Page:The Tale of Genji.pdf/218

212 with his flushed and eager face, he merited more than ever his name of Genji the Shining One. The Princess Kōkiden did not at all like to see her step-son’s beauty arousing so much enthusiasm and she said sarcastically ‘He is altogether too beautiful. Presently we shall have a god coming down from the sky to fetch him away.’ Her young waiting-ladies noticed the spiteful tone in which the remark was made and felt somewhat embarrassed. As for Fujitsubo, she kept on telling herself that were it not for the guilty secret which was shared between them the dance she was now witnessing would be filling her with wonder and delight. As it was, she sat as though in a dream, hardly knowing what went on around her.

Now she was back in her own room. The Emperor was with her. ‘At to-day’s rehearsal’ he said, ‘The “Waves of the Blue Sea” went perfectly.’ Then, noticing that she made no response, ‘What did you think of it?’ ‘Yes, it was very good,’ she managed to say at last. ‘The partner did not seem to me bad either,’ he went on; ‘there is always something about the way a gentleman moves and uses his hands which distinguishes his dancing from that of professionals. Some of our crack dancing-masters have certainly made very clever performers of their own children; but they never have the same freshness, the same charm as the young people of our class. They expended so much effort on the rehearsal that I am afraid the festival itself may seem a very poor affair. No doubt they took all this trouble because they knew that you were here at the rehearsal and would not see the real performance.’

Next morning she received a letter from Genji: ‘What of the rehearsal? How little the people who watched me knew of the turmoil that all the while was seething in my brain!’