“You will risk your life to come with me!” he protested.
I laughed lightly. “You have so little to say of your Japanese ladies, Tomo. Perhaps I wish to see what they are like.”
“That is a jest. I have told you that our women of noble families are seldom to be seen by strangers.”
“There are those others,” I suggested.
He gazed at me in mild reproach. “Do not jest, Woroto. I have seen that you have nothing to do with the joro of the Occident. You are not one to dally with those of the Orient.”
“But the geishas—the artists—they must be charming.”
“It is their art to charm.”
“Tomo,” I said, sobering myself, “I know it is a rudeness to ask, but, pardon me, are you married?”
“No.”
“Is there no maiden of noble family—?”