She paused. Was it fancy only, or did she see a face staring out at her from the dense foliage hard by?
“I protest,” said Komatzu, stopping short in his walk, “that you, fair cousin, are ill. You are not your familiar self to-night.”
Her fingers clutched his arm as she drew him again along the path.
“No, no, no,” she denied, “I am quite well! Do not linger here, I pray you, Cousin Komatzu.”
He frowned, glancing out with brows drawn.
“I was thinking it an ideal spot for loitering, princess.”
“’Tis dark,” said Sado-ko, still hastening blindly on.
“The moonlight is on all sides, cousin, and pierces through the thin bamboos. And look upward—see how clear and beautiful the star-lit sky above us.”
Again he paused in admiring contemplation of the night.
“The night is chill, Sir Cousin, and the grove is damp,” she said.