48

Toward the end of the Fourth Month, when the excitement of the Kamo festival had passed, he set out once again for Uji. He inspected the building and gave appropriate orders, and, thinking it would be unkind not to visit the “rotting, ivy-covered tree” while he was on the precincts, he made his way to the nun's quarters. A procession of some dignity was just then coming across the bridge: a modest woman's carriage guarded by a band of rough East Country soldiers with quivers at their hips, and attended by a considerable number of servants. Some provincial lady or other, he said to himself as he started inside. His men were noisily making their way through the gate when it became apparent that the other procession was coming to the villa. Quieting his men, Kaoru sent to ask who they might be.

The answer came in rustic accents: “Our lady's the daughter of the old governor of Hitachi. She's been to the temple at Hatsuse. We put up here on the way out too.”

Well, now: this was someone of whom he had had news! He ordered his men to take cover.

“Please bring her carriage in,” he sent by messenger. “There is someone else staying here, but he is over in the north wing.”

His men were in travel dress not notable for its finery. The newcomers seemed ill at ease all the same, apparently sensing that the guest was of high rank. Leading their horses aside, they stood at rigid attention. The carriage was pulled up at the west end of a gallery joining the main hall to an outbuilding. The house was without blinds, quite exposed to the public gaze. Kaoru took up his position in a room with lowered shutters, and a search revealed a convenient aperture in one of the doors to the east.* To guard against tell-tale rustling, he stripped down to a singlet and trousers.

The lady was reluctant to leave her carriage. She sent to inquire of the nun who this apparently well-placed guest might be. But Kaoru had said that his identity was under no circumstances to be revealed.

“Please do come in,” said a servant who knew what was expected of him. “We do have a guest, but he is in another part of the house.”

A young woman climbed out and turned to raise the carriage blinds. She was far less countrified than the guards. Then came an older woman.

“Be quick about it, please, if you will,” she said to her mistress.

“But I have a feeling I'm being watched.” The low voice suggested considerable refinement.

“There you go again. Always imagining things.” The woman seemed very confident of herself. “You remember perfectly well that the shutters were down the last time too. And where would anyone be watching from?”

Hesitantly, the lady came out. The hair and the shape of the head, the bearing of the slight little figure, added to the impression of good breeding —and reminded him astonishingly of Oigimi. His heart raced with longing to see her face, which was hidden behind a fan. The carriage, a high one, had been stopped at a hollow in the ground. The other two women had jumped down with agility, but their mistress seemed afraid. Hesitantly, she at length climbed down and made her way inside. She had on a robe of deep red, and over it a cloak that seemed to be of pink lined in lavender, with another cloak, of pale green, showing beneath. A screen four feet or so high had been spread against the door through which Kaoru was watching, but he had a clear view, the aperture being yet higher. The lady seated herself beside an armrest. She was evidently suspicious of these doors, for her face was turned carefully away.

“You've had a hard day. Wasn't the Kizu awful?”

“It was so much lower when we crossed last spring. But this is nothing compared to the roads in the east.”

The two women showed no sign of fatigue. Their mistress had lain down, in silence. The arm upon which she rested her head was plump and pretty. Such a charming girl, one knew, could not have been sired by a boor like the governor of Hitachi. Kaoru's back was beginning to ache, but he stood motionless, lest they sense his presence.

“What a fine smell,” said the younger woman. “Some high-class incense, I imagine. Something the nun will be burning, maybe?”

“A really fine smell. These ladies from the capital go on being all elegant and stylish even when they run off to the mountains. The gover-nor's lady was pretty pleased with herself when it came to perfumes and such, but way off there in the east what chance did she have of putting together a smell like this one? You can say it's a nunnery if you want, but I say she does pretty well for herself. Quality shows through even when you have to stick to blues and grays.”

A girl came in from the veranda beyond. “Something that might make your lady feel better,” she said. Boxes were brought in one after another.

“Do have some of this,” said the women, pressing sweets upon their mistress.

She did not open her eyes, however, and so the two of them, with loud crunches, commenced devouring chestnuts or something of the sort. It was a noise he was not used to, and it bothered him. He drew away from the door. But again and again he came back. How strange that he should be so drawn to her when he was able to keep company quite as he wished with the grandest of ladies, even the empress, women of great beauty and elegance—and so cold to ordinary femininity that people thought the matter worth commenting upon—how strange that he should be unable to pull himself away from this less than remarkable young lady.