The Scent of Sake (9 page)

Late in the afternoon Rie made certain that Jihei was still in the office. She walked over to where he was working and spoke to him softly, out of earshot of her father, Kin and the clerks.

“You know, tonight we’ll be having fresh mackerel cooked with miso the way you like it, and sesame tofu. And I thought we could try some of the special sake Toji has been experimenting with.” She smiled at Jihei, she hoped enticingly. “Your bath will be ready soon.”

Jihei looked at Rie and nodded. “All right.” Was he such a dolt he thought nothing of her sudden change of personality?

Rie shook her head as she checked the bath to be sure it was heating and hurried to the kitchen to instruct the cook to prepare the special dishes for the evening. She set aside three bottles of the highest grade of sake. Upstairs she pulled out the tansu drawers holding her kasuri kimonos. She fingered several before selecting a lighter shade of indigo with a larger pattern than she generally wore. She slid her mother’s perfume box into her sleeve and took out the kasuri she had selected.

While her father and Jihei were bathing, Rie went again to the kitchen to ask O-Natsu to heat the sake. Jihei and her father retuned from the bath, their skin still moist and flushed, their moods relaxed.

When Rie and her mother were seated with their husbands Rie poured, first for her father, then for her husband.

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“This is the special sake that Toji has brewed this year. I thought we could enjoy some with our mackerel this evening.” She looked at her mother, who urged her to continue, then turned toward Jihei, caught his eye, and smiled as she poured for him.

“Mother, why don’t you have a taste too?” She held the bottle and a cup toward her mother.

“Just a sip, dear.” Her mother held up her tiny cup delicately to Rie.

Rie turned back to Jihei. “How do you like it?”

“Here, try some yourself,” Jihei said, holding out a warmed flask toward her cup.

She inhaled the yeasty bouquet and savored a sip. “
Mmm.

Wonderful! We should be able to market it at top price.”

Her mother sighed and cast a warning glance at Rie not to talk business, but her father, oblivious to the interchange said, “Yes, Rie, I think you’re right. It’s something new. I haven’t tasted anything quite like it before.”

Rie smiled inwardly at this sign of approval from her father.

With a nod to Rie, Hana excused herself to prepare her bath and retire early, but Kinzaemon and Jihei continued to enjoy their evening sake. Rie excused herself as well for a quick bath, then hurried up the stairs and lit a lamp in the anteroom. Light from the lamp sputtered and flickered through the wooden carving above the screens, and shadow cranes drifted into the bedroom. She took out the futons and laid them side by side. In the dressing room she took out her mother’s Kyoto perfume and applied some behind her ears, neck, and wrists. She smoothed her kimono and obi and surveyed the room quickly. Satisfied, she returned to join her father and Jihei. She paused outside the room and adjusted the collar of her kimono so that a bit more of the nape of her neck showed than was proper. As she entered the room she glanced at Jihei to see how red his face was. It would not do to wait too long. Seated at the table again, she turned her

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back toward Jihei and lingered over the sake flasks and cups.

She turned back toward Jihei and forced a smile. “I can take a flask upstairs if you like.”

“Yes, I’d like to have another sip, a nightcap.”

As Rie rose with the sake tray she saw out of the corner of her eye that Jihei was rising to follow her. She could feel his gaze on the nape of her neck as she glided toward the stairway. That the plan worked should have excited her, but it only sent a shiver of apprehension running through her.

In their room upstairs Rie placed the sake tray carefully next to Jihei’s futon and water glass. She turned her back toward Jihei and untied her obi. Before she got any further she felt Jihei’s arms around her and his face pressed against the nape of her neck.

She stiffened but then forced herself to relax to his touch. She knew Jihei would not leave tonight. She prayed that she would conceive a child, that she would not have to spend many nights this way. For the next half hour she set her mind free and pretended that it was Saburo who touched her, Saburo whose child she would bear.

Over the next few weeks Rie looked for signs that she was pregnant. She examined her body and waited impatiently. When no sign appeared, she despaired. This must be how empresses had felt over the centuries when they failed to produce an heir and instead the son of one of the concubines was brought into the palace in line to the throne. Kinzaemon also was deeply concerned about an heir to provide continuity for the house.

One day when Rie was passing by her father’s office, she heard her father and Jihei talking in the inner office, and peered in to see them seated at the low table strewn with ledgers, facing each other.

Kinzaemon ran his hand through his bushy hair. “I heard a rumor the other day,” he began.

“Yes?” Jihei moved the abacus nervously.

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“I’m told that the geisha O-Toki at the Sawaraya is bearing your child. Is it true?”

Jihei cleared his throat. “Actually, yes. A son has been born, just four weeks ago.” He moved his hand across an eyebrow.

Rie stifled a gasp, and absentmindedly rubbed her barren stomach.

Kinzaemon straightened his bulky frame and pulled his kimono more closely around him. “I see.” He paused. “A son, is it? And are you sure he is yours?”

