III
In no long time after his return to his clan Akizuki Yiminosuké had achieved his task of quelling the popular uprising. This won for him great favour with his lord, and in recognition of his signal services he had conferred upon him again the office of Chief-Councillor. His fellow clansmen, too, looked up to him with love and respect. But amid all his success he fell short of happiness, for his beloved daughter, Miyuki, had lapsed into a profound melancholy. Day and night, with all her heart, she pined for Asojirō, and her eyes were never free from tears.
It happened one day that Yuminosuké was not at his house, having gone to the castle. Taking advantage, it is likely, of his absence, Ashigara Denzō chose this time for a call. He was a knave, outrageous in his manners, who set everybody at naught and, presuming on the position of his sister O-Ran, lorded it over his colleagues. He had long looked upon Miyuki with eyes of love, and had many a time, through a middleman,
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