Fish of the Seto Inland Sea. Ruri Pilgrim

you say yes first and then sort things out. The bridegroom-to-be is saying that any time you are ready, he will come and meet your family. He is very enthusiastic.’

      â€˜We can’t say yes without knowing whether this man has brothers and sisters, or other details about him,’ Kei said, and Tei-ichi sent someone to find out about him. As it was already the beginning of December, the settlement would be in the new year, no matter how much they hurried.

      â€˜Do you think she’ll marry this time?’ Sachiko asked Haruko. They had not been told about the negotiations with Tagawa-ya’s son but knew everything that was going on.

      â€˜Why does he want to get a wife from so far away, that’s what I’d like to know,’ Haruko said precociously, and added, imitating Kei’s tone, ‘Aren’t there any women in Kyushu?’

      â€˜Oh, Haruko nesan,’ Sachiko giggled. ‘But it’s funny that they want to hurry so much, don’t you think? He has waited for so long to get married.’

      Early in the new year, Tei-ichi received a letter from a friend in Kyushu, whom he had asked to find out about the family of the bridegroom-to-be.

      Dear Dr Shirai,

      New Year’s greetings to you. May I use this opportunity to wish you and your family a very happy and prosperous year. It has been a long time since I last saw you and it has always been in my mind that I must write and thank you for all the advice and help you have given me. Thanks to you, we have been able to expand our pharmaceutical business and we are doing very well. I would like to visit you soon and tell you all about it.

      As for what you asked me to find out, the family is certainly well off and respected and there is nothing negative to report about the person himself. But I regret to say that he has a sister who is confined to the house and nobody has seen her for a long time. According to the tradesmen and servants, she was born deformed and seems to have the intelligence of a three-year-old. There is another similar case in one of his aunts, I was told.

      The young man himself is very popular and I do not want to destroy his chances of happiness but on the other hand I have to inform you of the facts.

      If there is anything further that you want me to do, please do not hesitate to ask me. I hope to see you soon, but meanwhile I wish your granddaughter the happiness she deserves.

      â€˜I wonder if there is something wrong with us,’ Ayako asked. ‘Why do all the proposals turn out to be inappropriate?’

      â€˜It is quite usual for marriages to come up against a lot of problems. Most old families have a skeleton or two in the cupboard,’ Kei said. In fact, both of them were in a way relieved that Takeko did not have to live far away.

      After this the marriage proposals came to a standstill and several months passed. Takeko was eighteen. Both Kei and Ayako were worried and there were new reasons for wanting to hurry Takeko’s marriage.

      Haruko came home one day and asked if she could take the entrance examination for the Women’s Medical College in Tokyo. She had found out about fees in detail.

      â€˜Please, if I could use the money that you reserved for my marriage, I would go and live with Yasu ojisama. Then it will not cost much. I will be able to work as their maid.’

      â€˜Where did you get such an idea? Of course not! A woman doctor? It’s so indecent.’

      â€˜Okahsan, it is more indecent to go and ask a man doctor to look at you.’

      â€˜Haruko san, I don’t want to hear you say such a thing.’

      After a few days Haruko came home from school and said that if she was not allowed to go to the Women’s Medical College, she would like to go to the Women’s Teaching College for Higher Education in Nara.

      â€˜Okahsan, that’s free. The government pays for fees. If you let me go, I will pay you back whatever I spend when I become a teacher. I will help Shu-chan as well.’