Volume The Second - Chapter 1

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. Thus, almost in darkness, with a mind ill at ease, brooding on
the events of the day, which had perhaps perilled his life, although
life had now become of little value, we leave him to his melancholy and
self-reproachful thoughts, and hasten to the chamber of Constance Cecil.