'd from you may yet in some measure remedy it if after you have afforded me the Sanctuary of your Chamber till night you get me convey'd thence either in a Sedan or Coach to a Convent which I shall name to you But may I added she after all the Obligations you have cast on me entreat you to be at the trouble to go to my House to enquire what is said and done there and in fine to inform your self what discourse there is about the Court and City concerning the unhappy Woman whom you have so generously taken into your protection Don Garcias proffer'd himself to go where ever she pleas'd to desire him and receiv'd her commands with that earnestness and alacrity as a person newly fallen in Love would do those of the Beauty he was become an adorer of She gave him such directions as were necessary he left her upon engagement to make a speedy return and she immediately fell to such lamentations as if she had but newly begun It was not an hour ere Don Garcias return'd and upon his coming into the room perceivâ—ng his fair Guest much alarm'd as if she had had a presentiment of the ill news he brought her Madam said he to her if you are Eugenia Wife of Don Sancho I have somewhat to tell you which very much concerns you Eugenia is not to be heard of and Don Sancho in prison charg'd with the death of his Brother Don Lewis Don Sancho is innocent said she I am the unfortunate Eugenia and Don Lewis was the lewdest Man in the world Her tears which thereupon broke their way with too much violence and her sobbs admitting very little intermission suffer'd her not to speak any more and I think Don Garcias was not in the mean time a little troubled to compose himself to sadness and to express how sensible he was of her affliction At last as we find that violent things are seldome of long continuance Eugenias's grief admitted some moderation she wip'd her eyes and face and went on with the discourse which as I said her tears and sighs had interrupted It amounts not to much said she to him that you know the name and quality of the unfortunate Womâ—n you have in so short a time so highly oblig'd you may well expect she should acquaint you with the particulars of her Life and by that confidence repos'd in you make some kind of acknowledgement of the extraordinary obligation you have cast on her I am come out of one of the best houses in Vailladolid I was born to a great fortune and Nature hath been so indulgent to me as to matter of Beauty that had I been proud of it I needed not to have fear'd the checks and censures of any The accomplishments of my person brought me more Gallants than the greatness of my Estate and the reputation of both together rais'd me Adorers in the most remote Cities of Spain Among those who propos'd to themselves the felicity of my enjoyments Don Sancho and Don Lewis two Brothers equal both as to the goods of Fortune and Nature were the most remarkable as well for the violence of their passion as the emulation they express'd who should do me the most and most considerable services My Friends countenanc'd the pretensions of Don Sancho who was the elder of the two and my Inclinations were consonant to their choice and dispos'd me to a mâ—n turn'd of forty years of age who by the mildness and compliance of his disposition and the extraordinary care he took to please me got a greater Interest in my soul than would haply have done a person whose age had been more suitable to mine The two Brothers though they had been Rivals had nevertheless liv'd so friendly together as never to have any difference and Don Sancho upon his gaining of me lost not the friendship of his Brother Don Lewis Their Houses joyn'd together or rather were but one House since the common Wall that separated them had a Door in it which by joynt-consent was not lock'd of either side Don Lewis was not shie even before his Brother to make the same addresses to me as he was us'd to do whilst he was his Rival and Don Sancho whose affection was heightened by his enjoyment and who lov'd me beyond his own Life look'd on his Courtships as the expressions of an innocent gayness and civility He call'd me himself his Brother's Mistress who for his part palliated a real love with so much elusion and artifice that I was not the onely person deceived in it In fine having a while accustom'd himself to entertain me publickly with his passion not minding who were present he came at last to make some discoveries of it to me in private with so much importunity and so little respect that I was no longer to doubt of his unworthy designs upon me Though I was but very young yet had I prudence enough to put him off with such Retorts as whence he might have taken occasion to let all things pass as if he still onely personated the passionate Lover I took in jest whatever he said to me seriously and though to my remembrance I never was more angry than at that time yet I never did my self greater violence to forbear doing any thing inconsistent with the ordinary indifferency of my humour This he was so far from making his advantage of that it incens'd him and giving me a frightful look wherein his wicked intentions were but too visible No no Madam said he to me I am not so much a counterfeit since I lost you as
upon my Sister or are so much as seen in the street where she lives I shall be indebted to you a mischief and will be sure to pay it notwithstanding all your caution and know you had been ere this among your acquaintances in the other World had I not too much pity and compliance for an impudent and unfortunate woman who hath repos'd this confidence in me and were not assured that the criminal designs you have laid together against my Brother's honour had not their effect I advise you therefore to change your lodging and flatter not your self with any hope you can elude my resentment if you perform not the promise I expect you should make me to do it Andrado would gladly have engag'd himself to much more He made the most unworthy submissions to him he could think on and acknowledged he ought him a life which it was in his power to have taken away from him His weakness was such as might well confine him to his bed but the cruel fear he had been in strengthned him to get up He thereupon conceiv'd an aversion for me greater than the love he had sometimes born me insomuch that it was a horrour to him but to hear me nam'd I was in the mean time in no small trouble to know what was become of him yet had not the confidence to make any enquiry after him of Don Lewis nor indeed to look with any assurance upon him I sent Marina to Andrado's lodging whither she came not long after he had got thither himself and while he was packing up his things to be gone to a lodging he had taken in another quarter of the City As soon as ever he saw her he told her that if she had any message from me she might carry it to some body else and having given her a short account of what had pass'd between him and Don Lewis he clos'd his relation with this character of me that I was the most ungrateful and most perfidious woman in the world that he look'd on me no otherwise than as one that had plotted his ruine and that I should no more think of him than as if I had never seen him With these words he dismiss'd Marina but notwithstanding the astonishment she was in at such a sharp entertainment she had the wit to follow him at a distance and to observe the place where his things were carried and by that means discover'd the new lodging he had taken The trouble it was to me to be charg'd with an act of malice I was no way guilty of and to be hated by a person I lov'd so well and for whose sake I had hazarded my life and my honour suffer'd me not to give way to all the joy which I should have conceiv'd at his being out of danger I fell into a deep melancholy which soon turned to a sickness and that being such as the Physicians could not well give any account of my husband was extremely troubled thereat To heighten my misfortune Don Lewis began to press and make his