a branch of inquiry which to his mind should be
reserved for men alone. Nice women never think of such things. That
his own wife should wish to see the place and, worse still, should
express that wish in public was a blatant offence against Good Form,
which could only be excused by her innocent ignorance.

But Reggie, who was used to the curiosity of every tourist, male and
female, about the night-life of Tokyo, answered readily:

"Yes, Mrs. Barrington. It's well worth seeing. We must arrange to go
down there."

"Miss Smith tells me," said Asako, "that all these lovely gay
creatures are Yoshiwara girls; and that you can see them there now."

"Not that identical lady of course," said Reggie, who had joined
the group by the fireside, "she died a hundred years ago; but her
professional great-granddaughters are still there."

"And I can see them!" Asako clapped her hands. "Ladies are allowed to
go and look? It does not matter? It is not improper?"

"Oh, no," said Yae Smith, "my brothers have taken me. Would you like
to go?"

"Yes, I would," said Asako, glancing at her husband, who, however,
showed no signs of approval.

CHAPTER IX

ITO SAN

_Ama no hara
Fumi-todorokashi
Naru-kami mo
Omou-naka wo ba
Sakuru mono ka wa?_

Can even the God of Thunder
Whose footfall resounds
In the plains of the sky
Put asunder
Those whom love joins?

Geoffrey's conscience was disturbed. His face was lined and worried
with thought, such as had left him untroubled since the effervescences
of his early youth. Like many young men of his caste, he had soon
submitted all the baffling riddles of conduct to the thumb rule of
Good Form. This Yoshiwara question was to him something more than
a moral conundrum. It was a subtle attack by the wife of his bosom,
aided and abetted by his old friend Reggie Forsyth and by the
mysterious forces of this unfamiliar land as typified by Yae Smith,
against the citadel of Good Form, against the stronghold of his
principles.

Geoffrey himself wished to see the Yoshiwara. His project had been
that one evening, when Asako had been invited to dinner by friends, he
and Reggie would go and look at the place. This much was sanctioned by
Good Form.

For him to take his wife there, and for people to know that he
had done so, would be the worst of Bad Form, the conduct of a rank
outsider. Unfortunately, it was also Bad Form for him to discuss the
matter with Asako.

A terrib