Confessions of Love by Uno Chiyo

Author:Uno Chiyo [Chiyo, Uno]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Hawai‘i Press
Published: 1989-04-10T17:00:00+00:00

One afternoon a few days later, I went to Tomoko’s house and was surprised to find her father working in the front garden. He stood up to greet me, throwing aside the trowel he had in his hand and quickly inviting me to come in through the veranda. I always went to the parlor but this time he led me to his private room.

“I heard that Yasuko spoke to you. I want you to know that it would really be a great service to us if you would marry Tomoko, since you know all about her illness. Actually I had pretty much given up finding someone for her.”

“Has Tomoko recovered?”

“If you hadn’t come today, I thought I’d go to see you myself. Then that sickness of hers would have vanished pretty quickly. If we’re going to do something good, then it’s best to be quick about it, don’t you think? We’ll only invite our closest friends and relatives and have the bare minimum for a wedding. Just a moment—” He called out to a room beyond, “Will someone get the calendar from the second floor study?”

Tomoko’s mother must have reported our conversation as if I’d already agreed to the marriage. Actually, I wasn’t surprised when I heard the father talk in that vein, for my ambiguous attitude must have convinced Tomoko’s parents that we would marry. In fact, I had already toyed with the idea of becoming a member of that warm, genial family. In the end, didn’t it all amount to the same thing? I would cut my festering relations with my wife, build a new life with Tomoko, and from time to time her parents would visit us. It caused me no discomfort to think that this might come to pass.

The father looked through the calendar the maid brought in, muttering phrases I couldn’t always catch about this day or that being inauspicious. Since he was in a rush to set the wedding date, his calculations started out fourteen or fifteen days away and gradually came closer.

“Let’s make it the 23rd. It may be a little too soon and we’ll be rushing around. But the 23rd is the best day.”

With only five days remaining until the 23rd, I was absolutely confounded by this pronouncement. My worries were in no small way related to the whole question of whether my affairs could be settled by then, but the father’s impatient manner easily overpowered my own objections.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to have a formal ceremony,” I managed to say.

“We’ll just do it as perfunctorily as possible. I’ll have to, for the people at the company.”

In a moment the mother came in and decisions quickly followed regarding what hall to use for the ceremony and who should act as the go-between. It occurred to me that I had, in a matter of minutes, become the bridegroom of that family.

“Yuasa-san, can I speak to you a moment?” The mother called me over later with worry in her voice. “Has your wife decided where she’s going to live?”

“I think she went looking for a place this morning.

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