Keturah and Lord Death

“What does it feel like to die, sir?” I asked. “It hurts—I know only that.”
We walked for some time in silence. At last he said, “It is life that hurts you, not death.”

“This is a story of a beautiful young maiden, who, though she was a peasant, fell in love with the lord of the manor.”
“I have heard this tale before, in a thousand different ways,” he said.
“But my tale, Lord Death, is one that will make even you love, that will heat even your frozen heart.” My boldness astonished me, but I stood to lose nothing.
“Indeed,” said he in disbelief. “Then say on.”
“Once there was a girl—”
“An auspicious beginning.”