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Las diagrammes suivants illustrent la m*thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 MICROCOPY RESOIUTKJN TEST CHART lANSI and ISO TEST CHART No 2l 1.0 ISO '*'^™ It i^ 2.5 1.8 ^ APPLIED INA^GE Inc ^^- !6bi East Mam Street rjS Rochester. Ne« York 14609 USA iSS ;716) 482 - 0300 - Phone ^B (716) 288 - 5989 - Fox bf»»-33 ^Mr'- -h^' m ^!M^ "She did not speak tu the attendant while she dined, hut continued to stare hctore her through the open shoji " DAUGHTERS OF NIJO A ROMANCE OF JAPAN BY ONOTO WATANNA AUTHOR OF "A JAPANESE NIGHTINGALE," "THE WOOING OF WISTARIA," "THE HEART OF HYACINTH," ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND DECORATIONS BY KIVOKICHI SANG THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO.. Ltd. 1904 Ali righU rttervtd 262245 Copyright, 1904, Bv THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. S«t up, electrotyped, and published April, 1904. Reprinted April, 1904. NoTtooaO QrtU J. 9. Cubing & Co. — Ucrwlek & Smith Co. Norwood, Mm*., U.S.A. Contents CHArrBK PMB Before the Story's Action «3 I. The Child of the Sun . *5 II. An Emperor's Promise 4« III. Masago .... 53 IV. A Betrothal 67 V. Gossip of the Court . 77 VI. The Princess Sado-ko . 87 VII. The Picture by the Artist-mai lOI VIII. A Sentimental Princess 113 IX. Moon Tryst . 127 X. Cousin Komatzu ■ >47 XI. A Mirror and a Photograph . 163 XII. Mists of Kamakura • «7S XIII. Daughters of Nijo 189 XIV. Solution of the Gods . . 199 XV. The Change . 211 XVI. A Family Council . 229 XVII. The New Masago • *43 XVIII. A Mother Blind . ■ *55 XIX. Within the Palace Nijo . 267 XX. An Evil Omen . . 281 CHArm PACI XXI. " You are not Sado-ko ! " . 295 XXII. The Coming Home of Junzo 309 XXIII. The Convalesceni: . . . 321 XXIV. A Royal Proclamation . 335 XXV. The Eve of a Wedding 347 XXVI. Masago's Return 359 XXVII. A Gracious Princess at Last . . 377 XXVIII. "The Gods knew Best !" . 387 Illustrations «« She did not speak to the attendant while she dined, but continued to stare before her through the openshoji" Frontispiece FACING PAGE "A score of ripe cherries descended upon her iicad " 35 " ' Look,' cried Sado-ko, clutching his sleeve" Mists of Kamakura ...... " Then up and down the room in the long, trailing robe of Princess Sado-ko, walked, peacock-like, the maiden Masago" ..... " Then soft alighted on a cherry tree, and filled the air with its sweet song " . . . . " She met his eyes, then flushed and trembled" «' Between the parted shoji, she stood like one un- certain " .....•• H3 •83 217 223 33> 365 Daughters of Nijo BEFORE THE STORY'S ACTION IN the early part of the year of the Restora- tion there lived within the Province of Echizen a young farmer named Yamada Kwacho. Although he belonged only to the agricultural class, he was known and honored throughout the entire province, for at one time he had saved the life of the Daimio of the province, the powerful Lord of Echizen, pre- mier to the shogunate. In spite of the favor of the Daimio of the province, Yamada Kwacho made no effort to rise above the class to which he had been born. Satisfied with his estate, he was proud of his simple and honest calling. So the Lord of Echizen, having no opportunity of repaying the young former for his service, contented himself perforce with a promise that if at any time •3 H DAUGHTERS OF NIJO Yamada Kwacho should require his aid, he would not fail him. Kwacho, therefore, lived happily in the knowledge of his prince's favor; and since he possessed an excellent little farm which yielded him a comfortable living, he had few cares. He had reached the age of twenty-five years before he began to cast about him for a wife. Because of his renown in the province, Kwacho might have chosen a maiden of much higher rank than his own ; but, being of a sensible mind and nature, he sought a bride within his own class. He found her in the person of little Ohano, the daughter of a neighboring farmer. She was as plump, rosy, and pretty as is pos- sible for a Japanese maiden. Moreover, she was docile and gentle by temperament, and had all ihe admirable domestic virtues attractive to the e) ^ of a youth of the character of Yamada Kwacho. Though their courtship was brief, their wed- ding was splendid, for the Prince of Echizen himself bestowed upon them gifts with all good wishes and congratulations. Life seemed BEFORE THE STORY'S ACTION 15 to bear a more joyous aspect to Kwacho. He went about his work whistling and singing. All his field-hands and coolies knew him for the kindest of masters. The young couple had not been married a month, when a great prince, a member of the reigning house, visited the Lord of Echizen in his province. Report had it that this royal prince was in reality an emissary from the Emperor, for at this time the country was torn with the dissensions of Imperialist and Bakufu. It was well known that the Daimio of Echizen owed his ofhce of shogunate pre- mier to the Mikado himself, and that he was secretly in sympathy with the Imperialists, Consequently there were great banquets and entertainments given in the Province of Echi- zen when a prince of the royal family con- descended to visit the Mikado's vassal, the Daimio of Echizen. The whole province wore a gala aspect, and the streets of the principal cities were constantly enlivened by the passing parades and corteges of the re- tainers of the visiting prince. i6 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO Owing to the presence of his august guest, the Lord of Kchi/en was obliged to send a courier to Yedo with proper apologies for not presenting himself before the Shogun at this time. He showed his confidence in Kwacho by bestowing upon him the honor of this important mission. The young farmer, while naturally loath to leave his young bride of a month, yet, mindful of the ^reat honor, started at once for the Shogun's capital. Thus Ohano was left at home alone. Being but fifteen years old, she was fond of gayety, of music and dancing, and it was her dearest wish to visit the capital city of the province, that she might see the gorgeous parade of the nobles. With her husband gone, however, she was forced to deny her- self this pleasure, and had to remain at home in seclusion under the charge of an elderly but foolish maid. Ohano became lonely and restless. She wearied of sitting in the house, thinking of Kwacho; and it was tiresome, too, to wander about the farm fields and BEFORE THE STORY'S ACTION 17 watch the coolies and laborers. Ghano pi.ied foi' a little of that excitement so precious to her butterfly heart. Much thought of the capital gayeties, and much conversation with the foolish maid, finally wrought a result. Ghano would put on her prettiest and gayest of gowns to visit the capital alone, just as though she were a maiden and not a matron who should have had the company of her husband. As the city was not a great distance away, they could use a comfoi ^ le kurumma which would hold them both. Four of the field coolies could be spared as kurumma carriers. In delight the foolish maid dressed her mis- tress, by this time all rosy with pleasurable excitement and anticipation. The adventure pleased them both, though the foolish mis- tress assured the foolish maid repeatedly that they would go but to the edge of the city. Thus they could see the great parade of the royal prince pass out of the city gates, for this was the day on which the prince was to leave Echizen and return to Kyoto. All his i8 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO splendid retinue would accompany him. It was only once in a lifetime one was afforded the opportunity of such a sight, Ohano declared. They started from the farm gleefully. All the way mistress and maid chatted and laughed in enjoyment. Before they had reached the edge of the city a countryman told them the royal cortege was even then passing through the city gates, and that they must leave the road in haste, for the parade would reach their portion of the highway in a few minutes. The foolish maid suggested that they alight from the kurumma, that they might have a still better view of the parade. So after the maid the rosy-cheeked little bride, with her eyes dancing and shining, her red lips apart, her childish face all gleaming with pleased curiosity, swung lightly to the ground also. They were just in time, for the royal parade had taken the road, and the outriders were already in view, so that the kurumma carriers were forced to drag their vehicle aside and BEFORE THE STORY'S ACTION 19 I fall upon their faces in the dust. The foolish maid, following their example, hid her face on the ground so that she lost sight of that she had come far to see. Ohano, however, less agitated than her servants, instead of pros- trating herself at the side of the road, retired to a little bluff near the roadside. She thought she was far enough from the high- way to be unseen; but as she happened to be standing on a sloping elevation, and her gay dress made a bright spot of color against the landscape, she was perfectly visible to such of the cortege as chanced to look in her direction. Very slowly and leisurely the train pro- ceeded. Nobles, samurai, vassals, retainers, attendants, the personal train of each principal samurai, prancing horses, lacquered litters, nori- monos, bearing the wives and concubines of the princely staff, banners and streamers and glittering breastplates, all these filed slowly by and dazzled the eyes of the little rustic Ohano. Then suddenly she felt her knees become weak, hands trembled, while a great flame rushed to her giddy little head. She became 20 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO conscious of the fact that the train had sud- denly halted, and that the bamboo hangings of a gilded norimon had parted. As the cur- tains of the norimon were slowly lifted, the six stout-legged retainers carrying the vehicle came to a standstill, while one of them, apparently receiving an order, deftly drew the hangings from side to side, revealing the personage within. The norimon's occupant had raised iumself lazily on h;, elbow and turned about sidewise in his carriage. His eyes were lan- guorous and sleepy, slow and sensuous in *heir glance. They looked out now over the heads of the retainers, upward toward the small blufF upon which stood Ohano. For some reason, perhaps because she saw something warmer than menace in the eyes of this indolent individual, Ohano smiled half unconsciously. Her little white teeth gleamed between her rosy lips. She appeared very bewitching as she stood there in her flowered gown in the sunlight. A moment later something extraordinary happened to Ohano. She knew that stout BEFORE THE STORY'S ACTION 21 arms had seized her, that her eyes were sud- denly bound with linen, and then that she was lifted from her feet. Her giddy senses reeled to a dizzy unconsciousness. When next she opened her eyes, she found that all was darkness about her. Conscious- ness came to her very slowly. She knew from the swaying movement of what seemed the soft coucl upon which she lay that she was being cai.ied somewhere. Ohano put out a fearful little hand, and it touched — a face! At that she sat up ciying out in fright. Then the person who lay beside her stretched out hands toward her, and she was suddenly drawn down into his arms. He whispered in her ear, and his voice was like that of one speak- ing to her in a dream. "Fear nothing, little dove. You are safe with me in my norimon. But to see you was to desire you. Do not tremble so. You will appreciate the honor I have done you, when you realize it. You shall be the favorite con- cubine of the Prince of Nijo, and never a wish of your heart or eyes shall be denied by me." 22 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO She could not stir, so close he held her " It is so dark." she cried breathlessly, and 1 am afraid. O-O-most h-h-honorable prmee^ "It is night, pretty dove; buff I part th curtains of my norimon. the august moon W.U lend us joyful light. Will you then cease to tremble and to fear me ? " She began to sob weaWy, and through her childish brain just then «-<*, the vag„= thought of Kwacho. She »as hke one en Ished in a dream nightmare. He who lay beside her laughed softly, and sought to w.pe .