The Tokaido Road (1991)(528p) by Lucia St. Clair Robson Page A

stripped of home, privilege, and possessions. Lord Asano’s wife came from a powerful family. Her steward had taken it upon himself to see that his mistress’s rival was ruined completely. Cat’s mother was proud. She said nothing of the unjust treatment. She shaved her head and became a nun.
    Now she and Cat’s old nurse lived in a small house of two rooms. Her former servants, themselves out of work, came by to visit and sweep the bare yard, to fill the water jars at the communal well, and to bring vegetables and small gifts. Cat was consumed by the shame of not being able to provide better for her mother. But to attract patrons a courtesan and her apprentices had to dress extravagantly, although the sumptuous clothes brought Cat no joy. And after Old Jug Face and the owner of the Carp took their percentage from her earnings, not much was left.
    On top of all the other humiliations Cat had felt the added shame of ingratitude when she’d refused the adoption offer. She remembered Oishi’s visit to the House of the Carp shortly after she had fled there. He had come alone, disguised as a priest to avoid the gossip his presence would cause.
    The interview had been a torment. If Oishi had raged at her, if he had ordered her to go to KyMto, she could have become angry in return. She could have set her jaw and stared icily at him, a technique she had perfected as a child in contests of wills with her nurse. But of course he didn’t give her the chance.
    In all the years Oishi Kuranosuke had been her sensei, her teacher, in the arts of the warrior, she had never seen him lose his temper. She remembered his calm voice, so familiar, as he asked her to consider her family’s honor. He was asking her to fulfill her duty as Lord Asano’s only child and bear sons to pray for his soul for generations to come. Cat’s duty to both her parents, the one who had died and the one who still lived, had been the most difficult part of her decision.
    Cat hadn’t been able to look into Oishi’s eyes. With head lowered she had whispered, “I will not.” As evening shadows gathered around them in the House of the Carp’s large, bare reception room, they had sat in silence, both of them trapped by tragic circumstances beyond their control.
    Cat had felt another sorrow added to their shared burden of grief. Oishi had always seemed invincible, infallible. He had always been a man who could command any situation. But he had been managing the Asano estate in AkM, a hundred and fifty-five long ri southwest of Edo, when the quarrel erupted.
    Of course he couldn’t have prevented it himself, but he knew his master’s frugal nature, and he knew what sort of man Kira was. He should have foreseen Kira’s demands and Asano’s refusal. He should have instructed Asano’s advisers to give Kira extravagant presents, behind their master’s back if necessary. But he hadn’t.
    Nor could he provide for the woman who had been his lord’s greatest love. He had paid off creditors. He had given as much money as possible to the three hundred and twenty former AkM-Asano retainers and their families, who were now without prospects. He had bribed officials in an attempt to reinstate the family name. All of that had drained away most of the estate’s resources.
    Now he could not even assure his master’s daughter’s future. This was the child LordAsano loved and had planned to make his heir. This was the child Oishi had taught since she was old enough to clutch a miniature halberd, a naginata, in her tiny hands. And she was defying him.
    He knew she was silently blaming him, too, not only for allowing her father’s death, but for turning over the family castle in AkM to the shMgun’s officials without a fight. He knew she considered him a coward for not taking revenge or at least following his master by committing seppuku.
    His shame had resonated, pulsing imperceptibly like the lantern’s light in the dim room. He had risen and bowed low, just