and so saying, he raised his hand and respectfully withdrew the veil from Leonisa’s face—­it was like removing a cloud from before the sun—­and then he continued:  “See, Cornelio; here I present to you the prize which you should value above all precious things on earth; and here, beauteous Leonisa, I present to you him whom you have always borne in memory.  This is what I would have you all esteem as generosity, in comparison with which to give fortune, life, and honour, is nothing.

“Take her, O fortunate youth, take her; and if your understanding can reach the height of comprehending the greatness of her worth, esteem yourself the most fortunate of mankind.  With her I will also give you my whole share of what Heaven has bestowed on us all; it will exceed, as I fully believe, thirty thousand crowns.  You may enjoy it all freely and at your ease, and Heaven grant you to do so for many happy years.  For my hapless self, since I am left without Leonisa, it is my pleasure to be poor.  To want Leonisa, is to find life superfluous.”

Here he ceased speaking, as if his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, but soon afterwards, before any one else had spoken, he exclaimed, “Good heavens! how toil and trouble confuse the understanding!  In the eagerness of my desire to do right, I have spoken inconsiderately, for no one can be generous in disposing of what is not his own.  What authority have I over Leonisa to give her to another?  Or how can I bestow what is so far from being mine?  Leonisa is her own mistress, and so much so, that failing her parents (long and happily may they live), her wishes could have no opposition to encounter.  Should they meet an imaginary obstacle in the obligations which she, in her good feeling, may think she is under to me, from this moment I cancel them, and declare them null and void.  I unsay, then, what I have said, and I give Cornelio nothing, for I cannot; only I confirm the transfer of my property made to Leonisa, without desiring any other recompense than that she will believe in the sincerity of my honourable sentiments towards her, and be assured that they never had an aim unbecoming her incomparable virtue, her worth, and her infinite beauty.”

Ricardo closed his speech with these words, and Leonisa thus replied, “If you imagine, Ricardo, that I bestowed any favour on Cornelio during the time when you were enamoured of me and jealous, think that it was in all honour, as being done by the express desire of my parents, who wished to have him for their son-in-law.  If you are satisfied with this explanation, I am sure you are no less so with what you have yourself experienced as to my virtue and modesty.  I say this, Ricardo, that you may know that I have always been mistress of myself, and subject to no one else except my parents, whom I now entreat humbly, as is meet, to grant me leave and license to dispose of what your magnanimous generosity has given me.”