Page:Legends of Rubezahl, and Other Tales (1845).djvu/253

 conquest, she ever treated the aspirant with the greatest coldness and contempt, taking a malicious pleasure in beholding the throes and pangs of his disappointed passion. Her own heart was defended by a wall of brass, which none of her paladins could force, or produce any effect upon. However ardently beloved, she loved not in return; whether it was that her hour was not yet come, or that her ambition had not found wherewithal to satisfy it, or that coquetry had closed her heart against sentiment. The more consummate masters in the science of the female heart, indeed, discovering that the fortress was impregnable, made a timely retreat, without hazarding the dishonour of a defeat; but plenty of inexperienced youths took their places, who were, one after the other, made the victims of their silly credulity, while she herself remained heart-whole.

For some years past a certain Count von Klettenberg had attended the Emperor’s Court, who, notwithstanding a slight bodily defect, was the most popular man with the ladies there. One of his shoulders was shorter than the other, whence he was called Ulric the Unequal; but the beauty of his face, and, with that one exception, of his form, his noble air, his wit, and his amiability were such, that the fair sex overlooked this imperfection. Ulric enjoyed great consideration at Court, and above all, as we have just said, was a general favourite with the