At first Sazen pretended to be vexed at the question, and said, “Well, sir, I’ve done my best; but it’s not a matter which can be settled in a hurry.  However, there’s a young lady of high birth and wonderful beauty upstairs, who has come here secretly to have her fortune told; and if your lordship would like to come with me and see her, you can do so.”

But Genzaburo, when he heard that he was not to meet O Koyo, lost heart entirely, and made up his mind to go home again.  Sazen, however, pressed him so eagerly, that at last he went upstairs to see this vaunted beauty; and Sazen, drawing aside a screen, showed him O Koyo, who was sitting there.  Genzaburo gave a great start, and, turning to Sazen, said, “Well, you certainly are a first-rate hand at keeping up a hoax.  However, I cannot sufficiently praise the way in which you have carried out my instructions.”

“Pray, don’t mention it, sir.  But as it is a long time since you have met the young lady, you must have a great deal to say to one another; so I will go downstairs, and, if you want anything, pray call me.”  And so he went downstairs and left them.

Then Genzaburo, addressing O Koyo, said, “Ah! it is indeed a long time since we met.  How happy it makes me to see you again!  Why, your face has grown quite thin.  Poor thing! have you been unhappy?” And O Koyo, with the tears starting from her eyes for joy, hid her face; and her heart was so full that she could not speak.  But Genzaburo, passing his hand gently over her head and back, and comforting her, said, “Come, sweetheart, there is no need to sob so.  Talk to me a little, and let me hear your voice.”

At last O Koyo raised her head and said, “Ah! when I was separated from you by the tricks of Chokichi, and thought that I should never meet you again, how tenderly I thought of you!  I thought I should have died, and waited for my hour to come, pining all the while for you.  And when at last, as I lay between life and death, Sazen came with a message from you, I thought it was all a dream.”  And as she spoke, she bent her head and sobbed again; and in Genzaburo’s eyes she seemed more beautiful than ever, with her pale, delicate face; and he loved her better than before.  Then she said, “If I were to tell you all I have suffered until to-day, I should never stop.”

“Yes,” replied Genzaburo, “I too have suffered much;” and so they told one another their mutual griefs, and from that day forth they constantly met at Sazen’s house.

One day, as they were feasting and enjoying themselves in an upper storey in Sazen’s house, Chokichi came to the house and said, “I beg pardon; but does one Master Sazen live here?”

“Certainly, sir:  I am Sazen, at your service.  Pray where are you from?”

“Well, sir, I have a little business to transact with you.  May I make so bold as to go in?” And with these words, he entered the house.

“But who and what are you?” said Sazen.