CHAPTER XXVII
A GRACIOUS PRINCESS AT LAST
THE following morning Masago, irritated and nervous, sat in a chamber of the palace Aoyama. Impatiently she chided Madame Bara, the chaperon.
“I am tired of your voice,” she said. “Do not speak further, or better still, leave me, if you please.”
The woman, bowing deeply, left her mistress alone. Then Masago called:—
“Natsu-no! Where are you?”
Upon the instant appeared the waiting-woman of the Princess Sado-ko. Masago instructed:—
“Look out once again and tell me if he comes.”
There was silence for a moment, as the maid passed into the adjoining room and leaning from the casement looked toward the front part of the palace. Soon her voice, raised and mechanical, answered the impatient query of Masago.
“He comes not yet!” she said.