advantages of the extraordinary service he had done me incessantly importuning me to grant him that which I was content Andrado should have had and reproching me with the love I had for my Gallant when ever I represented to him the duty I ought a Husband and what he ought a Brother Thus hated by what I lov'd lov'd by what I hated depriv'd of the sight of Andrado too often troubled with that of Don Lewis and tormented with perpetual reflections on my ingratitude to the best Husband in the world who thought nothing too much to please me and was more troubled at my indisposition than I was my self when had he known the truth he might justly have taken away my life incessantly baited with the insupportable remonstrances of my conscience and rack'd between the two most contrary passions Love and Hatred I kept my bed for two months expecting death with gladness but it was Heaven's pleasure to reserve me to greater misfortunes The strength of my age much against my will overcame and dispell'd the sadness which I thought onely death could have put a period to I recover'd my health and Don Lewis renew'd his prosecutions with greater insolence than before I had given my women order and particularly Marina that they should never leave me alone with him Being enrag'd at that obstacle and wearied out with my perpetual resistances he resolv'd to obtain by the most horrid piece of treachery that ever came into the mind of a person consummately wicked what I had deni'd him with so much constancy I have already told you that between his house and ours there was a door seldom lock'd of either side Having set a night wherein he though to put his damnable design in execution and staying till all as well at our house as his were abed he comes in at the door open'd that of our house which was to the street and going to our stable let loose all the horses whereof there was a considerable number and drove them into the court whence they got into the street The noise they made soon awaken'd those who had the care of them and their bustling about the house awakened my husband He was a great lover of Horses and had no sooner heard that his own were gotten into the streets but putting on his night-gown he runs out after them very much incens'd at his Grooms and the Porter for being so careless as not to make fast the great gate Don Lewis who had hid himself in the room next my chamber and had seen my husband when he went out slipp'd down into the court some time after him and having made fast the street door and expected some little while to avoid my suspition had he come immediately upon me he came at last and laid himself down by me acting the part of my husband in every thing so well that it is not much to be wondred at if I were mistaken in him His standing so long in his shâ—rt had made him very cold so that as he came into bed Good Lord sweet-heart said I to him how cold you are How can I be otherwise repli'd he counterfeiting his voice 't is cold standing in the streets And for your horses said I are they taken My people are gone after them repli'd he And thereupon coming close to me as it were to warm himself amidst his embraces and kindnesses he had his design upon me and dishonor'd his Brother That Heaven was pleas'd to permit it might haply be that I should be a future instrument to punish so enormous a crime that my honour might be re-establish'd by my self and my innocence publickly acknowledg'd Having â—one what he came for he pretended to be much troubled about his horses he got up from me went and open'd the street door and with-drew to his own lodgings not a little elevated at the crime he had committed and hugging himself haply in the reflection of
what was to prove the occasion of his ruine My husband comes in presently after and having cast himself into bed turn'd to me frozen as he was and oblig'd me by caresses which I thought extraordinary to beg of him that he would let me sleep He thought it very strange I wondred much he should and thereupon made no further doubt of my being betrai'd The very thought of it would not suffer me to close my eyes till it was day I got up much earlier than I was us'd to do I went to Mass and there met with Don Lewis dress'd as if he had been for some extraordinary entertainment with a countenance as chearful as mine was sad and dejected He presented me with holy Water I receiv'd it with much indifference at his hands which he observing and looking on me with a malicious smile Good Lord Madam said he how cold you are At these words being the same I had said to him and enough to satisfie me who was the Author of my misfortune I grew pale and immediately blush'd upon thought that I had grown pale He might have observ'd in my eyes and by the disorder into which those words had put me how highly I was offended at his insolence I went away without so much as looking on him What distractions I was in all Mass-time you may easily imagine as also how infinitely my husband must needs be troubled when he observ'd that all dinner time and all day after I minded not what was said or done and could not forbear sighing and discovering the disturbance of my mind though I endeavoured all I could to smother it I withdrew to my chamber sooner than I was us'd to do pretending to be somewhat indispos'd I bethought my self of a hundred several ways to be reveng'd but at last my fury suggested one to me which I fix'd upon When bed-time was come I went to bed at the same time with my Husband I pretended to be asleep to oblige him to do the like and finding him fast enough and confident all the servants were no less I got up took his dagger and besotted and blinded as I was by my passion it prov'd nevertheless so sure a guide to me that through the same door and by the same way that my enemy got into my bed I got to the side of his My fury though violent made me not do any thing precipitately with the hand I had free I felt for his heart and when by the beating thereof I had discover'd it the fear of missing my blow made not that hand to tremble which held the Dagger but with all the circumspection imaginable I thrust it twice into the heart of the detestable Don Lewis and so punish'd him with a gentler death than he had deserv'd And doubting those two might not do my work I gave him five or six stabs more and so return'd to my chamber with a tranquillity whence I inferr'd my self that I had never done any thing from the doing whereof I should derive greater satisfaction I return'd my husband's Dagger all bloudy as it was into the sheath I put on my cloaths with as much haste and as little noise as I could I took along with me what Jewels and Mony I had and no less distracted by my love than troubled at what I had done I left a husband who lov'd me beyond his own life to cast my self upon the courtesie of a young man who not long before had sent me word that he had not the least respect for me The fearfulness incident to my sex was so strangely fortifi'd by the impetuous passions I was hurried withal that all alone and in the night time I walked from my own house to Andrado's lodgings with as much confidence as if I had done a good action at noon day I knock'd at the door and was answered that Andrado was not within being engag'd at a Play at a friend 's not far off His servants who knew me and were not a little surpriz'd to see me entertain'd me with much respect and got me a fire in their Master's chamber It was not long ere he came in himself and I believe it was the least of his thoughts to find me waiting for him in his chamber He no sooner cast his eye on me but betraying his astonishment in the wildness of his looks Madam Eugenia saith he what business hath brought you hither What can you expect more from a person you would have sacrific'd to the jealousie of a Brother-in-law you are desperately in love with Ah Andrado repli'd I do you make that construction of an unavoidable accident which forc'd me to make submissions to that man whom of all the world I was