“No,” said Chrysis laughing; “but I am going to be as powerful as she is. Do you desire anything?”
“Oh, yes.”
And the little girl became thoughtful.
“Well, what is it?” asked Chrysis.
“It is something impossible. Why should I ask?”
Myrtocleia spoke for her:
“At Ephesos, in our country, when two virgins of nubile age like Rhodis and me love one another, the law allows them to be united in marriage. They both go to the temple of Athena and sacrifice their double girdle; thence to the sanctuary of Iphinoë, where they offer a lock of their hair, interwined; and finally to the peristyle of Dionysios, where the more male of the two receives a little knife of sharp-edged gold, and a white linen cloth to stanch the blood. In the evening, the “fiancee” is conducted to her new home in a flowered chariot between her husband and the paranymph, escorted by torch-bearers and flute-girls. And thenceforth they have the rights of married people; they may adopt little girls and associate them in their intimate life. They are respected. They have a family. That is the dream of Rhodis. But it is not the custom here.”
“We will change the law,” said Chrysis.
“But leave it to me, you shall marry one another.”
“Oh, is it true?” cried the little girl, flushing with joy.