AFRAID TO ANSWER.
It was over ten days since the Ballards had arrived in Tokyo. Still Cleo
had not given Takashima the promised answer. It was not that she any
longer hesitated for the sake of any sentiment she might have had for
him, which was the case on the steamer, but that, having led him on to
believe in her, she had not the courage to let him know the truth.
Moreover, there was a certain assured, determined look always about his
face which frightened her. Cleo was a coward if she was anything. It
would have been a relief to her to have confided in Mrs. Davis, and
perhaps to have her break the truth to him, as gently as possible; but
knowing of her strong affection for Numè her heart misgave her whenever
she thought of doing so, and she dreaded the contempt, perhaps anger,
that such a revelation would cause in Mrs. Davis. So she put off from
day to day. Whenever Takashima called on her at the hotel she was either
out, or one of a party, so that he found no chance whatever of speaking
to her alone. The girl did everything in her power to avoid being alone
with him. If the young man guessed anything of the truth, he never
showed it, for he was persistent in his visits, and when he did get a
chance to speak to Cleo would talk to her as naturally and confidently
as he had done those last days on the boat. It terrified Cleo that he
refused to be discouraged, that in spite of the almost direct way in
which she at times ignored him, he let her understand, in every
conceivable way in his power, that he had not lost faith in her, letting
her believe that he understood that she, having so many friends, must
necessarily be surrounded for the first few days, at least. Cleo did not
know whether he had heard of her engagement to Sinclair or not. If he
had heard of it he simply ignored it, putting it behind him as so much
gossip, and as an impossibility, seeing the girl had told him nothing of
it herself, and had almost deliberately encouraged him to believe that
his own suit was not in vain. It was no use for her to try before
Takashima to let him see that she and Sinclair were more to each other
than friends, because Sinclair was no aid to her in the matter. He had
become strangely cold and reticent, and though he was always the essence
of politeness and attention to her, still he might have been just so to
any woman friend. Meanwhile, Takashima had not once reminded her of her
promise to answer him. He told himself he could afford to wait now that
he was so sure of her; besides, his mind was a good deal absorbed in
going over the old familiar haunts of his boyhood, and trying in every
way possible to do little acts to please his father, and which would
make up for the long years of separation. With Numè he was on the best
of terms, they being, however, more as brother and sister or very dear
friends, rather than lovers; for Numè had become as anxious as he to
put the marriage off for a time, and the subject was seldom broached
between them, though their fathers often alluded to it, and urged haste.
Although Takashima and Sinclair were excellent friends, neither of them
had ever mentioned Cleo Ballard's name to the other. Sinclair knew
nothing whatever of Takashima's love for the girl, or that there had
been anything between them; for both Tom and Cleo had been very careful
to avoid telling him, knowing Takashima to be an old friend of his.
Besides, perhaps Sinclair's interest in her had flagged, so that, in
spite of her beauty and vivacity, his engagement began to pall on him.
It galled him beyond measure that he did not have the freedom to go and
come when he pleased. This was another reason why he avoided, whenever
it was possible, talking about the girl, not wishing to be reminded of
her when it was unnecessary; for an engagement where there is no love is
the most irksome of things.
So they talked, instead, of Numè. Sinclair was intensely interested in
her. He had a half-pleasant, half-painful memory of her angry eyes and
flushed face when she had refused to shake hands with him in parting
that night of the party. He had not seen her since then, though he had
paid several visits to Mrs. Davis, and even to Takashima's home. Orito
told him she had taken an unaccountable whim, after the party, to become
very strict in Japanese etiquette, and that since then she had been
living in great seclusion, not even he (Orito) seeing her, save in the
presence of her father. And in these talks about Numè, with her
betrothed, Sinclair made one discovery which astonished, and strange to
say, pleased him--it was that Takashima did not love her--and further,
that the girl did not actually love Takashima, though they were the best
of friends. He wondered what understanding they had come to on the
subject, and whether they had bluntly told each other that they did not
love each other.