Recitative. He runs within, and Gihei looks aslant at his departing form.
Gihei. You fool, go in and wait upon the gentlemen.
Recitative. As he scolds him and then closes the door, Osono holds to it.
Osono. Wait, master. I have something to say. Please, open.
Gihei. No, I have nothing to hear or say. You inhuman woman, you pollute the place. Go away.
Osono. No, here is a proof that I am not in league with my father. Look at it and dispel your doubts.
Recitative. Through the crevice of the door she throws in a letter. As Gihei picks it up, his wife pushes herself in. He glances at the letter.
Gihei. Why, this is the letter of divorce I wrote a while ago. What do you mean to do by returning it?
Osono. It is too cruel of you to ask what I mean to do. You have always known the evil-mindedness of my father Ryochiku; and whatever may have happened, why did you give the letter of divorce? When he brought it home, he told me that he was making preparations to have me married. I put on a happy look to put him off his guard, and then stole the letter of divorce from his pocket-book and escaped here. Do you not love Yoshimatsu? Do you mean to divorce me and bring him under a stepmother? How cruel you are!
Recitative. She clings to him, weeping.