“She tried to prevent my coming here to-night. I fear she has suspected our tryst.”
“Lady Fuji-no is wise. Were I to marry soon the Prince Komatzu, her fortunes would change. She would possibly be out of service, and knows or thinks my father would befriend her.”
“There are still others. I fear the Duchess Aoi has no love for you or me.”
“She has love for only one besides herself,—the Prince Komatzu. She could much better herself in his graces, could she betray Sado-ko in some base act.”
“And baseness is not possible in Sado-ko,” he said.
Her little hands moved softly across his breast and upon his arms.
“You are truly here, my Junzo,” she said, “I do not dream.”
“Hark, something is stirring close by!”
“The wind,” she said. “Pray you, be not fearful of the wind.”
“It seemed a sound more human-like, as of one who crept along the grove.”