The Girl jumped up and put her arms around the woman, crying, "I understand. Give me the flowers and I will give you a kiss."
Leo said beneath his breath to the man: "What was the new name that I heard you give to your woman just now?"
"Why, of course," said Leo; "and if of course, what does it mean?"
"It means 'very dear,' and you have only to look at your wife to see why."
"I see," said Leo; "you are quite right;" and when the man and the woman had gone on he called the Girl "darling wife"; and the Girl wept again from sheer happiness.
"I think," she said at last, wiping her eyes, "I think that we two have neglected men and women too much. What did you do with the sacrifices they made to you, Leo?"
"I let them burn," said Leo. "I could not eat them. What did you do with the flowers?"
"I let them wither. I could not wear them, I had so many of my own," said the Girl, "and now I am sorry."
"There is nothing to grieve for," said Leo; "we belong to each other."
As they were talking the years of men's life slipped by unnoticed, and presently the man and the woman came back, both white-headed, the man carrying the woman.
"We have come to the end of things," said the man quietly. "This that was my wife----"
"As I am Leo's wife," said the Girl quickly, her eyes staring.
"---- was my wife, has been killed by one of your Houses." The man set down his burden, and laughed.
"Which House?" said Leo angrily, for he hated all the Houses equally.
"You are Gods, you should know," said the man. "We have lived together and loved one another, and I have left a good farm for my son: what have I to complain of except that I still live?"
As he was bending over his wife's body there came a whistling through the air, and he started and tried to run away, crying, "It is the arrow of the Archer. Let me live a little longer--only a little longer!" The arrow struck him and he died. Leo looked at the Girl, and she looked at him, and both were puzzled.
"He wished to die," said Leo. "He said that he wished to die, and when Death came he tried to run away. He is a coward."
"No, he is not," said the Girl; "I think I feel what he felt. Leo, we must learn more about this for their sakes."
"For _their_ sakes," said Leo, very loudly.