most afraid of being oblig'd to And should you pass so disadvantageous a judgment on a person that hath given you such extraordinary demonstrations of her affection I expected something else than reproaches at your hands If I am guilty of any crime it is not against you that I have committed it but against a Husband that should have been dear to me proving ungrateful to him because I would not be so to you and forsaking him to come to a cruel man whose entertainment of me is as unworthy as my kindnesses to him are great When your death which I thought really so had put me into that despair wherein a woman perpetually expecting the minute of being surpriz'd by her husband might be and when thereupon Don Lewis came upon me in that deplorable condition what could I do less than trust my self to his generosity and the love he had for me He hath treacherously made his advantages of the confidence to the loss of my honour but 't is my satisfaction that he hath bought his enjoyments with the price of his life which I have now taken away from him and that my dear Andrado is the occasion of my coming hither I must keep out of the hands of Justice till such time as it be known what crime Don Lewis is guilty of and what misfortune hath befallen me I have mony and Jewels good store upon which you may live handsomely in any part of Spain whither you shall think fit to accompany my misfortune while Time shall make all the world sensible that I am much more to be pitied than blam'd and my future carriage satisfie you in particular that it was not without reason I did what I have done Very likely interrupted he you have great Apologies to make for your self and I shall supply the place of Don Lewis till thou art weary of me and then be kill'd as he was to make way for another Ah Woman insatiably lustful continu'd he What could I expect more than this last wickedness of thine to be confirm'd in the persuasion I had that it was thy design to sacrifice me to thy Gallant But thou must not think to escape with bare reproaches no I will rather be the Executioner to punish thy crime than be thy Complice in
City of Fez. The sky was not over-cast with the least cloud the Sea glaz'd up in an undisturbed calm and so might serve for a Mirrour to the Moon and Stars which 〈◊〉 to sparkle no less there than in their proper Elemâ—nt in fine it was one of the pleasantest nights of those warmer Countries which exceed the fairest days of our colder Regions The Prince galloping gently along the River side diverted himself in considering the emulation between the Constellations above in the Firmament and those which seem'd to be on the surface of the Water when the sad accents of some doleful shrieking piercing his ears rais'd in him a curiosity to go to the place whence he conceiv'd it might proceed After a little riding he found among the rocks a woman who as much as her strength would permit made her party good against a man who violently endeavour'd to bind her hands while another woman was emploi'd to stop her mouth with a linnen cloath The arrival of the young Prince prevented the Actors of that violence to proceed any further therein and gave her a little respit whom they intended to treat so unworthily Mulei ask'd her what might occasion her crying out and the others what they would have done to her But instead of any reply the man comes up to him with his Cimitar drawn and would have dangerously wounded him had he not by the nimbleness of his â—orse avoided the blow How now impious â—retch says Mulei to him darest thou offer vioâ—â—nce to the Prince of Fez I knew thee very well to be my Prince replies the Moor nay it is because thou art my Prince and that it is in thy power to punish me that I must either have thy life or lose my own With those words he made at Mulei with such a desperate fury that the Prince though much fam'd for his valour was reduc'd to a necessity not so much of assaulting as securing himself against so dangerous an enemy The two women in the mean time were very seriously engag'd and she who a little before gave her self over for lost kept the other from running away as if she doubted not but her Champion would obtain the victory Despair sometimes heightens a man's courage nay sometimes derives it to those who have least of it Though the Prince's valour was incomparably beyond that of his Adversary and maintain'd by a more than ordinary skill and vigour yet the punishment which the Moor's crime deserv'd made him hazard all and gave him so much courage and force that the victory was a great while in suspence between the Prince and him but Heaven which commonly protects those it raises above others fortunately directed the Prince's retinue which he had lost the evening before to pass so near the place as to hear the noise of the Combatants and the cries of the women They make all the speed they could thither and came in just as their Master having worsted his bold Adversary had laid him on the ground where he would not kill him but reserve him for a more exemplary punishment He thereupon order'd some of his people to bind him to a horse-tail so as that he might not attempt ought against himself or any other Two Gentlemen took up the two women behind them and so Mulei and his retinue got to Fez just with the break of day This young Prince goverâ—'d as absolutely in Fez as if he had been already King of it He order'd the Moor to be brought before him his name was Amet and he was son to one of the wealthiest Inhabitants of Fez. The two women were not known by any in regard the Moors the most jealous of all mankind are extremely careful in keeping their wives and slaves from the sight of all others The woman whom the Prince had reliev'd surpriz'd both him and all his Court with the transcendency of her beauty which was such as had not been seen before in Africk and also with a Majestick air which the wretched habit of a slave could not hide from their eyes who admir'd her The other was clad as those women of the country are whose quality is somewhat above the ordinary rate and might pass for handsome though much less than the former But though she might enter into competition with her as to beauty yet the paleness which through a certain Fear had setled in her countenance depriv'd it of so much of its lustre as that of the former receiv'd advantage from that lively redness which a modest blush had gently spread over it The Moor appear'd before Mulei with the countenance and deportment of a Criminal having his eyes continually fasten'd on the ground Mulei commanded him to acknowledge his crime or expect to die in the greatest torments I know well enough what is prepar'd for me and what I have deserv'd replies the undaunted Moor and as it will be of little advantage to me to confess any thing so are there not any torments that shall make me do it I cannot avoid death since I would have given it thee I would have thee know that the rage I am in that I could not dispatch thee torments me beyond all that can be inflicted on me by the most inventive executioners These women Spaniards by descent were my Slaves one of them hath done as I wish'd her and compli'd with her fortune by marrying my Brother Zaides the other would never change her Religion nor make the least kind return to the love I had for her This was all could be gotten out of him Mulei order'd him to be put into a Dungeon loaden with chains The Renegado wife of Zaides was dispos'd into another prison and the beautiful Slave was conducted to a Moor's house named Zulema a person of quality originally a Spaniard who had left Spain because he could not find in his conscience to embrace the Christian Religion He was descended of the illustrious House of Zegris heretofore so famous in Granada and his wife Zoraida who was of the same House had the reputation to be the fairest and withal the wittiest woman in Fez. She was immediately taken with the beauty of the Christian Slave and upon the first conversation they had together was no less with her ingenuity Had this fair Christian been capable of consolation she would have found it in the caresses of Zoraida but as if she purposely avoided whatever might alleviate her grief she endeavour'd as much as she could to be alone that she might afflict her self the more insomuch that when she was in company with Zoraida she did her self no small violence to smother her sighs and keep in her tears before her Prince Mulie in the mean time was extremely desirous to have an account of her adventures He had discover'd so much to Zulema who being a person he much confided in he withal acknowledg'd that he had some inclinations for that fair Christian and that he had made a discovery thereof to her had
