Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/55

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Libussa.
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The amorous Wladomir waited in the meantime with the utmost anxiety the issue of events. He tried ever and anon to read in her eyes his prospects of future success; but Libussa had condemned them to keep complete silence as to the sentiments of her heart, and it is always a critical task to seek an oral explanation from a lady without some previous telegraphic communication through the eyes. The only favourable sign, which still kept his hopes alive, was the unfading rose, which, after the lapse of a year, was still as fresh and blooming as on the evening when he received it from the hands of Libussa. A flower from the hand of a young lady, a nosegay, a ribbon, or a lock of hair, it is true, are of more worth than a decayed tooth; but all these things are at best but equivocal pledges of love, if they have not received a definite meaning by positive words. Thus Wladomir sighed in secret, waiting to see what time or circumstances might produce in his favour.

The impetuous knight Mizislas carried on his intrigues in a more active way, pushing himself forward on every occasion, in order to be noticed. On the day of homage he was the first vassal who took the oath of fidelity to the new princess. He followed her everywhere, as the Moon does

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