„ay her tears with his sensuous hps. "Tears are for the sad and homely. Never for the Jewel of Nijo! Well, with h.s own l:gust lips he wipes them_away from the pretty dove's face. So and so ! " Yamada Kwacho returned to Ech.zen one week later. As became a bridegroom the voung husband had gone first to h-s home, ntending to report to his prince immed,ately afterward He entered the little farm-house with a joyous step and an eager, expectant face. H, kft ,he house like one shot from a cannon, BEFORE THE STORY'S ACTION 23 on a mad run for the city. His brain whirled. He could not see. He could not think. He had a dim memory of having rushed upon the foolish maid like one demented, of listening with gaping mouth to the tale she told ; then of thrusting her from him with such force that she fell to the floor in a heap. Forgetting the respect due his lordship, the young farmer burst into the Daimio of Echizen's presence. He had none of the samurai calm, and his whole form fairly shook and swayed with the strength of his emotions. The Lord of Echizen thrust forward a startled face. " News from the shogunate, Yamada Kwacho?" he cried, fearing from the aspect of the youth that some treachery had been done his political party. In disjointed sen- tences, words coming through his teeth with effort because of his heavy breathing, the young farmer told his lord of the kidnapping of his bride, and recalled to him that promise of aid when necessity should demand it. The young husband pleaded not in vain. 24 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO Grieved, insulted, and incensed, the Daimio of Echizen journeyed in person to the Mikado's city of Kyoto, and straight to his August Majesty himself went the story of the farmer of Echizen. After this there was a great search made through the palaces and harems of the Prince of Nijo. Five months later Ohano was found and returned to her husband, Yamada Kwacho. Three months had scarcely passed before the bells of the Imperial City rang out a joyous chime. The consort of the Prince of Nijo had given birth to a royal princess. On that same day, in the little farm-house of Yamada Kwacho, one more female citizen was added to the Province of Echizen, and Ohano became a mother. 1 CHAPTER I THE CHILD OF THE SUN %^ CHAPTER I THE CHILD OF THE SUN ON the shore of Hayama, in a little village two hours' ride by train from Tokyo, there stood a sumptuous villa, the summer residence of the Prince of Nijo, though Nijo himself was seldom seen there. Dissolute and dissipated by nature and cultiva- tion, he preferred the gayeties and excitements of the Imperial Court. Here, however, had resided ever since the year of the Restoration his mother, the Empress Dowpger, a noble and high-souled woman, who preferred the old-fashioned conservatism and beauty of her country palace to the modern and garish court. The decorations of her palace, the pcyle of her robes, and those of her attendants, were entirely of the old time. This was in pleasu 3; contrast to the customs of the new Empress, 27 28 DAUGHrKRS OF NIJO who h;id adopted the foreign style. In the Imperial Court in its new Tokyo home, there was the heavy perfume of the choicest roses and violets, but in the palace of the old Empress Dowager there was the subtle, faint aroma of sweet umegaku and tambo. Fuji, the queenly niountain, wrapped about in its glorious garment of snow, mellowed by the touch of the sun, could be seen from her seat. On all sides of the palace grounds there were valleys and sloping hills. Within the stone walls which encircled the palace like a fortress there were gardens of wondrous beauty. The palace itself was of simple and old-fash- ioned architecture. It faced to the east, and its towers and turrets were of gold. Its shojis were large and so clear that the sunlight pierced through them, flooding the interior. The floors were covered with soft sweet tata- mts rush mats; the decorations on the screens and panels of the sliding doors were subdued and refined though works of art. It was in this palace that the daughter of the THE CHILD OF THE SUN 29 Prince of Nijo spent her childhood. She was called Sado-ko, after her mother, who had died in giving her birth. Her father after his pres- ence at a perfunctory feast given in honor of the birth of the princess had returned imme- diately to his pleasures in the capital, and Sado-ko was left in the charge of her grand- mother, the Dowager Empress. Great was the love existing between these two. All that was noblest in the character and nature of the young princess was fostered by the old Empress. The qualities for which she became noted in after years were the chilling work of those who, after the death of her grandmother, were given charge of Sado-ko. In early childhood Sado-ko was wont to run with fleet feet about the castle gardens, chasing the gloriously hued butterflies. They flew about her in great numbers, for they were importations to the palace as tame as home birds. They knew the little princess would do them no harm, and so they fluttered lightly to her finger, her head, her shoulder, even to her red lips. Sado-ko loved them dearly, just JO DAUGHTKRS OF NIJO as she adored the gardens and the goddess-like Kuji, — her first sight upon arising in the morn- ing. She loved, too, the quiet, retired beauty of her life, with its freedom inside the dark stone walls. But more than these things she loved the Empress Dowager. Until she was twelve years of age, she knew no other life than that encompassed by the walls of the palace grounds. Beyond them she had been told there was another life, turbulent, restless, troublous. The walls looked forbid- ding. How much worse must be the world outside them, and beyond the wide stretch of land and water that faded into misty outline! Within were sunshine, birds, flowers, gentle words, and soft caressing smiles. Without, a cruel, cold world waiting to snuflf out the warmth and sunshine of her nature. All this was taught to Sado-ko by the old Empress Dowager, who in her old age had become sel- fish. This was the way in which she sought to keep with her the heart and soul of the companion of her old age, -the child she loved. Even after she had passed away, she THE CHILI) OF THE SUN 3» knew that the thoughis of the princess would remain with her though her sotil should have flown. Thus she paved the way for a compan- ionship in death as in life, as was the custom with her ancient ancestors. The children of the Empress Dowager had disappointed her. The Kmperor was occupied with the cares of the nation and the strenuous conditions of the times, Nijo was almost imbe- cile from dissipation, her only daughter had been married into the Tokugawa family, and was practically separated from her own kin. There was none left to share companionship with the old Empress, until the little Sado-ko had come. She was the sole princess of the Nijo family recognized by the Empress, for Western morality having sifted its way into t'le Japanese court, the children of Nijo by his concubines were regarded as illegitimate by the heads of the royal family, although they were treated with the honor due their blood and rank. Sado-ko was motherless. The Em- press Dowager was her natural and legal guar- dian, and to her grandmother she was given. 32 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO For ten years, then, these two - the very old Empress and the very young princess- lived together. Because she was not at all of an in- quisitive mind, and believed implicitly all that her grandmother told her, the child was per- fectly contented with the simple companionship of the Empress, her butterflies, flowers, and birds. But her grandmother was too old to run with her about the gardens, and ofttimes the birds, and the butterflies too, flew over the stone wall and disappeared, to the tearful anxiety of the little princess, who was sure they would meet great harm. As the children of the retainers of the Em- press Dowager were not permitted to visit the private gardens of the palace, Sado-ko had grown up without playmates of her own age. She was being reared in that seclusion befitting a descendant of the sun-goddess, and in quite the ancient style to which her grandmother still clung. So it was only those attendants who waited upon the person of the Dowagej- Em- press who saw the little princess herself, -.he could have counted upon her ten pink fingers THE CHILD OF THE SUN 33 the number of personages with whom she was acquainted. There were the four grim samurai guards of the palace gates, (.he three elderly maids of honor to the I'.mpress, and her own personal maid and nurse Or itsu-no, in addition to the palace servants and the gardener. But one eventful day in the month of June, a new personage suddenly introduced himself to Sado-ko. She had been listening drowsily for a long time on the wide balcony of the palace to her grandmother's reading aloud of ancient Chinese poems, when suddenly a swarm of her own butterflies flew by, all seemingly following the lead of a purple-hued stranger. Instantly Sado-ko left her guardian's side in pursuit, her net swinging in her hand. She had seldom experienced any trouble in catching her own butterflies, but the stranger flew in an entirely new direction. Through a field of iris and across an orchard Sado-ko followed the flight of the butterflies, until she came to a wall, over which the purple visitor flew. Flushed and disappointed the princess sat down breathlessly on the grass beneath a 3+ DAUGHTERS OF NIJO cherry tree. She had been seated but a mo- ment, when the tree above her began to shake and a score of ripe cherries descended upon her head. She sprang to her feet, and looking upward saw a roguish face peering down at her from the cherry tree. The face belonged to a boy of possibly fourteen years. He was laughing with delight at the amazed and frightened face of the little princess, and he kept pelting her with cherries, some of which actually broke on her small Imperial person. As, however, Sado-ko continued to gaze up at him in that frightened manner, he sprang to the ground, rolled himself about on the grass for a spell, and then turned several somersaults so grotesque that Sado-ko forgot her fear and burst into childish laughter, clapping her hands delightedly