HOME ABANDONED
Takara did not change, nor chafe, nor exalt under the new conditions;
she only loved Tetsutaisho, and being installed in his house she felt
secure in what before hardly seemed a reality. His heart was hers, she
reasoned, and the law made his domicile her privilege. And had he not
convinced her? And might not Nehachibana be proud of her husband's
choice? Better such a concubine than an absent husband, she thought;
and, after all, need she rob her sister-in-law of what seemed
impossible?
The lovers were happy, and Nehachibana, at first flushed and nervous,
had now grown cold and calm. Her own chamber was comfortable, even
luxurious, yet for hours she would lay her ear close to the frail
partition, and a monster bade the fancies that leaped to her brain. In
her bath no abomination had entered. No mugwort or sweet flag had
desecrated there. Yet the stork was as silent as the tombs of Nodo, and
her hopes had changed to fear, her position to that of a slave. Once she
crouched low and listened; then she clutched at emptiness and her face
whitened, and she crawled back to her own miserable mat and there
planned and determined. Presently she slept, and dreamed of her master's
expected son, which to her had been a blessing.
Nor was she alone in her suspicions, for what she had heard and dreamed
the silvered poet visioned and divined. The spirit had touched him, too,
and he sorrowed when he waked. Then as if moved by an uncontrollable
impulse he stole to Takara's abandoned home and there mused at the
unhallowed life of his downfallen mistress, his idolised queen. Maido,
too, had gone there to reflect, and he made no move to disturb the
other, but left him to bide the impulse of his nature, commune with the
god of his disturbed conscience. Michizane was the product of a nobler
life, the devotee of a gentler age, and a worshipper at the tomb of an
ancestry far removed from the wicked intrigues of a feudal aristocracy.
His was of the mikado's way, the effect of a divine inspiration. To
transgress from its sacred guidance was to fall from the pale of life
and to forfeit every privilege of redemption.
Takara, too, was born and bred of this master influence, and
notwithstanding her impulsive nature possessed all the charm and dignity
of a royal personage, together with that broader intellect which comes
of high endeavour, and that better grace which is the product of refined
associations. She was proud though not haughty, and in her soul there
lived a purpose.
Unlike her, Nehachibana was the product of a proud nobility. Shut up
within the castle gates, she had always been idolised and petted. She
had known of no want that was not supplied, and had expressed not a wish
that was not gratified; every luxury had been showered upon her. Her
sense of the good was the one bright hope in her life, for she knew not
the force of intellect, nor had she been taught to reason. When she went
forth into the world she was helpless in the race, and when she tasted
of the bitter it was like the gall of quassia, and she fell at the
shrine of Amida.
Of a sweet disposition, Nehachibana had always looked upon the brighter
side of life; therefore it was the more difficult for her to reconcile
herself to the thought that hers was not a just treatment. She sometimes
felt that it was her own shortcomings that had driven her husband away
from her, and then she would set about with renewed effort to see that
his house was made agreeable to his coming, and her love worthy of his
taking. Once she said to herself:
"I shall please him. He is mine and I must win. No other loves him as I
do; none but me can have him. He is mine unto death. I shall--but oh!
that other one! And the law, and I--O Kami, my heart, my heart, it is
breaking! Is there no help? Is there no help for--me? But she, she has
his love! It is not he, it is his weakness that she loves! And I, I am
helpless!--Helpless? No! Did I not hear Kiyokime, the goddess of hate?
And did she not say revenge? And I a woman? Then to the work, and let it
be as swift as the necessities may allow. I will have revenge!"
However, it was less easy for Nehachibana to execute than to resolve.
She was now entirely cut off from any association whatever with her
rival, and found it difficult even to satisfy her curiosity. This
unpleasant situation had been brought about more by the foolishness of
her mother-in-law than by her own dulness, yet it affected her none the
less for that. Heretofore it had been irksome to do service for her
rival, which both situation and custom compelled, but now that she had
resolved it would have been a pleasure. Still, as difficulties arose her
determination increased, and she not only concluded to bide her time but
to make certain her victory.
When Takara came into their home Tetsutaisho's mother was at first so
overwhelmed with the honour and so proud of herself that she became not
only tyrannical to her former household but somewhat insufferable to the
newcomer. The new acquisition had insisted upon bringing all of her own
servants, and had little need and less desire for the assistance of her
gallant's mother or other relations: that was something she had not
bargained for, and she was of a mind not to tolerate meddlesome
interference. Consequently, Takara had not been there many months before
she had appropriated to her own exclusive use that portion of the
premises which suited her most.
