neglecting both our son and a sick old man. I have heard your explanations and cannot accept them. Therefore I thought it best to explain how I wish my family’s affairs conducted in the future.”
She said nothing, but bowed her head a little more. In the uncertain light it was hard to see, but he thought she looked pale. He decided on a gentler approach. “Tamako, I know you have been past reason worried for our son’s life because of the rumors of another smallpox epidemic.” She looked up then and opened her mouth to speak, but he raised his hand. “No, let me finish. You cannot know what happens outside this house. You spend your life here with our child and hardly ever see anything of the world.” He remembered Lady Yasugi’s impassioned protest of such a cloistered life and went on quickly. “I realize that this limits your awareness, and such ignorance can greatly multiply one’s fears, but you must trust me in this. I have been both in the Greater Palace and in the city. Your fears are groundless. Besides, our lives are in the hands of the gods and there is little we can do to guard against fate.”
She raised her chin defiantly. “I have been told that the disease is even among the highest ranking nobles; that, in fact, His Majesty has contracted it.”
“Nonsense. Who has said such things?”
“I may spend my days here,” she said, a little tartly he thought, “but I receive visitors. Yesterday, your sister Akiko stopped by with Lady Koshikibu. Lady Koshikibu was the empress’s nurse, and it was she who told me the news from the imperial household. Akiko came to tell me that she is making preparations to leave for the country with her children. I meant to tell you last night, but…” She compressed her lips.
He had stormed out of the room, furious that his son could not read yet and worried about Seimei. Now he covered his compunction with bluster. “That is dangerous gossip indeed. Lady Koshikibu must be deranged to pass along such information. You are not to pass it further.” He envisioned the panic that would strike the capital-no, the nation-if such a thing became known. “Furthermore,” he added, “it cannot be true, or I would have heard.”
Tamako looked away. “As you wish.”
“Very well. Now there’s the matter of Seimei. He’s still feverish this morning. I wish him to be cared for in my absence. If you’re too afraid to visit him, you may delegate one of your maids to tend to his needs, but someone is to watch over him all the time. If his condition worsens in the slightest, you will send for me and for a doctor.”
She bowed. “I had intended to do so,” she said stiffly. “He sent us away yesterday and we were afraid to disturb his sleep, or you would not have found him alone.”
It might have happened that way. Seimei was very stubborn about accepting help. Akitada unbent a little more. He would give Tamako the benefit of the doubt. “I’m very glad,” he told her. When she did not react, he added, “I did not know what to think yesterday when I found him in an overheated room without so much as a drop of water. I couldn’t imagine how my family could have forgotten their obligation to Seimei, of all people. He has served my family from his childhood and has been like a father to me. He’s part of my family.”
Tamako’s eyes had widened. “Oh,” she said, “now I see. You thought I would let Seimei die for fear of infection.”
Aware that he had somehow offended again, he said briskly, “Well, I’m very glad I was wrong. Let’s say no more about it. And when Seimei is well again, he can take Yori’s lessons in hand.”
“There is another problem. I am told that both Tora and Genba are occupied with your errands. We are out of supplies and I had sent Genba for them last night when you countermanded my orders.”
He realized that she was very angry with him. Perhaps he should have explained the situation. “You know what Tora’s doing. I had to send Genba to stand watch at Lady Yasugi’s villa. She is the young woman who was nearly raped. Yesterday I caught one of her attackers creeping into her home. Since she is young, beautiful, and alone except for a maid, her need was greater. Send your maid to the market for today. Genba should be back soon.”
There was a pause. Then she said, “Very well.”
He felt relief at having settled the matter so easily and was about to rise and leave for the ministry, when Tamako spoke again.
“Perhaps,” she said, her voice as tight as the clenched hands in her lap, “as you have lost all confidence in me, it is time for you to consider taking a second wife. It would be a wise thing to do. You no longer trust me to supervise your household or to teach our son, and I have not given you any other sons, which you must wish for when life is so uncertain. You and Yori are the last of your father’s line and. ..”
Seized by a sudden rage, Akitada bounded up. “No!” he shouted. “I do not want another wife or more children. I want order in my household.” And he stormed from the room.
All the way to the Greater Palace, he muttered under his breath.
Women! The very idea of having to deal with more than one. The Great Sage had warned men against over- familiarity because it made females dictatorial. Tamako was punishing him for his just reproof of her behavior by threatening to withdraw her affections. For that was what the suggestion of taking another wife amounted to. Go ahead and see if I care, was what she had implied. He stalked along, rehearsing in his mind what he would tell her that night, and became more and more miserable in the process. He could not recall a time in their years of marriage when they had had such a quarrel.
Tamako had changed. She no longer cared for his company as she had in the days before Yori had begun to capture all her attention. Perhaps he had been more abrupt lately than usual, but there had been many serious matters on his mind. A wife should make allowance for a husband’s greater responsibility. He felt alone and hurt by her words, and that angered him some more.
Sakae awaited him at the ministry. “Have you heard, sir?” he cried. “The emperor is sick. He may die.” He was practically hopping about in his excitement.
Akitada stopped. “What do you mean?” he demanded. The emperor was barely thirteen years old, and a healthy young man. The possibility of his dying seemed completely remote.
“He has smallpox.”
Akitada sucked in his breath. Could it be true? Could the disease really have entered the sacred inner palace itself and infected the emperor? He glared at Sakae. “How do you know this?”
“Someone working in the chamberlain’s dormitory told someone in the headquarters of the inner palace guards. The page who carries messages between bureaus stopped by this morning and told us. It was still quite early.” This last Sakae added to show that they had been at work long before Akitada arrived.
“You are a clerk in the Ministry of Justice,” Akitada said sharply. “I would have thought that you might have learned about the unreliability of hearsay evidence. Until we receive official word about His Majesty’s condition, I will not permit you to bandy about such dangerous gossip. Do you understand?”
He brushed by the gaping Sakae and went into his office. Nakatoshi was bent over the usual pile of correspondence. He rose and bowed. “Good morning, sir.” He added with a smile, “You look more yourself today, sir.”
Akitada touched his eye. It felt normal. He had almost forgotten about it. It seemed a long time since he had tangled with the three thugs. The thought gave way to the vivid image of Lady Yasugi lying on the ground, her clothing tangled about her legs. At the time he had been preoccupied with the villain who had meant to rape her. Now the image suddenly became powerfully erotic. He curbed his imagination firmly, smiled at Nakatoshi and said, “Good morning, and thank you.”
“Has Sakae told you the news about the emperor?”
Akitada felt the smile fade on his face. “Surely there is no truth to that?”
“His informant wasn’t the only one, sir. I was told the same story by the senior clerk of the crown prince’s office. I’m afraid he’s a very reliable source. It’s disturbing news, not only because of His Majesty’s life being in danger, but also because there are apparently already plans for change in case the worst happens.”
Though Nakatoshi’s words referred to matters of national importance-how the next emperor would deal with matters of government and who would take the most cherished positions upon his accession-Akitada’s first thought was that he had once again put himself in the wrong with Tamako. And to be fair, if even the sacred person of the emperor was not safe from this terrible contagion, Tamako could be forgiven her fears. “Dear heaven,” he muttered and sat down, staring blankly at the pile of paperwork awaiting his attention.
“I mentioned it, sir, because Minister Soga would have called at the palace to present his wishes for His Majesty’s recovery and to offer prayers on his behalf at the temple.”
Of course, and Soga would have been thrilled at the opportunity. Or would he? With smallpox in the imperial household, Soga would surely have made his excuses. Akitada was struck by an unpleasant suspicion. “Surely I’m