At certain times somewhat wâ—s brought me to eat but I so obstinately refus'd it that the barbarous Moor began to fear he had brought me away to no purpose In the interim the Vessel had pass'd the Streight and was not far from the Coast of Fez when Claudio comes into my Cabbin As soon as I perceiv'd him unhappy miscreant who hast thus betray'd me said I to him what had I done to thee that thou should'st make me the most wretched person in the world and deprive me of Don Carlos You were too much belov'd of him replies he and since I lov'd him as well as you did I have committed no great crime in endeavouring to remove a Rival as far as I could from him but if I have betray'd you Amet hath also betray'd me and I should haply be no less troubled than you are did I not find some comfort in this consideration that I am not miserable alone Prethee let me understand these riddles said I to him and know who thou art and consequently whether I have in thee a Friend or an Enemy Know then Sophia said he to me that I am of the same Sex as your self and as well as you I have also been in love with Don Carlos but if we have suffer'd by the same flame it hath not been with the same success Don Carlos hath ever lov'd you and hath ever believ'd that you lov'd him whereas on the contrary he never lov'd me nor could ever imagine that I should love him as having not known me to be what I truly was I am of Valentia as you are and my quality and fortunes are such that if Don Carlos had married me he needed not to have fear'd the reproaches made to those who under-ally themselves But the affection he had for you wholly took him up and it seems he had eyes onely for you Not but that mine did what they could to save my mouth the labour of making a shameful discovery of my weakness I went to all places where I thought to meet him I plac'd my self where he might see me and I did all things for him which he should have done for me had he lov'd me as I lov'd him I had the disposal of my self and estate as having been left an Orphan while I was yet very young and there were often propos'd to me matches equal to my condition but the hope I still cherish'd that I might at length engage Don Carlos to love me hindred me from complying with any Instead of being discourag'd by the unhappy fate of my love as any other would who as I had sufficient perfections not to be slighted I was the rather excited to the Love of Don Carlos by the difficulty I found to insinuate my self into his affections In fine to avoid the self-reproach that I should neglect any thing which might promote my design I caus'd my hair to be cut and having disguis'd my self in Man's cloaths I got my self presented to Don Carlos by an old menial Servant of my own who went under the name of my Father a poor Gentleman of the Mountains of Toledo My countenance and Meen your Lover lik'd so well that he was soon induc'd to take me into his service He knew me not again though he had seen me so many times and he was as soon satisfy'd with my ingenuity as taken with my voice and my skil in singing and playing on all those instruments on which persons of Quality may without disparagement divert themselves He soon found in me those endowments which are not commonly seen in Pages and I gave him so many demonstrations of my fidelity and discretion that he treated me rather as a Confident than a Domestick servant You know best of any whether I am to be credited in what I say You have a hundred times commended me to Don Carlos even in my presence and done many good offices but what vex'd me to the heart was that I receiv'd them from a Rival and while they made me more acceptable to Don Carlos they render'd you the more hateful to the unhappy Claudia for so I am called In the mean time the treaty of your marriage went forward my hopes backward that was concluded these were lost The Italian Count who about that time fell in love with you and whose Titles and Estate as much dazled your Father's eyes as his warp'd countenance and his imperfections gave you occasion to slight him procur'd me at least the pleasure to see you a little travers'd in your loves and my soul began to flatter it self with those fond hopes which the unfortunate are over-apt to derive from vicissitude In fine your Father preferr'd the Stranger whom you fanci'd not before Don Carlos whom you did So I saw her who caus'd my unhappiness in her turn unhappy her self and a Rival whom I hated more unfortunate than my self since I lost nothing in a man who had never been mine whereas you lost Don Carlos who was wholly yours and yet that loss how great soever it might be was haply to you a lesser misfortune than to have for your perpetual Tyrant a man whom you could not love But my prosperity or to say better my hope prov'd not long-liv'd I understood from Don Carlos that you were resolv'd to follow him and I was employ'd to set things in order to the design he had to carry you to Barcelona and thence to cross over into some part of France or Italy All the force I had had till then to endure my cross fortune left me upon this so sharp an assault it being a resolution I was the more surpriz'd with the less I had apprehended â—ny such misfortune The trouble I conceiv'd thereat cast me into a sickness and that confin'd me to my bed One day as I was bemoaning my sad destiny and that my presumption of not being overheard by any made me break forth into as loud expostulations as if I had spoken to some Confident who knew the secret of my loves I perceiv'd standing before me the Moor Amet who had heard me Having recover'd the trouble his unexpected presence had put me into head-dress'd himself to me in these words I know thee very well Claudia and that even before thou hadst disguis'd thy sex to become a Page to Don Carlos and that I never discover'd this my knowledge of thee proceeded hence that I had a design as well as thou hadst I have heard what desperate resolutions thou art ready to take thou wilt discover thy self to thy Master to be young Maid deeply in love with him and yet hopest not any from him and then thou wilt kill thy self in his presence so to deserve the regrets of him whose love thou couldst not gain Wretched Lass what will be the effect of thy own self-murther but to give Sophia a further assurance of her Don Carlos I have a better advice for thee if thou art able to to take it Deprive thy Rival of her Servant
