‘Nothing of the kind,’ said Tomo. ‘Well, we must be going now. But we’ll be back before dark, so take your time, Kin.’ And with Etsuko following, lifting the sides of her long skirt as she went, she set off walking toward the entrance hall.

After she had seen off the rickshaws bearing mother and child in their unfamiliar Western dress, Kin talked for a while with Seki in the hall, then went into Suga’s room.

Suga’s was a small room facing the back garden where pale pink sasanqua flowers were in bloom. With a band of rosy pink spotted silk over her triple bun, Suga was busily sewing a lined sash of Yūzen silk on the stitching stand, with a red needle holder resting on her lap. Seeing Kin, she laid aside her needle as though she had been expecting the visit and drew up a cushion by the side of the brazier for her.

‘Have you seen my mother since you last came? I haven’t heard from her lately.’

Her home in Kokuchō was a mere stone’s throw from the Shirakawa’s official residence, but a girl in Suga’s position could not come and go as she pleased. Whatever she might feel privately, Suga was officially registered as the Shirakawas’ daughter, which meant that where society was concerned she had severed all connections with her own family. Although, having gained possession of Suga, Shirakawa lavished affection and advice on this girl young enough to be his daughter in such a way as to convince her that he was a paragon among men, all the while behind the scenes his cruel nature made him careful to tie her down with official restraints lest she run away. Used as she was to Shirakawa’s affection Suga had no understanding of such forbidding aspects of the masculine mind, yet the realization that the mere mention of her parents or brothers and sisters would put Shirakawa into a vaguely bad temper made her too nervous ever to speak of them. Apart from the seasons of the Bon Festival and the New Year, when her mother came to offer greetings to the Shirakawas, her normal means of obtaining news of her own family was through Kin, who had first arranged for her to go into service.

‘She came at the end of last month. She’d been to the temple at Hashiba, she said … She was very well. She said the beriberi in her legs has been much better this year, even since autumn set in.’

‘What about the shop? I heard something about them changing the type of business they do …’

‘Oh that – it’s hardly what you could call a change of business. It’s just that besides bamboo skin they’re going to take bamboo boxes and the like from the wholesalers.’