Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/107

Rh happiness; but, alas! the child was a little girl, and the last of the race of Lauenstein, for no brother afterwards made his appearance. The too careful nursing of the wife became the husband so well, that all hopes of another child were smothered in his fat.

The thrifty wife, who from the first moment of their marriage kept the command of the house to herself, had of course also to take care of the education of her daughter. The more papa grew paunch-bellied, the less active became his soul, until at length he took no notice of anything unless it was roast or boiled.

Miss Emily, owing to the pressure of household affairs, was mostly left to the care of mother Nature, and she did not at all fare the worse for it. That secret artificer—who does not willingly risk her reputation, and who, if she commits an error, generally repairs it by a master-piece—had been more careful in the symmetry between the powers of the body and mind of the daughter than she had been with the father, for she was handsome as well as clever. As the young lady grew up, and displayed more and more her beauty and wit, the pretensions and hopes of the mother to revive again the splendour of the expiring race rose in proportion. This lady possessed a quiet