One day her mother came calling.
The nurse bustled about playing the good hostess. "The general has
been so nice about clothes and all. I would have been very glad, I'm sure,
to do it all myself, but of course I'm just a woman. We women do make
the worst bungle of things."
Faced with all this joy, the giri could only think of impending disaster.
The whole world would be laughing at them.
There had come yet another letter from the importunate Niou. He
would seek her out, he declared, even if she hid behind the eightfold
mountain mists. The two of them would then have no recourse but to die.
Far better to slip off somewhere together.
What was she to do? In hopeless indecision, she lay down again.
"My, but you do look pale." Her mother was openly surprised. "And
I think you've lost weight."
"She hasn't been herself for days and days. She won't eat a bite, and
she seems so tired and mopish all the time."
"Something has gotten at her. Oh, my! Could it be _that_, I wonder. But
of course we did have to cancel the trip to Ishiyama."
<P 998 >
The girl looked away.
In the evening the moon was bright. She was on the edge of tears as
she thought of the moon in the dawn that other night. But she must drive
it from her mind.
The governor's wife invited Bennokimi over to exchange memories of
days long past. The nun spoke of Oigimi, of what a sober, deliberate lady
she had been and of how, in her worries, she had faded away before their
eyes.
"And if she had lived, she too would have had your daughter to share
her thoughts with. What a consolation that would have been for them."
What right had they to look down upon her daughter? the governor's
wife was muttering to herself. Was she not one of them? Well, if fate
proved as kind as they now had reason to expect, she would be one of them.
"Over the years she has been my great worry, and now things seem
to be going a little better. Once she's moved into town I don't suppose I'll
have much reason to come all these miles out into the country. But don't
think I haven't enjoyed it. So nice to have a good, quiet talk now and then
about old times."
"I seem to bring people bad luck, and so I've kept my distance. I
haven't really had a decent talk with her yet. I'll be lonely all the same
when she leaves me. But this is no place for a young girl. It's best that she
go. I've said that the general isn't one for quick, easy flirtations, and that
only a very unusual attraction could bring him all this way; and I haven't
lied to you."
"A person can never tell, of course, what will happen over the years;
but at the moment he does seem pleased with her. I'm sure I have you to
thank for it. Her sister at Nijo~ was far kinder to her than she had any right
to expect, but there was that unfortunate incident, you know, and where
was I to leave her?"
The nun smiled. "Yes, he is a troublemaker, a young gentleman of
affairs, altogether too many of them. Sensible women think several times
before they go to work in that house. Tayu~'s daughter Ukon says he's a
very attractive young man, but he has his ways, and they are always
holding their breath, wondering what might happen next to upset their
lady."
Ukifune listened in silence. Serving women, thought she, mere serving
women; and what of her, Nakanokimi's own sister?
"Disgusting. But the general now. He's married a royal princess but
I say--it may not be my place, but I say--it doesn't matter a bit who he
takes in now and whether it works or not. You may tell me it's not my
place to say so, but that's what I think. But if something were to happen,
something to set tongues to wagging, well, I would be very sorry, of course,
but that would be that. She wouldn't be my daughter any more."
<P 999>
The girl felt as if she were being cut to shreds. She wanted to die. It
could only be a matter of time before word reached her mother.
And outside the river roared. "There are gentler rivers," said her
mother, somewhat absentmindedly." I'm sure the general feels guilty
about leaving her all this time in this godforsaken place."
Yes, it was a terrible river, swift and treacherous, said one of the
women. "Why, just the other day the ferryman's little grandson slipped
on his oar and fell in. Any number of people have drowned in it."
If she herself were to disappear, thought Ukifune, people would
grieve for a while, but only for a time; and if she were to live on, an object
of ridicule, there would be no end to her woes. Death would cancel out
the accounts, nothing seemed to stand in the way. But no--that would be
too cruel to her mother. Her thoughts in a turmoil, she pretended to be
asleep, and before her was a vision of her bereaved mother, wailing and
lamenting.
They must arrange for invocations to the Blessed One, said the gover-
nor's wife, remarking again upon these alarming evidences of decline, and
there must be lustrations and propitiatory rites to the native gods as well.
She rambled on, quite unaware of what these "lustrations" of hers
might mean to her daughter, of the stain the girl would want to wash away
in the river Mitarashi.
"You don't have enough people here," continued the mother, over-
looking nothing. "Hunt up people you can trust and leave these new ones
out. She may think it's easy enough to rub elbows with the great ones, but
if things go a little wrong there's bound to be fighting. Be careful, and don't
let anyone know what you're up to. Well, I must be off. I _am_ a little worried
about the other girl, you know."
Utterly helpless in the face of disaster, half convinced that they would
not meet again, the girl clung to her mother. "I am not at all well, and I
hate being alone. Let me come with you, just for a few days."
"I wish it were possible, really I do. But the house is so small, and you
can't imagine what it's like now. And you do have to get ready, you know.
Your girls couldn't get the tiniest thing done there." She was weeping. "I'd
find ways to see you, believe me I would, even if you were to go off to
Takefu. But you know how it is. There's very little I can do for you."
<P 1000>
Kaoru wrote asking after her health, for she had told him that she was
not well. "I wish I could see you, but I am quite buried in trivial paperwork.
We do not have much longer to wait--and the result is that waiting
becomes more difficult each day."
And another letter came from Niou. "What are you worried about this
time? I wonder. I too am worried, indeed beside myself with worry. Might
something have led the smoke'in a rather surprising direction'?" This
was far from all. His letters tended to be much longer than Kaoru's.
The two messengers had crossed paths that rainy day and today they
met again. Kaoru's messenger, a guardsman, had occasionally seen the
other, a groom, in the house of that accommodating secretary.