“Yes, he is my son.”

“And does Rie know about this?” “I believe she may have heard.”

Kinzaemon glanced at Jihei, whose face had reddened noticeably. “Have you seen the child? Is he normal, healthy?”

“Yes, I have, and he seems very healthy . . . eats well. . .” Jihei stopped, uncertainly.

“Of course the house needs a successor,” Kinzaemon said. “And Rie has not borne a child yet. Well, then, shall we bring the child into the house? Recognize him as your legitimate heir?” He paused and sighed. “I never did that. My wife insisted that Rie and her husband succeed us. And I didn’t wish to bring in an outside child by a geisha.” Kinzaemon pulled at his ear and drew the corners of his mouth down. “Of course Rie may not be entirely pleased about it. But she always understands that the interests of the house come first. That was fundamental in our teaching as she grew up.”

Rie fought back tears as she rushed off, feeling every bit as disemboweled as a samurai who had committed seppuku.

The following evening when Rie took sake to the dining room she found her father sitting alone.

“Oh, Rie, come in.” Her father beckoned toward the seat opposite him.

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Rie seated herself and poured for her father. Although she had slept little the night before, she managed a weak smile.

“I want to let you know, Rie, that we plan to bring your husband’s son into the house, since there’s no sign of your producing an heir.” He sipped and glanced at Rie as if to gauge her reaction.

She set the flask down abruptly and looked at her hands, which were shaking. “But Father, what more can I do?” Her voice rose higher than usual.

Her father sighed. “
Uh . . .
do you know the child’s name?”

She had heard the rumors whispered by the servants, who had gleaned bits and pieces at the marketplace, each piece of news cutting her more deeply than the last. “I believe it’s Yoshitaro. My husband hasn’t spoken about the baby, but I think he is four weeks old now.”

Kinzaemon cleared his throat. “Then it will be time to bring him in soon. We’ll have Jihei go and take care of the formalities at the Sawaraya. We can send O-Natsu with him to carry the baby. I’m glad you understand, Rie.” He put down his cup and exhaled loudly.

She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. Yes, her parents were always sure to mention her understanding. She felt a sense of desperation overcome her. She slumped on the zabuton and when her father left the room she felt tears starting. She rocked back and forth, overcome, desolate, that her father had now de-serted her.

Rie’s mother supervised preparations for the arrival of the infant, assisted by O-Natsu. They arranged for a wet nurse to come in, a young neighbor named Masa who had a baby of her own. Rie despaired and took no interest in the preparations.

“Rie, you know Kin is really looking forward to having another generation here, for continuity of the house,” her mother commented. “We all are. He’ll inhale the smell of sake as soon as he’s drinking milk here. And once there’s a baby in the house, who knows, you may become pregnant,” Hana added, as if to console her. “It sometimes happens that way. Did that perfume help, dear?”

She thought of all the nights she had to lure Jihei to her futon.

“Yes, Mother. But I’m not pregnant yet.”

Although distressed about the baby, Rie was pleased to see the nursery prepared near the kitchen, away from her room. Wasn’t

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Sake 53

it presumptuous of Jihei to have named the child Yoshitaro, “the good first son”?

On a morning when Yoshitaro was four months old, Jihei and O-Natsu took a ricksha to the Sawaraya, where the transfer was scheduled to occur. O-Haru and O-Toki came to the entrance and ushered them into the formal parlor just beyond the entryway. Jihei and O-Natsu sat opposite O-Haru and O-Toki. A maid brought tea, and after they were served, a second maid carried Yoshitaro in and sat at the end of the table holding the squirming infant. Jihei noticed O-Toki’s flawless grooming but avoided eye contact. He was still embarrassed by his errand.

He bowed. “The Omura House is grateful to you,” he said stiffly. “Yoshitaro will be recognized as eldest son of the house, my heir. Before long I will succeed. And he will be raised well, trained to become a good brewer.”

Jihei bowed again and raised in both hands an envelope which he handed across the table to O-Toki. “You need not be concerned for his welfare,” he said. Kinzaemon had told Jihei exactly how much to include in the envelope.

O-Toki held the envelope in both hands above the level of her head, bowing so low that her face was concealed. But her voice revealed the strain. “I have no words to thank you adequately.”

“We are grateful for your continued patronage,” O-Haru said as she and O-Toki bowed in unison.

A maid entered carrying a large
furoshiki
of baby clothing and set it on the floor in front of O-Natsu.

Jihei and O-Natsu rose and bowed stiffly. Jihei tried to ignore what he knew was O-Toki’s pain. When O-Natsu took the baby in her arms, he began to scream. For just one brief flicker, the mask of the geisha wavered but she quickly held it in check. Jihei picked up the bundle of clothing, carefully avoiding all eye contact.

They left the Sawaraya amid more formal bowing and caught a waiting ricksha. Yoshitaro yelled all the way to the Omura en—