For since she was
irrevocably determined to live and die unmarried, of what use or
benefit was it to trouble her with embassies, courtings, or proposals,
either from the Grand Duke of Mittenheim or anybody else? She was
utterly weary of this matter of love--and her mood would be unchanged,
though this new suitor were as exalted as the King of France, as rich
as Croesus himself, and as handsome as the god Apollo. She did not
desire a husband, and there was an end of it. Thus she went out, while
the queen sighed, and the king fumed, and the courtiers and
ladies said to one another that these dissensions made life very
uncomfortable at Strelsau, the ladies further adding that he would
be a bold man who married Osra, although doubtless she was not
ill-looking.
To the banks of the river outside the walls then Osra went; and as she
went she seemed to be thinking of nothing at all in the world, least
of all of whom she might chance to meet there on the banks of the
river, where in those busy hours of the day few came. Yet there was a
strange new light in her eyes, and there seemed a new understanding in
her mind; and when a young peasant-wife came by, her baby in her arms,
Osra stopped her, and kissed the child and gave money, and then ran on
in unexplained confusion, laughing and blushing as though she had done
something which she did not wish to be seen.
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