Shogun_ A Novel of Japan - James Clavell [306]
“Yes,” he said aloud.
“Nan desu ka, Anjin-san?” Buntaro asked, his eyes bloodshot.
“Nani mo. Watashi no kashitsu desu.” Nothing. It was my fault.
Buntaro shook his head and said that no, it was only his fault and he bowed and apologized again.
“Saké,” Blackthorne said with finality and shrugged. “Shigata ga nai. Saké!”
Buntaro bowed and thanked him again. Blackthorne returned it and got up. Buntaro followed, and the guard. Both bowed once more. Again it was returned.
At length Buntaro turned and reeled away. Blackthorne waited until he was out of arrow range, wondering if the man was as drunk as he appeared to be. Then he went back to his own house.
Fujiko was on the veranda, once more within her polite, smiling shell. What are you really thinking, he asked himself as he greeted her, and was welcomed back.
Mariko’s door was closed. Her maid stood beside it.
“Mariko-san?”
“Yes, Anjin-san?”
He waited but the door stayed closed. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, thank you.” He heard her clear her throat, then the weak voice continued. “Fujiko has sent word to Yabu-san and to Lord Toranaga that I’m indisposed today and won’t be able to interpret.”
“You’d better see a doctor.”
“Oh, thank you, but Suwo will be very good. I’ve sent for him. I’ve … I’ve just twisted my side. Truly I’m all right, there’s no need for you to worry.”
“Look, I know a little about doctoring. You’re not coughing up blood, are you?”
“Oh, no. When I slipped I just knocked my cheek. Really, I’m quite all right.”
After a pause, he said, “Buntaro apologized.”
“Yes. Fujiko watched from the gate. I thank you humbly for accepting his apology. Thank you. And Anjin-san, I’m so sorry that you were disturbed … it’s unforgivable that your harmony … please accept my apologies too. I should never have let my mouth run away with me. It was very impolite—please forgive me also. The quarrel was my fault. Please accept my apology.”
“For being beaten?”
“For failing to obey my husband, for failing to help him to sleep contentedly, for failing him, and my host. Also for what I said.”
“You’re sure there’s nothing I can do?”
“No—no, thank you, Anjin-san. It’s just for today.”
But Blackthorne did not see her for eight days.
CHAPTER 36
“I invited you to hunt, Naga-san, not to repeat views I’ve already heard,” Toranaga said.
“I beg you, Father, for the last time: stop the training, outlaw guns, destroy the barbarian, declare the experiment a failure and have done with this obscenity.”
“No. For the last time.” The hooded falcon on Toranaga’s gloved hand shifted uneasily at the unaccustomed menace in her master’s voice and she hissed irritably. They were in the brush, beaters and guards well out of earshot, the day sweltering and dank and overcast.
Naga’s chin jutted. “Very well. But it’s still my duty to remind you that you’re in danger here, and to demand again, with due politeness, now for the last time, that you leave Anjiro today.”
“No. Also for the last time.”
“Then take my head!”
“I already have your head!”
“Then take it today, now, or let me end my life, since you won’t take good advice.”
“Learn patience, puppy!”
“How can I be patient when I see you destroying yourself? It’s my duty to point it out to you. You stay here hunting and wasting time while your enemies are pulling the whole world down on you. The Regents meet tomorrow. Four-fifths of all daimyos in Japan are either at Osaka already or on the way there. You’re the only important one to refuse. Now you’ll be impeached. Then nothing can save you. At the very least you should be home at Yedo surrounded by the legions. Here you’re naked. We can’t protect you. We’ve barely a thousand men, and hasn’t Yabu-san mobilized all Izu? He’s got more than eight thousand men within twenty ri, another six closing his borders. You know spies say he has a fleet waiting northward to sink you if you try to escape by galley! You’re his prisoner again, don’t you see that? One carrier pigeon from Ishido and Yabu can destroy you, whenever he wants. How do you know he isn’t