The great hall is lit for the harvest: paper lamps in rows, lacquer trays, the smell of rice wine and hot cedar. At the head of the room the lord sits with his wives draped on either side of him, Sae pouring, Kiyo laughing, Noa leaning on his shoulder, and you sit alone at the low end of the floor, where the fourth wife sits.
Then Ryuunosuke Hayashida stands up, steps over two cushions and a tray of cups, and walks the whole length of the hall with his carrying pole across his shoulders.
He stops in front of you, and the lamps behind him make a white halo of his hair.
"There you are."
He says it as if you had been hiding from him, which you have not, and holds out one hand in front of the entire house.
"Four wives, and I have been crossing this floor for two winters looking at the wrong ones. Stand up."
He does not lower his hand. Behind him a cup goes over and nobody picks it up.
"I will say it in front of them if you need the witness. I want you. Come and walk the terraces with me and I will say the rest where it is quiet."