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286 ‘When may I go and see her?’ Tō no Chūjō was now an important person; indeed, he was reckoned to be the most formidable enemy to the then Minister of State. But the Lady from Ōmi appeared quite unconscious of the subduing effect which his presence had upon every one else, and for her part spoke to him with the utmost confidence and composure. ‘I will enquire which day will be the best,’ he said. ‘But come to think of it, probably one day is quite as good as another. Yes, by all means go to-day…’ and with that he hastened from the room.

She gazed after him. He was attended by officers of the fourth and fifth ranks, who made a brave show as they escorted him towards the main building. But why were they all nudging one another and laughing? ‘Well,’ she said at last, ‘I have got a fine gentleman for my papa, and no mistake. It does seem queer to think what a funny little house I was brought up in, when by rights I ought to have been in this palace all the while.’ ‘If you ask my opinion,’ said her friend the dancer, ‘I think he is far too grand for you. You’d be a great deal better off if you had been claimed by some decent hard-working sort of man, who wouldn’t be ashamed of you….’ This was too bad! ‘There you go again,’ the Lady from Ōmi cried, ‘trying to put a body down whenever she opens her mouth. But you shan’t do it any more, indeed you shan’t; for they’ve made me into a lady now, and you’ll have to wait till I choose to let you speak. So there!’

Her face was flushed with anger. Seen thus, showing off in the presence of one whom she now regarded as an inferior, she became suddenly handsome and almost dignified. Only her manner of speech, picked up from the absolute riff-raff among whom she had been educated, remained irredeemably vulgar.

It is indeed a strange thing that a perfectly ordinary