第6节
then would he know whether he would have time to sample
the delectable joys of family life in the Kamakura household before
being dispatched on some new errand. In the meantime, he begged the
good captain to convey his respectful yet tender greetings to Yukio,
his wife, and her five daughters whose peerless beauty, selfless
devotion and pristine decorum reflected nothing but credit upon their
parents. Et cetera, et cetera.
Kamakura wheeled away and headed back across the bridge, his honour
satisfied. Since his respect and friendship for the young man
pre-dated Toshiro's elevation to the rank of Herald he knew that his
offer of hospitality would not be construed as an attempt to curry
favour. Nevertheless, as his wife constantly reminded him, any one of
their eligible daughters would make an ideal match for Toshiro. And
with a Herald for a son-in-law, the marriage prospects for the
remaining girls would be immeasurably increased. One noble scion was
the least they could expect. Maybe two!
Women! Despite their supposedly submissive, secondary status, it was
rare to find one able to resist the lure of social advancement. It was
just as well they had a multitude of domestic tasks to attend to:
otherwise their days would be filled with all manner of vainglorious
dreams, In his years of service with the Shogunate, Kamakura had seen
enough to know that, unless governed by an acute and disciplined
intellect, bodies freed from the daily grind of physical labour or the
demands of soldiering soon became breeding grounds for discontent.
Idleness led first to the unbridled pursuit of pleasure, then, when
jaded appetites could no longer be whetted by the most deviant
perversions, the ladies of the court turned into malicious gossips and
schemers.
Having destroyed their own sense of moral worth, they set out to
destroy those around them. There were men of privilege who fell into
this category too - and it had led to the collapse of more than one
Shogunate.
Nobility, reflected Kamakura, was not all it was trumped up to be. It
was the samurai ethic that was the bulwark against mental and physical
corruption, and he was thankful that the new Shogun was the embodiment
of all he held dear. Unfortunately, Yukio, his wife who, as a young
concubine, had pleasured the present Shogun's father did not share this
jaundiced view of the nobility even though her lord and master, in a
fit of generosity, had presented her to Kamakura in return for services
rendered. Yukio, then a slim girl with a flawless, resilient body, had
submitted dutifully as her status demanded but, like all women, she had
found ways to convey her resentment.
That was in the beginning. Their relationship had improved in the
intervening years for, with time, he had proved a reasonable catch,
especially when Yoritomo, on his accession to power, had promoted him
to the rank of guard-captain and, at the same time, had swept the
remaining sybarites out of his father's 'pleasure dome'.
But the gilded life of the Inner Court leaves an indelible mark.
Kamakura knew that, in her heart of hearts, Yukio wished she could have
married into the nobility which, for a daughter of a well-to-do
merchant family, had not been beyond the bounds of possibility. There
were times when even Kamakura wished he could have been born with a
silver cup to his lips. But he was old enough and wise enough to know
that the fledgling heirs to wealth, power and privilege often found
themselves holding a poisoned chalice.
Entering the palace, Toshiro presented himself to Ieyasu, the Court
Chamberlain, and learned that word of his arrival had already reached
the Shogun. The Herald was to join him in the pebble garden as soon as
he had cleansed his travel-stained body.
Ieyasu, a tall angular man with a lined, cadaverous face, prided
himself on his efficiency. How it was achieved was something of a
mystery to Toshiro. Ieyasu never seemed to do anything and on the rare
occasions.
Toshiro had seen him in motion, each gesture, like his speech, was