"Will you come?" asked her husband, brightening.
"I can't very well. You see they are just laying down the tatami: and when that is done the house will be ready. Besides, I feel so well here. I like the heat."
"But I've never been away without you!" objected Geoffrey, "I think it would be beastly."
This side of the question had not struck Asako. She was so taken up
with her project. Now, however, she felt a momentary thrill of relief.
She would be able to give all her time to her beloved Japanese home.
Geoffrey was a darling, but he was so uninterested in everything.
"It will only be for a few days," she said, "you want the change; and when you come back it will be like being married again."
CHAPTER XVIII
AMONG THE NIKKO MOUNTAINS
Io chikaki
Tsumagi no michi ya
Kure-nuramu;
Nokiba ni kudaru
Yama-bito no koye!
Dusk, it seems, has come
To the wood-cutter's track
That is near my hut;
The voices of the mountainmen
Going down to the shed!
Geoffrey left early one morning in a very doubtful frame of mind, after having charged Tanaka to take the greatest care of his lady, and to do exactly what she told him.