The spirits of the company - depressed for a moment by the
unpleasant little circumstance of seeing one of their number
beheaded - seemed to revive under the spirituous influence of
sherry, sack, and burgundy; and soon they were laughing, and
chatting, and hobnobbing, as animatedly as any dinner-party Sir
Norman had ever seen. The musicians, too, appeared to be in high
feather, and the merriest music of the day assisted the noble
banqueters' digestion.
Under ordinary circumstances, it war rather a tantalizing scene
to stand aloof and contemplate; and so the guards very likely
felt; but Sir Norman's thoughts were of that room in black, the
headsman's axe, and Leoline. He felt he would never see her
again - never see the sun rise that was to shine on their bridal;
and he wondered what she would think of him, and if she was
destined to fall into the hands of Lord Rochester or Count
L'Estrange. As a general thing, our young friend was not given
to melancholy moralizing, but in the present case, with the
headsman's axe poised like the sword of Damocles above him by a
single hair, he may be pardoned for reflecting that this world is
all a fleeting show, and that he had got himself into a scrape,
to which the plague was a trifle.
Pages:
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213