“Sado-ko,” she answered, smiling still, yet sadly.
A moment Masago stared at her dumbly, then with an indescribable movement she knelt down at the princess’s feet and put her head upon the mats. Sado-ko bent over her, stooped, touching her head.
“I pray you, kneel not thus to me,” she said.
Slowly Masago arose, the color flowing back into her pale face in a flood. Her eyes were bright and wide and feverish. That moment’s servile impulse, when she had fallen down upon her knees, was past. She looked the Princess Sado-ko in the eyes, with conscious equality.
“Now,” said the princess, simply, “will you not be seated?”
Silently the two sought the mats. Opposite each other they sat, each with her eyes upon the other. Each spoke at once, and each the same words:—
“You know then—”
“You know then—”
They bowed their heads. Thus both confessed their knowledge of the fact that not one of them, but both, were daughters of the Prince of Nijo, and hence sisters. Then Masago:—
“Why do you come to me, exalted princess? I am but a lowly maiden, who cannot even touch the hem of your kimono.”