At first he inclined toward excusing Maido, but upon reflection changed his mind and left his name upon the list; and as time went on and he dwelt upon the matter he conjured up the most hearty distrust of his father-in-law, and finally in his own mind ranked him the most dangerous enemy of them all. He said to himself: "I can now understand why the daimyo wished to withdraw from the capital. How I was led into letting him go! A swifter vengeance could not have been less deserved." The quickness of Ikamon's discovery of the plot and the suddenness with which he acted so startled them and overcame opposition that not one escaped; but all were promptly arrested and thrown into Ikamon's dungeon, where they remained stunned and overwhelmed, awaiting their doom. Probably the most heart-broken and puzzled of the many was Maido, for he had no inkling of such a thing and certainly knew of no reason why he should be so treated; though high-handed proceedings were not at all uncommon even in that late day. At first he inclined toward treating the whole matter as a joke, and finally upon his departure told Shibusawa that he should not remain a martyr, but would return a Maido. "I trust so," said the doubtful son, as they saluted a last farewell and the father started off, all fettered and bound. Maido did not deign to think that anything more than some trivial misunderstanding had arisen, and that upon his arrival at Tokyo everything would be satisfactorily explained and he would be accounted the abused rather than condemned as accused. Shibusawa had less confidence in Ikamon and was more doubtful, still he did not believe anything serious would come of it, otherwise he would have resisted the arrest. In talking the matter over with his son, before being carried away, Maido recalled the fact of having left with Takara the only bit of evidence he had received of his participation in the daimyos' meeting. He remembered having given her the document after talking it over with Daikomitsu, and said: "I will ask for it, and Takara will send it forthwith to Tokyo. It sets forth all that to which I am a party, and will be a complete vindication. Daikomitsu knows its contents, and it could not be in safer hands than Takara's." "I do not too much like Daikomitsu," said Shibusawa anxiously. "He is profuse, and has a purpose." "Even so, Takara can be trusted. Do you know, I believe my presence was desired more by her than the mikado? And really she is a grand woman. I trust you will know more of her, and it is my hope that you may like her better. She desires it, I fancy."