Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/108

92 pride, which in common intercourse was not to be perceived, unless by her high respect to the family pedigree, which she considered the greatest ornament of the house. In the whole country there was, with the exception of the lords of Reuss, no family which she considered noble and ancient enough to transplant upon it the last flower of the Lauenstein tree; and although the young squires of the neighbourhood gave themselves much trouble to catch the prize, the cunning mother always knew how to defeat their plans. She watched the young lady’s heart as carefully as a custom-house officer does suspected packages, that no forbidden wares may be smuggled in; she repudiated all speculations of well-meaning aunts and cousins which had any relation to the marriage of her daughter, whom she seemed to place so high, that none of the young men dared to approach her.

The heart of a young lady, as long as it submits to tuition, may be compared to a skiff upon a mirror-like sea, which can be steered any way the rudder propels it; but when the storm rages, and the waves swing it forward and backward, it no more obeys the rudder, but follows the course of the winds and waves. The tractable Emily was easily led by the motherly leading