"You must come to dinner again soon," said Hirata suddenly, as they turned north.

Akitada started. "Thank you," he said awkwardly.

"Tamako asks about you every evening."

"Oh." Akitada was at a loss for words.

They continued to the corner where Mibu Road ends at Second Avenue and their paths parted.

"Well?" asked Hirata, stopping.

"Yes. I should like to," stammered Akitada. "That is, if Tamako really… that is, I do not want to be a nuisance."

"Not at all. You would do us a favor." Hirata put his hand on Akitada's arm and pleaded, "You see, we live too detached a life. Especially Tamako. She needs to be with young people her own age. Usually mothers manage this sort of thing, but since my wife died…" He let his voice trail away uncertainly and sighed. "Some day I shall be gone and my daughter will be alone in the world. It is not natural for her to spend all her time with me."

Akitada's head spun. If he was not mistaken, Hirata had just implied that he would welcome him as a son-in-law. He could imagine what his mother would have to say to this! Suddenly anger at his circumstances seized him and he blurted out, "I always reserve a viewing stand for my mother and sisters to watch the Kamo festival procession. Would you and Tamako be our guests on this occasion, or are you otherwise promised?"

Hirata's drawn face brightened instantly. "Thank you, my dear boy! How very kind of you," he said warmly. "I cannot accept myself, because I am to join some old friends, but Tamako will be delighted. Please convey our gratitude to your lady mother for her great kindness to my child."

Akitada's heart quailed at this charge, but he said bravely, "Excellent! In that case, may I be permitted to escort her?"

"Of course, of course. What would be more suitable? And shall we say tomorrow night for dinner then?"

"Yes. Thank you. I am most honored, sir."

Hirata chuckled. "Why so formal, my boy? You are practically a member of my family. Good night!" He waved and walked away.

Akitada stood staring after him, wondering if this, rather than the blackmail note, had been the real reason Hirata had contacted him.

Early the next morning Akitada paid a visit to his mother's apartments. He found Lady Sugawara taking her morning rice on the new veranda. When she saw her son, she waved the maid away.

Akitada's mother had once been a great beauty, but age and discontent had made her body gaunt and her face severe. Still, she greeted her son pleasantly and invited him to sit.

After having made his usual inquiries into her health, he reported on his preparations for the viewing of the procession of the Kamo virgin. His mother was pleased to approve. After an uncomfortable moment, Akitada said, "There is a matter on which I hope you will give your unworthy son your honored counsel."

Lady Sugawara raised her brows, then nodded. "Speak!"

"You may recall the kindness my former teacher, Professor Hirata, has shown me?"

His mother frowned. "It has been a great regret to me," she said, "that strangers should have taken the place of your own parents." After a short pause, she added, "Still, the man was respectable, and there was nothing unsuitable in the arrangement. You simply resided with your tutor."

"You know very well," Akitada protested, "that the arrangement, as you call it, was nothing of the kind. The Hiratas took me into their home out of the goodness of their hearts after I had been forbidden this house."

His mother looked away. "Always remember that you are a Sugawara. However, I expect Mr. Hirata is a very estimable person."

"He is the kindest of men and the father of a lovely and talented daughter." Akitada held his breath for a moment, but his mother merely compressed her lips and waited. "Her name is Tamako. We grew up together like brother and sister during the years I lived with them, but I had not seen her since my father's d-" He broke off, because his mother twitched her sleeve abruptly and frowned again. Taking a deep breath, he rushed through the rest of his speech. "Anyway, she is twenty-two years old now, the only child. He is anxious for her future. I believe he would welcome a proposal of marriage." There! It was out!

A long silence fell. Lady Sugawara neither moved nor looked at him. Finally she said, "I see."

"I," stammered Akitada, "I also would welcome… that is, I am naturally very fond of Tamako. You will like her. She is extraordinarily capable, reads and writes Chinese, having studied with her father along with me, and she is a wonderful gardener. You will have much in common!" This last was an outrageous lie, of course. The two women had nothing in common at all.

Lady Sugawara heaved a deep sigh. She turned to regard her son. "Well," she said. "You have passed your first youth and I have passed the golden years of age and count my remaining days in this world as unexpected gifts." She dabbed her eyes with the corner of her sleeve, then gave Akitada a tremulous smile. "It is time you took a wife, and I long to hold a grandchild in my arms before I die."

The weight of the world lifted from Akitada's shoulders. He almost could not believe he had heard right. "Thank you, Mother," he said fervently, making her a deep bow. "You are very understanding."

She waved away his thanks, and smiled a little. For a moment, she was quite beautiful again.

He said eagerly, "I am invited to dinner tonight and will give the professor my answer then. And you shall meet your future daughter-in-law on the day of the procession. I have invited her to join us on the viewing stand."

Lady Sugawara's smile faded abruptly. "You issued the invitation without consulting me?" she asked. "I have never heard of a more improper arrangement. It is customary to hire a go-between in these matters. You know how I dislike surprises! In the future, you will ask before introducing strangers into my presence."

Akitada apologized and bowed humbly.

His mother rearranged her gown, sniffed, then said, "Well. It does not matter. It is a respectable, but hardly important family. Naturally, you could do much better, but since I assume you are offering her a secondary position in your household, we can afford a certain informality."

Akitada's blood rushed to his face. "Oh, no!" he gasped. "I am afraid you misunderstood, Mother. A secondary position is completely out of the question! It would be the gravest insult after what the Hiratas have done for me." Feeling suddenly very angry, he corrected himself pointedly. "For us! Please remember that your highly-placed friends are fully aware of the circumstances which link our families!" His voice had become uncharacteristically sharp and his mother blinked.

"You have become very hard, Akitada," she said reproachfully. "I have always had only your own good in mind. The Hiratas can do nothing for your career. You simply must make a good marriage. I had thought of Takeda's daughter or one of the Otomo girls. Their fathers have considerable influence at court."

"I don't care!"

She shook her head sadly. "I know. That has always been the trouble with you. I, on the other hand, have a responsibility to my family. And I bear it alone! Your sisters are still unmarried."

There it was again. The guilt. His sisters' imminent doom was once again held over his head. His mother was fond of painting heart-rending pictures of their ending up as spinster aunts, running errands and nursing children and aged parents like unpaid servants. Should one of them find a husband, he would no doubt be a penniless, rude country bumpkin who would beat her. Or, worst of all, she might linger in misery as third or fourth consort of a nobleman under the cruel rule of the first wife.