they were bathing the young lord saito taro: the lady saito ichigo and a rosy-cheeked country girl who had recently entered the family’s service. indeed, the coming of the child had materially altered the regimen of the household. the servants that had been cast aside, as a pious sign from the women that they desired to share their lord’s sacrifices during war-time, were now restored, or their places were filled by new maids.
there was an air of activity throughout the entire estate; the maids bustled about swiftly, the chore-boy whistled at his toil, and the aged gateman looked up from the great western book into which he seemed to bury his nose at all times.
the little taro lay upon his grandmother’s lap, and she rubbed his shining little body with warm towels, tendered by the admiring maids.
there was a curious change in the face of lady saito. almost it seemed as if an iron had been pressed across her features, smoothing away the harsh and bitter lines. the eyes had lost their angry luster, and seemed almost mild and peaceful in expression as she raised them for a moment to give an order to the nursemaid. she chuckled contentedly when the baby grasped at her thumb and put it into his diminutive mouth, sucking upon it with fervor and relish.
every slight movement of its face or body delighted and moved her to an emotion new and fascinating. indeed, she was experiencing in the little taro all the maternal emotions she had sternly denied herself with her own son.
from the moment when she had taken the warm tiny body into her arms everything within her seemed to have capitulated; this in spite of the fact that she did not wish to love, had not intended to love, this child of the spider!
now the spider, and all the bitter animosity and shame she had brought into the proud family of the saitos, were forgotten. this was the child of her son, the lord saito gonji! its eyes were the eyes of her son—its mouth, its chin, even its gentle expression; she traced hungrily every seeming likeness, and proclaimed the fact that her son had indeed been reborn to her in the little taro.
the youngest of the nursemaids was a bright-eyed, somewhat forward girl who had obtained employment recently by cajoling the honorable cook, now factotum of the household. in the eyes of ochika, wife of the cook, the girl was an impudent minx, who should have been sent flying from a respectable household. ochika even penetrated from her domain of the kitchen, to the presence of the lady saito ichigo, in order to whisper into the lady’s somewhat absent ear a tale of unseemly dances and songs indulged in by the nursemaid for the delectation of the other servants.
omi (the nurse-girl’s name) seemed, however, so innocent and childish in appearance that the lady saito was loath to believe her guilty of anything more than a naughty desire to tease ochika, whose jealousy of her good-looking husband was so notorious among the servants that it was a never-failing source of both merriment and strife. what, however, in omi recommended her chiefly to the fond grandmother was the fact that the honorable lord taro appeared to love her, and was never so happy as when upon his nurse’s back.
now, as omi danced her hand playfully across his round and shining little stomach, taro roared with delight, and tossed up his tiny pink heels in approbation. so noisy, so continued, so absolutely joyous was his crowing laughter that the face of his grandmother melted into a smile.
the smile, however, wavered uneasily and was soon suppressed as ohano silently entered the room. the girl’s face was ashen in color, her eyes more like mere slits than ever. she stood leaning against the shoji, her expression sullen and lowering, her attitude similar to that of a spoiled and angry child.
“ohayo gozarimazu!” murmured the mother-in-law, politely; and she was angrily aware of the conciliating tone in her voice, she who was accustomed to command.
“ohayo!” the girl flung back the morning greeting, almost as if it were a challenge.
“well,” said her mother, sharply. “be good enough to take the place of omi. it will do your heart good to rub the honorable body of your”—she paused and met the scowling glance of ohano—“your lord’s child,” she finished.
omi was tendering the towels; but ohano ignored the pert little maid. she crossed the room deliberately and slowly sank upon her knees opposite lady saito and the baby. omi was watching the scene with absorbed interest, and she jumped at the sharp voice of lady saito.
“to your other duties, maiden!” admonished her mistress, conscious of the fact that the girl was watching ohano intently.
alone with the child and ohano, she began in a complaining voice:
“now it is most uncivilized to permit one’s emotions to show upon the honorable face, which should be a mask as regards all inner feelings. i advise stern control of all angry impulses. cultivate graciousness of heart, and do not forget each day properly to thank the gods for putting into your arms the honorable child of your lord.”
said ohano in a breathless whisper, while her bosom heaved up and down tempestuously:
“he is the child of the—spider! take care lest he sting thy breast too, mother-in-law!”
the older woman drew the warm towels about the baby, almost as if for protection.
