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 Shidzuyé 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, Japanese 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. Shidzuyé 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_ fashion 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. Japanese 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."