Mount Tsukuba beckoned, there in Hitachi, but Kaoru hesitated to approach even the verdant foothills. He had his good name to think of. It would be indiscreet even to write to the girl. Though from time to time the nun Bennokimi gave the girl’s mother a hint of what he had said, the mother found it hard to believe that his intentions were serious. She was glad that he had noticed the girl, but she was aware of his exalted rank; and she could only lament that their own was not high enough to make a match possible.

The governor had numerous children by a former wife, now dead. By his present wife he had a daughter who was known as Himegimi, much pampered, and five or six other children, all of them very young. His affections monopolized by the others, he tended to treat the Eighth Prince’s daughter, Ukifune, like an outsider. The mother greatly resented this partiality, and the thought never left her mind of shaming them all by finding a splendid husband for the girl. She would not have fretted so had Ukifune been no prettier than the others — she was, after all, legally the governor’s daughter. But her beauty and grace were more pronounced as she grew older. How deplorable, thought the mother, that they should go unnoticed.

Aware that the family was well supplied with daughters, several men from the ranks of the petty nobility had indicated an interest in one or another of them. Even now, with two or three of the older girls already married, the governor’s wife refused to abandon her high hopes for Ukifune, who was the center of her life.

The governor could not have been called a man of low estate. He numbered among his relatives several high courtiers. Being a man of considerable private wealth, he indulged himself as his status allowed, and presided over an orderly and not at all vulgar household. A strangely coarse and rustic manner, however, belied these tasteful surroundings. Probably because he had long been buried in the remote East Country, he was incapable of uttering a syllable that struck the cultivated ear as correct. Aware of this defect, he kept his distance from higher circles at court, and koto, but he was an expert archer. Numbers of well-favored women, indeed women rather too good for such a household, had been pulled into its service by the power of money. In dress they were excessively modish, and they wrote bad poetry and fiction and otherwise sought to cultivate the skills that see one through the Kōshin vigil.

This noisy way of life came to be noticed, and Ukifune acquired a certain vogue among the young gallants. They assumed her to be an accomplished young lady, and very pretty as well. Among those who had thrown themselves into the competition for her hand was a certain guards lieutenant. In his early twenties, he was a quiet man who was reputed to have a scholarly bent. He was unable to hold his own in the world of high fashion, and perhaps for this reason had given up his pursuit of other women and commenced paying ardent court to Ukifune. Her mother had decided that he was the most promising of her suitors. He was an honorable man, she said, and a man of discrimination. Though not inexperienced in amorous matters, he was no philanderer. And beautiful though the girl was, she was not likely to attract anyone better.

The mother accepted his letters, and on suitable occasions had the girl send friendly replies. As far as she was concerned, everything was settled. The governor might favor the other girls, but she herself was prepared to sacrifice everything for Ukifune. There was not the slightest chance, once the lieutenant had laid eyes on her, that he would spurn her because of her low rank. It was presently agreed that the marriage would take place in the Eighth Month. The mother began putting a trousseau together. When some trifle, some little piece of lacquer or inlay, would catch her eye for its high quality and good design, she would put it aside for Ukifune, commending to the governor’s attention, for the use of his other daughters, something altogether inferior. He was no judge in these matters, but he collected indefatigably, until they were barely able to see out over the mountains of gimcrackery. A teacher was summoned from the palace to give them lute and koto lessons, and when he had seen them safely through a piece the governor would kowtow with gratitude and bury the man in gifts. On a pleasant evening he would have them at a lively strain, and the effusions with which the governor greeted the performance were quite deafening. Knowing what was good and what was not, his wife would look on contemptuously and refuse to join in the paeans. She might make note now and then, he was constantly saying, that his girl s had their good points too.

The lieutenant was becoming impatient. Must they wait until the Eighth Month? But the governor’s wife was beginning to have second thoughts. Perhaps she should have consulted her husband — and was she quite sure she could trust the man?

The intermediary stopped by one day.

