As they watched Suga going through the movements of the dance, the teacher broke in from time to time with details of her background. For all her striking looks, she was so retiring by nature that even though she was quick to learn, her dancing somehow lacked sparkle. She had no taste for showing off her skills in front of others and had acquired the feminine accomplishments principally to please her parents, declaring that a placid type of person like herself would never make a success in such a lively occupation as that of geisha. The busy town did not really suit her nature, and she felt sure that she would feel much lighter in spirit if she lived in some tranquil spot with a broad view of green paddies and streams. Suga’s mother, the teacher said, was a devoted parent. When she had first heard about Shirakawa from the teacher and been told that Suga would have to go to Fukushima, the idea of her daughter’s going so far away had reduced her to tears; if they were pleased with the girl and decided to take her on, she had said, she must meet the wife and have a thorough talk with her, since so much in her daughter’s future would depend on how the wife felt about the situation.

Most of this conversation took place between Zenkō and Kin. Tomo’s eyes were fixed on Suga’s dancing but she took in enough of their talk to convince her more surely than in any other case so far of the depth of the mother’s affection for her daughter. The daughter of such a mother was unlikely to have been seriously spoiled by the world, and promised to respond readily to Tomo’s instruction if she took her back with her to Fukushima.

Even in her dancing, although Tomo was no good judge, the movements of eyes and limbs had a vaguely subdued quality that robbed it of brilliance despite its skill. This, again, did not displease Tomo. Almost without realizing it, she had conceived an antipathy to any suggestion of a clearcut, strong personality in the woman who was to intrude on her household. A girl with strikingly young, fresh features but a spirit that was subdued and timid – for Tomo, it was almost the ideal type for the ‘second woman’ in the house.

‘Don’t you think she looks promising?’ asked Zenkō as soon as they emerged from the narrow side street on their way home. ‘She’s not made to be a geisha,’ he went on. ‘Girls with that introspective air aren’t popular.’

‘Are you really sure?’ asked Kin doubtfully. ‘And her so pretty …’

‘Looks alone aren’t enough,’ he said. ‘But remember – that’s the kind of woman that in ten years’ time will firm up wonderfully. That’s the one thing you should be concerned with.’