Page:Legends of Rubezahl, and Other Tales (1845).djvu/282

 is likely to pay, he found that he might manage to go to the Signora’s, make himself agreeable (that of course he should do at his first appearance), get her to dance a saraband with him and remove his hump, and be back ere Ulric’s medical attendant would, in all probability, allow him to move.

No sooner said than done; he at once had his horse saddled, and travelling with the speed of a bird of passage flying to a warmer climate, soon made his way to the house of the lady he sought, for she was well known all around. In default of the herb-woman as chamberlain, he introduced himself under the incognito of a knight errant, and received the same friendly welcome which had been accorded to his predecessor. But his over-free manners, his arrogance, his assumption, his dogmatic tone of conversation, very soon disgusted the Signora, who, however, contented herself with keeping him at a distance by cold politeness.

Several times already there had been a concert, interspersed with dancing, in the evening; and Count Rupert, on each occasion, had hoped that the Signora would invite him to join her in a saraband, but she seemed to have quite lost her taste for it, and merely looked on. Vainly did the Count seek to conciliate her favour, after his fashion, by overwhelming her with gross and clumsy flatteries; she was not at all affected by them. Meantime it was his fortune,