"My lord of Nara has arrived, and is now closeted with his daughter. Though you seem to have abdicated your dignities, it is right that you should be informed of it.
"Sent for by her?" inquired No-Kami.
"No!" replied Sampei bitterly. "With all your arrogant parade, she is more proud than you, and would never stoop to complain of your many cruelties."
"Sent for more like by him!--snake in the grass!" gibed a voice behind, and the two brothers, turning, beheld the geisha, a frown puckering her brow, a red spot of annoyance on either cheek bone. "Yes, snake in the grass!" repeated she, lashed to imprudence by resentment. "He does well to play the part of the lady O'Tei's interpreter--he who knows her so much better than others!"
Sampei was silent, while the suspicious gaze of the Daimio was turned to his brother from the concubine.
"O fool!" she laughed. "To be fooled by women is the lot of the haughtiest among ye! I vow I pity such blindness. Know that the crust of a proud woman's nature often conceals a furnace. The lady O'Tei has kindled a fire on the altar of her heart in honour--well, not of you!"
"You lie!" cried the General, kindling, yet striving still to control himself for her sake. "It was an evil day for the house of Hojo when this strumpet came among us!"
"We are not all so blind as my lord," gibed O'Kikú. "When my lady goes forth, in what direction do the bearers carry her? To the temple of the vixen Masago, to offer up prayers, of course. A curious coincidence! My lord Sampei, returning from the chase, pays dutiful visits to his mother. A pattern son. There, there! be hoodwinked no more. Stupid mole that you are, he loves O'Tei and she loves him. Look in his face, man; is it not eloquent enough?"
The soul of No-Kami, already torn, writhed and quivered. Could it be true, this dreadful thing? Miné already ruined, a mere pretty peasant, a passing fancy, suitable toy enough--and now O'Tei! Had the lawless libertine dared to aspire to the legitimate wife of his lord? The dirk was still in the Daimio's grasp. Tottering forward a step, with heaving breast and distracted features, he narrowly scrutinised his brother.
"If I thought this was true," he slowly growled between his teeth, "I would have speedy and ample vengeance. Sampei, why do you look confused? Yonder, on the rack, is a sword!"