as he came to his feet before her. They were both laughing heartily now, as they surveyed each other. The boy's sleeves and the front of his obi were filled with cherries, so that his figure was a succession of grotesque bunches. There were cherry stains, too, on i.i •• A score of ripe thcrries descended upon her head l> • THE CHILD OF THE SUN Z7 his face. particularly in the region of his laughing mouth, through which Sado-ko saw the whitest of teeth gleaming. He had brown eyes, and soft silky hair, unshaven in the centre of his head, as was the case with the palace attendants. Gradually as the prin- cess surveyed him she became grave. " Who are you ? " she said at last. « What is your honorable name, and where do you live ? " " I am Kamura Junzo," said the boy, « and I live over yonder." He waved his hand toward the wall. " On the other side ? " inquired Sado-ko in an awed voice. He nodded. " I know who you are," he continued. "I am the Princess Sado-ko," said the child, gravely. " Yes," said the boy, « and the august Sun was your ancestor. You live shut up in this place all alone, and no one plays with you." "I have my honorable dear birds and butterflies," she said. 38 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO He looked at her curiously. " Yes, I have heard you singing to them." " And you wished also to see me ? " she questioned. " Yes." He flushed boyishly, and then added with Spartan honesty, " Also I wanted some of your cherries." " They are very good," said the princess. " Oh, yes, there are none so good without." " Did the guards deign to let you pass through trie gates ? " " No." A pause, then : " I deigned to climb over the wall." " Some day," said Sado-ko, wistfully, " her Majesty says a prince will fly over the walls and carry me away. Perhaps you are that prince." " Oh, no ; I am not a prince, but if you wish, I will play that I am one." "How is that?" she asked, bewildered. " This cherry tree will be your august castle. I will come over the wall, and you must run around the castle to escape me. I will pursue you, and then I will carry you off from this THE CHILD OF THE SUN 39 dark and lonesome prison over the walls to the beautiful world outside." " But it is not a lonesome prison here," said the princess, " and outside it is very cold and miserable, for her Majesty has told me so." "Oh, well, let us play it is so." And so they played together until past noon, when the maid and gardener were both sent to seek the Princess Sado-ko, who was chasing butterflies. They rescued her just as the " prince " was about to carry her over the walls, upon the top of which he had placed her, by climbing up in the cherry tree and across a bough which sloped to the wall. The rescued princess stamped her foot an- grily at the gardener when he threatened the boy, who laughed jeeringly from the top of the wall ; and she scolded the maid when that menial drew her by the hand from the scene. She would not leave the vicinity of the wall until the boy had disappeared completely, which he did by jumping off to the other side. Then she burst into tears for fear he had come to harm in the wicked world without. 40 DAUGHTERS OF NIjO Thereafter a close watch was kept upon her movements, and she was not permitted to go near that portion of the walls where stood the cherry-tree castle. Often she heard the boy whistling from that direction, and once she awoke in the night, because she had dreamed that he was calling her name, " Sado-ko ! Sado-ko!" After that life was a little more lonesome for the Child of the Sun. CHAPTER II AN EMPEROR'S PROMISE CHAPTER II AN EMPEROR S PROMISE ON a cold morning in the month of January the Empress Dowager died. She had returned from a ceremony of the thirtieth anniversary of the death of her late consort. Exhausted, broken, and ill, she had come back to her country-seat, her visit to Kyoto having been too much for her strength. That night messengers went in haste to the capital, and the following morning brought to the bedside of the dying Empress her son, the Emperor, and his consort. All night long the little Princess Sado-ko crouched in the darkness of her room alone. Wide-eyed and tearless, she looked out from her shoji at the ghostly snow which shrouded 43 44 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO her beloved trees and flowers in so cold and chilly a garment, eerily touched by the moon- rays. She heard, without heeding, the move- ment and stir within the pahce ; the mufHed beat of a drum without quickly hushed. Early in the gray morning the royal visitors arrived. Sado-ko knew that some catastro- phe was about to fall upon the palace and her beloved grandmother, and so she waited through the night for the end. She did not know that below in the sick chamber the heartbroken Emperor knelt on his knees by the side of his mother and besought her, like any ordinary man, to speak but one word to him, to express but one wish ere she must leave him. The Dowager Empress opened her tired eyes, attempting to speak. She could only murmur in the faintest of voices, so that her son scarcely caught the words : — " Sado-ko — Pray thee to care for — Sado-ko ! " Then her eyes closed as though the effort at speech had been too much for her, but i > AH AN EMPEROR'S PROMISE 45 the Emperor knew that she heard the words he spoke into her ears. " Divine mother, the Princess Sado-ko shall have my personal care. She shall be nur- tured and cared for as the highest princess in Japan, and when she has attained to a fit- ting age the greatest honor in my power shall be given to her." There was no further sign from the Dowa- ger Empress. " Princess ! " called a voice penetrating the darkened room, by the shoji of which the child crouched dully. " Noble princess ! " Sado-ko did not stir, though she looked with wide eyes toward the sliding door through which came her maiden Natsu, holding care- fully above her head a lighted andon. She had not seen the little figure by the shoji, and she shuffled toward the couch. A startled exclamation escaped her when she discovered that the couch was empty. At that the prin- cess called to her in a strange voice, which seemed somehow unlike her own. " I am here, honorable maid." 46 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO The woman hastened forward, the light still swinging over her head. She stopped aghast before the still little figure of the princess, who was, she could see, fully dressed. It was plain that the child had robed herself with her own hands, after she had left her for the night. The maid set the andon down, then touched the floor with her head. After her obeisance she went nearer to Sado-ko, and spoke with the familiarity which years in the child's ser- vice had allowed her. " Thou art not unrobed, noble princess ! " " I have not slept," said the child, quietly. The maid seized her hands with an exclama- tion of pity. "The hands are like ice!" she exclaimed immediately. " Exalted princess, you are ill ! " " No," said Sado-ko, shaking her head, " I am not ill, Natsu-no. But tell me your mission. Why do you come so early to my chamber? " There was nothing childlike now in the grave glance of Sado-ko's eyes. She seemed to have aged over night. At her words the AN EMPEROR'S PROMISE 47 maid burst into tears, beat her hands against her breast, and finally bent her head to the floor. The princess waited in silence until the maid had regained somewhat of her com- posure. Then she said severely, quite in the manner of her august grandparent : — " Maiden, such emotion is unseemly. Speak your mission, if you please." " Oh, august princess, her Imperial Maj- esty — " She fell to weeping again. Sado-ko leaned forward, and placing her hand on the maid's shoulder, peered into her face. " — is dead ? " she said in a whisper. The maid's head bowed forward mutely. After that there was a long silence. Then Sado-ko arose to her feet, her hands pressed to her face on either side. Her eyes, between her little parted fingers, were staring out in shocked horror. Her strange silence stilled the sobbing maid, who tremulously arose. "And if it please thee, noble princess," she said, "his August Majesty is below and commands thy immediate presence." 48 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO Sado-ko did not speak or move. The maid falteringly touched one of the drooping sleeves. " Nay, do not look so, sweet mistress," she implored; "the gods will not desert you. His Majesty himself has deigned to adopt thee, and to-morrow thou wilt go to the great capital as his ward." Sado-ko's hands fell from her face. Her voice was not childlike, and quite hoarse. " Pray thee, lead me below, honorable maid." It was lighter now in the palace, for a wan sun was creeping upward in the pale heavens. There were signs of a dreary day about to dawn. Through the winding corridors of the palace the princess and the maid moved tow- ard the august chamber of death. At its door they paused and the princess's hand dropped from that of the maid. Having permitted her attendant to push the sliding doors apart, she entered the chamber alone. Without, the maid bent her face to the mats, AN EMPEROR'S PROMISE 49 stifling her sobs in her sleeves. Within, the little princess hesitated a moment in doubt, then rushed to the death couch, threw her- self down by the still form there, and un- mindful of those within, encircled it with her arms. But no cry escaped her lips, for well had she been bred as a Daughter of the Sun- god by the old Empress Dowager. The days that followed were hazy and un- real to Sado-ko. Strange women and men, with cold impassive faces, were about her at all times. She could scarcely tell one from the other, and it wearied her to be forced to listen to their words Oi caution and counsel. Then she made a journey. Strangely enough, when she was lifted into the covered palan- quin and the curtains drawn about her, she knew that now she was to be carried beyond the gray palace walls. The journey was made at night, and the tired little princess slept throughout it, so that she was spared the tediousness of time. In the morning her eyes opened upon a new world. As the day streamed through 50 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO I the bamboo curtains of her norimon, she pushed them aside, to see that they were passing along what seemed to be a stone road, upon either side of which were endless buildings unlike anything she had ever seen before. Although there were throngs of peo- ple everywhere, a strange and solemn silence prevailed, as the norimon and parade of the princess passed along, and the people bent their heads to the earth. Sado-ko could see that many of the women and some of the men wept. She did not know that the whole nation had gone into mourning for the one she had loved so well. Sado-ko, passive and unquestioning, saw the great funeral of the Empress Dowager; a dumb little shadow, she lingered with other relatives in the hall for the mourners, and still, with little understanding, she was carried in her norimon under the escort given only to a royal princess, through a bamboo grove and over the Yumento Ukibashi — " The Bridge of Dreams." The mortuary hall was reached. The Empress Dowager, whose dearest wish AN EMPEROR'S PROMISE 51 had been to be buried close to her summer palace, where she had spent her declining years, was interred far away from it among the tombs of her thousand ancestors. \i CHAPTER III MASAGO -^ I -j .'