Page:Modern Japanese Stories.pdf/78

 had a drink against the cold, and meant to take a boat across the river. But as I looked out at the snow I felt less like going, and instead stopped by the Fusahana on the strand. All three girls, including Kosono, had been called out, it seemed. The master too was away, as well as the elderly geisha who served as his wife. The man smoking by the brazier, still in his cloak, was Yamazaki the broker. He was in his forties, and he it was who had brought Kosono to this house. I knew him by sight. I asked how he had been.

“He dislodged a cat from a cushion that seemed to be the master’s, and offered it to me. ‘You must be very busy. What a shame that there had to be snow just at the busiest time of the year.’ His thin lip curled in an obsequious smile to show an array of gold teeth. ‘As a matter of fact, sir, there’s something I’ve been thinking I must talk to you about. I would have gone to see you this evening if the snow hadn’t frozen me up.’

“ ‘I’ve come at the right time, then. What’s the problem?’

“ ‘It’s about Kosono, sir. There seems to be no one at home, so perhaps we can have our talk now.’

“It was hard to know which of them had taken the initiative, but shortly after Kimi had come to the Fusahana she had become the master’s woman, and, after some squabbling, the old geisha who had functioned as lady of the establishment had been evicted. Yamazaki had therefore been asked to see me about giving Kimi up. The master would pay whatever I wanted.

“I sat staring at the man.

“ ‘I quite understand, sir,’ he went on, ‘but unless I make a rather embarrassing confession you won’t see why. The truth is that I once had a bit of trouble with her myself.’

“ ‘Oh? You’re one of us, are you?’

“ ‘It was before she came to Tokyo. I’ve had little to do with her since, but I’ve known her for a long time—she couldn’t have been more than fifteen—and I don’t think I’m completely without information about the sort of person she is. It won’t last in any case, sir, so why don’t you just take