d faithful
Kakusuke, remained to nurse him. Suddenly said Kwaiba--"O'Hana, the
harlot of Reigan; this Kwaiba would have talk and dalliance with her.
Summon her hither. Let wine and the _samisen_ be brought, a feast
prepared. O'Hana! O'Hana!" He raved so for the woman that Kibei thought
her presence would quiet him. A request was sent to the house of Iemon.
Wishing her to know nothing of the affair of O'Iwa, Iemon had kept
silence. He would have refused the mission--on the pretext of a quarrel
with Kwaiba and Kibei. O'Hana showed herself unexpectedly obstinate--"It
is to the favour of Kwaiba Sama that Iemon owes this Hana. She has a
duty to the past, as well as to the present." With a snarl she turned on
him, glowering. Iemon shrank back. He passed his hand across the eyes
into which O'Iwa had just looked. He no longer opposed her going.

O'Hana was still weak from repeated attacks of the fever which had
visited her ever since the night Iemon had cast forth the _aodaisho[u]_.
She said that the snake had bitten her. It was the poison, not fever,
working in her. Iemon had laughed at her proposal to try the exorcisms
of the priest. Behind the irritation aroused by his scepticism was that
peculiar clinging of a woman to an old lover, to a man with whom she had
been intimate. In the heart of O'Hana there still remained a strong
leaning to the man who had removed her from the rapid and nauseating
life of the Fukagawa brothel, which cast her into the arms of anyone who
paid the price and raised his finger. With time and the old conditions
probably she would have been as unfaithful to Iemon as she had been to
Kwaiba. The latter showing his desire, she would have answered his call.
Even before this disease-eaten swollen mass of dropsy, she showed but
temporary repugnance. Leaning over him, almost overcome by the stench,
with endearing terms she strove to rouse him to consciousness and
recognition of her. It seemed fearful to have him die without the word
of parting. Kibei aided her by raising the old man. The result was a
horrible frightened stare in eyes made large by fever and delirium. Long
he gazed at her. Said the woman--"'Tis Hana; Hana once the intimate of
Kwaiba. Deign to take courage. This is but a passing affliction. With
Hana as nurse recovery to health is assured." She laid her hands on his
shoulders. In so doing her hair, come loose, fell down around her wan
face. Kwaiba was as galvanized. With a howl the old man push