were still faithful to me but she is onely such to the perfidious Claudio and never pretended love to the wretched Don Carlos but to ruine him Me-thinks it may be inferr'd from what you say replies Sophia that you never had any great affection for her when your charge against her is without your hearing what she may have to alledge for her self and you represent her not onely as an unconstant but also as a wicked person And could any one have been more wicked than she hath prov'd cries Don Carlos when to elude the suspition of having been carried away by the Page she left in her Chamber the very night she vanish'd from her Father's a Letter writ with the greatest malice imaginable which hath reduc'd me to more sensible miseries than that it should ever get out of my memory When you have heard it you will haply be able to judge what Sycophancy so young a Thing could be guilty of THE LETTER Sir YOu should not have forbidden me to love Don Carlos after you had once laid your commands on me to do it A merit so great as his must needs have rais'd in me an affection for him proportionable thereto and when the mind of a young Person is prepossess'd with such a passion it is so fill'd that there is no place for interest Know then that I go hence with him whom you were pleas'd I should affect even from my Infancy and without whom it were as impossible for me to live as it would be not to dye a thousand times a day with a Stranger whom I cannot any way fancy even though he were much richer than he is Our offence if it be any deserves your pardon which if you grant us we will return to receive it with greater speed then we are now forc'd to to avoid the unjust violence you would do us SOPHIA You may easily imagine continu'd Don Carlos the extreme grief which Sophia's Parents conceiv'd at the reading of this Letter They were in hopes I might be still with their Daughter either in Valentia or not far from it They discover'd not their loss to any but the Vice-roy who was their kinsman and it was hardly light the next morning when some Officers coming into my room found me asleep I was as well I might very much startled at such a visit and when after they had ask'd me where Sophia was I also made the same question to them my adversaries were incens'd and violently dragg'd me to prison I was examin'd and could make no plea for my self against Sophia's Letter It was clear that I had a design to have carried her away but it appear'd withal that my Page had vanish'd at the same time with her Sophia's Parents sent people to find her out and my friends on the other side made diligent search where the Page might dispose of her This was the onely means to clear me but we never could hear any thing of these fugitive Lovers whereupon my enemies charg'd me with the death of them both At last injustice back'd with power carri'd it against oppress'd innocence Notice was given me that I should soon receive my sentence and that it would be that of death I hoped not that Heaven would do any miracles on my â—ccount and so I thought it my best way to endeavour the recovery of my liberty by an act of despair I join'd my self to certain Bandits who were prisoners as well as my self and all persons of resolution We forc'd the Prison-doors and assisted by our friends got into the Mountains about Valentia ere the Vice-roy had any notice of our escape We continu'd a long time Masters of the Field Sophia's inconstancy the prosecution of her friends the injustice I thought done me by the Vice-roy and in fine the loss of my estate put me into such despair that I hazarded my life in all the engagements wherein my Camerades and my self met with any resistance and by that means I got into such reputation with them that they made me their Chief I behav'd my self in that charge so successfully that our Party became dreadful to the Kingdoms of Arragon and Valentia and we grew so insolent as to impose a Contribution on those Countries I here make a dangerous discovery to you but the honour you do me and my own inclination do so far enslave me to you that I am willing to put my life into your hands by acquainting you with the greatest secrets of it At last I grew weary of that leud course of life I got away from my Camerades when they least suspected I should and took my way to Barcelona where I was entertain'd onely as a private Gentleman in the Recruits ready to be transported into Africk which have since joyn'd with the Army I have no great reason to be in love with my life and having been guilty of such a mis-expence thereof I cannot employ it better than against the enemies of my Religion and to serve you since the goodness you are pleas'd to express towards me hath given me the onely joy my soul hath been capable of ever since the most ungrateful woman in the world hath made me the most unhappy of all men Sophia undiscover'd took the part of Sophia unjustly accused and omitted nothing that might induce her Lover to forbear judging his Mistress so rigorously till he were more fully satisfi'd of her offence She told the unfortunate Cavalier that she concern'd her self very much in his misfortunes that she wish'd it in her power to alleviate them and to give greater expressions thereof than words that she desir'd him to accept of a relation to her and when occasion serv'd she would employ all the credit she had with the Emperour and the interest of all her friends to rescue him from the prosecution of Sophia's and the Vice-roy of Valentia Don Carlos would not admit of any thing urg'd by the counterfeit Don Fernand in the vindication of Sophia but accepted of the entertainment he proferr'd him That very day that constant Mistress spoke to the Commander under whom Don Carlos was that being a kinsman of hers he might be under her command Thus is our unfortunate Lover receiv'd into the service of his Mistress whom he thought either dead or had forsaken him He finds himself as soon as entertain'd very highly in his favour whom he thought his Master and wonders how he comes so suddenly to be so much lov'd He is immediately made his Treasurer Secretary and Confident The rest of the servants respect him little less than Don Fernand himself and no doubt he might be happy in the love of a Master that seems so amiable to him and whom a secret instinct forces him to love if lost Sophia if unconstant Sophia did not perpetually present her self to his imagination and gave him a sadness which the caresses of so dear a Master and his better'd fortune were not able to smother Though Sophia had a tenderness for him yet
was she not displeas'd to see him troubled not doubting but she was the cause of his affliction She often discours'd with him concerning Sophia and sometimes with so much earnestness nay indignation and bitterness vindicated her whom Don Carlos charg'd with no less a crime than a forfeiture of faith and honour that at last he imagin'd that Don Fernand who would be still harping on the same string had sometime been a Servant to Sophia and haply was still The war in Africk came to the period mention'd in the History thereof The Emperour carri'd it on afterwards in Germany Italy Flanders and other places Our Female Warriour under the name of Don Fernand added to the reputation she had before of a valiant and experienc'd Commander by many gallant encounters wherein she shew'd no less valour than conduct though the latter of those qualities be seldom found in a person so young as her sex made her appear The Emperour was oblig'd to go into Flanders and to that end to desire the King of France to give him passage through his Countries The great Monarch who then reign'd would needs in generosity and confidence surpass a mortal enemy who had ever surpass'd him in good fortune whereof he had not at all times made good use Charls the Fifth was receiv'd into Paris as if he had been King of France The fair Don Fernand wâ—s one of the small number of persons of quality who accompani'd him and if his Master had made a longer stay in that gallant Court the beautiful Spanish Lady taken for a man had rais'd love in many of the French Ladies and jealousie in some of the most accomplish'd Courtiers In the mean time the Vice-roy of Valentia dies in Spain Don Fernand encourag'd by the affection his Master bore him and the services he had done presum'd to demand that important charge and obtain'd it without much envy He soon acquainted Don Carlos with the good success and put him in hopes that as soon as he had taken possession of the Government of Valentia he would accommodate the difference between him and the Relations of Sophia procure his pardon from the Emperour for having been chief Commander among the Bandits and endeavour to put him into possession of his Estate Don Carlos might have deriv'd some comfort from all these noble promises had not the misfortune of his Love made him absolutely disconsolate