Even now, twelve and thirteen years later, she speaks each time I see her
of “the boy you were so kind as to praise.” And I understand that she says
to the boy himself: “Do you remember the nice things Mr. Uragami said
about you in his newspaper articles?”
Otaké was persuaded by his wife’s remarks. His family was important to
him.
He agreed to play, but he lay awake all night. He went on worrying. At
five or six in the morning he was pacing the halls. I saw him early in the
morning, already in formal clothes, lying on a sofa by the entranceway.