“he is my son’s child,” she said, hoarsely. “envy and malice are traits we women are warned repeatedly against in the ‘greater learning for women.’”
“he is the spider’s child!” almost chanted ohano, and she put her lame hand to her throat as though it pained her. “his eyes are identical with hers!”
“nay,” said her mother-in-law, gently; “then you have not looked into the eyes of the little one. i pray you do so, ohano. it will soften your heart, for, see, they are duplicates of the eyes of your lord!”
she turned the child’s head about so that its smiling, friendly glance met ohano’s.
for a moment the latter stared at him, her lips working, her eyes widened. the baby had paused in his laughter and was studying the working features of his stepmother with infantile gravity. almost unconsciously, as if fascinated, she bent lower above him, and as she did so he reached up a little hand and grasped at her face. a smile broke over his rosy features, displaying the two little teeth within and showing every adorable dimple encrusted in its fair features.
the breath came from ohano in gasps. all of a sudden she threw up her arm blindly, almost a motion of defense. then with a wordless sob she put her face upon the floor. she wept stormily, as one whose whole forces are bent upon finding an outlet. for a time there was no sound in the chamber save that of the moaning ohano.
the child had fallen asleep, and lady saito kept her eyes fixed upon his round, charming little face. she would let ohano’s passion spend itself. these daily outbursts since the coming of the child were becoming intolerable, she thought. she had been too lenient with ohano. it would be necessary soon to teach the girl her exact position in the household.
as she looked at the beautiful, sleeping child the sudden thought of parting with it seized horribly upon her. her face twitched like some hideous piece of parchment suddenly animated with life. nothing, she told herself fiercely—neither the clamoring voice of the wild mother, nor the sulky jealousy of ohano—should cause her now to relinquish her hold upon the descendant of the illustrious ancestors. let the spider do her worst! let the vindictive jealousy of ohano betray to the world the truth! she, the lady saito ichigo, would defy them all. the gates of saito should be sealed and guarded as rigorously as if these were feudal days. as for ohano! she looked at the girl with a new expression. between her and the little one resting upon her bosom there could be but one choice.
“my girl,” she said to ohano, finally, “dry your face, if you please. it is unseemly for one of gentle birth to abandon one’s self to passion. come, come, there is a limit to my patience!”
ohano sat up sullenly, drying her eyes with the ends of her sleeve. the lady saito was choosing her words carefully, and her stern glance never wavered as she bent it upon ohano’s quivering face.
“without my lord’s child, ohano, you are but a cipher in the house of the ancestors. it would become necessary to serve you as once we served an innocent one before you!”
ohano’s hand clutched at her bosom. she appeared to be suffocating, and could hardly speak the words:
“you do not mean—you dare not mean—that you would divorce me!”
“the law is clear in your case, as in that of your predecessor,” said her mother, coldly.
“i will speak to my uncle takedo isami. i will address all of my honorable relatives. i will tell them with what you have threatened me, the daughter of samourai! you have compared me with a geisha—a spider! it is intolerable—not to be borne!”
“nay,” vigorously defended her mother-in-law. “you speak not now of a geisha, ohano, but—of—the mother of the last descendant of the illustrious ancestors.”
a silence fell between them, broken only by the breathing of ohano—short, gasping, indrawn sobs which she seemed no longer able to control.
presently, when she was quieter, her mother-in-law put a question roughly to the girl.
“what is it to be, ohano? will you accept the child of the lord saito gonji, proclaiming it to be your own, defying the very world to take it from you, or—?”
ohano’s face was turned away. her head was swimming, and she felt strangely weak. after a moment she said in a very faint voice, as if the last trace of resistance within her had been victoriously beaten out by her mother-in-law:
“i serve the ancestors of the saito—and my lord saito gonji!”
