"You confess it unblushingly! Well, I forbid you to leave me!"
"So be it," said the General. "I cannot resist your wishes; but this very evening I shall commit suicide."
"Because you are tired of my society?"
"No; because I should be dishonored; and no one should ever outlive dishonor."
"Oh, I am mad!" said Taiko-Sama's widow, wiping her eyes. "I speak like a child; I counsel you to play a coward's part. Go; do not spare your blood. If you die, I too will die. How handsome you are in fighting dress!" she added, looking admiringly at him. "Is it for the enemy's eyes that you adorn yourself thus?"
"It is the custom," said Harounaga; "besides, the arrows rebound from these overlapping plates of horn, and no blow of the sword can pierce them."
"Do not talk so; I seem to see you in the thick of the fight," cried Yodogimi. "I see the arrows fly, I hear the clash of steel. What will become of me during these long days of agony and alarm?"
"Yamashiro is not far from Osaka," said the General; "I will send you frequent news from the camp."
"Yes, promise me you will. Send a messenger every day."
"You shall hear from me every day. Farewell, most beautiful of princesses!"