All this and more the injured Dorothea delivered with such earnestfeeling and such tears that all present, even those who came withDon Fernando, were constrained to join her in them. Don Fernandolistened to her without replying, until, ceasing to speak, she gaveway to such sobs and sighs that it must have been a heart of brassthat was not softened by the sight of so great sorrow. Luscindastood regarding her with no less compassion for her sufferings thanadmiration for her intelligence and beauty, and would have gone to herto say some words of comfort to her, but was prevented by DonFernando's grasp which held her fast. He, overwhelmed with confusionand astonishment, after regarding Dorothea for some moments with afixed gaze, opened his arms, and, releasing Luscinda, exclaimed:
"Thou hast conquered, fair Dorothea, thou hast conquered, for itis impossible to have the heart to deny the united force of so manytruths."
Luscinda in her feebleness was on the point of falling to the groundwhen Don Fernando released her, but Cardenio, who stood near, havingretreated behind Don Fernando to escape recognition, casting fearaside and regardless of what might happen, ran forward to support her,and said as he clasped her in his arms, "If Heaven in its compassionis willing to let thee rest at last, mistress of my heart, true,constant, and fair, nowhere canst thou rest more safely than inthese arms that now receive thee, and received thee before whenfortune permitted me to call thee mine."
At these words Luscinda looked up at Cardenio, at first beginning torecognise him by his voice and then satisfying herself by her eyesthat it was he, and hardly knowing what she did, and heedless of allconsiderations of decorum, she flung her arms around his neck andpressing her face close to his, said, "Yes, my dear lord, you arethe true master of this your slave, even though adverse fate interposeagain, and fresh dangers threaten this life that hangs on yours."
A strange sight was this for Don Fernando and those that stoodaround, filled with surprise at an incident so unlooked for.Dorothea fancied that Don Fernando changed colour and looked as thoughhe meant to take vengeance on Cardenio, for she observed him put hishand to his sword; and the instant the idea struck her, with wonderfulquickness she clasped him round the knees, and kissing them andholding him so as to prevent his moving, she said, while her tearscontinued to flow, "What is it thou wouldst do, my only refuge, inthis unforeseen event? Thou hast thy wife at thy feet, and she whomthou wouldst have for thy wife is in the arms of her husband:reflect whether it will be right for thee, whether it will be possiblefor thee to undo what Heaven has done, or whether it will bebecoming in thee to seek to raise her to be thy mate who in spite ofevery obstacle, and strong in her truth and constancy, is before thineeyes, bathing with the tears of love the face and bosom of herlawful husband. For God's sake I entreat of thee, for thine own Iimplore thee, let not this open manifestation rouse thy anger; butrather so calm it as to allow these two lovers to live in peace andquiet without any interference from thee so long as Heaven permitsthem; and in so doing thou wilt prove the generosity of thy loftynoble spirit, and the world shall see that with thee reason has moreinfluence than passion."
All the time Dorothea was speaking, Cardenio, though he heldLuscinda in his arms, never took his eyes off Don Fernando,determined, if he saw him make any hostile movement, to try and defendhimself and resist as best he could all who might assail him, thoughit should cost him his life. But now Don Fernando's friends, as wellas the curate and the barber, who had been present all the while,not forgetting the worthy Sancho Panza, ran forward and gathered roundDon Fernando, entreating him to have regard for the tears of Dorothea,and not suffer her reasonable hopes to be disappointed, since, as theyfirmly believed, what she said was but the truth; and bidding himobserve that it was not, as it might seem, by accident, but by aspecial disposition of Providence that they had all met in a placewhere no one could have expected a meeting. And the curate bade himremember that only death could part Luscinda from Cardenio; thateven if some sword were to separate them they would think theirdeath most happy; and that in a case that admitted of no remedy hiswisest course was, by conquering and putting a constraint uponhimself, to show a generous mind, and of his own accord suffer thesetwo to enjoy the happiness Heaven had granted them. He bade him,too, turn his eyes upon the beauty of Dorothea and he would see thatfew if any could equal much less excel her; while to that beautyshould be added her modesty and the surpassing love she bore him.But besides all this, he reminded him that if he prided himself onbeing a gentleman and a Christian, he could not do otherwise than keephis plighted word; and that in doing so he would obey God and meet theapproval of all sensible people, who know and recognised it to bethe privilege of beauty, even in one of humble birth, providedvirtue accompany it, to be able to raise itself to the level of anyrank, without any slur upon him who places it upon an equality withhimself; and furthermore that when the potent sway of passionasserts itself, so long as there be no mixture of sin in it, he is notto be blamed who gives way to it.
