t loved me, and of how many tall men were slain
because of their love for me, and of how in the end it was Perion who
won me. For the noblest and the most faithful of all my lovers was
Perion of the Forest, and through tempestuous years he sought me with a
love that conquered time and chance; and so he won me. Thereafter he
made me a fair husband, as husbands go. But I might not stay the girl he
had loved, nor might he remain the lad that Melicent had dreamed of,
with dreams be-drugging the long years in which Demetrios held Melicent
a prisoner, and youth went away from her. No, Perion and I could not do
that, any more than might two drops of water there retain their place in
the stream's flowing. So Perion and I grew old together, friendly
enough; and our senses and desires began to serve us more drowsily, so
that we did not greatly mind the falling away of youth, nor greatly mind
to note what shriveled hands now moved before us, performing common
tasks; and we were content enough. But of the high passion that had
wedded us there was no trace, and of little senseless human bickerings
there were a great many. For one thing"--and the old lady's voice was
changed--"for one thing, he was foolishly particular about what he would
eat and what he would not eat, and that upset my house-keeping, and I
had never any patience with such nonsense."

"Well, none the less," said Florian, "it is not quite nice of you to
acknowledge it."

Then said Dame Adelaide:

"That is a true word, Mother. All men get finicky about their food, and
think they are the only persons to be considered, and there is no end to
it if once you begin to humor them. So there has to be a stand made.
Well, and indeed my poor Ralph, too, was all for kissing and pretty talk
at first, and I accepted it willingly enough. You know how girls are.
They like to be made much of, and it is perfectly natural. But that
leads to children. And when the children began to come, I had not much
time to bother with him; and Ralph had his farming and his warfaring to
keep him busy. A man with a growing family cannot afford to neglect his
affairs. And certainly, being no fool, he began to notice that girls
here and there had brighter eyes and trimmer waists than I. I do not
know what such observations may have led to when he was away from me; I
never inquired into it, because in such matters all men are fools. But I
put up with no nonsense at home, and he made me a fair husband, a