Read Online The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer - Free Book Online

among them every day, their world would always be closed to her. They were kind to her as one is kind to a dog.
    She was still too numb to take the slurs to heart. The words that echoed in her mind were not the Retired One’s but Lady Tsuguko’s. ‘Your lovely face and pure heart’ . . . That was not how she saw herself at all.
    If only she could see Her Highness. Was this why she had taken her from the village and lifted her to these heights? Was it to perform this service for her? She was sure there must be one last thing she needed to know that would make it all clear. But the princess did not return.
    Nevertheless, she understood her duty. No matter what happened, she would serve Her Highness to the best of her ability. She was ready for whatever the gods might have in store for her.
    III
    Sachi went to the room where she slept with the other maids and took off her formal kimono, laying it carefully over a kimono rack. Numbly she put on her maid’s robes, took up her sewing and settled on her knees in a corner. She sat staring blankly in front of her, her needlework untouched in her lap. Then footsteps came skidding along the wooden corridor outside. The door flew open and a girl burst in, her face wreathed in smiles. It was Taki.
    ‘Did you see him?’ she demanded. She had a voice like a mouse’s squeak.
    Taki was from Kyoto, the daughter of an impoverished samurai who was a retainer of one of the princess’s ladies-in-waiting, Lady Kin. Lady Kin had taken her into service when she was twelve and brought her to Edo. She and Sachi had entered the castle at the same time.
    Taki was not beautiful – in fact she was rather plain. She had a thin, pale face, scarred with smallpox, and protruding teeth that made her look a little like a rabbit. When Sachi arrived, the junior maids, especially the Edo girls who had lived in the castle for some time, had bullied her mercilessly, imitating her accent and sneering when she made mistakes of etiquette. Taki always took her side, defended her fiercely and helped her learn the proper way to speak and behave. They had become firm friends even though Taki was of much higher birth.
    Taki was jumping up and down, clapping her hands.
    ‘Everyone’s talking about it,’ she cried. ‘Everyone’s jealous.You’re to be the new concubine! But tell me, did you take a peep? What does he look like? Is he young? Is he old? Is he handsome? I’ve heard he’s young and handsome.’
    She threw herself down next to Sachi and put her arms around her, beaming up at her, waiting for an answer.
    ‘Well,’ Sachi mumbled uncomfortably, ‘I hardly saw him. He looked quite young. He might have been handsome.’
    ‘And you’re to be a middle-rank maid. You must have done something very good in your last life to have such good fortune! You’ve jumped aboard the jewelled palanquin! I knew the gods couldn’t have given you a face like yours for nothing.’
    ‘But what does a concubine have to do?’
    ‘Well, as far as I know the middle-rank maids have three shifts. There’s the morning shift, the afternoon shift and the night shift. There have to be maids ready to serve Her Imperial Highness at any time of night or day.’
    ‘Stop teasing. You know what I mean. What about His Majesty?’
    ‘Well . . . I don’t know exactly. You’ll be his number-two wife, the queen of this whole palace – if you have a baby, that is; but of course you will. Your family will be rich. They’ll never have to worry again. It’s the greatest thing that could ever happen to a girl. You will need maids. Let me be your maid. Please, Sachi, please. Please ask Lady Kin.’
    ‘But . . . I have to go to him tonight.’
    ‘Don’t worry about it. You must have seen pillow books and those strange pictures some of the ladies have, those “laughing pictures”. Just shut your eyes and bear it. It probably won’t last long. It might even be fun. I’ve heard people say it’s fun. Come on, don’t hide here.