nd dew of war; "Fie, my lord, what marriage garments are these
in which at last I come to thee, who would have been adorned in regal
gems and raiment befitting to my state and thine?"

"I seek the woman not her garment," said Leo, his burning eyes fixed
upon her face.

"Thou seekest the woman. Ah! there it lies. Tell me, Leo, am I woman
or spirit? Say that I am woman, for now the prophecy of this dead Atene
lies heavy on my soul, Atene who said that mortal and immortal may not
mate."

"Thou must be woman, or thou wouldst not have tormented me as thou hast
done these many weeks."

"I thank thee for the comfort of thy words. Yet, was it _woman_ whose
breath wrought destruction upon yonder plain? Was it to a _woman_ that
Blast and Lightning bowed and said, 'We are here: Command us, we obey'?
Did that dead thing (and she pointed to the shattered door) break inward
at a _woman's_ will? Or could a _woman_ charm this man to stone?

"Oh! Leo, would that I were woman! I tell thee that I'd lay all my
grandeur down, a wedding offering at thy feet, could I be sure that for
one short year I should be naught but _woman_ and--thy happy wife.

"Thou sayest that I did torment thee, but it is I who have known
torment, I who desired to yield and dared not. Aye, I tell thee, Leo,
were I not sure that thy little stream of life is draining dry into the
great ocean of my life, drawn thither as the sea draws its rivers, or
as the sun draws mists, e'en now I would not yield. But I know, for my
wisdom tells it me, ere ever we could reach the shores of Libya, the ill
work would be done, and thou dead of thine own longing, thou dead and I
widowed who never was a wife.

"Therefore see! like lost Atene I take the dice and cast them, not
knowing how they shall fall. Not knowing how they shall fall, for good
or ill I cast," and she made a wild motion as of some desperate gamester
throwing his last throw.

"So," Ayesha went on, "the thing is done and the number summed for aye,
though it be hidden from my sight. I have made an end of doubts and
fears, and come death, come life, I'll meet it bravely.

"Say, how shall we be wed? I have it. Holly here must join our hands;
who else? He that ever was our guide shall give me unto thee, and thee
to me. This burning city is our altar, the dead and living are our
witnesses on earth and heaven. In place of rites and ceremonials for
this first time I lay my lips on thine, and when 'tis done, for music
I