To be brief, they added to these such other forcible argumentsthat Don Fernando's manly heart, being after all nourished by nobleblood, was touched, and yielded to the truth which, even had he wishedit, he could not gainsay; and he showed his submission, and acceptanceof the good advice that had been offered to him, by stooping downand embracing Dorothea, saying to her, "Rise, dear lady, it is notright that what I hold in my heart should be kneeling at my feet;and if until now I have shown no sign of what I own, it may havebeen by Heaven's decree in order that, seeing the constancy with whichyou love me, I may learn to value you as you deserve. What I entreatof you is that you reproach me not with my transgression andgrievous wrong-doing; for the same cause and force that drove me tomake you mine impelled me to struggle against being yours; and toprove this, turn and look at the eyes of the now happy Luscinda, andyou will see in them an excuse for all my errors: and as she has foundand gained the object of her desires, and I have found in you whatsatisfies all my wishes, may she live in peace and contentment as manyhappy years with her Cardenio, as on my knees I pray Heaven to allowme to live with my Dorothea;" and with these words he once moreembraced her and pressed his face to hers with so much tenderness thathe had to take great heed to keep his tears from completing theproof of his love and repentance in the sight of all. Not so Luscinda,and Cardenio, and almost all the others, for they shed so manytears, some in their own happiness, some at that of the others, thatone would have supposed a heavy calamity had fallen upon them all.Even Sancho Panza was weeping; though afterwards he said he onlywept because he saw that Dorothea was not as he fancied the queenMicomicona, of whom he expected such great favours. Their wonder aswell as their weeping lasted some time, and then Cardenio and Luscindawent and fell on their knees before Don Fernando, returning him thanksfor the favour he had rendered them in language so grateful that heknew not how to answer them, and raising them up embraced them withevery mark of affection and courtesy.
He then asked Dorothea how she had managed to reach a place so farremoved from her own home, and she in a few fitting words told allthat she had previously related to Cardenio, with which Don Fernandoand his companions were so delighted that they wished the story hadbeen longer; so charmingly did Dorothea describe her misadventures.When she had finished Don Fernando recounted what had befallen himin the city after he had found in Luscinda's bosom the paper inwhich she declared that she was Cardenio's wife, and never could behis. He said he meant to kill her, and would have done so had he notbeen prevented by her parents, and that he quitted the house full ofrage and shame, and resolved to avenge himself when a moreconvenient opportunity should offer. The next day he learned thatLuscinda had disappeared from her father's house, and that no onecould tell whither she had gone. Finally, at the end of some months heascertained that she was in a convent and meant to remain there allthe rest of her life, if she were not to share it with Cardenio; andas soon as he had learned this, taking these three gentlemen as hiscompanions, he arrived at the place where she was, but avoidedspeaking to her, fearing that if it were known he was there stricterprecautions would be taken in the convent; and watching a time whenthe porter's lodge was open he left two to guard the gate, and heand the other entered the convent in quest of Luscinda, whom theyfound in the cloisters in conversation with one of the nuns, andcarrying her off without giving her time to resist, they reached aplace with her where they provided themselves with what theyrequired for taking her away; all which they were able to do incomplete safety, as the convent was in the country at a considerabledistance from the city. He added that when Luscinda found herself inhis power she lost all consciousness, and after returning to herselfdid nothing but weep and sigh without speaking a word; and thus insilence and tears they reached that inn, which for him was reachingheaven where all the mischances of earth are over and at an end.
CHAPTER XXXVII
IN WHICH IS CONTINUED THE STORY OF THE FAMOUS PRINCESS MICOMICONA,WITH OTHER DROLL ADVENTURES