Part 21 (1/2)

Geoffrey expected further introductions; but the time had not yet come. With a wave of the arm Mr. Ito added:

”Please step this way, Sir and Lady.”

The Barringtons with Ito led the procession; and the mutes closed in behind them. Down endless polished corridors they pa.s.sed with noiseless steps over the spotless boards. The only sound was the rustling of silk garments. To closed eyes they might have seemed like the arrival of a company of dowagers. The women, who had at first received them, were still fluttering around them like humming-birds escorting a flight of crows. To one of them Geoffrey owed his preservation. He would have struck his forehead against a low doorway in the darkness; but she touched the lintel with her finger and then laid her tiny hand on Barrington's tall shoulder, laughing and saying in infantile English:

”English _danna san_ very high!”

They came to a sudden opening between paper walls. In a little room behind a table stood a middle-aged j.a.panese couple as stiff as waxworks. For an instant Geoffrey thought they must be the cloakroom attendants. Then, to his surprise, Ito announced:

”Mr. and Mrs. Fujinami Gentaro, the head of the Fujinami family.

Please walk in and shake hands.”

Geoffrey and his wife did as they were directed. Three mutual bowings took place in absolute silence, followed by a handshake. Then Ito said:

”Mr. and Mrs. Fujinami Gentaro wish to say they are very pleased you both come to-night. It is very poor food and very poor feast, they say. j.a.panese food is very simple sort of thing. But they ask you please excuse them, for what they have done they have done from a good heart.”

Geoffrey was mumbling incoherently, and wondering whether he was expected to reply to this oration, when Ito again exclaimed, ”Please step this way.”

They pa.s.sed into a large room like a concert hall with a stage at one end. There were several men squatting on the floor round _hibachi_ smoking and drinking beer. They looked like black sheep browsing.

These were joined by the mutes who followed the Barringtons. All of these people were dressed exactly alike. They wore white socks, a dark kimono almost hidden by the black cloak upon which the family crest--a wreath of wisteria (_fuji_) foliage--shone like a star on sleeves and neck, and by the fluted yellowish skirt of heavy rustling silk. This dress, though gloomy and sacerdotal, was dignified and becoming; but the similarity was absurd. It looked like a studied effect at a fancy dress ball. It was particularly exasperating to the guests of honour who were anxious to distinguish their relatives and to know them apart; but Ito alone, with his European clothes and his purple tie, was conspicuous and unmistakable.

”He is like Mrs. Jarley,” thought Geoffrey, ”he explains the waxworks.”

In the middle of the room was a little group of chairs of the weary beast of burden type, which are requisitioned for public meetings. Two of them were dignified by cus.h.i.+ons of crimson plush. These were for Geoffrey and Asako.

Among the black sheep there was no movement beyond the steady staring of some thirty pairs of eyes. When the Harringtons had been enthroned, the host and hostess approached them with silent dragging steps and downcast faces. They might have been the bearers of evil tidings. A tall girl followed behind her parents.

Mrs. Fujinami s.h.i.+dzuye and her daughter, Sadako, were the only women present. This was a compromise, and a consideration for Asako's feelings. Mr. Ito had proposed that since a lady was the chief guest of honour, therefore all the Fujinami ladies ought to be invited to meet her. To Mr. Fujinami's strict conservative mind such an idea was anathema. What! Wives at a banquet! In a public restaurant! With _geisha_ present! Absurd--and disgusting! _O tempora! O mores_!

Then, argued the lawyer, Asako must not be invited. But Asako was the _clou_ of the evening; and besides, an English gentleman would be insulted if his wife were not invited too. And--as Mr. Ito went on to urge--any woman, j.a.panese or foreign, would be ill-at-ease in a company composed entirely of men. Besides Sadako could speak English so well; it was so convenient that she should come; and under her mother's care her morals would not be contaminated by the propinquity of _geisha_. So Mr. Fujinami gave in so far as concerned his own wife and daughter.

s.h.i.+dzuye San, as befitted a matron of sober years, wore a plain black kimono; but Sadako's dress was of pale mauve color, with a bronze sash tied in an enormous bow. Her hair was parted on one side and caught up in a bun behind--the latest _haikara_ fas.h.i.+on and a tribute to the foreign guests. Hers was a graceful figure; but her expression was spoiled by the blue-tinted spectacles which completely hid her features.

”Miss Sadako Fujinami, daughter of Mr. Fujinami Gentaro,” said Ito.

”She has been University undergraduate, and she speaks English quite well.”

Miss Sadako bowed three times. Then she said, ”How do you do” in a high unnatural voice.

The room was filling up with the little humming-bird women who had been present at the entrance. They were handing cigarettes and tea cups to the guests. They looked bright and pleasant; and they interested Geoffrey.

”Are these ladies relatives of the Fujinami family?” he asked Ito.

”Oh, no, not at all,” the lawyer gasped; ”you have made great mistake, Mr. Barrington. j.a.panese ladies all left at home, never go to restaurant. These girls are no ladies, they're _geisha_ girls.

_Geisha_ girls very famous to foreign persons.”

Geoffrey knew that he had made his first _faux pas_.

”Now,” said Mr. Ito, ”please step this way; we go upstairs to the feast room.”