There was a noble picture of King
Charles the Second, who alone of monarchs was represented. Soft-footed
lackeys carried viands and wines, and the table was a mingling of
silver and roses. The afternoon light came soft through the trellis,
and you could not have looked for a fairer picture of settled ease. Yet
I had that in my mind which shattered the picture. We were feasting
like the old citizens of buried Pompeii, with the lava even now,
perhaps, flowing hot from the mountains. I looked at the painted faces
on the walls, and wondered which I would summon to our aid if I could
call men from the dead. Smith, I thought, would be best; but I
reflected uneasily that Smith would never have let things come to such
a pass. At the first hint of danger he would have been off to the West
to scotch it in the egg.
I was so filled with sober reflections that I talked little; but there
was no need of me. Youth and beauty reigned, and the Governor was as
gay as the youngest. Many asked me to take wine with them, and the
compliment pleased me. There was singing, likewise--Sir William
Davenant's song to his mistress, and a Cavalier rant or two, and a
throat ditty of the seas; and Elspeth sang very sweetly the old air of
"Greensleeves.
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