7

She summoned Kosho~sho~ when the priest had taken his leave. “What did in fact happen?” she asked, describing his view of the case. “Why didn't she tell me? But it can't really be so bad.”

Though sorry for the princess, Kosho~sho~ described everything she knew in very great detail. She told of the impression made by the letter that morning, of what she had seen and the princess had hinted at.

“Don't you suppose he made a clean breast of his feelings? That and no more? He showed the most extraordinary caution and left before the sun was up. What have the others told you?”

She did not suspect Who the real informer was. The old lady was silent, tears streaming over her face. Kosho~sho~ wished she had not been so frank. She feared the effect of so highly charged a revelation on a lady already dangerously ill.

“But the door was barred,” she said, trying to repair the damage a little.

“Maybe it was. But she let him see her, nothing alters that horrid fact. She may be blameless otherwise, but if the priests and the wretched urchins they brought with them have had something to say, can you imagine that they will have no more? Can you expect outsiders to make apologies for her and to protect and defend her?” And she added: “We have such a collection of incompetents around us.”

Poor, poor lady, Kosho~sho~ was thinking—in torment already, and now this shocking news. She had wanted for her daughter the elegant and courtly seclusion that becomes a princess, and just think what the world would be saying about her!

“Please tell her,” said the old lady, drying her tears, “that I am feeling somewhat better and would like to see her. She will understand, I am sure, why I cannot call on her, as I know I should. It seems such a very long time.”

Kosho~sho~ went for the princess, saying only that her mother wanted to see her. The princess brushed her hair, wet from weeping, and changed to fresh clothes. Still she hesitated. What would these women be thinking? And her mother—her mother could know nothing as yet, and would be hurt if hints were to come from someone else.

“I am feeling dreadful,” she said, lying down again. “It would be better for everyone if I were not to recover. Something seems to be attacking my legs.”

She had one of the women massage it away, a force, probably, that had taken advantage of the confusion to mount through the extremities.

“Someone has been telling your good mother stories,” said Kosho~sho~. “She asked me about last night and I told her everything. I insisted on your innocence by making the door seem a little firmer than it was. If she should ask you, please try to make your story match mine.” She did not say how upset the old lady had been.

So it was true. Utterly miserable, the princess wept in silence. Then and now—she had had two suitors, both of them unwelcome. Both had caused her poor mother pain. As for the princess herself, she seemed to face a future of limitless trials. There would be further overtures. She had resisted, and that was some small comfort; but for a princess to have exposed herself as she had was inexcusably careless.

Presently it was evening.

“Do please come,” said her mother.

She made her way in through a closet. The old lady sat up, ill though she was, and omitted none of the amenities. “I must look a fright. Do please excuse me. It has only been a few days and it seems like an eternity. We cannot know that we will meet in another world, and we cannot be sure that we will recognize each other if we meet again in this one. Perhaps it was a mistake to become so fond of each other. Such a very short time together and we must say goodbye.” She was weeping.

The princess could only gaze at her in silence. Always a quiet, reserved girl, she knew nothing of the comforts of confession. The mother could not bring herself to ask questions. She ordered lights and had dinner brought for the two of them. Having heard from Kosho~sho~ that the princess was not eating, she arranged the meal in the way the princess liked best, but to no avail. The princess was pleased all the same to see her mother so improved.