From the
adjoining room she had heard their laughter, and then their sighs,
and had no further doubt of what had happened. And inwardly she cried:
"Woe! Woe!"
In the morning, after Prudence had returned to her parents' house to
perform her toilet, the woman came in to wait upon Yu-lang, and said
to him in a low voice:
"O practitioner! You have done a fine thing! What will happen if
people come to know of it?"
"I did not search her out. Her mother led her to my bed. How could I
have avoided this?"
"You ought to have resisted with all your might."
"With such an adorably beautiful girl? Even a man of iron and stone
could not have resisted. Also, if you say nothing, who will know of
it?"
When the process of disguise was again completed, he went to salute
the wife of Liu. Then all the women of the house and the cousins came
to see him. Finally Prudence came in, and they two laughed together.
For that day, as was the custom, Liu and his wife had invited their
relations and friends, and there was a great feast, with music and
a dinner lasting until the evening. Then, when the house was quiet
again, the girl went, as on the previous night, to keep young
Yu-lang company. That night, even more so than the preceding one,
the butterflies beat their wings, and the passionate phoenixes were
convulsed.
In the morning, they kept together.
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