It’s a definite transitional chapter for Otoyomegatari, but it does feature a few nice moments of fanservice for our friend Mr. Smith.  His first job is to explain the presence of Talas to his friend Hawking, which really amounts to more absorbing diatribes than explaining.  Hawking clearly considers himself the proxy protector of the eccentric Henry for his family, and he’s none too receptive to the idea that Talas is actually the woman Henry has come to love.

That these two do love each other there can be no doubt, but the cultural divide between them is still a legitimate obstacle.  Talas is convinced that because of her age and lack of a dowry she’s damaged goods, and she offers to be Henry’s servant on the assumption that becoming his wife is impossible.  He naturally rejects this idea out of hand, and in fact chooses this moment to propose marriage (using his signet ring, as it’s all has has available).  Henry is nothing if not honorable, and making Talas his wife is clearly the right thing to do under the circumstances.

That, in fact, is really the easy part.  What to do besides get engaged is a lot trickier, what with the approaching Russian conflict hanging over everything.  Smith is reluctant to ask Talas to take a long trip (4-6 months); she naturally refuses to even brook the possibility of splitting up (and I think she could probably best Smith easily enough when it comes to endurance).  The idea is to return from whence he and Ali came, wending their way back to Karluk and Amir’s village (he refers to it as “near Bukhara”, but it can’t possibly be the one in modern Uzbekistan, can it?  Geographically that makes little sense), possibly with a few stops along the way to revisit old haunts.  Henry shows good savvy when Hawking offers him a map of the prime escape route should things really go to hell, rejecting it on the grounds that possession of it would make him that much more likely to be considered a spy (and Ali’s sense of direction is impeccable, anyway).

It’s going to be interesting to see how Mori-sensei handles this part of the story.  Will she stick with the Henry Smith party for their voyage, or return to life in Karluk’s village (or perhaps, go somewhere else altogether)?  It’s going to be good whatever she chooses – this is Otoyomegatari after all – but we all have our personal biases…