"I'm sure that's long enough," she said. "I wouldn't do it any longer.
Won't you stay to dinner with us?"
With one accord the twins rose, impelled by a single impulse toward departure.
"We couldn't," said Romeo.
"We mustn't," explained Juliet. Then, with belated courtesy, she added:
"Thank you, just the same."
They made their adieux awkwardly and went home, greatly eased in mind. As they trudged along the dusty road, they occasionally sighed in relief, but said little until they reached their ancestral abode, dogless now save for the pups gambolling about the doorstep and Minerva watching them with maternal pride.
"She said we'd lived on mush and milk long enough," said Romeo, pensively.
"We might fry the mush," Juliet suggested.
"And have butter and maple syrup on it?"
"Maybe."
"And drink the milk, and have bread, too?"