One week before the wedding, Shimada Kanbei invited his betrothed wife to a pleasant little teahouse in his hometown. The lady arrived with her scar-faced handmaiden. Kanbei came alone.

The young couple took their seats in an elegant private tearoom while the dour samurai maidservant took her place at the room's door, standing at attention like a sentry.

The young samurai man addressed Chihiro courteously. "I invited you here because I would like to have a private talk with you before the auspicious date of the joining of our two families. To put things more clearly, I would like to know if there is anything I can do before our wedding to ease your move to the Shimada household."

"Oh…" his wife-to-be responded cautiously.

"You don't have to give me an answer at this very moment," young Kanbei said, "But if there is anything that comes to mind, such as food preferences my household servants ought to know about, or your favorite perfume for scenting your clothes, please do not hesitate to let me know."

The slender dark woman with shimmering pale blue hair smiled and said, "You are most considerate."

There was a short silence. Then Kanbei asked, "Tea?" Miss Hasegawa nodded politely.

Rather solicitously, he raised the small purple-sand teapot and poured his betrothed wife a cup of tea. Kanbei offered the small porcelain cup to Chihiro. His fingers grazed against hers ever so lightly when she took the cup from his hand. The beautiful young maiden started slightly.

"I'm sorry," the handsome young man said with a hint of embarrassment. "I did not intend to offend." But Kanbei's action was not an accident. It was a test.

Out of the corner of his eye, the dark samurai could see the disfigured handmaid standing next to the door glaring at him. Midori's fingers had tightened reflexively around her sword hilt. Kanbei did not think the low-ranking samurai woman had any intention of killing him, but he would not be surprised if she turned out to be the kind of servant who would spit in his food.

Chihiro diverted attention from the awkward moment by speaking, "Come to think of it, there is a favor I would like to ask of my husband."

"Please speak your mind," Kanbei said earnestly as he gazed into Chihiro's pale blue eyes.

"Or rather, my maidservant Midori has a favor to ask," the ebony-skinned beauty said. "My handmaid would like to ask her future master to make no marriages for her."

In a marriage between two such households, it was custom for the wife's handmaid to accompany her mistress to her husband's house. And eventually the serving woman's new master would find her a match with another samurai under his command, someone of similar social standing to the low-ranking samurai woman. That was one avenue open to Kanbei to be rid of Midori eventually. But the women must have foreseen such a possibility.

Kanbei did not answer his betrothed wife's request immediately. "Of course," the young man thought. "Already the two women are moving matters to prevent me from separating them. Ever."

He cast a glance at the maidservant standing beside the door. Now Midori's eyes were submissively downcast, but yet the samurai maiden could not quite veil the defiance and resentment simmering just under her skin. Unlike Major Shimada, the samurai of humble rank had not mastered the art of keeping one's passions hidden. Kanbei felt the hope for domestic bliss grow dim. Must he return home from the battlefield only to be faced with his wife's jealous lover in his own house?

Oddly enough, Masao had earlier suggested a 'solution' that would give Kanbei nominal authority over Okita Midori – to take Midori as a minor wife after marrying his sister. "I know she is not much to look at," his future brother-in-law had said, "But at least she would then be obligated to obey you and not just her mistress. That might give you a measure of control over the goings on in your household. My sister won't complain. And Okita Midori's father can't refuse you. His rank is low."

But Kanbei was not enthused by the idea of having Midori for a concubine. He did not feel the slightest degree of warmth towards that woman, although he would not go as far as to say he detested her.

Faced with her betrothed husband's unreadable silence, Chihiro spoke again, "My handmaid knows she is not fair of face and would not presume to impose her presence on any man."

Midori would not impose herself on any man. That was not true. There was one man Midori would be imposing her presence on - Shimada Kanbei. He turned his eyes back to his future wife's beautiful face and wondered if he could ever win her love. But there was no turning back. To break off the engagement without serious cause would bring dishonor to both households.

Kanbei took a deep breath. Then he said to Chihiro, "Midori can live with us as long as she desires. She will always be welcome in my house."

His beautiful fiancée smiled. "Thank you!"

Kanbei nodded. "Don't mention it," he said politely. Then Major Shimada turned to the armed handmaid standing by the door of the room. "Staff Sergeant Okita, would you care to join us for some tea? We're safe here. We don't need a sentry." Shimada Kanbei said in an amiable voice.

Simmering resentment melted into vague astonishment in the short young woman's dark brown eyes as she stared at Kanbei. Then she recovered from her surprise. "I wouldn't dare," Okita Midori said gruffly. "It won't be appropriate for a servant to overstep her limits."

"It is clear my wife-to-be loves you as a dear sister," The striking young officer addressed the servant with a pained smile. "So I shall endeavor to honor you as my sister too."

"My mistress, dismiss me from your service!" Midori pleaded unhappily. "I hate him! He is a good man but I still hate him! I can't help myself. If I stay by your side, I will only be an impediment to your happiness!"

"No, sister," Chihiro said in alarm. "Banish the thought! Come to the Shimada house with me. Kanbei will abide us!"

"But I cannot abide him! I cannot abide anyone who will touch you in that manner." The servant declared. "Much as my mind wants to, my heart cannot comply!" The brown-skinned maiden knelt down before her lovely mistress as tears filled the eyes of both young women.

"Forgive me!" Midori whispered. "I am cruel and selfish. But Kanbei is an honorable, generous man. Perhaps he will make you happy, more than I can. You deserve better than me. Let me go!"

As for the possibility of Kanbei marrying Midori as a minor wife, it seemed quite a common practice for samurai men to have 'long term relationships' (aka concubinage) with women from lower-ranking samurai families or women from 'lower' social classes (such as peasants, merchants, entertainment professionals). As long as the couple was not married, it invited little social criticism. If a samurai man wanted to marry a woman from a lower class, his parents' suggestion would typically be 'Why marry her? Just take her as a concubine".

Quite a number of the Shinsengumi guys in movies were depicted as maintaining concubines, who in some cases were 'redeemed' geishas. The commentary on Seven Samurai also stated the only option open to Katsushiro to remain with Shino was to take her as a concubine (presumably his family would not approve of marriage), but could he afford to maintain her?

The concubine often had to move out of her husband's house once he takes a legal wife, unless the wife was amenable to keeping her around.

I'm guessing Shichiroji and Yukino never married partly because of this social taboo. As long as they were not legally wedded, no one, samurai or otherwise, would criticize the class-crossing aspect of their relationship. The economic aspect might be an issue to some – instead of the samurai maintaining the lower-class woman as concubine, Yukino is maintaining Shichiroji.

As for the likelihood of Chihiro not complaining about Kanbei taking her friend as a second wife, there were a good number of Chinese medieval tales about lesbian lovers trying to get married to the same man so that they could remain together for life. So Kanbei marrying Midori might actually 'fit' with the women's goals, if not for Midori's jealous nature.