19

The old suitors were meanwhile rising in the world. Several of them would make quite acceptable bridegrooms. Then an obscure chamberlain, Kaoru now had a guards commission and a seat on the council. One rather wearied, indeed, of hearing about “his perfumed highness” and “the fragrant captain.” He continued to be a very serious and proper young man and stories were common of the princesses and ministers' daughters whom he had been offered and had chosen not to notice.

“He did not amount to a great deal then,” sighed Tamakazura, “and look at him now.”

Yu~giri's young son had been promoted from lieutenant to captain. He too was much admired.

“He is so good-looking,” whispered one of the cattier women. “He would have been a much better catch than an old emperor surrounded by nasty women.”

There was, alas, some truth in it.

The lieutenant, now captain, had lost none of his old ardor. He went on feeling sorry for himself, and though he was now married to a daughter of the Minister of the Left,* he was not a very attentive husband. He was often heard declaiming or setting down in writing certain thoughts about a “sash of Hitachi.” + Not everyone caught the reference.

Tamakazura's older daughter, exhausted by the complications of life at the Reizei Palace, was now spending most of her time at home, a great disappointment to Tamakazura. The younger daughter was meanwhile doing beautifully. She was a cheerful, intelligent girl, and she presided over a distinguished salon.