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He kept Yu~giri from Murasaki but encouraged him to be friends with the girl. While he himself was alive it might not matter a great deal one way or the other, but if they were good friends now their affection was likely to deepen after he was dead. He permitted Yu~giri inside the front room, though the inner rooms were forbidden. Having so few children, he had ample time for Yu~giri, who was a sober lad and seemed completely dependable. The girl was still devoted to her dolls. They made Yu~giri think of his own childhood games with Kumoinokari. Sometimes as he waited in earnest attendance upon a doll princess, tears would come to his eyes. He sometimes joked with ladies of a certain standing, but he was careful not to lead them too far. Even those who might have expected more had to make do with a joke. The thing that really concerned him and never left his mind was getting back at the nurse who had sneered at his blue sleeves. He was fairly sure that he could better To~ no Chu~jo~ at a contest of wills, but sometimes the old anger and chagrin came back and he wanted more. He wanted to make To~ no Chu~jo~ genuinely regretful for what he had done. He revealed these feelings only to Kumoinokari. Before everyone else he was a model of cool composure.

Her brothers sometimes thought him rather conceited. Kashiwagi, the oldest, was greatly interested these days in Tamakazura. Lacking a better intermediary, he came sighing to Yu~giri. The friendship of the first generation was being repeated in the second.

“One does not undertake to plead another's case,” replied Yu~giri quietly.