Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/52

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Libussa.

delight could by any means be increased, it was by the gift of a rose, which adorned the bosom of the young lady, and which she gave him, with the order to put it next his heart, and allow it to wither there. He quite misunderstood her words, which may be easily forgiven him, as there is not a more difficult science than the interpretation of love, which may be called the cradle of error. The enamoured knight’s first care was to keep the rose as long as possible fresh and blooming; he put it into a flower vase filled with fresh water, and fell asleep indulging the most flattering hopes.

In the awful midnight hour, the destroying angel sent by Bela stole to his bedroom, blew open with his panting breath the locks and bolts, and pressing with heavy weight upon the sleeping knight, so squeezed him, that, on awaking, he thought a mill-stone had fallen on his chest. Thus choked, he believed that his last moment had arrived; but, happily calling to mind the rose which stood in the vase close to his bedside, he pressed it to his breast, and said, “‘Fade away with me, beautiful rose, and die upon my expiring heart, as a proof that my last thought was directed to thy beautiful mistress.” His heart immediately began to feel easy. The heavy