Sadanori was clearly startled, but then his face cleared. He said coldly, ‘An extraordinary story. I wonder you troubled to come here.’
‘Her name is Hanae. She used to be a dancer in the Willow Quarter. I believe you know her?’
Sadanori laughed. ‘Did you buy the girl? My compliments. She is a charmer, though I found her less than accommodating myself.’
Akitada corrected him. ‘I did not buy her. She is the wife of one of my retainers. Perhaps you might care to answer my question.’
The other man snapped, ‘I don’t like your tone. And I certainly have no intention of answering rude and ridiculous questions.’
‘You just admitted to knowing Hanae well enough to have made her an offer of sorts, and I believe you own the house she was taken to.’
Sadanori’s hands clenched. ‘I have nothing to say to you,’ he said. ‘This visit was ill-advised.’
‘I have seen the house myself and thought it perfectly suited for a concubine,’ remarked Akitada, making no move to leave. ‘I was particularly struck by the theme of the decoration. Peonies. Wasn’t there a first-class courtesan called “Peony” a few years ago? Her sudden disappearance raised many eyebrows.’
Sadanori jumped up and pointed a shaking finger at Akitada. ‘Get out!’ he shouted. ‘How dare you – you, a man who plays with little boys. Aren’t you in enough trouble already?’
Akitada rose with a smile. Sadanori had been involved with Peony – deeply involved, to judge by this outburst – and he had known all along who Akitada was and why he had come. In fact, Akitada now suspected that Sadanori had been behind his troubles with the chancellor. He would have liked to pursue the matter, but Sadanori’s raised voice had brought the servants, and so he bowed and left.
When he got home, he found Tamako dressed for travel. She greeted him with the news that she wished him to go to Otsu with her.
Akitada gaped at his wife. Tamako had withdrawn so completely from all outside interests after Yori’s death that this new forthright demand startled him. She used to have a mind of her own, charmingly most of the time and irritatingly so when they had first begun to quarrel, but she had never taken matters into her own hands and issued commands to her husband.
‘A… a delightful offer,’ he stammered helplessly, because he did not want to destroy their hard-won reconciliation, ‘but there is another urgent matter.’
She gave him a questioning look.
‘Sadanori. Tora was quite right to suspect him. We must find Ishikawa’s mother and find her quickly.’
Tamako frowned. ‘Is she in danger?’
‘Perhaps, though I don’t think Ishikawa would kill his own mother. More importantly, Sadanori knows that I suspect him.’
Tamako protested, ‘But no one seems to know where she is. Surely you won’t be searching the temples for her?’
Since this had crossed his mind, Akitada said defensively, ‘I thought Tora and I could visit a few near the capital. Most likely she would leave an offering, and those are recorded. We would eventually catch up with her.’
Tamako shook her head. ‘I think getting the child is more important.’
Her sudden, high-handed decision dismayed Akitada, but he called Tora, who arrived looking more rested and cheerful, and explained the situation to him.
Tora glanced from Akitada to Tamako, saw the firm set of his lady’s chin, and said, ‘I bet Ishikawa’s taken his old lady to Uji, to Sadanori’s mother.’
‘To Uji?’ Akitada considered this. ‘By heaven, yes. Why didn’t I think of that?’
‘He has taken his mother to Lady Saisho?’ Tamako asked. ‘But why?’
‘He thinks we won’t look there.’ The more Akitada thought about it, the better he liked it. ‘Tora, you’ve outdone yourself. I should have realized that the pilgrimage story was meant to throw us off the track.’
Tora grinned complacently.
‘We can go to Otsu via Uji,’ Tamako decided. ‘It will make a pleasant journey.’
Akitada agreed meekly.
Uji had long been the refuge of the wealthy and powerful from the hectic life of the capital. The air was clean and pine-scented, and the sun glinted off the burbling waters and gilded the trees. Here and there, a maple already showed the first touch of red, and birds seemed to sing more loudly, perhaps to compete with the roar of the river.
At Lady Saisho’s house, Tamako dismounted before Akitada could assist her and ran to admire the view of the river gorge.
Tora said, ‘It’s not like this at night, sir. It’s dark as hell itself, and that noise gives you gooseflesh. You can’t hear what’s creeping up on you. You couldn’t pay me to live here.’
Akitada watched Tamako. ‘Yours is not a poetic soul, Tora,’ he said. ‘You probably only thought of demons and specters.’
Since this was true, Tora did not answer. Instead he belabored the gate.
Akitada found another reason to be grateful for his wife’s presence. The servant at first refused to admit them, but upon being informed that Lady Sugawara was of the party, he disappeared for instructions. He returned to take Tamako and Akitada to Lady Saisho’s pavilion.
There, the sun slanted in through the open veranda doors and the sound of the river filled the room. Paintings of picturesque trees and rocks, waterfalls, river bends, and steep cliffs mirrored the scenery outside.
Lady Saisho was elegantly and elaborately gowned in multicolored silks and brocade. She had not bothered with screens and was with Mrs Ishikawa, who sat beside her in her customary black and with a distinctly nervous look on her plain face.
Akitada had not met Sadanori’s mother before, but he knew that she had been lady-in-waiting to the emperor’s mother until her marriage to Sadanori’s father. She was still very handsome, though her long hair was white. She studied Akitada and Tamako as she made polite conversation.
Tamako pleased her by praising the view and reciting softly some famous lines from the novel Genji.
Lady Saisho smiled. ‘Yes, I dearly love this place and find the river’s sound soothing, but Lady Murasaki’s hero was troubled by it, I think. There are those who cannot bear the unceasing roar. They claim it is so deafening they cannot sleep.’ She glanced at Mrs Ishikawa, whose face reddened.
Akitada, impatient with pleasantries, said quickly, ‘Mrs Ishikawa and I are acquainted, and I am very glad to find her here. I tried in vain to speak to her a few days ago in Otsu.’
Mrs Ishikawa’s hands clenched, but Lady Saisho was interested. ‘Really? How very auspicious your visit was in that case. Would you like some privacy?’
‘Not at all. I only have a small favor to ask.’ Akitada smiled pleasantly at the ladies. Mrs Ishikawa’s hands relaxed slightly. ‘It concerns a little boy I found near Otsu. He has lost his voice and cannot speak for himself. I’ve been trying to find his family and think he may be the son of a dead woman who had ties to the Masuda family. If so, Mrs Ishikawa can identify the child.’
Mrs Ishikawa cried, ‘Oh, no, I couldn’t. I know nothing of the child. I cannot speak about the matter.’
This astonished Lady Saisho. ‘My dear,’ she said, ‘calm yourself and allow Lord Sugawara to explain. We must try to assist him.’
Akitada told about finding the child, and Lady Saisho was enchanted. Oh, the poor boy. What a very moving tale!’ She turned to Mrs Ishikawa. ‘Why were you told not to speak about this?’
‘I… I m-made a mistake,’ Mrs Ishikawa gasped. ‘It had nothing to do with that boy.’
She was not a good liar.
‘I think,’ said Akitada, ‘that the senior lady of the Masuda household did not wish the name of the boy’s mother mentioned. Her name was Peony, and she was a former courtesan from the capital. Lady Masuda’s young husband kept her in the lake villa.’ He paused. ‘Peony was quite famous in her former life.’
Lady Saisho stared at him. ‘Peony was in Otsu? How old is this child?’
‘I guessed about five, but Mrs Ishikawa will know more precisely.’
They all looked at her. She flushed and cried again, ‘I know nothing. Why ask me? I told you it’s all a mistake. It has nothing to do with me.’