roses do not yet bloom in May."

"Well, tell me, cousin, did you really intend to compare my darling
here with a wild hedge-rose?" asked Elza.

"Do not answer, sir," exclaimed Eliza, eagerly. "You have blundered
in trying to flatter me, and that is good. You will see at length
that fine phrases amount to nothing, and that they are colors that
fade in the sunshine. You had better speak frankly and honestly to
me, for I have often told you I am a stupid daughter of the Tyrol,
and do not know what to reply to such fine city phrases."

"But for all that you are not stupid, my beautiful Eliza," said
Ulrich von Hohenberg. "In truth, I who compare you with a rose am
not a liar, but he would be who should charge you with stupidity."

"But if I should, nevertheless, assert that I am stupid, whom would
it concern?" asked Eliza, defiantly.

"Ah, there they are quarrelling again," exclaimed Elza, laughing.
"Come to me, sweet Lizzie; sit down by my side on this bench and
give me your hand. I am so glad that you are here, for it always
seems to me as though I were a lonely orphan when my dearest Lizzie,
with her pretty face and her merry laughter, is absent from me. But
here, Lizzie, you must look upon me with due awe to-day, for to-day
I am not only your friend and sister, but I am the castellan! My
father will be absent four days, and I represent him here. He
delegated his whole power to me, and intrusted me with all the keys.
Treat me, therefore, with great respect, Lizzie."