"And what brings your honorable self out into the country so often?"
he asked.
"Well, you see, there's someone here I write little notes to."
"Come, now. You deliver your own notes? I suspect you're not telling
me everything."
"Well, as a matter of fact, the governor, you see, is in touch with
someone here."
<P 1001>
It all seemed very odd, very improbable. This was not, however, the
time to press the matter, and they went their separate ways. Kaoru's man,
who had a good head, turned to the boy with him.
"Trail him and see if he goes to the governor's house."
"He went to Prince Niou's," reported the lad, "and gave the letter to
the vice-minister of rites."
Niou's man, less intelligent, had not guessed that they would take the
trouble to follow him, and in any case (sad but true) he did not really know
what he had been up to.
The guardsman arrived back at Sanjo~ just as Kaoru, in casual court
dress, was setting out for Rokujo~, where the empress was in residence. His
retinue was modest.
"I'm a little late," said the man, handing his note to someone in the
retinue," because I've been looking into something very odd."
Kaoru overheard. "And what was it?" he asked, coming out.
But the man only bowed, not wanting the other to hear. Kaoru under-
stood and started on his way.
The empress again being indisposed, though lightly, all her sons were
with her, and the Rokujo~ house swarmed with high-ranking courtiers. The
secretary, a very busy man (he was also vice-minister of rites, as we have
seen), was late in making his appearance. Niou took Ukifune's note, along
with several others, at the doorway to one of the withdrawing rooms. On
his way from an interview with the empress, Kaoru sensed something
furtive in the meeting and stopped to watch. Niou opened the most impor-
tant letter first. It seemed to be in a delicate hand on fine red paper.
Engrossed, Niou did not look Kaoru's way. Just then Yu~giri passed on his
way from the royal bedchamber. Stepping from behind a door, Kaoru
coughed to warn his friend. Niou shoved the letter out of sight as Yu~giri
moved on, and, in confusion, redid his blouse strings.
"I think I will go too," said Kaoru, bowing deeply and hurrying after
Yu~giri. "Itmakes you wonder, when she hasn't had one of these spells in
such a long time. Maybe we should send off to Hiei for the abbot."
It was late in the night when the last of the courtiers left the empress.
Yu~giri, with Niou leading the way and his sons of various ranks trooped
around him, went off to his own quarter. Kaoru started for home a few
minutes later. Curious about the man who had been to Uji, he took advan-
tage of a moment when his attendants were down in the garden readying
torches.
"What were you talking about?"
"At Uji this morning there was a man who works for Lord Tokikata,
the governor of Izumo. He had a very interesting letter, on purple tissue
paper, tied to a cherry branch, and he gave it to a woman at the west door.
When I asked him about it afterwards, his answers didn't make much
sense. I was sure he was lying. I couldn't imagine why he would want to
<P 1002>
lie to me and so I had the boy trail him. He went to Prince Niou's and gave
the answer from Uji to Lord Michisada."
Very odd indeed. "What was the answer like, and who gave it to
him?"
"It was handed out from another door and I didn't see it myself. But
the boy said it was a very elegant note on red paper."
Without doubt the note that had so enthralled Niou. Kaoru was much
impressed with the man's perspicacity, but he was not as lavish with his
praise as he would have wished to be. People might be listening.
His thoughts on the way home were far from pleasant. What a very
clever fellow his friend was! How had he learned that the girl was at Uji?
How had he arranged to be in communication with her? Kaoru had
thought that so far from the city she would be in no danger. He had been
$$ naive. Niou could have as many ladies as he wished if they were his alone;
but how could he be so unfeeling towards the friend who had been so close
to him, who had acted as guide and intermediary, indeed almost as pro-
curer, in the Uji days? Kaoru had kept his longing for Nakanokimi under
tight control, and now his forbearance seemed merely stupid. His feelings
for her went far beyond a passing attachment of yesterday and today.
There was that bond between them over so many years. He had controlled
himself, wanting to spare her pain, and wanting to have nothing on his
own conscience; and he had been very stupid indeed. With all those hordes
of people around the empress, how had Niou managed to get a letter off
to distant Uji? Had he already seen the girl? Love did have a way of
keeping one on the road. And Niou's whereabouts _had_ given cause for
speculation and inquiry these last days, and he had been vaguely unwell,
and his ailments could frequently be traced to amatory sources. Kaoru
thought of Niou's distress--everyone had been so sorry for him--at being
unable to see Nakanokimi. Ukifune's moodiness on their last meeting no
longer puzzled him.
Such was the human heart. So charming and quiet on the surface, she
was a good match for Niou. They were meant for each other. Perhaps he
should withdraw in Niou's favor. But he had never, not in his most senti-
mental moments, thought her the only one for him. He would leave her
to other affairs as she chose to have them, and take her for what she was.
He knew that a decision to send her away would not come easily.
His men could see all too clearly that he was lost in a black reverie.
If in his anger he were to abandon her, Niou would no doubt take her
in; but Niou was not one to dwell carefully and compassionately upon the
distant future. There were already two or three women of whom he had
wearied and whom he had put in the service of the First Princess. Kaoru
did not want to hear that Ukifune had joined the company. He would not,
he concluded once again, find it easy to dismiss her.
He wrote inquiring after her health. Choosing a moment when there
was no danger of being overheard, he summoned that astute guardsman.
<P 1003>
"Is Lord Michisada still with Nakanobu's daughter?"
"Yes, my lord, it seems that he is."
"And does he make it a practice to send that man to Uji? There is a
lonely lady there and he may have his eye on her." He sighed. "Well, see
