of mine, whom I have been educating in the quiet of the country. If what you say of her is true, it is certain that she will be a great deal run after. The charge of such a girl needs immense tact and care; I do not think it would be fair to saddle Tō no Chūjō with so great a responsibility.’ ‘That shall be as your Highness decides,’ answered Ukon. ‘I am sure, at any rate, that if you do not tell Tō no Chūjō, no one else will. And for my part I had rather she should go to you than to any one else. For I am certain you are anxious to make what amends you can for your part in leading Yūgao to her miserable fate; and what better way could there be to do this, than by promoting her daughter’s happiness by every means in your power?’ ‘The fact that I ruined the mother might to some people seem a strange reason for claiming custody of the child,’ said Genji smiling; but his eyes were filled with tears. ‘My love for her still fills a great part of my thoughts,’ he said after a pause. ‘You must think that a strange thing for me to say, considering how my household is now arranged…. And it is true that in the years since her death I have formed many deep attachments. But, believe it or not as you will, by no one has my heart ever been stirred as it was by your dear mistress in those far-off days. You have known me long enough to see for yourself that I am not one in whom such feelings lightly come and go. It has been an unspeakable comfort to me during all these years that to you at least I could sometimes talk of your mistress, sometimes ease my longing. But that was not enough. I yearned for some object dear to her upon which I could lavish ceaseless pains and care. What could be more to my purpose than that this orphaned child of hers should thus be entrusted to my protection?’
His next step must be a letter to Tamakatsura herself. He remembered Suyetsumu’s extreme incapacity in this
