Page:German Stories (Volumes 2–3).djvu/362

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172
The Spectre Bride.

sister of this your lady, whose earthly remains had been deposited about a year preceding in the castle chapel. Libussa and her sister Hildegarde had been so exactly like one another, that they were not to be distinguished, except by a small red mark on the neck of the latter, whose apartments, with their furniture, were preserved just as she had left them, and were occasionally visited by her friends in their hours devoted to melancholy recollection. Libussa and she had only one heart, and one mind. Their parents, therefore, could not persuade themselves that the separation here could be long, and were harassed by apprehensions, that their beloved and beautiful Libussa would also be taken from them.

“I did, of course, what I was able, to divert their thoughts, by relating stories from my own past life, and tried to lead their attention from such mournful reflections; nor was I disappointed in my endeavours. Sometimes we used to make excursions in the fine summer weather through the country; and often explored the oldest apartments of the castle, many of which had been long untenanted, admiring the rude but warlike manners of the Count’s ancestors, of whom