9

Yu~giri had fixed upon this month for marrying his daughter Rokunokimi to Niou. And now, quite as if to announce that he had priorities of his own, Niou had brought a stranger into his house. Worse, he had stopped calling at Rokujo~. Niou felt a little guilty at news of his uncle's displeasure, and sent a note to Rokunokimi from time to time. The whole world knew that plans were being rushed ahead for her initiation, and to postpone it would be to invite derision; and so it took place toward the end of the month. Yu~giri thought of marrying her to Kaoru instead, unexciting though a wedding within the family would be. It seemed a pity to let someone else have him. He was evidently grieving for a lady he had loved in secret over the years. Through a suitable agent, Yu~giri sought to determine how he might respond to a proposal.

The answer was not encouraging. “I know how useless and insubstan-tial things are. I have had evidence before my very eyes, such strong evidence that my own existence seems stupid and even revolting.”

Yu~giri was deeply offended. Could the young man not see that the proposal had been a difficult one to make? But Kaoru was not a man with

whom even an older brother took liberties, and Yu~giri made no further advances.