Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/47

Rh the setting of the sun the representatives of the people separated, and postponed the election to the next day.

When they met again on the following morning Miss Therba was proposed. But the confidence she had in her magic spells had turned her head; she was proud and overbearing; wanted to be venerated like a goddess, and if she was not always adulated, her temper forsook her, and she became angry, quarrelsome, and obstinate—qualities which deprive the fair sex of the possession of that flattering epithet. It is true, she was less feared than her elder sister, but nevertheless she was not a jot more beloved. Thus there was no more ado upon the elective field than there is at a funeral repast, and the votes were not even taken.

On the third day Libussa was proposed. As soon as her name was pronounced, confidential whispers were heard all over the field; the serious faces began to clear up; and every elector could tell his neighbour of some good trait or other which the young lady possessed. One extolled her good manners; another, her modesty; a third, her cleverness; a fourth, her infallibility in foretelling the future; a fifth, her disinterestedness towards those who