3

Behind her curtains, the princess listened in silence. He was aware of her presence, for the blinds were flimsy and makeshift. An elegant rustling of silk told him what part of the room to be interested in. He used the considerable intervals between messages from the old lady to remonstrate with Kosho~sho~ and the others.

“It has been some years now since I began visiting you and trying to be of service. This seems like a very chilly reception after such a record. I am kept outside and allowed only the diluted conversation that is possible through messengers. It is not the sort of thing my experience has prepared me for. Though of course it may be my lack of experience that is responsible. If I had been a trifling sort in my younger years I might possibly have learned to avoid making myself look silly. There can be few people my age who are so stupidly, awkwardly honest.”

Yes, some of the women were whispering. He had every right to complain, and he was not the sort of underling one treated so brusquely.

“It will be embarrassing, my lady, if you try to put him off. You will seem obtuse and insensitive.”

“I am very sorry indeed that she seems too ill to answer your kind inquiry in the way that it deserves,” the princess finally sent out. “I shall try to answer for her. Whatever spirit it is that has taken possession of her, it seems to be of an unusually baneful sort, and so I have come from the city to be her nurse. I almost feel that I am no longer among the living myself. I fear you will think this no answer at all.”

“These are her own words?” he said, bringing himself to attention. “I have felt, all through this sad illness, as if I myself were the victim. And do you know why that has been? It may seem rude and impertinent of me to say so, but until she has fully and happily recovered, the most important thing to all of us is that you yourself remain healthy and in good spirits. It is you I have been thinking of. If you have been telling yourself that my only concern is for your mother, then you have failed to sense the depth and complexity of my feelings.”

True, perfectly true, said the women.

Soon it would be sunset. Mists were rising, and the mountain fast-nesses seemed already to be receding into night. The air was heavy with the songs of the evening cicadas. Wild carnations at the hedge and an array of autumn flowers in near the veranda caught the evening light. The murmur of waters was cool. A brisk wind came down from the mountain with a sighing of deep pine forests. As bells announced that a new relay of priests had come on duty, the solemnity of the services was redoubled, new voices joined to the old. Every detail strengthened the spell that was falling over him. He wanted to stay on and on. The voice of the priest who had come down from the mountain was grander and more solemn than the rest.

Someone came to inform them that the princess's mother was sud-denly in great pain. Women rushed to her side, and so the princess, who had brought few women with her in any event, was almost alone. She said nothing. The time for an avowal seemed to have arrived.

A bank of mist came rolling up to the very eaves.

“What shall I do?” he said. “The road home is blocked off.

“An evening mist—how shall I find my way?—

Makes sadder yet a lonely mountain vi11age.” *

“The mists which enshroud this rustic mountain fence

Concern him only who is loathe to go.”

He found these soft words somewhat encouraging and was inclined to forget the lateness of the hour.

“What a foolish predicament. I cannot see my way back, and you will not permit me to wait out the mists here at Ono. Only a very $$ naive man would have permitted it to happen.”

Thus he hinted at feelings too strong to control. She had pretended to be unaware of them and was greatly discommoded to have them stated so clearly. Though of course he was not happy with her silence, he was determined to seize the opportunity. Let her think him frivolous and rude. She must be informed of the feelings he had kept to himself for so long. He quietly summoned one of his attendants, a junior guards officer who had not long before received the cap of the Fifth Rank.

“I absolutely must speak to His Reverence, the one who has come down from the mountain. He has been wearing himself out praying for her, and I imagine he will soon be taking a rest. The best thing would be to stay the night and try to see him when the evening services are over.”

He gave instructions that the guard go to his Kurusuno villa, not far away, and see to feeding the horses.

“I don't want a lot of noise. It will do no good to have people know we are here.”

Sensing hidden meanings, the man bowed and withdrew.