ts were
approaching; but now this was changed, and his household secretaries
had but little to occupy them.

In January the Princess Momo-zono (peach-gardens) was chosen for the
Saiin, of the Temple of Kamo, her predecessor having retired from
office, on account of the mourning for her father, the late
ex-Emperor.

There were not many precedents for Princesses of the second generation
being appointed to this position; but this Princess was so chosen,
owing, it seems, to the circumstance that there was no immediate issue
of the Imperial blood suitable for this office.

In February the youngest daughter of the Udaijin became the
Naishi-no-Kami,[94] in the place of the former one, who had left
office and become a nun after the death of the ex-Emperor.

She took up her residence in the Kokiden, which was till lately
occupied by her sister, the Empress-mother, who at this period spent
most of her time at her father's, and who when she came to the Court
made the Ume-Tsubo (the plum-chamber) her apartment.

Meanwhile the Empress-mother, who was by nature sagacious and
revengeful, and who during the late Emperor's life had been fain to
disguise her spiteful feelings, now conceived designs of vengeance
against those who had been adverse to her; and this spirit was
directed especially against Genji and his father-in-law,
Sadaijin--against the latter because he had married his only daughter
to Genji against the wishes of the Emperor when Heir-apparent, and
because during the life of the late Emperor his influence eclipsed
that of her father, Udaijin, who had long been his political
adversary.

The Emperor, it is true, never forgot the dying injunctions of his
father, and never failed in sympathy with Genji; but he was still
young, with a weak mind, and therefore he was under the influence of
his mother and grandfather, Udaijin, and was often constrained by
them in his actions to go contrary to his own wishes.

Such being the state of things, Sadaijin seldom appeared at Court, and
his loss of influence became manifest. Genji, too, had become less
adventurous and more steady in his life; and in his mansion Violet
became the favorite object of attraction, in whose behalf the ceremony
of Mogi had been duly performed some time before, and who had been
presented to her father. The latter had for a long time regarded her
as lost, and even now he never forgave the way in which his daughter
had been taken away by Genji.

The su