‘Not yet … no, so far … but sooner or later …’ At this point she suddenly put a hand on Kin’s skinny shoulder almost as though pouncing, and breathed hotly in her ear, ‘Then does the mistress know all about it then?’

‘I suppose so … But listen – she’s clapping for you.’

Shoulders and hips swaying exaggeratedly as she went, Seki set off running with great strides along the corridor in the direction of the call.

At the entrance to the big room, in a Western dress embroidered with a fine pattern in yellowish brown and flared out below the waist by means of a whalebone corset, stood Tomo. Her old-fashioned face with its smooth, slightly sallow skin and its heavy eyelids emerged uncomfortably from the confines of the high, tight collar, which with her rather full, firmly compressed lips gave her in Kin’s eyes the look of a Chinese woman. Tomo’s gaze was directed to where her daughter Etsuko stood in front of a fringed, Western-style mirror in the center of the room, being helped into a Western-style dress by an English seamstress. Kin went and sat next to Suga, who kneeled at Etsuko’s side, and watched in fascination.

Tall for thirteen though she was, Etsuko seemed like a small fawn as she stood beside the flaxen-haired seamstress with her long, giraffe-like neck. The heavily pleated velvet dress in lapis lazuli with heavy touches of indigo suited her face with its aquiline nose, cheeks of palest pink, and the crimson splash of the lips, giving her the unaccustomed dignity of some young woman of noble birth.

‘The young lady’s quite the little princess. So pretty,’ said the seamstress with a beaming smile as she finished the fitting, placing her hands on Etsuko’s shoulders and turning her round for Tomo to see. Satisfaction seemed to gleam momentarily in Tomo’s eyes too, but her mouth did not soften. Etsuko, who seemed tense beneath Tomo’s gaze, stood fidgeting, with frequent side-glances into the mirror.

‘There’s a Red Cross charity bazaar today, and the Superintendent-General’s wife said she wanted Etsuko to sell at a stall. I must say, I feel awkward got up like this, but …’

Tomo clearly disliked the whole business but was making the best of things. To strut to and fro in the Rokumeikan in the company of wives of distinguished persons was too ostentatious for a woman of Tomo’s disposition, but the feeling that this was another of the duties of a high official’s wife checked any desire in her to absent herself.

‘The Empress is going to be there,’ put in Suga as she folded up the kimono that Etsuko had discarded. ‘And our young lady has the job of serving her tea.’

‘Well!’ exclaimed Kin. ‘Be sure you’re on your best behavior, Etsuko. I’m sure they’ve chosen you because you’re so charming.’