That evening Yumi came to Suga’s room, where she talked to her of her upbringing and her family. They were poor; the only working member left was her elder sister’s husband at the ward office, but at one time her father had been a bodyguard of a minor feudal lord and her mother had been in service at the lord’s residence. At the urging of Mrs. Sonoda, Yumi had come to the Shirakawa household in the belief that she was going to learn polite manners, but the way things had turned out made her suspect that those responsible had secretly intended it from the time they first helped her to get the position. Shirakawa said that he would take responsibility for her as his adopted daughter in the same way as Suga, but she doubted whether her stubborn father would agree. It would be unbearably embarrassing for her if her father came complaining that his daughter had been ruined. The very idea, she told Suga with an expression of intense emotion, made her want to go away somewhere and hide herself.

Excitement and the tears that stained her cheeks had given Yumi’s face, with its tightly knit eyebrows like those of a handsome boy, a still more simple beauty. The fact that her sorrow was untouched by bitterness at the wrong she had been done softened Suga’s own heart and gave her a sense of kinship with the girl.

The bazaar that day had gone even better than expected, it seemed. At dusk, Tomo and Etsuko came home ahead of Shirakawa, who had come to the bazaar as a guest; they carried with them a bundle of cakes and cosmetic bags that he had bought as presents for those who had stayed at home.

Shedding her constricting Western dress and donning a kimono of heavy yellow silk with a loose jacket in Yūzen dyed silk, Etsuko came to Suga’s room and told her everything she wanted to know about how she had served tea to Her Majesty the Empress.

‘Yes … I think you could say she’s pretty. You know – she’s rather like our Yumi.’ Having let this slip, Etsuko shrank into herself and glanced behind her. If her mother had been there, she would certainly have been severely scolded for such a disrespectful comparison. So strict was Tomo’s training that Etsuko always seemed more lively and childlike when she was with Suga or the maids. Suga herself felt a natural sympathy with the innocent way in which Etsuko would cling to her. Having had a mother who did up her hair for her, bought her pretty hair ornaments, and generally spoiled her, there were times when she felt something akin to pity for this child who though still small could never fully be herself with either parent and was always on her guard in a way that was unnatural in a child.

‘Do you like Yumi, Etsuko?’