“I have so many things to worry about,” said the mother, calling him aside. “It’s a long time to wait, I know, and I wouldn’t want to seem rude, putting off such an important gentleman. And of course everything is decided. But she has no father to look after her, and I have had to do everything myself. I would hate to have him think I have mismanaged things. All the others have someone to look after them, and I don’t worry a great deal about them. But this one — what will happen to her when I am gone? I have not set any conditions, because everyone says he is a gentleman of understanding. But sometimes a person will wonder, you know. Might he have a change of heart and leave the poor girl for people to laugh at?”

The intermediary passed all of this on to the lieutenant. A look of consternation came over his face.

“You mean she’s not the governor’s daughter? The first I’d heard of it. You may say she’s his stepdaughter and that’s just as good, but I’d be lowering myself before the whole world. It won’t do. Thank you for not looking into things before you came to me. Thank you very much indeed.”

“I swear I didn’t know,” said the intermediary, guiltily. “Someone at my place told me what you had said. Seeing that she was the favorite, I naturally assumed she was his daughter. I didn’t think to ask whether he had a stepdaughter. I hadn’t heard anything even suggesting it. I had heard that she was beautiful and well behaved, and that her mother couldn’t do enough for her and was set on getting her a really good husband. You said you wanted a go-between. Well, I was your man, and I told you so — and how was I to guess that you didn’t know all about her? I don’t think you have any right to call me careless.”

He was a crafty man, and a good talker.

The lieutenant’s reply was not very elegant. “It’s not a family a man would want to marry into for what it is. I’m just doing what all the others do, and no one can blame me for it. I thought that if I could get the governor of Hitachi behind me I might overlook a few other details. He may think of her as no different from his own daughters, but people will say that it doesn’t seem to matter to me what I get. The Minamoto councillor and the governor of Sanuki strut in and out of the house, and how would I feel, the last and smallest in the whole long line?”

The intermediary was an unprincipled man. He was sorry for what had happened, because he had expected favors from both sides.

“You want one of the governor’s own daughters, then? They’re still very young, but maybe I could tell him. The next-oldest they call Himegimi. I hear she’s his favorite.”

“Well — it might not seem very nice just to drop the poor girl and ask for another, now that I’ve gone this far. But let me tell you how I really feel. I got into this because the governor is a man of substance who handles himself well, and I wanted his backing. That’s all. I don’t ask for beauty or superior morals. It wouldn’t be any trouble at all to find that sort of thing, and good manners and a good family to boot. But a poor man who marries a girl with tastes beyond his means is asking for trouble, and can’t expect much praise from the world. No, I’ve seen enough examples of that sort of thing, and I think I’d be willing to put up with a little roughness for a safe, dependable marriage. If you tell the governor how I feel and if he feels the same, I don’t see how anyone could object.”

The intermediary had undertaken the assignment because he had a sister in the west wing of the governor’s mansion. He was not personally acquainted with the governor. He marched directly into the governor’s quarters all the same.

“There is something we ought to discuss.”

“I’d heard about you and your visits.” The governor’s manner was not friendly. “But I don’t recall ever inviting you.”

“I am here at the request of the guards lieutenant.”

The governor consented to an interview. The man edged closer, as if finding the matter hard to broach.

“For quite a while now he has been in touch with your lady. They had arranged for him to marry her daughter. They had even picked a lucky day. He is an impatient man. But then someone, I don’t know just exactly who, seems to have told him that the girl is your wife’s daughter but not yours. It wouldn’t look good, you know, for him to marry a governor’s step-daughter. Everyone would say it didn’t seem to matter to him what he got. When fine gentlemen marry governors’ daughters, it’s to have the backing of their fathers-in-law, to be treated like their own prized sons. When there seems like a good chance of it, then that sort of marriage can sometimes be arranged. But what would be the point otherwise? What would be the point if the man found that his father-in-law, the governor, hardly recognized him, treated him like the last and smallest of them all? People have been saying things, and he is upset. He tells me he hit on you immediately, sir, because His Majesty himself had spoken of the brilliance and solidity of your house, and so he asked me to approach you. He had not known, he tells me, that one of the young ladies was not your daughter. And now, seeing that you have so many daughters — yes, we know they are very young — but seeing you have so many, he would like to go back to his very first hope, and would be pleased if he might have your cooperation. He asked me to sound you out.”