The Emperour came into Spain and went streight to Madrid and Don Fernand went to take possession of his Government The next day after his arrival at Valentia Sophia's Relations presented a Petition against Don Carlos who was Steward and Secretary to the Vice-Roy The Vice-Roy promis'd them justice and Don Carlos that he would protect his innocence A new Indictment was put in against him the Witnesses were examin'd a second time and in fine Sophia ' Relations exasperated at the loss of her and out of a desire of revenge which they conceiv'd just solicited the business so earnestly that in five or six days it was ready for judgment They desir'd that the person indicted might be sent to prison the Vice-roy gave them his word that he should not stir out of his house and set down a day to pass judgment on him The eve of that fatal day which held the whole City of Valentia in suspence Don Carlos desir'd a private audience of the Vice-Roy which was granted him Casting himself at his feet May it please your Highness said he to him to morrow is the time that you are to satisfie all the world of my innocency Though the witnesses I have produc'd absolutely clear me of the crime laid to my charge yet I now come to assure your Highness with as much sincerity as if I were in the presence of God that I had not onely no hand in the carrying away of Sophia but withal that the day before she was carried away I did not so much as see her nor ever heard of her since True it is that I should have carried her away but a misfortune to me yet unknown remov'd her hence either to my ruine or her own No more no more Don Carlos says the Vice-Roy to him go thy ways and take thy rest securely I am thy Master and Friend and better inform'd of thy innocence than thou dost imagine nay though I might doubt of it yet should I not be oblig'd to be too exact to satisfie my self since thou art in my house and of my house and that thou camest not hither with me but upon the promise I made to protect thee Don Carlos rendred his thanks to so obliging a Master with all the eloquence he was master of He went to bed and the impatience he was in to see himself clear'd would not suffer him to sleep He got up at the break of day and having dress'd himself somewhat above his ordinary gath waited at the rising of his Master But hold a little I am mistaken he went not into his chamber till all his cloaths were on for from the time that Sophia had disguis'd her sex onely Dorotea the confident of her disguise lay in her chamber and did all those services which done by another might have discover'd what she would have kept conceal'd Don Carlos therefore entred into the Vice-Roy's chamber as soon as Dorotea had open'd it for all visitants and the Vice-Roy no sooner saw him but he reproach'd him with his early rising being a person accus'd who would have himself thought innocent and told him that a person who could not sleep betrai'd something that lay heavy on his conscience Don Carlos a little troubled made him answer that it was not so much the fear of being found guilty as the hope of defying the further prosecutions of his enemies by the justice he expected from his Highness that had hindred him from sleeping But you are very nearly dress'd and gallant says the Vice-Roy to him and I find you very calm considering your life is in so great a hazard I am now at a loss what to think of the crime wherewith you stand charg'd As often as we fall into discourse concerning Sophia you speak of her with less earnestness and more indifference than I do and yet I am not charg'd as you are to have ever been lov'd by her and to have murther'd her and possibly young Claudio too on whom you would cast the charge of her conveyance away You affirm'd that you have lov'd her continu'd the Vice-Roy and yet you live after you had lost her and you have omitted nothing that could be done in order to your discharge and quiet you who should rather be weary of your life and hate whatever might tend to the preservation of it Ah! unconstant Don Carlos it must needs be that some other Love hath induc'd you to forget the inclinations you had for lost Sophia if so be you ever truly lov'd her when she was wholly yours and durst do any thing for your sâ—ke Don Carlos
half dead at these words of the Vice-Roy's would have made some reply thereto but he would by no means permit him Come come hold your peace said he to him with a severe countenance and reserve your eloquence for your Judges for my part I shall not be surpriz'd therewith nor on the account of one of my menial servants raise in the Emperour an ill opinion of my integrity And therefore in the mean time added the Vice-Roy turning to the Captain of the Guard let him be secur'd he who broke prison may much rather his promise when he finds there are no other hopes of impunity than what may be had by an escapâ— Immediately Don Carlos's Sword was taken from him which rais'd a great compassion in all those who saw him encompass'd by the Guards cast down and discourag'd and having much ado to keep in his tears While the poor Gentleman was repenting himself that he had not been sufficiently distrustful of the unconstant humour of Grandees the Judges before whom he was to be tried entred the room and took their places after the Vice-roy had taken his The Italian Count who had continu'd all this time at Valentia and the Father and Mother of Sophia appear'd and produc'd their witnesses against the Prisoner who was now at such a loss that he hardly had the courage to plead for himself They shew'd him the Letters which he had sometimes written to Sophia the Neighbours were brought in and the Domesticks of Sophia's house and at last there was produc'd against him the Letter she had left in her Chamber the day he had design'd to carry her away The Prisoner brought in his Domesticks who depos'd that they had seen their Master in Bed but he might have got up after he had made them believe he was asleep For his own part he swore very liberally that he had not carried away Sophia and represented it to the Judges that it was the most improbable thing in the world that he should carry her away soon after to be separated from her but a further charge against him was that he had murther'd her and also the Page the confident of his Loves There remain'd only to pass the Sentence and no doubt it would have been that of death when the Vice-roy order'd him to approach and spoke to him in these words Unfortunate Don Carlos Thou maist well conclude after all the demonstrations of affection thou hast received from me that if I could have but suspected thee guilty of the crime laid to thy charge I should not have brought thee to Valentia There 's no way for me but to condemn thee unless I would begin the exercise of my charge by an Injustice and thou maist judge how much I am troubled at thy misfortune by the tears I shed for thee 'T were possible thy adversaries might be satisfy'd were they of a lower quality or less resolv'd upon thy destruction In a word if Sophia appears not her self to vindicate thee prepare thy self for death Don Carlos at this despairing of all safety cast himself at the Vice-roy's feet and said to him Your Highness may be pleas'd to remember that in Africk even from the first time I had the honour to be entertain'd into your service and whenever your Highness engag'd me in the tedious relation of my misfortunes I ever related them in the same manner and you might presume that in those Countries and all other places I should not have affirm'd to a Master who so highly honour'd me with his affection what I should here deny before a Judge I ever told your Highness the naked Truth as sincerely as to my God and I tell you still that I lov'd that I ador'd Sophia How say that thou ador'st her ungrateful Man says the Vice-roy to him surprising all the Assembly by his Action Yes I do adore her replies Don Carlos very much astonish'd at what the Vice-roy had spoken I promis'd to marry her continu'd he and we