Page:Tayama Katai and His Novel Entitled Futon (Reece).pdf/225

 Yoshiko reflected upon her fate from various angles while walking towards the forest where it was raining, and the moon was dimly shining. She recalled the night train from Kyoto, the moon at Saga, the evening sunset reflected all over the lake when they stayed at Zeze, and bush clover flowers blooming in profusion as if they were in a picture, in a courtyard of the inn. She thought that their stay of two days was really like a dream. She recollected the time when she was not in love with him, sea bathing in Suma, the moon over the mountains of her home town, and when she thought of the agony of the time before she became ill, her cheeks became flushed for no apparent reason.

Dreams after dreams, and before she knew it her dream turned out to be a long letter and went to Kyoto. Thick letters arrived almost every other day from Kyoto. The affection of these two people for each other which could not be exhausted by any amount of writing--as their letters were too frequent, Tokio waited for a chance when Yoshiko was not at home and, restraining his conscience under the excuse of being her guardian, secretly searched her desk drawers and her letter box and what have you. He glanced very quickly over a couple of her lover's letters that he found.

These letters were full of sweet words as often is the case between lovers. However, Tokio took great pains trying to unearth a certain secret beyond their sweet words. He tried to detect any signs of kissing or sexual desires. He tried to perceive if their relationship had progressed far beyond pure love, but what was not revealed even in their letters was the true fact of their love.