Laura Rowland: The Ronin’s Mistress

“Are you directing me to say you’re not interested? We’ve had sixteen refusals in a year, and this is our first offer. Don’t be too quick to turn it down.”

“All right,” Reiko said reluctantly. “Tell them we’re considering their proposal. But keep looking for new prospects. There’s still time. Masahiro is only eleven.”

Samurai boys didn’t officially reach manhood until age fourteen; yet children were often betrothed, and Sano and Reiko needed to safeguard Masahiro’s future. If Masahiro was betrothed, he would have another family to protect him while he was young and give him a place in society when he was an adult-if Sano wasn’t there to do it. Reiko must find Masahiro a bride quickly, because Sano’s situation wasn’t getting any better. But she felt as if she was hurrying the end of his childhood. She wanted him to remain her baby for as long as possible.

“Time goes fast,” Lady Wakasa warned. “The sooner your son is settled, the better, and your daughter, too. You can bet that Chamberlain Yanagisawa isn’t wasting any time getting his sons married. Have you heard the rumor? It seems that Yanagisawa is in marriage negotiations with Tokugawa Ienobu, to arrange a match between his daughter and Yoritomo.” She added, “Ienobu is the shogun’s nephew.”

“I’ve heard that he’s the man most likely to succeed the shogun,” Reiko said, disturbed.

“So have I,” Lady Wakasa said. “The shogun will die eventually. If Yoritomo marries into Ienobu’s family, then Yanagisawa has a chance to control the regime for another term.”

And Sano would have to fight Yanagisawa at an even greater disadvantage. “In that case, it’s all the more important that we find the best possible match for-”

Reiko stopped because she saw Masahiro standing in the doorway, holding a bamboo scroll container. She didn’t like to talk about his marriage prospects in front of him. She didn’t want him to hear himself discussed as if he were a commodity for sale, which buyers rejected. But he had a talent for sensing when something important was happening. He would appear on the scene before Reiko knew he was there.

Lady Wakasa understood. “I’d better go.” She rose, grimacing as her stiff joints creaked. On her way out she told Reiko, “Remember what I said: Don’t wait too long.”

Reiko extended her hand to Masahiro and drew him beside her. How tall he was! And how handsome in his white martial arts practice clothes. He didn’t look like her or Sano; he was a blend of their best features, her beauty toughened by Sano’s strength. Reiko beamed with pride and love. “Have you finished your practice?”

“Yes, Mother.” Masahiro asked, “Can’t she find a bride for me?”

Reiko sighed. Masahiro knew everything that went on in the household, despite her efforts to shield him. “Not yet.”

He looked relieved. “I don’t think I’m ready to get married.”

“It wouldn’t be until you’re at least fourteen.”

“If I can marry a girl I like, I won’t mind.” Masahiro sounded hopeful.

Reiko realized with surprise that he was becoming a young man, with a young man’s dreams of romance. “I promise I’ll do my best to find you a girl you’ll love.”

Masahiro nodded, reassured. He seemed once more a child, who believed that the three years until his manhood would last forever. But he’d already taken on adult responsibilities. “I have to change my clothes and go to the palace.” This winter he’d begun his first job-as a page in Edo Castle, the position in which many boys from good samurai families started. He was inordinately proud of the fact. “The shogun will be wanting me.”

His mention of the shogun made Reiko’s blood run cold.

The shogun liked sex with young boys. He surrounded himself with male courtesans and actors, and every page, soldier, and servant in Edo Castle was at his disposal. Reiko didn’t want Masahiro to become the shogun’s concubine, not even to gain influence at court. It was too repulsive and degrading. The shogun’s favor could advance Masahiro in the world, but Reiko prayed that Masahiro would never attract the shogun’s lust.

Noises outside the chamber interrupted her thoughts. She saw two servants lugging a trunk down the corridor. Her daughter, four-year-old Akiko, skipped after them, hand in hand with a woman in her mid-thirties, who wore a brown silk quilted coat. The woman had a pensive, pretty face, and her hair was arranged in a neat twist at the back of her head. Entering the room with Akiko, she smiled at Reiko and Masahiro.

“Chiyo- san !” Reiko rose; she and the woman exchanged bows. “How good to see you.”

“Many thanks for your hospitality,” Chiyo said.

She was Sano’s cousin, the daughter of his maternal uncle, Major Kumazawa from the Tokugawa army. Sano had been estranged from the Kumazawa clan due to a breach between them and his mother that had occurred before his birth. He hadn’t known they existed until a crime had brought them together two years ago. That crime had been a kidnapping-the case that had resulted in his fall. Chiyo had been a victim. One of the few good things to come out of the case was a close friendship between Chiyo and Reiko. Although Chiyo had recovered physically from the experience, her husband had divorced her because she’d been violated, and she would have lost her two children to him, had Sano not ordered him to let the children live with her, at the Kumazawa estate, every other month. Still, Chiyo grieved during their absences. Reiko had invited Chiyo to spend those months with her, so that she wouldn’t be as lonely. And Reiko was glad of Chiyo’s company. Her usual companion, Midori, was pregnant and slept a lot, and Reiko had lost many other friends after Sano’s demotion.

Masahiro greeted Chiyo, happy to see her. He and Akiko had adopted Chiyo into their family. Then he proffered the scroll container to Reiko. “Mother, this just came for you.”

Reiko opened the container, which was a roughly cut length of bamboo sealed with crude wooden plugs. She took out a rolled piece of cheap rice paper, unfurled it, and read,

Honorable Lady Reiko,

Please excuse me, a humble stranger, for writing to you. I’ve heard that you help women in trouble. My name is Okaru. I’m in trouble. Please forgive my poor words-I’m so upset I can hardly think. My man has done something terrible. It’s too complicated to explain in a letter, and the scribe is charging me for each line, and I’m running out of money. I’m sorry to impose on you, but I’m new in town, I don’t know anybody here, and I have no one else to turn to. Will you please help me? I’m staying at the Dragonfly Inn in Nihonbashi, three blocks from the south end of the bridge. I wait eagerly to hear from you.

Reiko was moved by Okaru’s urgent tone. “I haven’t received a letter like this in quite a while.”

“Didn’t you once run a kind of service for helping women in trouble?” Chiyo asked. “Is that what the letter refers to?”

“Yes.”

Reiko had once had a reputation for solving problems. She had often assisted Sano with his investigations, and her part in them had been rumored in high-society gossip and in the news broadsheets sold in town. Many people thought her unfeminine, scandalous, and disgraceful, but others-mainly women-had flocked to her in search of help. She’d found jobs and homes for them, paid for doctors to cure their sick children. She’d rescued women from cruel husbands, lovers, and employers. She’d also intervened on behalf of people unjustly accused of crimes. The daughter of Magistrate Ueda, one of two officials who presided over Edo’s court of justice, Reiko had used her influence with him to get the innocents acquitted. Helping people made her feel useful, and serving the public also served honor.