“I hadn’t heard in any detail what he had in mind. The girl is treated exactly like any daughter of my own. But it’s true that I have several other silly girls, and I’m not very good at these things, and it’s more than I can do to look after them all. So her mother has the notion that I treat the girl like an outsider, and she’s always complaining, and I have no say in the girl’s affairs. I heard that something was going on — but that the young gentleman should be looking to me for support — well, I am delighted. I have a daughter I’m fond of. More than fond of — I’d give my life for her. She’s had proposals, but I haven’t been able to make up my mind. The reports I get about the younger generation aren’t good, and I’ve been thinking my best might not be enough to make her happy. Day and night I ask myself how I’m to go about finding a good, safe man for her. I know the lieutenant. When I was young I worked for his father, the general, now deceased. I could see from close up what a fine, talented boy he was. I hoped I might work for him too someday. But then I was away in the provinces all those years, and since I’ve been back I’ve been shy about making friends again. I’m very glad to hear how he feels about me. Why, I could let him have my girl tomorrow. The only trouble is I wouldn’t want her mother to think I’m trying to snatch a husband away from the other girl.”

The intermediary was delighted. Things were going nicely.

“Why hold back? If you agree, everything is as good as settled. What he really wants is a bride with a father who loves her, it doesn’t matter how young she is. He knows he made a mistake when he let himself get involved with the other one. He’s a fine young fellow, and everyone expects great things from him. And he’s a good deal quieter and steadier than you’d expect such an important young fellow to be. He knows his way around, and he has land scattered all over the country. Of course he doesn’t have much money yet, but to the manner born, as they say. You’d do a good deal better to have him than some flashy upstart, I don’t care how rich he might be. Next year he’ll make the Fourth Rank, not a doubt about it. His Majesty himself has promised to make him a privy secretary, so you see there’s absolutely not a doubt about it. His Majesty goes on to say it’s a crying shame that such a fine young fellow, why you couldn’t find a flaw in him, should still be single. Go get yourself a wife, His Majesty keeps saying, and useful inlaws. One of these days he’ll be right in there with the best of them — His Majesty says he’ll be there himself to promise it. His Majesty doesn’t have a more devoted servant, and knows it. Two people couldn’t be closer. Talented, serious, dedicated — all this and more. Why not make up your mind right here on the spot? A man might almost say if you asked him that this is more than you bargained for. Hundreds of people would jump at the chance to have him for a son-in-law. If you hesitate you’re lost. What I say I say because I have your interests at heart.”

It had been a long and persuasive speech. The countrified governor had listened smiling.

“I don’t care whether he has money or not. I can smother him in money. Do you think I’d leave him short? It’s true I might die on him, but I’ve decided to leave everything, land and warehouses and everything, to my Himegimi. No one can say anything about her right to them. I have all sorts of children, but she’s far and away my favorite. Just let him be good to her, and I’ll see him all the way, I’ll make a minister of him. He won’t have to ask for a thing, even if I have to borrow money while I’m getting things done. Why, anyone that close to His Majesty doesn’t have to worry about whether he can depend on me or not. What a match for the both of them, him and my girl, maybe, if you know what I mean.”

He spoke as if arrangements were complete. Overjoyed, the intermediary did not bother to tell his sister what had happened, or to call on the governor’s wife. He went directly to the lieutenant. Everything was in order, he said, describing the interview. The lieutenant was not at all unhappy, though he thought it somewhat provincial to talk of buying a ministry.

“And have you spoken to his wife? She’s been dead set on marrying me to the other girl. People will say I have bad manners. They may even say I’m not honest.” He was having brief doubts.

“Come, now. This Himegimi is her real favorite. It’s only that she thought the oldest daughter should marry first, and so she aimed her in your direction. You were a good solution to her problem.”

It seemed a little odd to the lieutenant that the younger daughter should suddenly have replaced Ukifune as the favorite. But it was better to take the long view, even at a risk of having to endure the displeasure of the mother and the reproaches of the world for a time. He was a practical young man, and he quickly made up his mind. On the evening of the very day that had been selected for his marriage to Ukifune he went to the second daughter.