..■A: CHAPTER III MASAGO FROM a poor but honored farmer of Echizen, Yamada Kwacho had grown to be a rich and prominent merchant of Tokyo. At the advice of the Lord of Echi- zen, Kwacho had gone to Tokyo soon after the Restoration, where, taking advantage of the modern craze for Western things then raging in the capital, he had invested the price of his little farm in one of the first " European " stores in Tokyo. His business had prospered and grown rapidly to huge dimensions. Now, while Kwacho was still in the prime of life, he found himself richer in worldly wealth than his former master the Lord of Echizen even in his best days. The young farmer of Echizen had been content to remain in his humble class, though 55 56 DAUGHTERS OF NiJO honors were offered him by his lord. The rich and prominent merchant of Tokyo was still at heart the conservative and independent young farmer of Echizen. Despite the fact that his great wealth would have purchased for him an entree to a high society, Kwacho made no effort to emerge from his life of quiet and obscure ease. Possibly, too, an experience of his early married life caused him to look askance and with disfavor upon the lives of the society people. At all events a pretty home in a suburb of Tokyo, and the society of a few simple neighbors, quite contented him. Whether the ambitions of Ohano kept the level of those of her husband, was not a matter of any determination. The mistress of a com- fortable home, the comely wife of a respected citizen, and the mother of five sons and one daughter, she appeared contented with her lot. There had always been a weak and soft ele- ment in the character of Ohano, however. In youth it had come near to being the cause of her complete ruin. But for the sturdy nature of her husband, Ohano might never have re- MASAGO 57 covered morally. In latter years this weak- ness of disposition took the form of an almost childish delight in dwelling secretly in her own mind upon experiences in her life which she would not have breathed aloud even to her favorite god, much less to her sombre hus- band. Strangely enough, too, Ohano had far more affection for her daughter than for her sons, — a most uncommon thing in a Japanese woman. As a little girl, Masago had been remarkable chiefly for her docile and quiet ways. This apathy of nature, peculiar in a child of her class, had been variously regarded by the teachers in the public school she had attended. Some had pronounced her dull and even sullen, while others insisted that her impassiveness showed an innate refinement and delicacy of birth and caste. Masago was very pretty after a delicate Yamato fashion. Unlike her sturdy young brothers, round-faced, rugged, and brim- ming over with health and spirits, Masago was oval-faced, her eyes were long and dreamy, her mouth small, the lips thin and prettily curved. 53 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO Ilcr skin was of a fine texture, and her little hands were quite as beautiful as those of the princesses who attended the Peeresses' school. Masago's schoolmates thought her quiet dis- position indicative of secretivencss and even slyness. She had never been known to express herself on any question, though no one gave closer attention to any matter under controversy than she. The consequence was that as she grew older her girl friends, at first sceptical and dubious of her quiet, unexpressive face, finally ended in confiding to her their various secrets ; for well they knew that while they might expect no exchange of confidences, their secrets were well guarded within Masago's silent little head and as safe as if unspoken. Ohano, too, was quick to take advantage of the child's listening talent and receptive mind. In spite of the fact that Masago was coming to an ..ge when all such confidences should have been strictly kept from her, Ohano found herself gradually pouring out to her daughter those fascinating and forbidden secrets which still remained in her mind. She would sit MASAGO 59 opposite her daughter for hours at a time and describe irniphically the palaces of Kyoto. It would h we occurred to one older than Masago that, *br one in her caste, Ohano's knowledge of these places was unusual. But the child asked few questions and appeared to be absorbed in her mother's glowing narrative. Only once she said, lifting her strange long eyes to her mother's face : — " It is in the palace I belong, mother, is it not ? " And before Ohano was conscious of her words she had replied : — "There, indeed, you belong of right, Masago." When Masago had reached her seventeenth year, she expressed her first independent wish to her family. It was that she be sent to a finishing school in Kyoto. At her suggestion, made directly to him, Kwacho was disgruntled. She had had suffi- cient education for a maiden of her class, he insisted. What was more, he desired her to make an early marriage and had already begun negotiations for her betrothal. 6o DAUGHTERS OF I'M Masago listened to her father's words with- out replying, beyond a wordless bow of sub- mission to his will. She did not argue the matter with him, since she knew that Ohano, without diplomacy and craft, had yet great influence with Kwacho. So the young girl went quietly to her mother, whom she found happily employed in washing a small barking chin on the rear veranda of the house. She looked back smilingly at her daughter over her shoulder as she rubbed the dog's twitching little body. " He is white enough," said Masago, quietly, indicating the chin with a slight movement of her head. At this verdict Ohano released the dog. He darted about the veranda for a moment, shaking his still wet little body, then rushed through the shoji indoors, dis- appearing under a mat over a warm hibachi, where he shivered in comfort. Ohano emptied out the water across a flower bed, and unrolled her sleeves. She was flushed with her exercise, and the water had splashed her gown. Her hair, too, was m MASAGO 6i dishevelled, but she was the picture of the healthy housewife, as she turned to her daughter. The latter, in her perfect neatness, made a contrast to the mother, who surveyed her with fond approval. " Well, Masago, have you finished your embroidery ? " she asked pleasantly. The girl shook her head silently. " Go, then ; get your frame now," said Ohano, "and we will work together." " No," said Masago, seating herself on a veranda mat, id leaning back against the railing, " I don't want to work. I want to talk to you." Ohano's plump body quickly seated itself opposite Masago. The opportunity for a morning gossip with Masago was something she never denied herself. She had just opened her mouth to begin, when Masago quietly put her hand over the red orifice. " No ; do not speak for a moment, mother, but listen to me." 62 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO iM a r^ Masago smiled faintly at the expression in her mother's eyes and continued rapidly : — " Listen. I am seventeen years now, — old enough, almost, my father says, to be married. But I do not wish to marry." "But — " began Ohano. " No ; do not interrupt me. I want to go away to school, — a private school in Kyoto, where other rich men send their daughters, and where I, too, can sometimes sec those palaces and maybe the noble ladies and gentlemen you have told me so much about." " But, Masago, every maiden of your age wishes to marry; and your father has chosen — " " Let me finish, if you please, or I will not talk to you at all. I do not know why it is, but I have no desire to marry ; and sometimes I feel like one who is stifling in this miserable little town. Why should we, who have more wealth than many of those in Tokyo who live in palaces, be caged up here, like birds with clipped wings.? What is the use of having that wealth if we may k MASAGO 63 not use it? Oh, there are so many joyful happenings in the capital every day and every night. I read about it in those papers which father brings home sometimes from Tokyo. The city is so gay and brilliant, mother, and there are so many peculiar foreigners to see. I was made for such a place — not for thi" dull, quiet town. Why, I would even be content to see all this as an outsider, but to have to remain here when — Oh!' She struck her hands together with an elo- quent motion. Ohano stared at her aghast, regarding her flushing face and snapping eyes. "Oh, mother," she continued, " many people say I do not belong here. They recognize my difference from themselves, — everybody here. You know it is so. Ever since I was a little girl when you would tell me the fairy tales of those palaces in Kyoto — " "They were not fairy tales," said Ohano, gently. " No, but I thought them so — then. And I imagined that some day the gods would befriend me, and that I would belong to that I 1 64 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO a joyful world of which you spoke. And now to come to seventeen years and to be given right away in marriage to some foolish youth before I have had any chance to see — " Her voice broke, and her emotion was so unusual a thing that Ohano could not bear to see it. Both her heart and tongue were stirred. " You have a right to see it," she said. "You belong to it — are a part of it, Masago. Your own father is — " She clapped her hands over her mouth in consternation and sudden fright at what she was about to divulge. Masago became very white, her eyes dilated, her thin nostrils quivered. She fixed her strange, long eyes full on those of her mother. Then she seized her by the shoulders. She spoke in a whisper: — "You have something to tell me. Now — speak at once." Half an hour later Masago was alone on the veranda of her home. She sat in an attitude of intense absorption. Her downcast m MASAGO 65 eyes were looking at the slender fingers of her hands, spread out in her lap. They were thin, shapely little fingers, the nails rosy and perfect in shape. Masago had been studying them absently for some time. Suddenly she held up one little hand, then slowly brought it to her face. " That was the reason they were so beauti- ful — my hands ! " she said softly. That night Ohano would not let her hus- band sleep until he had made her a promise. They lay on their respective mattresses under the same mosquito netting. It was quite in vain for Kwacho to sleep while the voice of Ohano droned on. After listening for fully two hours to a steadv stream of childish elo- quence and reproach, and answering only in gruff'monosyllables, he sprang up in bed and demanded of his better half whether she in- tended to remain awake all night. Whereat that small but stubborn individual raised her- self also, and, propping her elbows on her knees, informed the irate Kwacho that such was her intention, and that, in fact, she did h 66 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO - !i not expect to sleep any night again until he had made some concession to the ambition of their only daughter, which, after all, was a most praiseworthy one, — a desire for more learning. Kwacho's answer was not the result of a sudden appreciation of Masago's virtues, but he was