Explore "The Buccaneer a Tale" by Ann Maria Hall on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The doubt of future foes exiles my present joy, / / And wit me warns to shun such snares / / As threaten mine annoy; / / For falsehood now doth flow, and subject faith doth ebb, / / Which would not be, if Reason ruled, or / / Wisdom weav'd the web. / / QUEEN ELIZABETH.
While the headstrong Cavalier was confined in "the strong room" of Cecil Place, he had ample leisure to reflect upon the consequences of his rashness, and to remember the caution he had received from Major Wellmore on the night of their first meeting -- to be guarded in his expressions, where danger might arise from a single thoughtless word. He surveyed the apartment with a careless look, as if indifferent whether it were built of brick or of Portland stone, glanced upon the massive bars of the iron-framed windows, and scarcely observed that the walls were bare of tapestry, and that dampness and decay had mottled the plastering into a variety of hues and shades of colour. His lamp burned brightly on the table; the solitary but joyous light seemed out of place; he put it therefore aside, endeavouring to lessen its effect by placing it behind a huge worm-eaten chair, over which he threw his cloak.