Conviction rang in his voice. He stood tall with his determination to achieve the goal Yanagisawa had set. Yanagisawa told himself that survival justified schooling Yoritomo to be a whore. Lord Matsudaira would have done the same with Daiemon, except Daiemon willingly prostituted himself. Daiemon, a rake experienced with both men and women, had no need of lessons on how to pleasure the shogun. Still, Yanagisawa’s guilt toward Yoritomo persisted.

“Do you understand that what we’re doing pains me as much as you?” he said urgently. “Do you understand that if there were any other way, I wouldn’t ask so much of you?”

“Yes, Honorable Father, I understand,” Yoritomo said with perfect, ardent sincerity. “I’ll gladly do whatever you ask, because you know what’s best for us both.”

“I thank you, Son. I hope that someday you’ll thank me.” Humbled by Yoritomo’s attitude, overcome by love, Yanagisawa squeezed his shoulders, then released him.

Yoritomo spread his arms, as if to embrace his father. Yanagisawa had a sudden memory of a little boy running to greet him. Then Yoritomo apparently recalled that he was no longer a child. He dropped his arms, bowed, and exited the room. Anguish and doubts plagued Yanagisawa. If he should be implicated in Senior Elder Makino’s murder, and if he should lose the battle against Lord Matsudaira, then his sole hope for the future rested upon Yoritomo.

Lady Yanagisawa and Kikuko peered in through the door of the chamberlain’s office. Inside, he’d seated himself at his desk. His hand plied a writing brush, inking a page with his elegant script. Lady Yanagisawa’s heart beat fast with the excitement she always felt when near him.

Without looking up, the chamberlain said to her, “Don’t just stand out there, come in.”

Lady Yanagisawa crept into the room. Its air was charged with the erotic energy that her husband radiated. He glanced up and saw Kikuko trailing her. His face darkened.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t want to see her?” he said.

Lady Yanagisawa knew he didn’t like to be reminded that he’d sired an idiot, even though he blamed his wife for Kikuko’s defects. But Lady Yanagisawa hoped he’d come to appreciate how pretty and sweet Kikuko was. His treatment of their daughter caused Lady Yanagisawa terrible anguish, but not even this could diminish her love or need for him.

“I’m sorry,” she said humbly, and turned to Kikuko. “Go to your room, dearest.”

Kikuko, normally docile and obedient, clutched Lady Yanagisawa’s sleeve. Her sunny expression turned plaintive. “Me stay with you.”

Lady Yanagisawa realized that her daughter was jealous of her new relationship with the chamberlain. Kikuko had grown tired of being shunted aside in favor of a man who was a hostile stranger to her; she didn’t understand why she must share her mother with him. But although Lady Yanagisawa hated to hurt Kikuko, she couldn’t let her daughter come between her husband and herself.

“You must go,” she said, pushing Kikuko toward the door.

“Me no want go!” Kikuko cried. She burst into sobs. She fell to the floor, pounding her fists, kicking, and shrieking.

“Get her out of here!” the chamberlain shouted, enraged.

Desperate to preserve her foothold in his life, Lady Yanagisawa carried the hysterical Kikuko out of the office and thrust her into the arms of a maid passing along the corridor.

“Take Kikuko-chan to her room,” she ordered.

As the maid bore her away, Kikuko screamed, “Mama, Mama!”

Fighting the urge to rush after her beloved daughter, Lady Yanagisawa returned to her husband. He was pacing the room in swift, restless strides, as he always did when agitated. “If that ever happens again, I’ll send the brat away,” he said.

Lady Yanagisawa clasped a hand against her throat. That he might banish his own child and separate her from Kikuko! Stabbed by his cruelty, she suddenly thought of the reports from her spies in Reiko’s house, who’d described Sano romping and laughing with Masahiro. Sano adored his child. Sano would never treat Reiko the way the chamberlain did Lady Yanagisawa. According to her spies, Sano made passionate love to Reiko almost every night. Reiko didn’t have to act like a dog begging for crumbs of affection. Lady Yanagisawa seethed with anger and hatred toward Reiko, who had more than her share of good luck.

“Forgive me,” she said as she knelt and humbly bowed to her husband. “I’ll see that Kikuko behaves herself in the future.”

“See that you do,” the chamberlain said, pacing. “I don’t need any more annoyance at a time like this.”

“No, my lord,” Lady Yanagisawa murmured. “I know you’ve been troubled recently.”

He halted, and his gaze pierced her. “How do you know?”

Lady Yanagisawa didn’t want to anger him further by confessing that she spied on him. “I-I’ve heard talk about you and Lord Matsudaira.”

The chamberlain’s sneer mocked her clumsy fib. She was mortified to realize that he knew all about her spying. Probably he thought her obsession a harmless joke. Why else would he allow her to intrude on his privacy? Blinking away tears of humiliation, she thought enviously once more of Reiko, who was Sano’s confidante.

“It’s true that Lord Matsudaira poses a major problem to me,” the chamberlain said. “Unless I defeat him, I’ll be ousted from the bakufu and run out of Edo -or put to death.”

A gasp of horror rose in Lady Yanagisawa. Despite all her eavesdropping, she’d not guessed how bad things were. The idea of her beloved husband gone forever was too terrible to contemplate. Instead, Lady Yanagisawa was determined to change misfortune to triumph for them both.

“My lord-” The presumptuousness of what she planned to say caused her to hesitate.

The chamberlain gave her an impatient, quizzical frown.

She blurted, “My lord, I beg you to let me help you.”

Surprise arched the chamberlain’s eyebrows. “My troubles concern politics and war. Those are hardly the business of women. What could you do against my enemies?”

Lady Yanagisawa knew how small, weak, and useless she must appear to him and the whole world of men. She hadn’t the slightest notion of how she might serve his purposes. But an unfamiliar, physical sensation of power flooded her like a magic spell born of her desires and his peril. She rose and stood directly facing the chamberlain. For the first time ever, she looked straight into his eyes.

“You’d be surprised at what I can do,” she said.

The chamberlain stared, disconcerted, as if he, too, felt the magic. Then he bestowed upon her a smile so replete with approval and insinuation that a sexual thrill rushed through her. “I may give you a chance to surprise me,” he said.

Just then, his principal secretary appeared at the door. “Excuse me, Honorable Chamberlain, but here are the latest reports on Lord Matsudaira’s army.”

The chamberlain flicked his fingers at Lady Yanagisawa, dismissing her. For once she didn’t mind. She hastened from the room, filled with such gleeful anticipation that she ran outside to the cold, wet garden, where she spun around in an exuberant dance.

She would help her husband defeat Lord Matsudaira and gain supreme, permanent control over the bakufu. His love would be her reward. When he ruled Japan with her by his side, she need never be jealous of Reiko again.