“Fetch my palanquin, bearers, and guards to the courtyard,” Reiko said.
“Yes, mistress,” the maid said, bowing, “but I must tell you that Lady Yanagisawa is here to see you. She’s waiting in the reception hall.”
Dismay, coupled with anger, flashed through Reiko. No sooner had she arrived home than Lady Yanagisawa was after her again! Reiko decided she could no longer tolerate Lady Yanagisawa’s destructive madness. She must put an end to their friendship once and for all-now.
She hastened to the reception room and there found Lady Yanagisawa. “Reiko-san!” Lady Yanagisawa cried, hurrying to greet her.
The woman’s usually pale cheeks were flushed; her eyes glittered with unnatural intensity. “At last we’re together again,” she said. Her rapid breathing was audible as she clasped her hands at her bosom and gazed yearningly at Reiko. “It is so good to see you after our long separation.”
“It’s good to see you.” For the last time, Reiko thought.
“I have something important to tell you,” said Lady Yanagisawa.
“Oh? Well, I have something important to tell you, too.”
Because Sano had already repudiated and offended the chamberlain, Reiko thought she could do little more harm with his wife. Reiko prepared to say exactly what she thought of Lady Yanagisawa, and good riddance.
“I bring a message from my husband,” Lady Yanagisawa said.
“For me?” Reiko said, taken by surprise. A message from the chamberlain was not to be ignored. “What is it?”
Lady Yanagisawa grasped Reiko’s hands and drew her downward until they were kneeling opposite each other. Reiko felt Lady Yanagisawa trembling; the woman’s hands were damp and feverishly hot. Something more than usual was wrong with Lady Yanagisawa. A warning note sounded inside Reiko.
“My husband asks two favors of you,” Lady Yanagisawa said. “First, you must convince your husband to declare that Senior Elder Makino was murdered by Lord Matsudaira’s nephew Daiemon.”
Amazement stunned Reiko. That Lady Yanagisawa had done various shocking things hadn’t prepared Reiko to expect what she’d just heard. Reiko said, “I can guess why the honorable chamberlain wants Daiemon blamed for Senior Elder Makino’s murder.” That would exonerate Chamberlain Yanagisawa, disgrace the Matsudaira clan in the eyes of the shogun, and give the chamberlain a political advantage. “But why ask this favor from me, of all people?” He’d never deigned to notice her before.
“He knows you have much influence over the sōsakan-sama,” Lady Yanagisawa said. “And since you and I are such close friends, he sent me on his behalf.”
Reiko’s mind was still reeling from astonishment. “But why does he think I would ask my husband to do such a thing?”
“He knows you love your husband and want what is best for him. What’s best for him is to name a dead man as the murderer of Senior Elder Makino. Who’s to say whether Daiemon is really guilty or not? And he can’t be punished or cause trouble. Surely you can persuade your husband to do right by himself and by you and your son.” Lady Yanagisawa spoke as if presenting the most reasonable views in the world. She smiled, anticipating Reiko’s agreement.
That the woman could imagine she would even consider asking Sano to cooperate in this scheme to subvert justice and ally himself with the corrupt chamberlain! Reiko sat stupefied by the audacity of Lady Yanagisawa.
“What’s the second favor your husband wants?” Reiko asked.
Lady Yanagisawa glanced out the door toward the corridor, along which detectives and servants passed. She beckoned Reiko to lean close. When Reiko unwillingly did, Lady Yanagisawa whispered in her ear: “He wishes you to assassinate Lord Matsudaira.”
Reiko had thought herself already surprised beyond the point where anything else that Lady Yanagisawa said could surprise her. But now, as she recoiled in shock from Lady Yanagisawa, she saw that she’d underestimated the woman-and the chamberlain as well. It appeared that Lady Yanagisawa had worked her way into her husband’s life and become his partner in evil. The request was so outrageous, it seemed absurd. Involuntary laughter burst from Reiko.
Lady Yanagisawa laughed, too, in delight. Her plain, dour features grew animated, almost pretty. “Isn’t that a wonderful idea?” she said, misinterpreting Reiko’s reaction. “If Lord Matsudaira were to die, his faction would fall apart. The trouble would end.”
She spoke as if reciting words the chamberlain had told her. “And you are the perfect person to rid us of Lord Matsudaira. You’re so clever, and so adept with swords, and killing is nothing new to you.” Reiko had killed, in self-defense, some of the men who’d ambushed and kidnapped them, and Lady Yanagisawa had seen her. “My husband says he’ll disguise you as a prostitute and sneak you into the camp near the battlefield where Lord Matsudaira meets with his generals. You can stab Lord Matsudaira, then run.” Lady Yanagisawa caught up Reiko’s hands and clasped them to her bosom. “My dearest, precious friend! I am so glad that you will grant my husband these favors!”
The conversation had taken on a nightmarish quality, and it had lasted long enough. “I will not!” Reiko exclaimed, wrenching her hands from Lady Yanagisawa. “That the chamberlain expects my husband to conspire with him, and me to kill for him, is an insult! We would never violate our honor by doing those things. I would never commit such a crime. You can tell your husband I said so!”
Surprise erased the delight from Lady Yanagisawa’s face. She seemed to falter and her mind to change direction. “Allow me to mention a certain murder inquiry in Miyako,” she said. “The chamberlain killed a man in order that your husband would live. If not for the chamberlain, you would be a widow. You owe him a death.”
This justification had a certain logic. Society operated on favors and obligations, and Yanagisawa must be desperate enough to think it reasonable that she should pay him for Sano’s deliverance. Reiko supposed that he’d been waiting for the right opportunity to call in the debt.
“Killing to save a life is one thing,” she said. “Assassination is quite another, even if the chamberlain doesn’t make the distinction. I won’t do it.”
Dismay clouded over the glitter in Lady Yanagisawa’s eyes. “But-but he wants these favors from you.” She sounded less fluent and sure of herself. “And what he wants… he must have.”
“Not from me, nor my husband,” Reiko said. Her anger at all the evil that Chamberlain Yanagisawa had done to Sano boiled up inside her. “The honorable chamberlain can do his own dirty work and leave us out of it.” Reiko was beyond caring about the danger of saying no to such a powerful man. “That’s my answer to his request, although it hardly deserves the courtesy of an answer.”
“But if I tell him you won’t do what he wants… my husband will be very angry with me.” Fear crept into Lady Yanagisawa’s voice.
“That’s your problem, not mine,” Reiko said.
“If you won’t do it for the chamberlain…” As Lady Yanagisawa hesitated, her eyes pleaded with Reiko. “Will you do it for me? Because we’re friends?”
Reiko’s anger boiled higher and hotter at the thought of everything Lady Yanagisawa had done to her under the guise of friendship. “You think I should do you a favor, after you tried to kill my son and then me? After that, you call yourself my friend?” Reiko uttered an incredulous, disdainful laugh.
An astounded look came over Lady Yanagisawa. She sat rigid, her mouth open, gazing blankly at Reiko. Either the woman had forgotten her attempts at murder, or she’d never admitted them to herself.
“Well, here’s what I meant to tell you,” Reiko said, carried along by the tide of her emotions. “We’re not friends. We never have been. I’ve put up with you and your attacks on me only because I was afraid you would do even worse if I didn’t. But now I’ve had enough of you.” Reiko surged to her feet. “Get out of my house, you evil, jealous madwoman!” she shouted. “Take your husband’s request and throw it back in his face. Never come near me or my family again!”