but the heart of the prince was full of war and conquest and he cared little for the faithful ototachibana. from long exposure in traveling, and from care and grief at her lord's coldness to her, her beauty had faded, and her ivory skin was burnt brown by the sun, and the prince told her one day that her place was in the palace behind the screens at home and not with him upon the warpath. but in spite of rebuffs and indifference on her husband's part, ototachibana could not find it in her heart to leave him. but perhaps it would have been better for her if she had done so, for on the way to idzu, when they came to owari, her heart was well-nigh broken.