Tomo, burdened with a constant sense of guilt at her inability to love her own son Michimasa, would sometimes gaze at her grandchild’s limbs as he romped about so full of life and marvel that she could feel so much affection for Michimasa’s child. In Yukitomo’s eyes, too, Takao could do no wrong, though when Michimasa and Etsuko were in their infancy Yukitomo had been disturbed by the children and had often sent them with his wife to some distant part of the house so that he would not be irritated by the sound of their crying. Yukitomo would take him from Maki and holding him with both hands lift him up high in the air. ‘Fly, Takao, fly, high up in the sky!’ he would chant, and roar with laughter. Since Yukitomo showed such affection for him, both Suga and Yumi also made much of the ‘little master,’ and Takao was passed from the arms of one member of the household to another, a constant focus of attention. So long as Takao was with them, Yukitomo would speak to Tomo with his old lack of reserve and even Tomo could talk without any sense of barrier. This child, offspring of their own unworthy son Michimasa, was a silent witness to the blood ties that existed between the two of them, now husband and wife in name alone. This idea too had been instilled in Tomo’s lonely soul by her own mother who had died in Kumamoto the previous year, shortly before Takao’s birth, and Tomo cherished it accordingly. So fond of Takao was Yukitomo that it was already decided that whatever other children Michimasa might have Takao would remain legitimate heir to the Shirakawa estate, one part of which had already been made over into his name. Thus Takao’s position in the family was in no danger so long as his grandparents were alive; but they might die unexpectedly, and Tomo instinctively feared for Takao’s sake to introduce a woman of strong character as Michimasa’s second wife. On this score, too, Miya passed the test.

Before a month had passed Miya was on cheerful, friendly terms with everybody in the house. She made no conscious effort, yet seemed to distil so sweet, so flowerlike a fragrance that not only Yukitomo and Tomo but even Suga and Yumi, who might have been expected to feel jealousy towards another young woman, would watch her with frank, unguarded smiles. She would peer into Takao’s face as he lay in Maki’s arms and exclaim, ‘How sweet! Let me hold him for a while!’ and taking him in her slender arms kiss him unaffectedly on the cheek, laughing till her eyes became the merest creases in her face. Yukitomo and Tomo were delighted by her apparent complete unawareness of the predecessor who had borne Takao.