Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/299

Rh letter, which was couched in some such terms as these:

"

I have exchanged vows of betrothal with Miyagi Asojirō. To marry another man would mean the violation of my duty as a chaste woman. Therefore I have come to the resolve to end my life by drowning in some stream. Let my disobedience meet with your forgiveness.

Your daughter, devoted to death, ."

Great was the astonishment of the parents. Yuminosuké, all in a panic, could only say: "Good heavens! what a blunder I have made! But Miyuki, I hope, is not yet far off. Let search be made for her at once!" His faithful servant Sekisuké and the other members of the household were despatched in all directions in quest of the girl, and grief and horror filled the minds of all.