What would you do, Hideyori, if set upon by angry wolves? asked she, of the child, playfully.
Fight, responded he, with scarce another major word at his tongues use.
I guess its the nature of the beast, mused she, pressing the boy closer up; and till subdued there shall be need for gods as a God, so let them at it.
The chances for success, however, against such odds—growing rapidly with Ishidas popularity—seemed almost beyond the possibilities of one, though as capable as Ieyasu, and—were he to win, Christianity must be doomed; she understood full well his proclivities and surmised their inevitable result. And Hideyori! Should Ishida win, then her own flesh and blood must go the selfsame intended way that Hideyoshi had barely escaped. She must, then, choose between two evils: the present downfall of Christianity, on the one hand, or the destruction of an only living child, and that, too, a son, on the other. An ideal at stake, with her, who had chosen differently?
You have my permission, Esyo, to visit this Hideki, now that Oyea, his aunt, is dead and buried. But, mind you, it is a privilege only, that your sister grants—perhaps for a better reason than the one you have in mind.
Esyo sulked, but went nevertheless; her energies were bent not upon completing the subversion of Hideki from Ishida to Ieyasu, as contemplated by Oyea, to the last, and now, perchance, thought of, favorably, by Yodogima, as an expedient, but toward a far more difficult and deeper reaching task: the substitution of her own husband, Hidetada, for Hideyasu, his elder brother, in favor with and as prospective successor to Ieyasu, the father, whom she already believed in a fair way to win and hold complete mastership, socially and politically, yet, at heart, would not condescend to acknowledge a kindness at the hands of an elder, though most patient and fore-bearing, sister.
Please do not trouble yourself; I am not so easily read as Jokoin, thank you; besides, it is unnecessary; I am quite capable, of doing as much, without anybodys favor, snapped Esyo, hastily departing—none too soon, however, to escape a danger that she little contemplated, yet her sister had fully anticipated and well enough avoided.