In ignorance of all this, the governor’s wife was pushing ahead with the arrangements. Her women were all decked out in nuptial finery and their rooms were properly appointed, and she had seen to the needs of the bride herself, washed her hair, helped her to dress. She was too good for the lieutenant. Her father was dead, of course, but if he had recognized her and she had grown up with her sisters, then it would not have been wholly out of the question, though perhaps just a little presumptuous, to think of marrying her to Kaoru. But the sad truth was that she would always be looked down upon as an adopted daughter and a girl whose father had not recognized her.

Enough of these thoughts. She was passing her prime, and here was this man, from a not inconsiderable family, of not despicable rank, with his solemn proposals. Keeping her own counsel, the mother had made her decision. The intermediary was a skillful persuader, able to get around even the governor; and it was not at all surprising that he should have succeeded with a woman.

The hour was approaching. Mother and daughter were very busy.

In came the governor with a headlong account of what had happened.

“In that sneaky way of yours, you tried to take away my girl’s husband. What you need is a good long look at your place in the world. Don’t go thinking fine young gentlemen might be interested in that girl of yours. My own may be ugly little things, but for some reason, I don’t just know what it is, men seem to like them better. You had your plans, and pretty good ones too. He had different ones. If it was all the same, he said, he’d like to have one of my girls, and I said yes.”

It was a graceless description of the case and it took no account of his wife’s feelings.

She was stunned. She sat for a time on the verge of tears, recalling one after another the cold, hard ways of the world. Abruptly, she got up and left.

She went to Ukifune’s room. The girl was charming, beautiful — a superior girl, without question, despite what had happened. In tears, the governor’s wife told the nurse her story.

“Men are utterly cruel. I have always said to myself that I must have no favorites among my sons-in-law, but I have known that I would give up everything for the husband of this one. And look at him, throwing her over because she has no father, taking a mere child in her place. He’s impossible. I do not want to be where I have to see him or hear his voice. Just listen to them if you will — as if it were the greatest honor in the world. They’re a match for each other, that man and my good husband. I want no part of it. I only wish that I could get out of this house.”

The nurse was incensed. It was good of him to look down upon her lady. “But there’s nothing to carry on about. I say she’s lucky this has happened. If that’s the sort of person he is, well, let’s just say that he has no taste. We’ll wait for someone with good taste to come along. I had just the quickest glimpse of the gentleman at Uji the other day, and it added years to my life. If he says he’s interested, well, all we have to do is let things run their course.”

“You’re mad. Everyone says it takes the most extraordinary kind of woman to interest him. Lord Yūgiri and Lord Kōbai and Prince Hotaru all went down on their knees, they say, and he sent them away and finally got one of His Majesty’s own daughters. I imagine he just thinks of putting the child in his mother’s service and seeing her now and then. It would be a fine house to be in, of course, but I would worry even so. Everyone says how lucky her sister is, and certainly she has her worries. The only man you can trust is the man who is willing to make do with one wife. I know that well enough from my own experience. The prince at Uji was a fine, sensitive gentleman, but he treated me as if I were less than human. I can’t tell you how much I suffered. The governor is a complete boor and not at all good-looking, but the years have gone quietly by because he has been faithful to me. The sort of thing he did tonight isn’t easy to live with, but he has never given me reason to be jealous. When we have had our quarrels they have been out in the open. All those grand houses, ministers and princes and that sort of people — they may be so stylish they make you dizzy. But a woman has to remember her place in the world. That’s what makes all the difference, and that’s why I’m so sad for the poor child. I only wish I could make her a match that people wouldn’t laugh at.”

The governor, busy with his own preparations, looked in upon them once more. “You have all these pretty young things. Send them over to be with my Himegimi. And I understand you have new bed curtains. We haven’t had much time, so we’ll just make do with them.”

Jumping up and sitting down and jumping up again, he directed the operations. The rooms had been appointed in quiet good taste, but he had screens brought in until they made solid walls, and vanities and cupboards until they seemed to be fighting for space. He was very pleased with himself. His wife had better taste, but she kept her peace, resolved not to interfere. Ukifune had withdrawn to an inner room.

