ryal. And if I were that odious Person, there is no Punishment, to
which I would not condemn my self. It is _Elvira_, Madam, the Prince
loves, and loved before his Marriage with you, and also before his
Divorce from _Bianca_; and somebody has made an indiscreet Report to you
of this Intrigue of his Youth: But, Madam, what was in the time of
_Bianca_, is nothing to you. It is certain that _Don Pedro_ loves you,
(_answer'd the Princess_) and I have Vanity enough to believe, that,
none besides your self could have disputed his Heart with me: But the
Secret is discover'd, and _Don Pedro_ has not disown'd it. What,
(_interrupted +Agnes+, more surpriz'd than ever_) is it then from
himself you have learned his Weakness?' The Princess then shew'd her the
Verses, and there was never any Despair like to hers.

While they were both thus sadly employ'd, both sighing, and both
weeping, the impatient _Elvira_, who was willing to learn the Effect of
her Malice, returned to the Apartment of the Princess, where she freely
enter'd; even to the Cabinet where these unhappy Persons were: who all
afflicted and troubled as they were, blushed at her approach, whose
Company they did not desire: She had the Pleasure to see _Constantia_
hide from her the Paper which had been the Cause of all their Trouble,
and which the Princess had never seen, but for her Spite and Revenge;
and to observe also in the Eyes of the Princess, and those of _Agnes_,
an immoderate Grief: She staid in the Cabinet as long as it was
necessary to be assur'd, that she had succeeded in her Design; but the
Princess, who did not desire such a Witness of the Disorder in which she
then was, pray'd to be left alone. _Elvira_ then went out of the
Cabinet, and _Agnes de Castro_ withdrew at the same time.

It was in her own Chamber, that _Agnes_ examining more freely this
Adventure, found it as cruel as Death. She loved _Constantia_ sincerely,
and had not till then any thing more than an Esteem, mixt with
Admiration, for the Prince of _Portugal_; which indeed, none could
refuse to so many fine Qualities. And looking on her self as the most
unfortunate of her Sex, as being the Cause of all the Sufferings of the
Princess, to whom she was obliged for the greatest Bounties, she spent
the whole Night in Tears and Complaints, sufficient to have reveng'd
_Constantia_ for all the Griefs she made her suffer.

The Prince, on his side, was in no great Tranquillity; the Generosity of
his Prin