sleepy and tired, too. There was much to be done at the store on the mor- row, and Ohano's suggestion that she intended to keep awake for other nights was not a rel- ishing prospect. '* She shall go on one condition," he said. "Yes?" eagerly inquired his wife. "That she is first betrothed to Kamura Junzo." " There will be no trouble as to that," said Ohano, with conviction, and lying down drew the quilt over her. A few minutes later the twain were at rest. n CHAPTER IV A BETROTHAL 'I ,! ^f^l^^:^' <3^ %^ If :f 11- i^i CHAPTER IV A BETROTHAL THE following morning an early mes- senger brought a letter to the Kamura residence. The family were at break- fast, but as the messenger came from the elder Kamura's old Echizen friend, Yamada Kwacho, it was opened and read at once. Its contents, while surprising, were most pleasing to the family. Kwacho made an overture to con- tract a betrothal between their eldest son, Junzo, and his only daughter, Masago. Junzo at this time was in Tokyo, where he had been living ever since he had returned from abroad. He was winning fame for him- self as a sculptor, — an art quite new to Japan in its Western form, — and the family were proud of his achievements. This new mark of compliment from their esteemed friend, 69 If! 70 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO 'i ^1 a kl the wealthy Mr. Yamada, naturally flattered the Kamura family immensely. The mes- senger was sent back to the Yamada house with as gracious letter as the one received, and gifts of flowers and tea. The invitation of Mr. Yamada for a conference at his house the day following, in which the young couple might also have an opportunity of seeing each other and becoming acquainted, was ac- cepted. Another messenger was despatched at once to Junzo in Tokyo, and the family congratulated themselves upon what they con- sidered their good fortune. Junzo read his father's letter with a degree of irritation altogether out of keeping with the pride in the proposal manifested by the rest of his family. An extraordinary piece of fortune had recently come to Junzo, and the subject of his marriage seemed a matter of trivial impor- tance beside it. He had, in fact, been commis- sioned to make a statue of the Prince Komatzu, the war hero of the time, who had distinguished himself by his brave conduct in the Formosa aflfair. Junzo knew that upon this work his A BETROTH \L 7« future career would depend, and that should he please his illustrious patron he would doubtless have an opportunity of doing more work for the court ; for at this time the nobility of Japan emulated everything modern and Western, and it had become the fashion for the gentlemen of the court to sit for their portraits in oil, though as yet none of the ladies had gone quite so far. Junzo's impatiei ce, therefore, at his father's summons to return home for the consumma- tion of his betrothal to a young lady whom he had never seen, may be surmised. Being a well- bred and obedient son, however, he departed at once for his home, breaking a number of en- gagements in so doing. As the train from Tokyo carried Junzo to Kamakura, the young man, while watching the flying landscape from his window, thought with some natural curiosity of his bride to be. Her father and mother he had met. Upon two or three occasions he had seen her little brothers playing in the fields. His active imagination soon pictured Masago. She would, of course, be plump and rosy-cheeked like her mother, m ^, 7* DAUGHTERS OF NIJO i ,j pretty perhaps, thought Juiizo, but lacking in that grace and spirituality that to him was the ideal of true beauty. When his own grandsires had been samurai in the service of the Lords of Echi/en, this girl's ancestors had tilled the soil. Still, times were changed. The samurai had fallen, and the tradesman and farmer had risen. Now the descendants of the samurai drew the jinrikisha containing the fat merchant, or policed the streets of big cities for the glory of still wear- ing a sword. Moreover, the elder Kamura was in sympathy with the modern spirit of the times, and had accepted favors from the hand of Yamada Kwacho. Besides, the latter had not been without honor in Echizen ; and, after all, his own family — the once proud samurai family of Kamura — were now but simple citizens, nothing more. " The Restoration was right and just," said Junzo, and smoothed out the frown from his patrician face. "And after all," he added to his thought, " this girl of the people will be a more fitting wife than n woman of modern ^ A BKTROTHAL 73 fancies, such as have become the ladies of caste." Masago's aspect pleased, surprised — nay, quite bewildered Junzo. When at the loolc-at meeting she had raised her head finally from its low obeisance, Junzo had been startled at its delicate beauty. It shocked him to see a flower so exquisitely lovely and delicate sur- rounded by relatives so completely plebeian. During the entire visit Junzo found his eyes constantly straying toward his betrothed. When she moved about the room, and with her own hands served him tea, he noted with delight her grace of movement, and the symme- try of her figure. When tea had been served and drunk, he found her close beside him. She had moved dutifully there at a signal from her father ; and now, as his betrothed, she quietly filled the long-stemmed pipe for him, and lighted it at the hibachi. As he took it from her hands, their eyes met for the first time. Junzo, though thrilled by the glance of her eyes, felt curiously enough repulsed. There was some- 74 DAUGHFERS OF NIJO '^ s^ thing forbidding, almost menacing, in their glance. A moment later the long lashes were shielding them. Then the young man noted that she had not as much as changed color, but still was calmly white and unmoved. A feel- ing of uneasiness possessed him. His delight in her beauty was chilled. Once only throughout the afternoon did she show interest in the conversation. This was when Junzo had told his father-in-law to be, of a prospective visit to court to make a statue of a national hero. Then she had raised her head suddenly, and Junzo had stumbled over his words in the glow of artistic appreciation he felt of the beautiful pink color flooding her face. The elder Kamura thought his son's mod- esty in not mentioning the fact of the commis- sion he had already received unnecessary in a family soon to become his own ; and so he said, as he tapped the ashes from his pipe on the hibachi : — " My son has been commanded to make a statue of his Imperial Highness the Prince Komatzu." A BF-TROTHAL 75 The little cuj- hich Masago had lifted toward her lips U a suddenly from her hand, its contents spilling on the tray. She seemed scarcely conscious of its fall, as she turned an eager and flushed face toward Kaniura. She spoke for the first time, repeating half mechaaically his words : — « The Prince Komatzu — " " Yes," said Kamura, affably, " a cousin of his Imperial Majesty," and he bowed his head to the mats in old-fashioned deference to the name of the Mikado. "Why," spoke up the simple Ohano, her eyes wide and bright, "we have his august picture." Her husband looked at her in astonishment. "You have a picture of his Highness?" he inquired incredulously. " How is that pos- sible, Ohano ? " " Masago cut it from a Chinese magazine you brought home last month," said the wife, "and it was such a beautiful picture she has put it away among her treasures, have you not, Masago ? " i 1 t^ .^i 76 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO The girl's eyes were downcast, and she did not raise them. She knew by the silence in the room that her answer was awaited by the company, but she could not move her lips to speak. Then she he.ird Junzo an- swering quietly for her: — "He is certainly the most admirable hero we have, and one that it honors our nation to idolize." His words were rewarded by a glance from the eyes she raised in timid gratitude. It was but for a moment; then her head was bent again. For a week Junzo saw his fiancee daily. At the end of that time he accompanied her with her family a portion of the way to Kyoto, whither she went to attend school for a year. Junzo then proceeded alone to Tokyo, and on his journey back his musings of his future bride were as vague and unsatisfactory as when he had come. L CHAPTER V i\- GOSSIP OF THE COURT m i mi MW P '-i io--- u '] CHAPTER V n GOSSIP OF THE COURT IT was early afternoon. The ladies in the Komatzu palace were taking their noon- day siesta, and idly discussing the work of the artist, Kamura Junzo. Since he had become a favorite among them, many of the ladies wished that he could be retained in the palace a little longer. As they sipped their amber tea indolently in one of the chambers of the palace, they gossiped with the freedom common to the women of the West rather than the East. " Now," said the little Countess IMatsuka, handing her cup to a page, " if we were only so fortunate as to have two Imperial heroes instead of one ! " A languorous beauty, swinging lazily in a Dutch hammock, raised herself upon an elbow. 79 8o DAUGHTERS OF NIJO " But the heroes nowadays are all heimins " (commoners), she said with soft scorn. " Oh, Duchess Aoi," laughed a pretty young woman, who, more industrious, was working at an embroidery frame, " how can you say so? There are no heimins to-day." "Oh, true," responded the other, crossly, "there is no caste to-day. The heimin has become the politician." "Yes," said the pretty one at the frame, "and the politician rules and owns Nippon." The Duchess Aoi sat up aggressively. " You appear to have the confidence of the diplomats, O Lady Fuji-no," said she. Fuji tossed her head in malicious silence. " Noble ladies ! " came the warning voice of the elderly mentor-chaperon. " It is too warm to engage the august voice in argument. Let us have music." The Duchess Aoi shrugged her shapely shoulders. "The court geishas are busy in the male quar- ters," she said, "and the foreign band has broken our ear-drums." GOSSIP OF THE COURT 8i One of the ladies laughed. " Besides," she added to Aoi's speech, " we don't want the foreign music in our private halls. It is enough for state occasions." " I enjoy it augustly well," said a stiff little lady sitting uncomfortably in her Paris gown on an English chair, who bore the euphonious name of Yu-giri (Evening Mist). She was the only one of the company who wore European costume. The others were glad enough to revel in the comfortable enjoyment of the kimono. "If her Royal Highness were not so augustly eccentric, she might set the example," said the Countess Matsuka, thoughtfully. " Which Highness, countess ? " " There is only one Royal Highness in the palace now," said Lady Fuji, smiling up from her frame, — "the Princess Sado-ko." Aoi tossed her head angrily. Her mother had been a concubine of one of the Imperial princes, and she was of the blood. Yet she was maid of honor to the Princess Sado-ko, for whom she had no love. i >1 'I 82 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO n I 1; " And what example might she set ? " Aoi inquired with evident disdain. "That of sitting for her portrait to be painted," explained the Countess Matsuka. All of the ladies now showed extreme in- terest in the subject, and several began to speak at oner. " Oh, but