his honorable mother declared that gonji was afflicted with a malady of the stomach. she proffered warm drinks and poultices and sought to induce him to remain in bed. now that the long and severe years of discipline had passed and her son was at last at home with her, all of the natural mother within her, which had been repressed so long, yearned over her only son. even her cold and somewhat repelling manner showed a softening.
had he not been at this time absorbed in his own dreams, gonji would have met half-way the pathetic advances of his mother; but he was oblivious to the change in her. he insisted politely that his health was excellent, begged to be excused, and wandered off by himself.
his father, whose mighty business interests were in tokio, abandoned them for the time being and remained by his son’s side in kioto, following the young man assiduously, seeking vainly to arouse him from the melancholy lethargy into which he had fallen. deep in the heart of the elder lord saito was the acute knowledge of what troubled his son, for afflicted he undoubtedly was, as all the relatives unanimously and officiously averred. such a funereal countenance was unbefitting a bridegroom. one would think the unhappy youth was being driven to his tomb, rather than to the bridal bed!
the parents and relatives vied with each other in importuning the unfortunate gonji, and sought to distract him from what were evidently his own morbid thoughts. also they sought to entrap his confidence. gonji kept his counsel, and from day to day he grew paler, thinner, more silent, and sad.
“call in the services of the mightiest of honorable physicians and surgeons,” ordered the lady saito. “it may be an operation will relieve our son.”
her husband, thoughtful, sad, a prey to an uneasy conscience, shook his head dumbly.
“it is not possible for the honorable knife to efface a cancer of the heart,” said he, sighing.
“hasten the nuptials,” suggested the uncle of ohano. “there is no medicine which acts with as drastic force as a wife.”
this time the lord saito ichigo was even more emphatic in negativing the suggestion.
“there is time enough,” he asserted, gruffly. “i will not begrudge my son at least the short and precious time which should precede the ceremony. this is his period of diversion. it shall not be cut in half.”
the brusque words of the head of the saito house aroused the ire of the nearest relative of the bride. he said complainingly:
“it does not seem as if the honorable bridegroom desires to avail himself of his prenuptial privileges. he does not seek the usual diversions of youth at this time. is it not unnatural to prefer solitude?”
“it is a matter of choice,” contended the father of gonji, with curt pride.
“but if it injure his health, is it not the duty of the relatives to assist him?”
“the gates of the saito are wide open. my son is not a prisoner. he is at liberty to go whithersoever he pleases. it is apparent that his pleasures lie not outside the ancestral home of his fathers.”
“that,” said the uncle of ohano, suavely, “is because he still stumbles in the period of adolescence. it is necessary he be instructed.”
the father of gonji pondered the matter somberly, pulling with thumb and forefinger at his lower lip. after a moment he said, with sudden determination:
“you are right, takedo isami. your superior suggestion is gratefully received. since my son will not seek the pleasures of youth, let us bring them to our house. it is necessary immediately to arouse him from a youthful despair which may tend to injure his health.”
he looked up and met the cunning eye of his prospective kinsman regarding him with a peculiar expression. ichigo added, gruffly but sturdily:
“it would be an excellent programme to secure the services of the honorable spider of the house of slender pines. i pray you undertake the matter for me. see matsuda, the master of the house. spare no expense in the matter.”
the expression on takedo’s face was now enigmatic. he emptied his pipe slowly and with deliberation, as if in thought. then solemnly he bobbed his bald head, as if in assent. the two old men then arose, shaking their skirts and hissing perfunctorily. their bows were formal, and the words of parting the usual friendly and polite ones; but each met the eye of the other, and both understood; and, strangely, a sense of antagonism arose between them.
