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time she’s been out with him, is it? I won’t cause you any trouble, whatever comes of this, and you’ll be well rewarded. . . .” I let her see me take out a ten-yen note and fold a sheet of paper around it.
    â€œNo, no,” she protested, “you’re too kind.”
    But I slipped it into her sash. “Let’s not waste any more time.”
    â€œI wonder if I ought to go along with you, Mrs. Kakiuchi, to a place like that. Won’t I get scolded?”
    â€œWhy should you? She wanted me to have you come, if I couldn’t.”
    â€œDid she tell you all that on the phone? It makes me nervous. . . .”
    Ume seemed to feel I was luring her into a trap. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” I said, to reassure her. “I only know about it because Mitsu called me.”
    â€œYes, but I’ve wondered why you didn’t notice anything before. That’s been bothering me all along. . . .”
    â€œOh? And how long has it been going on?”
    â€œA long time—at least since April; I’m not really sure.”
    â€œWho is this man she’s with?”
    â€œI don’t know that either. She gives me money and tells me to go to a movie, and then wait for her at Umeda at a certain time. I can’t imagine where she goes. I thought she might have been meeting you somewhere. Even when we get home late, she wants me to say we were at Mrs. Kakiuchi’s house.”

10
    I ASKED UME how often it had happened
    â€œThat’s hard to say too. She’d tell me she was going to her tea-ceremony lesson, or to Mrs. Kakiuchi’s . . . but she’d always seemed agitated. Now I have to do an errand, she’d say, and go off alone.”
    â€œAre you sure you’re telling me the truth?”
    â€œWhy would I lie to you? Didn’t you suspect it yourself, Mrs. Kakiuchi? Didn’t you ever think something was going on?”
    â€œI’m just too stupid. All this time I’ve been treated badly, simply walked all over, and I never knew it till this very day. What cruel behavior?”
    â€œYes, I’m afraid my young mistress doesn’t have much of a conscience. . . . Whenever I see you, I feel guilty. I’m so sorry for you. . . .”
    Ume seemed genuinely sympathetic, and much as I disliked confiding in her, I had become so bitter, so distraught, that I wanted to tell her everything that was on my mind.
    â€œListen, Ume, you must have known how I felt. I never dreamed of anything like this. Lately I’ve been quarreling terribly with my husband over Mitsu. If I hadn’t been so wrapped up in her I’d surely have caught on, no matter how dull-witted I seem. Well, never mind, but how on earth could she telephone me like that tonight? She must take me for a fool!”
    â€œReally, how could she! But maybe she was at her wits’ end.”
    â€œI don’t care what trouble she was in—how could she dare to tell me she went to a restaurant with her boyfriend and they had a bath there! You can draw your own conclusions!”
    â€œYes, of course, but still, once she had her clothes stolen she couldn’t go home naked. . . .”’
    â€œI’d have done it. Rather than make such a shameless phone call, I’d have gone home stark naked!”
    â€œAnd to get robbed at a time like that—it doesn’t pay to keep bad company.”
    â€œAnyway, it serves them right—not just to lose their money but to lose all their clothes, right down to their underwear. . . .”
    â€œYes, yes indeed. It serves them right!”
    â€œWhen we got our matching kimonos, it wasn’t for a thing like this. . . . How far will she go to take advantage of me?”
    â€œIt was awfully lucky my mistress wore that kimono today! What could she have done if you hadn’t worried about her, Mrs. Kakiuchi?