agreed together that I should carry her away to Barcelona But if I did effectually convey her hence if I know where she is let me be put to the most cruel death can be imagin'd I cannot avoid it but I shall dye innocently unless it may be said I have deserv'd death for loving even beyond my own Life an unconstant and perfidious creature But what is become of this perfidious Creature and thy Page cries the Vice-roy with a furious countenance Are they gone up into Heaven Are they sunk down under the Earth The Page was a Gallant replies Don Carlos she was handsome he was a Man she was a Woman Ah Traitor said the Vice-roy to him how hast thou now discover'd thy base suspitions and the little esteem thou hadst for the unfortunate Sophia Cursed be the Woman that suffers her self to be cajoll'd by the promises of Men and comes afterwards to be slighted for her credulity Neither was Sophia a Woman of ordinary virtue wicked Man nor thy Page Claudio a Man Sophia was constant to thee and thy Page was a distracted Woman in love with thee and robb'd thee of Sophia whom she betray'd as a Rival I am Sophia unworthy ungrateful Lover I am Sophia who have suffer'd unimaginable miseries for a Man that deserv'd not to be lov'd and one who thought me guilty of the greatest infamy I could fall into Sophia could say no more her Father who knew her took her into his arms Her Mother fell into a swound on the one side and Don Carlos on the other Sophia dis-engag'd her self from her Father to go to the relief of the two persons who had swounded but soon recover'd themselves while she was in suspence to whether of the two she should run Her Mother wept over her she did the like over her Mother She embrac'd with all the tenderness imaginable her dear Don Carlos who had almost fallen into another swound But with much â—do he kept upon his feet and not presuming yet to kiss Sophia's lips as he could have wish'd he reveng'd himself on her hands which hâ— kiss'd a thousand times one after another Sophia was hardly able to return all the embraces she receiv'd and all the complements that were made to her The Italian Count making his among the rest would have entertain'd her with the pretensions he had to her as having been promis'd him by her Father and Mother Don Carlos who heard him quitted one of Sophia's hands which he was then greedily kissing and drawing his Sword which had been deliver'd to him set himself into such a posture as put the whole assembly into a fright and swearing after the rate of millions made it appear that no human force should deprive him of Sophia if she her self forbad him not to think of her But she declar'd that she would never have any other Husband than her dear Don Carlos and entreated her Father and Mother to consent thereto or resolve to see her shut up in a Monastery for the
yet to learn that I should not take it kindly any man lov'd me en passant that is by the way Be you but pleased Madam said he to grant me what I desire and I promise you not to go any further than Sevil while I live There is a great deal of spirit and gallantry in what you say replies Dorothea and thence I wonder much that a person who is able to say such things hath not already made choice of a Lady on whom he might bestow his gallantries Proceeds it hence that he thinks them not worth his trouble No but rather out of a distrust of his own strength says Don Sancho Answer me precisely to what I ask you says Dorothea and confidently tell me which of our Ladies is Mistress of those charms that might force your stay at Sevil. I have already told you that it is in your power to do it if you please replies Don Sancho You never saw me says Dorothea it must needs be some one that you have seen therefore name some other Since you press so much upon me says Don Sancho to her I must acknowledge Madam that if the Lady Dorothea Monsalvo were as ingenious as you are I should account that man happy whose merit she might value and whose services she might allow of There are in Sevil many Ladies as handsome as she is nay many exceed her says Dorothea both in beauty and wit but since you are pleas'd to pitch upon her pray tell me seriously did you never hear it reported that she favour'd any one of her Gallants particularly above all the rest Finding my self at a great distance from deserving her says Don Sancho I never made it my business to enquire And why do you think you might not deserve her as well as another says Dorothea I took you to be a person of greater courage than to betray so great a distrust of your self Had you studi'd Ladies as much as I imagin'd you might have done you would have found them mighty humoursome and fantastick and that many times the first onset of a new comer makes a greater progress in their affections than several years of services rendred by those Gallants who are never out of their sight From the character you give those Ladies Madam says Don Sancho I may infer you would be loath to be included in the number and so you take an ingenious way to rid your hands of me by encouraging me to love some other Lady and I clearly see you would have but little regard for the services of a fresh Gallant to the prejudice of one to whom you had been long before engag'd though 't were out of no other reason than that you would not be thought humorous or fantastick Take heed how you entertain any such thing in your imagination replies Dorothea but rather persuade your self that I am not so easily induc'd to receive a witty complement for an assurance of a growing inclination towards me from a person who never saw me If there wants onely that to make way for the amorous inclination I have for you replies Don Sancho conceal not your self any longer from a person who though a stranger to you is already infinitely taken with your wit It 's possible you might not be so much with my countenance says the Lady Ah Madam says Don Sancho it 's impossible you should be otherwise than very beautiful when you so ingeniously acknowledge that you are not and now I am fully satisfi'd you would be rid of me either because you think me troublesome or that your heart is already taken up 'T were therefore unjust the goodness oblig'd you to bear with me thus far should be any longer press'd upon onely be pleas'd to assure your self that what I have said was not merely to pass away the time with you but to make a sincere proffer of that of my whole life to serve you To satisfie you Sir replies Dorothea that I would not have that thought lost which I have spent in discoursing with you I shall be glad ere we part to know who you are I can do no less than obey you replies he know then Madam whom I think so amiable though I have not seen that I am known by the name of Sylva that my Father is Governour of Quitto in Peru that by order from him I am come to Sevil and that I have spent most part of my Life in Flanders where I have by my Services attain'd to the highest Commands in the Army and gotten a Commandery of Saint James This is a short account of what I now am what I would be while I live it lies on you Madam to give me leave in some less publick place than this is to assure you That shall be as soon as I may conveniently do it replies Dorothea in the mean time trouble not your self to get any further knowledge of me unless you will run the hazard of never knowing me for your friend onely take this for your present satisfaction that I am a person of quality and that my face is such as will not frighten any body Don Sancho was satisfy'd and having with a low Congee taken his leave of her he thrust himself in among a great number of fine Gallants who were very seriously discoursing together There are a sort of severe Ladies who may be more particularly known by the character I shall here give of them to wit such as extremely concern themselves in the conduct and demeanour of others and are very secure as to their own who imagine themselves the onely fit Judges of what is well or ill done though there may be good wagers