5
GENROKU YEAR 11, MONTH 5 (JUNE 1698)
The annual ceremony to open the Sumida River for the summer season began as the sun descended behind the hills and its last rays gleamed red on the water. Musicians, puppeteers, and jugglers entertained noisy crowds that strolled the embankment. Vendors in boats along the shore did a flourishing business in rice cakes, dumplings, watermelons, and sake. People jammed the Ryogoku Bridge, awaiting the fireworks. Up and down the river floated hundreds of pleasure craft, brightly lit with multicolored lanterns, containing gay revelers.
Aboard one large boat Lord and Lady Mori sat beneath a striped canopy. They smiled at each other as they enjoyed the singing and music from the other boats.
“I wanted to do something special to celebrate our anniversary,” Lord Mori said. “Does this please you, my darling?”
“Very much.” Lady Mori’s heart brimmed with love for him that hadn’t diminished in sixteen years of marriage.
Lord Mori poured sake into their cups. “Let us drink a toast to our continued happiness.”
As they drank, Lady Mori recalled their wedding day, the priest droning through the rites, the handful of spectators, herself and Lord Mori seated opposite each other. She’d cowered under the drape that hid her face, terrified because he’d been a stranger that she’d only met once, when their clans arranged their union. She knew nothing about him except that he was rich and could provide for her and her nine-year-old son from her previous marriage. That marriage had been a disaster, her husband cold and cruel. When he’d died, she’d never expected to find happiness in a new marriage.
But Lord Mori, whose first wife had died many years past, had proved to be a kind, decent man. To their mutual surprise, they’d fallen deeply in love. Now Lady Mori thanked the gods for him and their wonderful life together, especially because she wasn’t the only one who’d benefited.
Her son, Enju, stood at the boat’s railing. Twenty-five years old now, he was so handsome that Lady Mori beamed with pride. He held a spyglass to his eye, scanning the bridge.
“Do you see any pretty girls?” Lord Mori called to him. “I know you have a good eye for them.”
Enju laughed as he turned to his stepfather. “Is that so bad?” He added teasingly, “You must have been quite a man for the ladies in your day.”
“That was before I met your mother.” Lord Mori put his arm around Lady Mori. As Enju resumed watching the bridge, Lord Mori said, “It’s high time I found a bride for him. I know some lovely, highbred young women who would do quite well.”
He’d not only welcomed his stepson into his life; since he had no issue of his own, he’d adopted Enju as his official heir. Furthermore, he loved Enju as he would a blood child. Lady Mori had her husband to thank for the fact that Enju had grown into a happy, healthy man with a bright future. Someday, Enju would rule Suwo and Nagato provinces as
“They’re setting up the fireworks on the bank,” Enju called.
Lord Mori held Lady Mori close and whispered in her ear: “When I get you alone, we’ll make some fireworks ourselves.”
Lady Mori blushed and smiled at his hint of carnal pleasures to come. Her husband was a wonderful lover who’d taught her the joys of the marriage bed. Even after all these years, desire for him quickened in her.
A boat full of chattering ladies drew up alongside theirs. Enju called, “Hello there!” A lively flirtation ensued, but one lady didn’t join in the fun. She was the youngest and loveliest, regal and aloof. Her gaze lit on Lord Mori. A sly smile curved her lips.
“Good evening, Lord Mori,” she called through the bars of the railing that surrounded the deck on which she sat.
Her voice had an alluring, provocative tone. Her pose reminded Lady Mori of pictures she’d seen of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, in which courtesans sat inside barred windows for customers to view. Lord Mori reacted with surprise that this strange woman had addressed him.
“Good evening,” he said. “Have we met?”
“We have now.” Her smile deepened. “Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Reiko, wife of Chamberlain Sano.”
Lady Mori had heard of the famous Reiko. She frowned in instinctive alarm. She’d never been a jealous wife, but she didn’t like for Reiko to talk to her husband.
“Well, I’m pleased to make your acquaintance. Is the chamberlain with you?” Lord Mori glanced over Reiko’s boat.
“No, I’m on my own.” Batting her eyelashes at him, Reiko touched her rouge-red mouth with her fan. “And I’m quite in need of masculine company. How fortunate that we happened to run into each other.”
“Yes. Ah.”
Lord Mori sounded pleased as well as discomposed by Reiko’s flattery. Lady Mori saw admiration for Reiko in his eyes. Her alarm increased as she noticed the predatory glint in Reiko’s.
“May I offer you a drink?” Lord Mori asked.
Reiko slowly licked her lips. “Indeed you may. I am so thirsty.”
Lord Mori poured a cup of sake for her. Lady Mori saw that the cup was her own, but he didn’t notice. He seemed to have forgotten she existed. While Enju bantered with the ladies, Lord Mori reached across the short distance between the two boats. Reiko reached out through the railing. As she accepted the cup from him, her fingers caressed his.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
He poured sake into his own cup. A sudden loud boom rocked the night. The ladies squealed. Enju exclaimed. Brilliant red, green, and gold streamers of light filled the sky. But Lady Mori hardly noticed; she was watching her husband and Reiko sipping their sake, their gazes locked. They reminded Lady Mori of a courtesan and client performing the ritual mock wedding ceremony before the first time they made love. Lord Mori’s face wore a dazed, smitten expression. Reiko’s showed the triumph of a hunter who’d captured a large prey. More explosions thundered; more rockets burst their colored lights above. Happy cries of awe arose from the river, banks, and bridge. Lady Mori quaked as she felt her perfect world begin to crumble.
For intolerable days thereafter, Lady Mori languished in misery, neglected by her husband. At night she waited up late for him. Whenever he finally came home, she asked, “Where have you been?”
“I had business in town,” he always said.
But his eyes always slid away from hers, and she knew he’d been with Reiko. She could smell perfume and sex on him. Even as her heart broke because he’d betrayed her, she dressed herself in new clothes, fixed her hair in a different style, and bought him presents in an attempt to win him back. She tried to entice him to her bed.
“It’s late. I’m tired,” he would say. “Good night.”
Then he would disappear into his private quarters, leaving her to cry herself to sleep alone. The next evening he would ride off, and the ordeal of waiting would begin again.
Enju tried to comfort her. “Don’t worry, Mother,” he said as she knelt before the Buddhist altar in the family chapel and prayed for Lord Mori to love her again. “This affair won’t last. Father will soon come to his senses.”
Lady Mori knew that Enju felt just as abandoned as she did. Lord Mori had used to spend hours every day with Enju, teaching him the complex business of governing the provinces he would inherit. Now he rarely spoke to Enju. Lady Mori supposed he felt guilty for hurting her and the sight of her son made him feel worse. How she wished this nightmare would end!
One evening she sat in the garden, listening to the crickets. Lord Mori had taken to staying away for longer periods, and this time he’d been gone four whole days. Lady Mori thought she would die of grief. But now she heard a servant call, “The master is home!”
Her heart leapt with joy and revived hope that he was back to stay where he belonged. But when she hurried to