Tetsutaisho personally concerned himself in these sometimes threatening
matters no further than to give his consent to anything that anybody
might propose; and as his mother took the ground that it was her right,
and as Nehachibana had nothing to ask, the proposals were always on the
side of Takara and the victory in her favour. While Tetsutaisho did not
mean to be irreverent he did love a plucky battle and was inclined to
the belief that to the winner belongs the spoils. That, probably as much
as a careless indifference, prompted him to give the ladies of the house
a free hand in its management, and always to absent himself at the first
sign of a disturbance.
It was, possibly, at one of these bothersome times that Tetsutaisho
stole out and unconsciously found his way to the council chamber. He had
gone away in this manner before, but seldom got so far as the hall of
state. Sometimes he loafed at headquarters or called upon Maido. More
often he spent the hour with Ikamon, who was now deeply engrossed with
adjusting local affairs so as to meet the requirements of foreign
interference, but on this occasion a higher purpose seemed to control
him, and for the first time he voiced his sentiment in unmistakable
terms.
Unconsciously, perhaps, but none the less certain, the hated stranger
had peeped into the treasure box, and so infused a commercial and
diplomatic awakening as to lay the foundation for nothing less than the
rehabilitation of a long lost empire. It was the dawn of a new era, and
no one more than Ikamon interpreted correctly the scope and consequence
of so sudden a contact with Christian civilization. As yet the shogunate
had not been openly accused of collusion with the foreigners; still
whisperings to that effect had been heard, as coming from Kyoto; and the
prime minister, no more to be outdone at home than to be defeated from
abroad, began to encourage an increase in the army and to advise
Tetsutaisho accordingly.
Ikamon was, also, not slow to grasp at the importance of improved
methods and had strongly urged Tetsutaisho to bestir himself in adopting
and applying more effective instruments, but the latter was rather
inclined to the belief that there was not so much to be gained by
radical changes: that the disorganisation attendant upon the
introduction of new measures more than offset the benefits derived. He
reasoned that the samurai were already trained and fully equipped. He
knew they were brave to a man, and loyal.
"What more," said he, "would you have? Would you see cowardice supplant
courage, and the black powder of a foe substituted for the ringing steel
of our forefathers? These men are invincible, and Tetsutaisho is a
general. Give me the opportunity, the occasion, and I will convince
you."
As he spoke his voice rang with the pride of ages, and the council halls
echoed and re-echoed with applause. Even Ikamon was for the moment swept
away with enthusiasm, as the vigorous man swung his great arms and
shouted the glory of the nation's defenders. It was not so much a want
of understanding that made Tetsutaisho slow to feel the necessity of
change, but it was more the red blood coursing through his veins which
gave him an unbounded faith in the loyal, faithful, worshipping army at
his command. He believed in their superiority and felt them worthy of
their country's confidence, and as he retired from the chamber and
walked out into the park his step livened with pride and his whole being
quickened with a rising confidence in himself and a growing contentment
with the world. He thought of his home and of the love that Takara had
lain at his feet; of the faithful, patient consideration of Nehachibana,
his lawful wife and worthy helpmeet; of his mother, and how she fretted
and worried and fussed as opportunities came and her station advanced;
then suddenly he came upon Kinsan and all this vanished from his memory
as if a thing of yesterday.
She was with her father, who stood off some distance turning a tiny
stream of water into the garden, which showed the ravages of a long dry
spell. It was Choyo, the ninth day of the ninth month, and there had
been no rain for more than a moon past. Kinsan sat in the shade of a
spreading oak, at one corner of the garden near where the roadway
passed, and grouped about her were a number of children whose wide eyes
sparkled with interest as she repeated to them a poem well suited to the
occasion.
It was a favourite selection from Onokomachi, the blind poetess, who
ever prayed for rain. The words were familiar to Tetsutaisho and he,
too, stopped at the border and listened. Kinsan's voice rang tender and
sweet, though there seemed a pathos which touched him and caused a
deeper interest. Had he neglected her? Was she now pleading for that
which he had so long sought? His memory went out to her, and he
determined again to try.