“A very long time ago, anyway, from the time when the Jo-sama of Shiota threw herself into it.”

“Shiota? That spa-hotel you mean?”

“Yes.”

“You say the O-Jo-san drowned herself here? But she is alive, very much alive there?”

“No, not that Jo-sama, but a Jo-sama of long, long ago.”

“Long, long ago? About when?”

“Well, a Jo-sama of very great long ago....”

“What made that Jo-sama of so long ago throw herself into water?”

“That Jo-sama was, it is said, as beautiful as the present Jo-sama, Danna-sama.”

“Yes?”