3

Genji,s various ladies tearfully left Rokujo~ for the dwellings that would be their last. Genji had given the lady of the orange blossoms the east lodge at Nijo~. Kaoru's mother lived in her own Sanjo~ mansion. With the Akashi empress now in residence at the palace, Rokujo~ had become a quiet and rather lonely place. Yu~giri had observed—it had been true long ago and it was still true—how quickly the mansions of the great fall into ruin. Enormous expense and attention went into them, and one could almost see the beginning of the process when their eminent masters were dead, and so they became the most poignant reminders of evanescence. He did not want anything of the sort to happen at Rokujo~. He was determined that there would be life in the mansion and the streets around it while he himself was still alive. He therefore installed Kashiwagi's widow, the Second Princess, in the northeast quarter, where he had lived as the foster son of the lady of the orange blossoms. He was very precise and impartial in his habits, spending alternate nights there and at his Sanjo~ residence, where Kumoinokari lived.

Genji had polished the Nijo~ house to perfection, and then the southeast quarter at Rokujo~ had become the jeweled pavilion, the center of life and excitement. Now it was as if they had been meant all along for one among his ladies and for her grandchildren. There it was that the Akashi lady ministered to the needs of the empress's children. Making no changes in the ordering of the two households, Yu~giri treated Genji's several ladies as if he were the son of them all. His strongest regret was that Murasaki had not lived to see evidences of his esteem. After all these years he still grieved for her.

And the whole world still mourned Genji. It was as if a light had gone out. For his ladies, for his grandchildren, for others who had been close to him, the sadness was of course more immediate and intense, and they were constantly being reminded of Murasaki too. It is true, they all thought: the cherry blossoms of spring are loved because they bloom so briefly.