slipped the ring on his finger, and the paladin was himself again.
What a thunderclap to him! Overcome by shame, he dared not to
encounter the looks of his instructor. When at last he raised his
eyes he beheld not that venerable form, but the priestess Melissa,
who in virtue of the ring now appeared in her true person. She
told him of the motives which had led her to come to his rescue,
of the griefs and regrets of Bradamante, and of her unwearied
search for him. "That charming Amazon," she said, "sends you this
ring, which is a sovereign antidote to all enchantments. She would
have sent you her heart in my hands, if it would have had greater
power to serve you."

It was needless for Melissa to say more. Rogero's love for Alcina,
being but the work of enchantment, vanished as soon as the
enchantment was withdrawn, and he now hated her with an equal
intensity, seeing no longer anything in her but her vices, and
feeling only resentment for the shame that she had put upon him.

His surprise when he again beheld Alcina was no less than his
indignation. Fortified by his ring from her enchantments, he saw
her as she was, a monster of ugliness. All her charms were
artificial, and, truly viewed, were rather deformities. She was,
in fact, older than Hecuba or the Sibyl of Cumae; but an art,
which it is to be regretted our times have lost, enabled her to
appear charming, and to clothe herself in all the attractions of
youth. Rogero now saw all this, but, governed by the counsels of
Melissa, he concealed his surprise, assumed under some pretext his
armor, long neglected, and bound to his side Belisarda, his trusty
sword, taking also the buckler of Atlantes, covered with its veil.