5

Early in the New Year Ko~bai came calling. He was Tamakazura's brother, now Lord Inspector, and it was he who had delighted them long before with his rendition of “Takasago.” * With him were, among others, a son of the late Higekuro who was full brother to Makibashira, now Ko~bai's wife. Yu~giri also came calling, a very handsome man in grand ministerial procession, all six of his sons among his attendants. They were all of them excellent young gentlemen and their careers were progressing more briskly than those of most of their colleagues. No cause for self-pity here, one would have said—and yet the lieutenant seemed moody and withdrawn. The indications were as always that he was his father's favorite.

Tamakazura received Yu~giri from behind curtains. His easy, casual manner took her back to an earlier day.

“The trouble is that there has to be an explanation for every visit I make Visits to the palace are an exception, of course, for I must make them; but the most informal call is so hemmed in by ceremony that it hardly seems worth the trouble. I cannot tell you how often I have wanted to come for a talk of old times and have had to reconsider. Please send for these youngsters of mine whenever they can be of service. They have instructions to keep reminding you of their availability.”

“I am as you see me, a recluse quite cut off from the world. Your very great kindness somehow makes me all the more aware of how good your father was to me.” She spoke circumspectly of the messages that had come from the Reizei Palace. “I have been telling myself that a lady who goes to court without strong allies is asking for trouble.”

“I have had reports that the emperor too has been in communication with you. I scarcely know what to advise. The Reizei emperor is no longer on the throne, of course, and one may say that his great day is over. Yet the years have done nothing at all to his remarkable looks. I count over the list of my own daughters and ask whether one of them might not qualify, and have reluctantly decided not to enter them in such grand competition. You know of course that he has a daughter of his own, and one must always consider her mother's feelings. * Indeed, I have heard that people have been frightened off by exactly that question.”

“Oh, but I may assure you that I am interested in the proposal because she approves very warmly. She has little to occupy her, she has said, and it would be a great pleasure to help the Reizei emperor make a young lady feel at home.”

Tamakazura's house was now thronging with New Year callers. Yu~giri went off to the Sanjo~ house of the Third Princess, Kaoru's mother. She had no reason to feel neglected, for courtiers who had enjoyed the patronage of her father and brother found it impossible to pass her by. Tamakazura's three sons, a guards captain, a moderator, and a chamberlain, went with Yu~giri, who presided over an even grander procession than before.