Every candidate was well received at court, and Obizza was obliged, by her father’s order, to behave courteously to them. It would have been a very amusing sight for a philosophic observer, to have seen the different manœuvres of all those fops trying to conquer the invincible heart of the noble lady, surrounded like a comet with a dense circle of vapourous atmosphere. Some tried by artifice, others by lamention, others by flattery, and some by bold attack; but all their schemes tended only to strengthen her aversion for them, and augmented her contempt to such a degree, that even an Endymion would have failed in making an impression on her heart.
Udo, in the mean time, arrived at Mecklenburg. Not knowing by what name to introduce himself, he joined the legion of wooers, and although he was struck by the idea of his principality being the recompense, he had not the slightest intention of regaining his country by marrying the king’s daughter. He saw the princess, and she made a deep impression upon him; he felt a charming surprise, his sleep was interrupted, he became thoughtful, and in all his dreams the Mecklenburgian Grace played the principal part: he felt himself attracted by an irresistible power, like that which had rescued him from the
