The others all smiled indulgently. Miss Campbell was just a little
old-fashioned lady with old-fashioned restricted views, they thought. She
was the only one of the motor party who had not fallen under the spell of
Mme. Fontaine, and apparently the only cause for her objection was
because this charming stranger was part Japanese and wrote for the
newspapers.

That evening Mr. Campbell endeavored to set her fears at rest.

"I have inquired about your mysterious Mme. Fontaine," he said. "She is a
widow. Her husband was editor of a paper in Shanghai. She herself is a
writer and a newspaper correspondent. She has written several novels
published in Shanghai, and she is generally considered to be a very
bright person. She has been living in Tokyo not quite a year and goes out
very little."

This fragment of her history only seemed to deepen the atmosphere of
romance which enveloped the "Widow of Shanghai," as Mr. Campbell would
call her, and the Motor Maids rather eagerly awaited the evening when she
was to dine with them.

In the meantime, they were to receive a ceremonious call from the family
of Yoritomo Ito, and he himself was to act as interpreter for the three
Japanese ladies, his mother, his aunt and his sister. They appeared one
afternoon in two jinrikshas and such a bowing and smiling was never seen
before. The day had been sultry and hot and tea was served in the
summer-house in the garden by the little maids attached to the household.
Miss Campbell was sorry that the pretty Onoye, flower of the staff, did
not appear. However, these things were all left to O'Haru, and she said