The Buccaneer - A Tale

But if the old, grey-bearded Ichabod had been an object of dislike to

the youthful and self-willed Jewess before she saw Sir Willmott Burrell,

how did she regard him afterwards!

Manasseh Ben Israel had, as we have intimated, intrusted some packages

for his daughter to the charge of the treacherous knight; and how he

abused the trust has been already shown. But the poor Jewess found to

her cost, that though she loved him with all the warmth and ardour of

her own nature, he regarded her only as an object of pastime and

pleasure; the idea of in reality marrying a Jewess never once entered

into his calculation, though he was obliged to submit to something like

the ceremony, before he could overcome scruples that are implanted with

much care in the heart of every Jewish maiden. Although she deceived her

guardians and her antiquated lover with great dexterity, it never

occurred to her that Sir Willmott could be so base as to deceive her.

She was new to the world and its ways; and the full torrent of her

anger, jealousy, and disappointment burst upon him, when she found that

the charms of a fair-haired lady had superseded her own, and that

Burrell was already treating her with coldness. Of all the passions

inherent in the heart of a woman, that of jealousy is the most dangerous

to herself and others: it is fierce and restless in its nature; when

infuriated, nothing can oppose its progress; and although most powerful

in the most feeble-minded, it frequently assumes the semblance of

intellectual strength. Zillah's jealousy kept pace with her headlong

love, and in one of its most violent paroxysms she made the attempt on

the life of Burrell, which, it is easy to believe, he never forgave.

Subsequently, and during the remainder of his stay in Paris, he humoured

her fancy, and led her to imagine that he had sufficient influence with

Cromwell to prevail on him to interest her father on her behalf, and do

what no Israelite of the time had ever done--recognise a Christian

son-in-law. After Burrell's departure, however, she soon saw how little

reliance was to be placed upon his promises, and therefore resolved to

act for herself. Suspicion and jealousy divided her entire soul between

them; and she determined not to trust Dalton to bring her over to

England, because Burrell had recommended her to do so. Jeromio was known

to the person at whose house she lodged at St. Vallery, and, hearing

that she wanted to get to England, and would dispense much largess to

secure a passage, he thought he could make something by secreting her on

board, and then passing her off to his captain as a dumb boy. To this

plan Zillah readily agreed, for her imagination was at all times far

stronger than her reason. She had cast her life upon a die, and cared

not by what means her object was to be secured.