she would never countenance it ! " " She fairly despises the ways of us moderns." "Just to think, it is in her power to keep our charming artist at court indefinitely." " But how lovely to have all our pictures painted. We, of course, would all follow suit. " — if she would only set the fashion." "Well, ladies," said the Lady Fuji, "the princess is not our fashion-plate, surely. We do not follow her, it would seem. If we did — " " We should live like cloistered priestesses," said the one in the hammock. " Yes, seclude ourselves from the sight of the whole court," said she of the Paris gown. GOSSIP OF THE COURT «3 " Then why need we await her august ex- ample?" asked the Lady Fuji. " Because we are cowards — all," said the Countess Matsuka. "To sit for our pictures just like any of the barbarians is too much of an innovation for any of the humble ones to start at court." "Well, then," said Fuji, "who is brave enough to suggest it to the princess ? She is both conservative and unconventional, and who knows she might take a fancy to the idea and consent ? " " Well, suppose you suggest it to her." " I ? Oh, indeed, I am too honorably insig- nificant." Then you, countess." Oh no, indeed ; I am still smarting under the sting of her little royal tongue." " Ah, you are too fulsome in your flattery to her, countess," said Lady Fuji-no. " Diplo- macy and tact with her Highness should take the form of frankness, even brusque- « ' tt ness. Yes," said the one in the hammock, sarcas- k 1 I ^ i «4 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO tically, " I noted the effect of your diplomacy the other morning." Lady Fuji-no colored, and bent her head above her work. " Oh, these days, these days ! " groaned the elderly lady, who was both chaperon and mentor to the others. " Now, in my insignifi- cant youth it would have been a crime of treason to speak with disrespect of a royal princess." " But you see," was the quick retort, " what happened to your august days, Madame Bara. They are quite, quite snuffed out. To-day is — to-day ! We are modern — Western — if it please you ! " " Yes," assented the Paris gown, " that is it exactly." " While the Princess Sado-ko remains — Eastern." Lady Fuji, at the frame, had found her voice again. The Duchess Aoi in the hammock closed her eyes contemptuously. " The day is long," she said, " and our con- versation most dull." GOSSIP OF THE COURT «5 " Well, wc have not solved the question yet," said the anxious little Countess Matsuka. " Oh, let the artist go," yawned one of the company, who had nor yet spoken. There was a hubbub of dissent to this. " And leave us to the mercies of Komatzu's dandies ? " " The artist fellow is entertaining. He is preferable to a geisha." " Oh, what a comparison ! " " Well, ladies," said Madame Bam, sooth- ingly, "you will soon be back in Tokyo." « Yes, thank Shaka ! " " Summer creeps." " The Prince Komatzu would not be flattered, ladies, at your boredom in his summer home," said Madame Bara. "Then the prince should choose more entertaining gentlemen for his household," retorted Lady Fuji-no. " Now, in the palace Nijo-" " Oh, it is well, well, to be in favor at the palace Nijo," said the Duchess Aoi, meaningly ; and instantly the several eyes of the company MICROCOPY RESOIUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and T'O TEST CHART No 2) 1.0 1.1 1.25 IS 11^ I so ' 1.4 [ 2.5 22 2.0 1.8 1.6 ^ APPLIED IM/1GE Inc -— %; '6^J tast Mai > St'eet S^S Rochester. Ne* York i46Ci USA '-^g (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone ^S (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax 1 ;! 86 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO n were focussed on the flushing face of Fuji, for it was quite well known that Nijo had shown her marked favor of late. " For my part," said the chaperon didacti- cally, "I should be honored to be the exalted guest of his Imperial Highness. Why surely, ladies, you will confess that without a doubt he is the most brilliant and noble gentleman of the court. The Duchess Aoi turned her face away. A feverish color flushed her cheeks. She could not speak. " He is just exactly like the statue that the artist has made of him," said Lady Fuji-no. " But the statue is sublime," said Madame Bara. " Yes. But it is marble, madame." There was silence a moment, while the Lady Fuji carefully folded her work, then the Duchess Aoi turned her flushing face : — " Is it any wonder that he is marble ? " she said. "He is betrothed to the Princess Sado-ko." " Poor prince ! " said Lady Fuji. l! CHAPTER VI THE PRINCESS SADO-KO I! )l 'i i Jf I Uj,! CHAPTER VI THE PRINCESS SADO-KO WHILE the ladies of the household of the Princess Sado-ko, and guests of her cousin the Prince Komatzu, were gossiping over their noonday tea, Kamura Junzo, alone, was wandering aimlessly about the palace gardens. He was melancholy and restless. Instead of being satisfied with his success, Junzo was disappointed. He could not have explained why this was so. His patron had been pleased with his work, he had received marked attention and favor from those in power at court, and finally was actu- ally being petted by the ladies. Perhaps it was this latter enervating thing that rendered the young man disappointed and disgusted. Court life had not proved, after all, what he had fancied and pictured. Nobility, such as 89 ^M s|< I ! ' ii '' V { IB' 90 DAUGHIERS OF NIJO he had anticipated, was there only in name. Here in this small court of the noblest prince of the blood, gossip and scandal buzzed like the swarming of bees. Junzo did not wonder that the Princess Sado-ko kept herself in seclusion in her pri- vate wing of the palace. In spite of the curi- ous tales he had heard of her eccentricities, he felt a glow of sympathy for her. Plainly she disapproved of the life about her. As he strolled about the castle gardens, Junzo's memory carried him back into the days of his childhood. A picture grew up in his mind of a great stone wall and a cherry tree which drooped above it, and underneath the cherry tree a small, bewitching creature in a miniature kimono and the roya! kanzashi in her hair. He was smiling to himself in a tender, un- conscious way, when he came to a bamboo gate, which served as entrance through the hedge of boxwood which divided the portion of the gardens in which he was from those Junzo knew were always reserved for the royal u ^ THE PRINCESS SADO-KO 9' ladies of the family. Now he knew also that Komatzu was an orphan without sisters, and that his cousin Sado-ko was the only lady who ever occupied this portion of the palace. Pausing before the gate, Junzo thought that as a boy he would not have hesitated to push it open and penetrate into the forbidden terri- tory beyond. He would like now to take a peep into this garden of Sado-ko. If he should chance to meet her, might he not crave mercy in the name of that game they had played as children together in the gardens of the palace Aoyama? She might be gracious still. So far it had not been his fortune to see her in the palace Komatzu, for she was seldom in the public places of the palace. He had an insatiable curiosity to see how she had changed since childhood. So he stepped across into the private gar- dens, making his way toward the bamboo grove, through which he passed on toward the little river which he could see in a valley beyond, twisting and babbling like a brook. But when he came to the other end of the grove he per- n «■ IJ if i m \m i Si i i - t ll i 92 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO ceived that the garden was unlike those of the palace Aoyama, which was softly enclosed on all sides with trees and bushes. Here the walks were sanded and the landscape scenery was in miniature. There were flower beds and clumps of bamboo. Stately white jars containing rare ferns were placed at intervals in the centre of the rounded lawns, while the walks were lined with pretty sea-shells and white pebbles. Junzo soon realized that this was not a garden in which he could remain for long unobserved. He was about to retrace his steps when he perceived coming toward him along the path a young girl, whose arms were so full of blossoms that her face was partially hidden. As it was too late for him now to retreat, he stood where he was, respectfully waiting for her to approach. She hastened up the path toward him, and as she appeared to be absorbed in her own meditations and had not so far glanced in his direction, Junzo stepped backward toward the grove, hoping she would pass by without : J m^ THE PRINCESS SADO-KO 93 seeing him. This she doubtless would have done had not the young man, as she came opposite, made an odd exclamation, and then stepped before her path. What he said was: — " Masago ! " She raised a startled face to his and stood perfectly still before him in the path, the blos- soms slowly dropping from her arms. That strange expression of mingled fear and amaze- ment awoke chaotic memories in the mind of Junzo. It was Masago who stood before him, he felt sure ; but some one other than Masago had once looked up into his face in the same startled fashion. It must have been a dream or fancy. He repeated her name: — " Masago 1 " And then, " What do you here ? " " Who are you ? " she asked in a low voice, her eyes travelling over his face. "What is your honorable name, and where do you come from ? " The very words had a ring of familiarity to the ears of Junzo. He felt like one in a dream, and answered almost mechanically : — i II] 5 n 94 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO l!:^ V I! •; "I am Kamura Junzo. I come from — " He made a slight motion toward the adjoining gardens. A slow pink glow grew up into her face and spread even to her little ears and whitest neck. Her eyes were shining, almost as if there were tears within them. "Ah," she said softly, "I do remember you." "We are betrothed," he said, passing his hand bewilderedly across his eyes. "Betrothed?" she repeated in that sweet, low-toned voice. "Yes, Masago. Do you not remember then ? " " But my name is not Masago," she said simply. " Not Masago ! " he repeated. " No. I am the Princess Sado-ko." After that there was a long silence between them. They looked into each other's faces without speaking. Then the young man found his voice. "I thought the august sun had touched H ^i i THE PRINCESS SADO-KO 95 my brain," he said. " I knew that your face was familiar to me, and because you are the image of one to whom — " He broke off, flushing under the glance of her soft, searching eyes. " To whom you are betrothed," she finished quietly. « Yes," he said. " And her name is Masago ? " she asked musingly. "Yes." " And she looks like me ? " She raised her face, and looked at him somewhat wist- fully. " Sweet princess," he said, carried away by the expression within her eyes, "her beauty is like unto the moon's — cold, fiir, and dis- tant, but yours — yours warms me like the glow of the sun. You are indeed the child of the sun-god." She smiled faintly. " Are you the artist-man of whom they speak ? " she asked. He bowed slightly, and she continued : — t i 96 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO 1*1' i I ; i , i ■'! u ¥ " I have admired the very beautiful statue you have made of Prince Komatzu." " I trust that it will