"I will not! And if you do, I will kill you!" threatened Hoshiko. "I will have these few days of heaven. He will go and not think of me again. He will never know. He will not have been contaminated. But I will have the few days in heaven! To him I am only a child."
And she fell to the floor and sobbed for an hour, during which the maid lay like a graven image at her side. Then she sat up and asked:
"Now you don't blame me, do you?"
"No."
"Anyhow, he will go as soon as possible."
"No, he will not," said the impertinent Isonna.
"He will! You know that he will! Say that he will!"
But the maid knew better.
"That is what men always do when they find out."
"He will not," said Isonna.