Light and dark

[145]

IT HAD been an unexpectedly easy day for her. The doctor, confined to his house by a touch of diarrhea, had asked his friend to stand in for him; the friend had arranged to be there in the morning but had not returned for afternoon and evening hours.

“He’s on call today so he can’t come in this evening.”

With this explanation, the nurse took her time at Tsuda’s bedside as though she hadn’t a care in the world. Tsuda, pleased to have a perfect companion with whom to while away the time, rambled on. To amuse himself, he posed the nurse a variety of questions.

“Where are you from?”

“Tochigi Prefecture.”

“Now that you mention it, I can see that. What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t say—”

The nurse wouldn’t divulge her name. Enjoying the resistance he encountered, Tsuda repeated the question over and again.

“In that case I’ll call you Miss Tochigi, Miss Tochigi Prefecture — will that be all right?”

“Fine with me.”

Her first name began with the letters “Tsu.”

“Tsu-yu — Miss Mist?”

“Wrong.”

“Of course Mist wouldn’t be right. How about Tsu-chi? Miss Earth?”

“Wrong again.”

“Hold on a minute. If it’s not ‘mist’ and it’s not ‘earth’—I get it. It must be ‘luster.’ Or maybe ‘eternity’?”

Tsuda continued nonsensically, and the nurse, grinning, shook her head at every guess. Each time she smiled, Tsuda pressed her again. When it became clear at last that her name was Tsu-ki, he joked about the unusual name.

“Miss Moon, then? That’s a wonderful name. Who named you?”

Instead of replying, the nurse countered.

“What might your wife’s name be?”

“Take a guess.”

After proposing several female names, the nurse said, “Is it O-Nobu-san?”

Was it a lucky guess? More likely she had heard the name and remembered it.

“There’s no putting anything over on you, Miss Moon.”

Just then, as Tsuda was enjoying himself largely, the actual O-Nobu appeared in the doorway, surprising the nurse, who picked up the tray and rose at once.

“Here’s your missus at last.”

Seating herself at the head of the mattress in the nurse’s place, O-Nobu turned her eyes instantly on Tsuda.

“You must have been thinking I wouldn’t come.”

“Not really. But it is late so I was beginning to wonder.”

Tsuda wasn’t lying, and O-Nobu could see it. But that served only to underscore the contradiction.

“But you sent me a letter earlier.”

“Yes, I did.”

“You wrote that I mustn’t come to visit today.”

“Today would have been a bit inconvenient.”

“Why was that?”

Tsuda finally came to attention. Observing O-Nobu closely, he replied.

“It was nothing, really. A trivial matter.”

“But you went to the trouble of having the letter delivered. Something must have been happening.”

Tsuda tried to dissemble.

“It was nothing serious. Why do you bother to get all worked up, you’re such a silly!”

Tsuda’s attempt to beguile O-Nobu had the opposite effect. She arched her dark eyebrows. In silence, she withdrew the note from her obi.

“Have another look at this.”

Tsuda accepted the letter in silence.

“What about it? It’s nothing so unusual.” Even as he spoke, he couldn’t help gainsaying his own words in his heart. It was a simple note. But it was more than sufficient to arouse O-Nobu’s suspicion. He realized that, already under suspicion, he had misstepped.

“If it’s nothing unusual, why don’t I understand what it means? I think you might explain it to me since I came all the way over here.”

“That’s why you came?”

“Yes.”

“Just for that?”

“Yes.”

No matter what, she wouldn’t budge. As he was realizing his companion was implacable, Tsuda stumbled on a convenient lie.

“If you must know, Kobayashi was here.”

The name was certain to have reverberated in O-Nobu’s heart. But that was hardly an end to it. To satisfy her, he had now obliged himself to provide an explanation.