‘I see … so you gave them to Suga.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ He was about to move off when Tomo pulled him up with a slight cough.

‘Er, Mr. Konno – there’s something I’d like to remind you of. You will please not refer to Suga as the mistress. There is only one mistress in this house – myself. If one is loose in one’s speech, you see, the whole household tends to get out of hand.’

Her tone was mild, but the effect on Konno was like a sudden hammer-blow to the head. Bowing obsequiously, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he made off, only to find her smooth, sallow cheeks as calm and relaxed as ever, the same, faintly drowsy fullness in her eyelids.

A year or so earlier, when he had come as houseboy to the Shirakawas, on the understanding that they would give him the time and money needed to attend night classes at a pharmacological college, Konno had referred to Suga as ‘Miss Suga’ in the same way as the maids and tradesmen. It somehow suggested a housekeeper, and it was Suga indeed who, when Tomo, as so often happened, was out attending to their land and houses, moved lethargically back and forth between living quarters and kitchen, taking care of Yukitomo’s needs and giving instructions for the running of the household. When she had nothing on her hands she would sit by the rectangular brazier in the living room smoking her long-stemmed pipe or reading aloud from a book or newspaper to keep Yukitomo amused. At night, of course, she set her bed out beside Yukitomo’s in his bedroom; but apart from this the thing that most clearly showed Suga’s position in the Shirakawa household was the seating arrangement of the members at mealtimes.

Yukitomo would sit in the most honored position, followed by Tomo and Takao, with Michimasa, his wife Miya, and their children in the appropriate places whenever they happened to be there. Then small lacquered tables would be brought and placed before each of them, while the serving maid placed a large lacquered tub containing cooked rice in the center of the room and seated herself before it. No separate table was set out for Suga. With her back to the maid, she would sit facing Yukitomo across his table, helping him to rice, boning his fish, and otherwise attending to his needs while she herself ate from dishes placed on the same table.

The sight of the elderly Yukitomo plying his chopsticks with the younger Suga seated opposite him at the same table suggested a relationship whose familiarity was neither that of husband and wife nor that of father and daughter, and confirmed Suga’s position at a glance to anyone who might be watching.