please the people," he said simply. " Nay, he has presented it as a gift to me," she said. Junzo recalled the report of her betrothal to the Prince Komatzu, and he turned a trifle pale. Possibly she divined his thoughts, for she said : " We are cousins." "And will be — " He did not finish the sentence. She changed the subject abruptly. " You will be at the palace long ? " " Two more days." « And then ? " " I will return home." " Home ? " She repeated the word in such a wistful, lingering tone. " You will go back to Kamakura?" she asked. "Yes." " My dear old home ! " she said. And then, " You do not know what memories your pres- ence recalls to me." ir THE PRINCESS SADO-ICO 97 He could not uke his eyes from her ex- pressive face. " I have not seen it since I was a child," she said. " Why do you go so soon ? " «* My honorable commission ends." « There may be others." « I have no other," he replied simply. " The ladies of the court would honorably like their pictures painted ? " she essayed almost timidly. « I do not paint," he said. " I am but a sculptor." They walked slowly up the pebbled path, and through the bamboo grove, until they came to the little gate over which he had stepped. " Now we have reached the wall," she said with childish lightness. "You are not so brave nowadays, I fancy, as to carry me across by force." He vaulted to the other side without speak- ing, then stood a moment, looking back at her. "Yet," she said, almost tremulously, "the wall is not so high or stone." it I i1» 'If 'i- li 1: ill 98 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO " It has the power to divide, O princess," he replied in a husky voice. " Now you are at the other side, you are no longer Kamura Junzo," she said. " You have become changed from the little boy I once knew. You are cruel now — and — and — cold." "And you," he said, "as far away and un- attainable as the stars, O princess." " Yet you are betrothed to one whom you called Masago," she said suddenly, and raised an almost appealing face to his. He looked into her eyes and did not speak. "A'ld am I not like this Masago?" she asked. " You are like no one in all the world," he said, "save that sweet, lovely princess that even as a boy I sought to capture for — my own." " You have not tried again," she said. " The sun is in my eyes, O princess. I am afraid." He turned abruptly from her and walked swiftly away toward the front of the palace. »\* 1 "In the name of Princess Sado-ko ! " he cried. The covering had slipped to the floor, and even the most impassive of the ladies had started back with little gasps of consternation. The canvas that faced them now was blank. There was complete silence in the salon of the visiting artist. Then almost simultane- ously all eyes were turned from that blank canvas to the face of the artist-man. He stood there like one overtaken by a sudden tragedy. His face was white and drawn, his eyes, always large and dark, were widened now. His nostrils quivered, and his lips were dry. The very sight of his despair had a moving effect upon all, save the Lady Fuji-no, who began to laugh very softly. Thus she broke the silence. Her words were slow and cruel : — " Of a truth. Sir Artist, the picture of her Imperial Highness is unfinished." He did not speak. The lady leaned toward him, thrusting her face within the range of his vision. ■M 11 ,• ' PICTURE BY THE ARTIST-MAN 107 « Is this the honorable portrait of our Prin- cess Sado-ko, which she will make as exchange gift to her affianced, Prince Komatzu?" she asked. The artist turned his face painfully aside. Then the Duchess Aoi spoke: — "Artist," she said, "we most humble and insignificant ones copy the august fashions from her Highness. Pray you, paint my picture in just so fine a style." There were hysterical tears in the voice of the little Countess Matsuka. She sought in vain to divert her more heartless companions. « I," she said, "would desire to be painted in a most gorgeous foreign gown." "With the body showing?" inquired Madame Eara. "Yes, the neck and the long arms. Why not?" " Oh, ah, it is indecent ! " The artist stooped to the covering on the floor. He stood holding it in his hand, as though he knew not what to do. " Oh, pray do not cover up the august like- 1 i U ^ I. iH I ! w io8 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO ncss, artist," pleaded the Lady Fuji-no, with affected solicitude. The Countess Matsuka raised her voice al- most shrilly : — "Ladies, do let us take a vote as to the decency of the barbarian gown." But her suggestion was drowned in the hub- bub of gossip. The countess was met only with this reply: — " Countess, upon what work was this artist- man engaged when he was closeted with Prin- cess Sado-ko ? " The group about the picture grew closer still together. The question grew in size, and found a hundred answers. " It is one that only the artist himself can solve," said Aoi, looking toward him ob- liquely. " Oh, oh, was only the artist present.?" pro- tested Lady Fuji. "And her Highness," said the Duchess Aoi, and bowed in mocking reverence at the name. " Do you not recall she said she would not have her ladies present at the sittings? PICTURE BY THE ARTIST-MAN 109 When we dared to protest, in most humble wise, she frowned and commanded us to go, which we were forced to do." The artist suddenly took a step forward and faced the ladies fairly. The color had returned to his face, and his eyes sparkled in defiant scorn at his small tormentors. His voice was raised to a clear pitch : — "You make mistake, most noble ladies. You do injustice to the humble artist, to his work, and to her most exalted Highness." Here he bowed deeply and with reverence. " It is very true you do not now behold on this blank canvas the work of the many days of the artist. Yet that is not an unsolvable mystery. Shall the humble but honorable artist allow his work upon the portrait of her Serene Highness, the daughter of the sun-god, to remain in his most public salon for the chance and vulgar observation of the spiteful curious? Permit me to observe with proper respect and humility that no explanation of the substitution of the blank canvas is diie. Fur- ther, ladies, you make a treasonable mistake m . • ' I Jl '^' fe d no DAUGHTERS OF NIJO when you declare the august sittings were un- attended. Her Highness, upon all occasions when she deigned to permit me to paint her august picture, was both chaperoned and at- tended by the honorable maid, Onatsu-no." A sudden little shriek broke from one of the ladies, at which all turned toward her and then followed the direction of her startled eyes. The next instant all this company of clattering- tongued ladies, whether in European dr^'ss or kimono, had fallen to their knees, and were touching the mats with their heads. The Princess Sado-ko, attended by her maiden, Natsu-no, stepped slowly down from the slight eminence of the adjoining room, the shojis of which the pages drew behind her. There was no expression in the face of Sado-ko as she crossed the room, bcwing her head with grace in response to the servile courtesies of her maids of honor. She made a slight motion with her hands, and there was a quick move- ment and rustling of the obedient ladies, mov- ing toward the shoji that led without. One of them, more daring than the others, the Lady PICTURE BY THE ARTIST-MAN m Fuji-no, paused by the veranda doors, and spoke with affected timidity : — " May it please your Highness that we be permitted to remain to-day for this sitting ? " Sado-ko's eyes were above the head of her father's new favorite and her own maid of honor. " Lady Fuji-no," she said, " I have spoken." Fuji bowed herself down to the mats, then quietly joined those without. ) t V i ■ ^f\ ! J I i: fi II U ■I: 4 i ■ i; ' ; y 11 i 1 ^ ■ 1 k\^^^ CHAPTER VIII A SENTIMENTAL PRINCESS i I it i ' CHAPTER VIII A SENTIMENTAL PRINCESS JUNZO turned his head from Sado-ko. He stood still as a statue, his head droop- ing, his hands clinched. She broke the strained silence with a co -mand to her attend- ant. " Natsu-no, pray draw apart the door at once. The atmosphere is thick with odor of our ladies. It has sickened the honorable artist." He raised his head sharply. She had not heard, then ! The maid pushed the shojis to either side, thus exposing the apartment to the full view of any without. This was a daily custom and precaution. No spying maid of honor might lurk about the balcony. While the sliding doors remained open, neither the artist nor the princess spoke, but when a sufficient interval had elapsed and the "5 Ml 1 1 !, ". W 1 "I" ill % 'if. ii6 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO doors had been drawn together again, the maid whispered a word of command to the guard outsidej who silently took his station on the balcony. Then Sado-ko, turning slowly tow- ard the artist, began to laugh in a strangely quivering, and subdued fashion. The sound of the soft laughter hurt the artist. He scarcely could command his words. "Guileless princess, I pray you do not laugh ! " " Not laugh ? " she repeated. " You are to- day a most unflattering artist. Was it only yesterday you said my laughter was as sweet as sweetest music of the sweetest birds ? " She passed her fan over her shoulder to the maid Natsu-no, who, whirling it open, fanned her gently. Sado-ko smiled reproachfully at Junzo, as she sat by a golden screen, near to a shoji through which the sinking sun pierced and slanted just above her head. Junzo knelt on one knee a short distance from her. His face was sad and serious. « Princess Sado-ko," he said, "you have not heard of a most lamentable happening." mmmt A SENTIMENTAL PRINCESS 117 « If," said she, still smiling, "you allude to the noisy chatter of my ladies, you are mis- taken. I have heard." He looked half unconsciously toward the now covered canvas. She followed his glance, and still she smiled. " I have seen, too," she said. He regarded her dumbly, marvelling at the trembling happiness which seemed to lurk within her eyes and about her small red lips. " Come -)ace nearer to me, if you please," she urged. His obedience brought him so close that he could have touched her. She put out a little hand toward him, and spoke his name. " Junzo ! " she said. He scarcely dared to look at her. She said : — " I pray you, look at me a ^pace." Their eyes met fully now, and then he saw that despite the smile within them, hers were shining with undropped tears. In an agony of feeling he turned from her. He heard her tremulous voice, thrilling now with that strange ii8 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO R't laughing quality but accentuating the pleading underneath. " Do not even the birds chatter ? Permit my ladies the same pastime." " It is of you I think," he said huskily. " That is all very well. I — I would not have you think of — of another," she replied. " Princess, the gossip of the ladies does in- jury to your sweet name." "If that were so," she said, " there would be no such name as Sado-ko left in the world. Do you not know that I am the most un- popular princess in Japan ? " " But this late matter, princess, is not merely female resentment at your refusal to accept the Western mode of life within your household. But this new slan — " " Do not speak the word," she said