A related concern was how to get rid of Kobayashi quickly. Though he had as much as said a minute ago that Madam Yoshikawa would appear, his friend gave no indication that he was ready to take his leave. This was not a man who troubled himself about being a nuisance. This was a person who, depending on the time and the circumstances, was not incapable of creating a nuisance intentionally. This was, moreover, an infuriating rogue who carried on exactly as he liked without vouchsafing any basis for judgment as to whether he was unaware that he was distressing others or fully conscious of what he was about.
Tsuda made a show of yawning. This action, utterly at odds with how he was feeling, divided him in two. In the midst of this agitated though apparently listless exchange with Kobayashi, he became aware of a frustrating sense of interruption. Kobayashi continued to appear oblivious. Tsuda lifted the wristwatch next to his pillow again, and as he put it down he asked the question he could no longer postpone.
“Did you have some business today?”
“In a way — but that can wait.”
Tsuda had a good idea of what Kobayashi was thinking. But he couldn’t bring himself to surrender yet. And he was even less in touch with the courage to repulse the attack. His only choice was to say nothing. Whereupon Kobayashi spoke up.
“I wonder if I should stay and meet Yoshikawa’s wife.”
“You must be joking!” Tsuda wanted to say.
“You have business with her?”
“You talk a lot about business, but business isn’t the only reason for meeting someone.”
“But you don’t even know her.”
“That’s why I’d like to meet her. Get an idea what she’s like. I’ve never even been inside a wealthy home, and I’ve certainly never had any dealings with the rich. So when an opportunity like this comes along, I can’t help feeling I’d like a peek at the genuine article.”
“It’s not as if she’s a circus act.”
“No, but I am curious. And I’ve got time to spare.”
Tsuda was flabbergasted. He shuddered at the thought of presenting the lady with evidence that he numbered among his friends a wretched creature such as this. If the time ever came when he incurred her contempt for associating with such a person, he believed the repercussions would extend into his future.
“Does anything ever inhibit you? You know perfectly well why Yoshikawa’s wife is coming here today.”
“I do — will I be in the way?”
Tsuda’s had no choice but to hand Kobayashi his walking papers
“Yes. You will be in the way. So please leave now before she gets here.”
Kobayashi didn’t seem particularly offended.
“If that’s how you feel, I don’t mind leaving. I don’t mind, but before I go I should explain why I came all this way in the first place.”
Annoyed, Tsuda finally spoke for Kobayashi.
“It’s about money, I’ll wager. If you have a request I can afford, I don’t mind listening. Which isn’t to say I won’t mind if you try to collect when I’m not home the way you did with that overcoat. But I don’t have a farthing with me.”
Kobayashi simpered, and the flush that rose to his face seemed to be asking, “Then what am I to do?” As Tsuda still had questions for him, it was in his interest to meet Kobayashi once again before his departure. But he worried that he might run into O-Nobu if he came here again. Designating a day and time and place where they should meet as if he were intending a farewell party, he finally got rid of his burdensome visitor.
[122]
TSUDA TURNED at once to the second preventative measure. From beneath the small toiletries box on the tatami, he removed the familiar stationery and matching lilac envelopes and began plying his fountain pen. In scarcely more than a minute he had scrawled a note requesting O-Nobu to put off her visit today because it was “a trifle inconvenient.” He was feeling in such a hurry that even reading the letter over seemed a waste of time. He sealed the envelope at once. He didn’t pause to consider the confusion the cryptic contents of the letter were likely to arouse in O-Nobu. The circumstances that had deprived him of his normal caution had not only made him careless but required him to act resolutely as a thought occurred. With the letter in hand, he went straight downstairs and summoned the nurse.
“Please give this to a rickshaw man and have him deliver it to my house right away, it’s urgent.”
“Of course,” the nurse said, accepting the letter and peering at the name as if hoping to determine the nature of this urgent matter. Tsuda, meanwhile, was thinking about the time it would take a rickshaw to reach its destination.
“Please have him take a trolley.”
Tsuda was worried the letter might not arrive in time. If O-Nobu had left for the hospital before receiving it, his effort would have been in vain.
Even after he had gone back upstairs, this continued to trouble him. The mere thought made him feel that O-Nobu had already left home, boarded a trolley, and was on her way. That possibility led him naturally to Kobayashi. Should his wife make her graceful appearance at the top of the stairs before he had accomplished his objective, he would know whom to blame. Having wasted precious time on Kobayashi, Tsuda had as good as sent him from the room, and even so, watching his back recede, he had been on the verge of entrusting him with his pressing errand. I know it’s a bother but I’d like you to stop off at my place and caution O-Nobu not to show up today. Surprised at himself, he had just managed to swallow the words before they left his mouth. If only this weren’t Kobayashi, he had thought to himself, how convenient it would be at a time like this!
While Tsuda waited with his nerves humming, in thrall to his prevision that Madam Yoshikawa was about to arrive at any minute, the letter to O-Nobu he had handed the nurse was on its way ineluctably to a fate he could never have imagined.
In accordance with his instructions, it had been handed to the rickshaw man without delay. In accordance with the nurse’s instructions, the rickshaw man had boarded a streetcar at once. He had alighted at the designated stop. Turning down the familiar side street a short distance away, he had easily identified a wooden plaque bearing the family name on the envelope in front of a small but attractive two-story house. Approaching the entrance, he had handed the letter to O-Toki, who had emerged to greet him.
To that point, everything had proceeded in the order Tsuda had imagined. The subsequent reality, however, had never occurred to him as he penned his note. The letter did not make its way into O-Nobu’s hands.
As Tsuda had feared, O-Nobu was not at home, but neither had she set out for the clinic as he had also feared. Her destination was otherwise, a choice arrived at nimbly and governed by her desire to deploy all her skill to take advantage of a perilous opportunity.
All morning, O-Nobu had been herself again. She had arisen as always and gone about her business as usual. Conducting herself in all respects no differently from when Tsuda was home, she nonetheless found herself with time on her hands, an excess that was an inevitable result of his absence, and had lounged the morning away. When she was finished with lunch she went to the public bath. Thinking to present herself at the clinic looking as attractive as possible she took her time, and when she returned feeling wonderfully refreshed, her skin glowing from the hot water, she was greeted by O-Toki with news she couldn’t help thinking must be a lie.
“Hori-san’s wife was here.”
O-Nobu was so surprised she couldn’t believe what the maid was saying. One day after a day like yesterday, O-Hide had come to see her. A visit so unexpected simply couldn’t be. Twice and a third time she confirmed what the maid was saying. She even felt compelled to ask the purpose of the visit. And why hadn’t O-Toki bid her wait? But the maid knew nothing. On her way out, O-Hide had told her only that she had stopped after visiting the Fujiis because it was on her way home.