“I know you,” he said. “Well, my girl is your girl too, and maybe you could help just a little. But it doesn’t matter. Plenty of girls get by without mothers.”

Himegimi’s nurse had been at work since noonday, and the results were not at all displeasing. Himegimi was fifteen or sixteen, small and plump, with hair that trailed to the hems of her skirts and was thick and luxuriant to the farthest edges. The governor was very proud of it.

“Maybe I should feel guilty about taking a man my wife had other ideas about. But he’s too good to let get away. The whole town’s after him, and someone might get him, and I wouldn’t want that to happen.” The go-between had been very successful.

As for the lieutenant, his future seemed bright. The governor was known to be very rich. Not even bothering to change the date, he made his nuptial visit.

The mother and the nurse were outraged. Poor Ukifune was as good as homeless.

And so the mother wrote to Nakanokimi, Prince Niou’s wife: “I have thought that It would be impertinent of me to approach you without good reason, and so I have not written. Certain developments now make life rather difficult for my daughter, and it seems advisable that she be away from here for a time. If there were a place in your house where she could hide, attracting the attention of no one, I should be very happy indeed. It is not possible for an insignificant person like myself to see adequately to her needs, and sad events do have a way in this world of piling one upon another. I have no one to turn to except you.”

She was in tears as she wrote. Nakanokimi was deeply moved, but in a quandary. Would it be right for her, the guardian of his memory, to take in the daughter to whom her father had to the end denied recognition? And on the other hand it would not be easy to look away while her sister suffered and perhaps went to ruin. Nor would it do honor to the memory of her father if, for no good reason, the two were to become strangers. What was she to do?

In an agony of indecision, she appealed to the woman Tayū.

“She must have her reasons,” said Tayū. “Please do not answer in a way that might strike her as even slightly unfriendly. Daughters of low-ranking mistresses are always keeping company with daughters of proper wives. Your good father was altogether too inflexible.”

The princess sent off her answer: “We have a place in the west wing where she may hide. It will be uncomfortable, I am sure, but if she can bear with it she is most welcome.”

The mother was delighted, and the two of them, mother and daughter, slipped out of the house. Ukifune was by now rather happy at her misfortune, because it offered a chance for new intimacy with her sister.

The governor had been determined that his new son-in-law be re ceived with the utmost splendor; but the restraint that makes for true brilliance was foreign to him. He scattered East Country silks in all directions, and at the banquet, a clamorous affair, the dishes threatened to crowd one another off the tables. The underlings were delighted at all this largesse, and even the lieutenant was pleased. It had been clever of him to woo the governor. The governor’s wife suffered in silence, acquiescing in her husband’s demands, for she could hardly be absent from the festivities. This room was to be for the lieutenant, those over there for his attendants, and in the end scarcely a room was left in the whole vast house. The Minamoto councillor occupied the east wing, and the governor had many sons. Himegimi having taken over Ukifune’s west wing, Ukifune herself would have to make do with a corner of a gallery somewhere.

It was in these desperate circumstances that the governor’s wife thought of Nakanokimi. With no powerful relatives, poor Ukifune would suffer increasing scorn and abuse. The governor’s wife did not find it easy to seek the help of a lady whose father had refused to accept his responsibilities.

The girl’s nurse and two or three young attendants went with them. A room had been prepared at the northwest corner of the west wing, remote from the main activities of the house. They had lived far apart over the years, the princess and the governor’s wife, but they were not, after all, complete strangers. The princess received her guests warmly. Used to a different sort of company, the governor’s wife thought her charming. Yet envy at the young mother and child before her was mixed in with the pleasure. Was she herself so utterly inferior to the wife of the Eighth Prince? No, he had refused to accept her only because she had been in domestic service. There could be no other reason for such scorn. Forcing her daughter upon the princess had not been easy for her. Word having been sent out that the girl was in retreat, no one came to her room. The mother stayed for several days, quietly studying the household.