quietly. She took her fan from Natsu-no, and aris- ing crossed the room until she stood before the easel. Pensively she looked at the cov- ered canvas. Junzo had followed her and now stood by her side. There was deep emotion in his voice : — A SENTIMENTAL PRINCESS 119 ( « Princess, will it please you to sit to-day ? " She turned to raise her eyes to his. " But," she said, " you do not paint upon the canvas. You have told me so." " I am a sculptor, but I have also attempted the other — " She interrupted him. " It would hurt your fame," she said. " It cannot be." " And what does it matter whether I have fame or not?" " Artist, it was not for that work I bade you stay," she said. " But it was thought so by the others, princess." « I — I had a desire to learn more of — of Kamakura — of people there — and so I begged you to remain." "You did command," he said in a low voice. "No," raising her eyes appealingly, "say that I did beseech you." " You did command," he repeated. " Well, have it so. I commanded and you ■ 'I 120 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO obeyed. It was the reason of your staying. Why suggest employment now ? " "To spare the name of the most noble princess in the realm." She held her little head proudly. " Who is it that slanders Sado-ko," she asked scornfully, and then quickly answered herself. " A few small biting insects, who but sting, not kill. Sir Artist." He turned away from her and stood by the garden shoji, from whence he stared moodily without. She followed him with softest step. " I pray you, do not look without. The sky is gray. The sun is fading." She put her hand upon his arm with timid touch. He turned with sudden impulse, and seized it in both his own. "The sun, O princes^, is within," he cried, "and, O sweet Sado-ko, it is too dazzling bright for such as I to gaze upon." When he would have dropped her hand, she held it within his own. Her face filled him with a vague longing. He trembled at I W A SENTIMENTAL PRINCESS 121 her touch. He felt the wavering of her head toward him, then its touch against his arm, where now it rested. A remnant of rea- son remaining within him, he sought to draw apart from her. "Do not — do not so," she cried, clinging to him. " My touch profanes you, Sado-ko," he whispered hoarsely. " It does not," she denied, with tears in her appealing voice. "Pray you, do not draw your arm awf/." " Princess ! " "I do command again," she said. After that he did not speak. Suddenly the silent, immovable figure of the maid seemed to take upon itself the first signs of life. She arose and moved toward her mis- tress. At a respectful distance she spoke. " Noble princess ! " she said. Sado-ko, still holding the arm of her lover close about her, turned toward the maid. " What is your honorable desire, maiden ? " " The chamber darkens, O princess. Will '.■•■ n 'HI Ml^ I i I- If I ft '5' h 122 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO your Highness deign to permit the honorable light ? " " I am quite satisfied," said Sado-ko, and rested her head contentedly against the artist's arm. The maid did not move. " Will not the noble princess permit her evening meal ? " she tsked in trembling tones. " I am not hungry," said the Princess Sado- ko. She smiled up at her lover's now adoring face. " Princess, the hour of — " Sado-ko turned toward the maid with the first show of impatience. • Pray return to your seat, Natsu-no," she said, " and when I need your service, I will so advise you." Without replying, Natsu-no slowly moved to her seat ; but she kept her face toward those two figures now silhouetted in the twilight of the room. " You still are uneasy ? " asked the Princess Sado-ko. "Do you not like the touch of mer A SENTIMENTAL PRINCESS 123 « It makes me faint with ecstasy," he said. " Yet, Sado-ko, I am fearful." " Oh, be not fearful," she said. ««On my knees I could adore you, but — " " But ? You do not finish." " Princess 1 " « Do not call me princess. Forget for but a little while that I am such. I, too, would forget, my Junzo." " I must remember for us both," he said. « My honor — O sweet Sado-ko — thy honor — " "Sado-ko is ill with honor," she replied. « Give me for a change a little of thnt simple love I have not had since my august grand- mother died." « O innocent princess 1" She laughed softly. « Junzo, they say that I was born without a heart, that because I was the child of gods I could not love as mortals do. Could you not tell them otherwise, my Junzo?" The maid was weeping in the darkened room, her sobs cleariy audible. They heard Ii; Ci, -1; V if U Vi 124 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO Her crawling on her knees across the room, and then the sofc thud of her prostration be- fore the little shrine. Then came the mum- b'ing words of her prayer — " Hear thou the prayer of the most humble one, O mighty Kuonnon Save thou the soul of thy innocent descendant, she who — " Sado-ko dropped the arm of her lover and started toward the maid. '• Natsu-no ' " she cried out sharply, as the drone of the woman's prayer ended, " for whom do you pray ? ' I'he maid put her head at the princess's feet "For you, O beloved mistress I pray that the gods will save you from this artist- man. ' The princess spurned her with her little foot, " If you make such foolish prayers, the gods may hear you," she cried. " If they should grant your prayers and take him from me, why, I should be bereft of — Oh-h — " She made p passionate movement toward A SENTIMENTAL PRINCESS 125 the shrine, as though she would destroy it, but strong hands drew her away. " Do not, Sado-ko, offend the gods ! Do not, for my sake ! " She put her hands upon his shoulders and wept against his breast. r' i < iJ I) rr I A m Ifl' » CHAPTER IX MOON TRYST .— *" '~'" \-^- r -' -^x. If ^'i lit S|i 111 4^ CHAPTER IX MOON TRVST LIKE a large lighted lantern the palace Komatzu appeared in the night, its transparent shojis revealed the lights within. The sound of soft tinkUng music was constantly heard, an accompaniment to the ceaseless murmuring of voices. Ever and anon there was the sound of silvery laughter, and also the soft glide and patter of moving footsteps. From the garden without one could see the strange flitting and moving of the figures within, for the court of Japan was enjoying the latest of Western novelties, — the dance. A square-bearded German had found a place as leader of the Japanese orchestra, and now a strange medley of dance music was being wrung from the instruments. The weird 1 1^9 130 UAUGHl'ERS OF NIJO ■11 i ■;. ij, ^i ■l u m '\ ■ 1; Mrtl m v.:i^^ tinkling of the geishas' instruments floating out from a garden booth close at hand, added dis- cord to the odd orchestra of the palace. Yet the gentlemen and ladies of the court glided and tripped back and forth within, and thought that they were dancing quite in the style of the fashionable Westerners. But while all was gay and brilliant in the new ball-room of the palace Komatzu, that wing of the palace reserved for the Princess Sado-ko was in blackness. Sado-ko stood alone in her darkened chamber. She had dismissed her personal attendant, Natsu-no, though the latter crouched by the inner shoji, her eye peering into the adjoining room, watching and guarding her mistress. It had not been difficult for Sado-ko to retire from the ball, when the dancing had begun, for her aversion to all such modern pastimes was well known. She alone of all that company had appeared in the simple though exquisite garb of her country. In a robe of ancient style, soft flowing, Sado-ko had MOON TRYST »3i never appeared to better advantage among the ladies of the court, all of whom affected the European style of gown, which ill became them. Now in her chamber alone, Sado-ko watched by her shoji. When first she took her stand, all was black without. No moon had yet arisen to silver her own gardens and tell her that it was time. It was a long interval while she stood there, a statue of patience. Gradually the darkness without became mellowed, and slowly and softly the tall bam- boos and pines became silhouetted against the sky. One small hand hidden in the folds of her kimono was lifted. She pushed the shoji a small way apart, — only enough room for her straining eyes to see clearer without. It was a whice and wistful face she turned appealingly to the skies. Then that first soft light reflected in her eyes, and sighing with relief that her waiting now was over, she pushed the sliding doors still farther apart and then stepped outside. She paused upon her bal- cony, to look about her with some fear. h 11 132 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO I'fi ij' There was no sound or stir. Very distant and far away sounded the music of the palace Komatzu. With another glance of assurance at the moon floating up from the hills and trees, she lifted her gown. Down into the garden the princess stepped. Almost at the same instant the maiden Natsu-no cautiously pushed back the siioji the princess had forgotten to close, and keeping some distance behind, followed her mistress with stealing step. Meanwhile the Lady Fuji-no had slipped breathlessly from the arms of her partner, and condemning the atmosphere of the room had sought the wide verandas. Save for the silent and melancholy figure of the artist the verandas were deserted. He stood by the steps leading to the gardens, his arms folded across his breast, his head partly upraised as though he watched the skies. At the light touch of the Lady Fuji's hand he started violently, forget- ting his manners in so far as to draw his sleeve quickly away from her clasp. Her face was in MOON TRYST 133 shadow, for it was dark about them. Only the first glimmer of the moon had yet appeared. Junzo knew that she was smiling mock- ingly. " You watch the stars. Sir Artist ? " she asked sweetly. " Yes," he replied, without moving. " So ! They are very beautiful to-night." " Honorably so," he replied simply. "Yet how insignificant will they appear shortly when their august queen shall arise to dim their little lustre." "It is so," he agreed gravely ; " the august moon is queen of the night." " You watch for the queen. Sir Artist ? " He turned and looked at her curiously. " And you, my lady ? " " 1, too," she rejoined. He moved restlessly, and even in the dim light her watching eyes saw the uneasiness in his face. " Let us watch for her together, artist." " I would not take you from your pleasures within, my lady." ■34 DAUGHTERS OF NIJO " Nay, the pleasures without overshadow those within." Again she saw the anxious glance upward toward the hills, and in the darkness the Lady Fuji smiled behind her opened fan. Junzo moved downward a few steps; he paused irresolutely. " The garden is fragrant, Lady Fuji-no. I would enjoy it for a little while." " And I," said she, and went a step down- ward. " But the air is chill, my lady." " Balmy sweet. Sir Artist." " Lady, your august neck and arms are bare to the night," he said. She drew herself up slightly, and looked down a space at her low gown. "The musicians and the geishas in the booths," he said, " would dishonor you with their rude glances." Without replying she clapped her hands. A page came at the signal. " A wrap, if you please," she ordered. Junzo, now at the foot of the steps, stirred 'i'^