‘Positive?’ demanded Yumi raising her head slightly. ‘Not me! The idea of me leaving here, you know – it was more than half because the master said I ought to settle down before I got too old. That makes it sound as though he’s awfully concerned about me, but you know, Suga …’ Disengaging her slender shoulder from the silk night kimono with an arrow-feather pattern, she brought her face close to Suga’s, propping her chin on her elbow. ‘If the master really didn’t want to let me go, do you think he’d say such a thing? Take us, now – with something we really valued, whether it was a kimono or an ornamental hairpin, we’d never sell it or give it away in a hurry, would we? I’m sure it’s the same with men. Supposing you were in my place and asked to leave, he’d never let you. That’s because it’s you he’s really fond of.’

‘No, it’s not true. The one he’s wrapped up in at the moment is the young mistress at Tsunamachi. Surely you know that.’

Suga too had raised herself and turned to lie face down. Her voice shook as she mentioned Miya.

‘That’s true. But then, after all, legally she’s the young master’s wife. He may get some fun out of it but he can never have her openly in the eyes of society. The master himself is steadily getting older, and the mistress is more like the manager of the establishment. When it comes to looking after him personally, you’re the only one he can’t do without. I’m the one he doesn’t need now that he’s got the young mistress. I’m the “fan in the autumn …”’ She hummed a snatch of a tokiwazu melody and gave a light laugh. The slight self-mockery did not detract from the freshness of her laughter, but it failed to move Suga, who said in the same half-muttered tone:

‘After all, the master’s not young, is he? He seems to get tired when he goes to Tsunamachi. Preparing dried bonito broth, giving him five or six egg yolks to swallow at a time – that’s the kind of extra work I’m likely to find myself with when you go. A servant cherished to death, that’s me. When I look at it that way I envy you, clearing out definitely like this. If you marry Mr. Iwamoto you’ll probably have children, and you’ll be able to go out and about without feeling inferior to anybody.’