Niou appeared one day. Overcome with curiosity, the governor’s wife looked out through a crack between two doors, and thought him radiant as a cherry in full bloom. Numerous courtiers of the Fourth and Fifth ranks waited upon him, far superior in manner and appearance to the husband upon whom she depended, and whom, maddening though he might be, she did not mean to reject. Nakanokimi’s stewards came in to discuss this and that problem in their several domains. Among the young courtiers of the Fifth Rank were many whom she did not recognize. Her own stepson, a secretary in the ministry of rites, came with a message from court, but he was of too inferior a rank to address the prince. What glory, she thought; and what happiness to be near him! Why should an outsider like herself have thought that, grand though he might be, he meant unhappiness for his princess? She should have known better. So remarkable were his face and his bearing as he took the child in his arms that any woman should be delighted at the meager prospect of an annual interview, like the stars at their midsummer meeting. The princess was behind a low curtain, which he pushed aside as he spoke to her. They were a perfect match. The governor’s wife thought of the Eighth Prince and the lonely life he had led, and knew that there were princes and there were princes.

Niou withdrew to the bedchamber. Nurses and young serving women were left in charge of the child. Visitors came in swarms, but he said that he was not feeling well and stayed in bed until nightfall. The elegance of each small detail quite dazzled the governor’s wife. She had thought herself dedicated to the pursuit of good taste, and she saw now that there was a certain point beyond which ordinary people could not go. But she had one daughter, at least, who could mix with the best of them. They too were her daughters, the girls the governor talked of buying ministries and thrones for; yet how different! She must not give up, she must persist with her high ambitions. She lay awake all night, thinking of the future.

The sun was high when Niou arose. The empress was again indisposed, he said, changing to court dress, and he must inquire after her. Still consumed with curiosity, the governor’s wife looked out through the same aperture. In formal dress he was incomparable. He sat dandling the child, clearly reluctant to leave; but finally, after a light breakfast, he made his way out. His escort had emerged from the barracks. Among them was one who, though dressed well enough (he had on a lined robe and wore a sword), had not one mark of real distinction. Indeed, he was rather homely. Before the prince he shrank to a cipher.

The women were talking.

“That’s the lieutenant, the governor of Hitachi’s son-in-law. He was supposed to marry our new guest, but he thought he’d do better for himself if he married one of the governor’s daughters. So he got himself a little dwarf of a thing.”

“The lady hasn’t said a word.”

“But we have our ways. We have our spies over there.”

Only half listening, the governor’s wife was suddenly attentive, and startled. So that was who the man was! What a fool she had been to think him even remotely acceptable! She had only contempt for him now.

On hands and knees, the little prince was peering from under a blind. Niou came back and gave him another bouncing.

“If the empress is feeling better, I’ll come straight home. Otherwise I suppose I’ll have to stay until morning. I do hate to be away for even a single night.”

The governor’s wife gazed on and on until finally he made his departure, and when he was gone she was somehow lonely.

She could not find strong enough words of praise. Nakanokimi smiled, thinking the lack of restraint a bit countrified.

“You were a mere infant when your mother died. All of us, and your father too, wondered what would become of you. You were born under lucky stars. That’s why you could grow up way off in the mountains and still be the fine young lady you are. What a tragedy that your sister had to leave us.”

She was in tears, and Nakanokimi’s eyes were moist. “A person lives on, and there are times when anger and resentment seem very far away. I have become resigned to a great many things — that I was fated to live longer than those who were most important to me, that I was not meant to know my own mother. But I do go on weeping for my sister. Why did she have to die, when a man like the general, a man of real feeling, could not take his mind from her?”

“But isn’t he just a little too pleased with himself, now that the emperor has singled him out for special attention? If your sister were still alive, there would be the other princess standing between them.”

“I wonder. We would have been alike, you mean, with the whole world laughing at us? You may be right. It may be better that she died. He goes on grieving, I suppose, because she never let him come near. But it is more than that. He seems completely unable to forget — it is very odd, really. And he has taken care of all the memorial services for Father.” She did not mention the more troublesome aspects of their relationship.

“He seems to have to............