laid of their virtue as a thing whereof there is no great certainty and think that upon the discovery of a little brutish rudeness they mâ—y pretend to supererogation in point of Honour though the miscarriages of their greener years gave more scandal than their wrinkles will ever good example these Ladies I say who are very short-sighted in the ordinary occurrences of humane Life will take occasion to quarrel at the Author and affirm that Madam Dorothea was guilty of a great want of reserv'dness and indiscretion not onely in being so over-free to favour a person whom she onely knew by sight but also in permitting him to speak to her of Love and that if a young Gentlewoman over whom they had any power had done as much she should make no long aboad in this world But let these yet-to-be-taught Ladies learn from me that every Country hath its particular customs and that if in France England and some other parts married Women and Maids who are trusted to go any where upon the security of their own good behaviour are offended or at least should be so at any the least expression of Love in Spain where they are kept in as Nuns they take it not amiss that any one should tell them they love them though the person that should tell them so had not any
The Sicilian Marquess proffer'd to go along with him into Spain and to bring away Dorothea if she would consent into Sicily Don Sancho was extremely well pleased with the proposal yet would not receive from his friend so dangerous demonstrations of his friendship telling him that he would be infinitely glad of his company into Spain but for what might be the consequence of it he would remit all to fortune Don Sancho had a servant of whose fidelity he â—ad had many years experience This fellow whose name was Sanchez took his Master's loss so heavily that when the Christian Gallies which had been in the former Engagement against the Turks put in at Messina to refresh themselves he came ashoâ—e and got into a Monastery with a resolution to sâ—end the remâ—inder of his days there The Marqueâ— Fabiano hâ—ving heard of the relation 〈◊〉 â—â—â—mes had to Don Sancho sent to the Superiour of the Monastery who indeed had entertâ—in'd him upon the recommendation of that Sicilian Lord desiring he might be dismiss'd which was easily granted in regard he had not yet put on the habit of the Religion Sanchez not knowing what might be the occasion of his dismission made some difficulty to come out but when he was brought into the presence of his dear Master his soul was too narrow for his joy for having cast himself at his feet there was a necessity of some assistance to help him up again Some days after he was sent by Don Sancho into Spain to make preparations for his coming thither and particularly to give him an account of Doroâ—hea who in the mean time was persuaded with all others that Don Sancho was dead Nay the report of his death soon flew into the Indies Don Sancho's father di'd out of grief not long after he had receiv'd that sad news and left another Son he had four hundred thousand Crowns conditionally that his Brother should have the one moiety of that summe in case the news of his death should prove false This Brother of Don Sancho's was called Don Juhan de Peralto He took shipping for Spain with this vast sum of mony besides abundance of rare Indian commodities sutable to the magnificence of a person who had been Governour of a considerable place in those parts and arrived safely at Sevil about a year after the accident which had happened to Don Sancho Going under a name much different from his Brother's it was easie for him to conceal the relation he had to him besides the particulaâ— concernment he had to keep it secret by reason of the long stay his occasions might oblige him to make in a City where his Brother had so many enemies He chanc'd to have a sight of Dorothea and fell in love with her as his Brother had done but with this difference that she made him no return of his love That afflicted Beauty could fancy nothing after the loss of her dear Don Sancho whatever was done by Don Juhan de Peralto instead of pleasing was the greatest trouble in the woâ—ld to her nay she daily refus'd the best Matches about Sevil which were earnestly propos'd to her by her Father Don Manuel Much about that time Sanchez comes to Sevil and according to the instructions he hâ—d receiv'd from his Master secreâ—ly made the best enquiry he could how the Lady Dorothea had behav'd her self since their departure thence He was soon inform'd by common report that a young Gentleman of very great wealth lâ—tely come from the Indies was fallen in love with her and made the most magnificent discoveries of his affection that a passionate Sutor could imagine He writ to his Master representing things much worse than they were and his Master imagin'd them yet worse than his Man had represented them He communicated the whole business to the Marquess expressing so great a distraction at the account he receiv'd of his Mistress that he was in some suspence whether he should see her any more His friend comforted him the best he could telling him that it was not impossible but his man might be mis-inform'd and that the affairs of his love might be in a much better posture than he expected The reasons urg'd by the Marquess together with his own reflections on the mutual promises of fidelity that had pass'd between them especially the endearing expressions at their parting dispell'd those clouds of suspition and represented his Dorothea as faithful and constant to him as she had engag'd to be They thereupon resolv'd for Spain and embark'd themselves at Messina in some Spanish Gallies and in a short time happily arrived at St. Lucar's whence they took post for Sevil. They came into the City after night and alighted at the house which Sanchez had taken for them They stirr'd not out all the next day but as soon as it was night Don Sancho and the Marquess went their rounds about the place where Don Manuel liv'd They heard some people setting their Instruments in tune under Dorothea's windows and soon after very excellent Musick and that having ceas'd a single Voice join'd to a Theorboe made heavy complaints of the cruelty of a Tygress disguis'd into an Angel Don Sancho felt some temptations within himself to spoil all the harmony of the Serenade and to send away the Musicians with fleas in their ears but the Marquess prevail'd with him to forbear representing to him that he could have done no more if his Mistress had appear'd in the Balcony to assure his Rival that she was not displeas'd with his Courtship or the words of the Air which had been sung were acknowledgments of kindnesses receiv'd rather than complaints of a dis-satisfi'd Lover The Author of the Serenade and his Company went away in all probability not over-satisfi'd with what they had done as having not so much as the stirring of a dog to assure them that any body regarded their Musick and Don Sancho and the Marquess finding the coast clear return'd to their quarters where they had a long debate what construction they should make of the pretensions of this new Sutor Don Sancho was inclin'd to a persuasion that his Dorothea might have some secret kindness for him though for some reasons which hindred her from making any shew of it at that time she seem'd to take no notice of his Courtship especially when he consider'd that she might with all the others be assur'd of his death On the contrary the Marquess entreated him to suspend his belief of her being engag'd to any other till he had made some fuller discoveries thereof Don Sancho submitted to the remonstrances of his friend and that the rather when it came into his mind that the greatest expressions of couâ—tship made by one whose person is not affected are so much the more importunate And indeed so were those of the Indian Cavalier to the fair Dorothea who was so far from giving him any encouragement by her acceptance that he could not but perceive they were more and